Primary Winners: Two New Faces for Lower Manhattan in State Assembly

Left: Charles Fall won his primary bid to represent the 61st Assembly District for a third term. The district, formerly only in Staten Island, now includes parts of Lower Manhattan. Grace Lee, an activist who first unsuccessfully ran for the Assembly two years ago, is now the Democratic nominee for the 65th Assembly District. Photos: Office of Charles Fall; Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib (Lee) 

A large swath of Lower Manhattan is headed for new representation in the New York State Assembly.

In the June 28 Democratic primary, Charles Fall [1] handily topped Battery Park City activist, Community Board 1 member and first-time candidate Justine Cuccia [2] (70% to 30%) in the race for the redrawn 61st Assembly District. The district now includes incumbent Fall’s Staten Island South Shore district, which he has represented since 2019, as well as Battery Park City, and the Financial District roughly west of Nassau Street and south of Vesey. 

Activist Grace Lee [3] overwhelmed her closest rival, Illapa Sairitupac [4], (47% to 33%) in the contest for the 65th Assembly District, an area that takes in the eastern Financial District, Chinatown and the Lower East Side. Lee came to the political fore as co-founder of Children First [5], a group of parents and other activists concerned about the presence of buried mercury [6] from former thermometer factories in the Howard Hughes Corp. development site at 250 Water Street. Most recently she was one of 10 protesters arrested [7] during a demonstration against the demolition of the Manhattan Detention Complex, to be replaced by a new jail tower. Two years ago Lee lost her bid [8] to unseat Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, who will be vacating her seat to run in the crowded 10th Congressional District race.

Deborah Glick [9], who has represented Tribeca, Soho and Greenwich Village since 1991, beat her only opponent, Ryder Kessler [10] (68% to 29%).

For all three candidates, primary wins in their heavily Democratic districts mean nearly assured victories in the November general election. 

Democratic primaries for local Congressional and state Senate seats will be held on Aug. 23.