Anthony Weiner, aka “Carlos Danger,” Says He May Run for Rivera’s City Council Seat

Anthony Weiner, who before his Congressional career cratered and he was sent to prison for sexting a minor, had served on the New York City Council representing parts of Brooklyn from 1992 to 1998.

”I’m thinking about it,” Weiner said on his program on the right leaning radio network WABC-AM 770 about returning to the council in a race next year. “I want to be of service.”

The field is already crowded. Assemblyman Harvey Epstein declared for the seat now held by term limited city council member Carlina Rivera even before he ran for re-election, unopposed for his Assembly seat representing part of downtown Manhattan and Stuyvesant Town.

Epstein was also recently the subject of a parody on Saturday Night Live for his name, in a riff that poked fun of the fact that his name seems to combine the names of two notorious sex offenders, Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein.

“Look, is my name ideal?” the actor John Mulaney who played Epstein in the SNL skit says. “Of course not. I share names with two of the most notorious sex perverts of all time. You think I don’t know that? But thankfully, I’m a different guy.”

The skit aired Nov. 2 only a few days before Epstein’s reelection to the Assembly. On X, he asked his supporters to donate to a group that works with victims of sexual abuse. “All joking aside, I hope my newfound followers will consider donating to RAINN, who do extremely valuable work supporting survivors,” he wrote.

Aside from the bout of publicity from SNL, he has plenty of local competition. Manhattan Community Board 3 Chair Andrea Gordillo and Community Board 3 Vice Chair and local activist Sarah Batchu are also in the hunt. All three candidates have already raised more than $50,000 for their campaigns. Weiner, in contrast has not begun any fundraising for a potential run.

Surprisingly, the city council actually pays more than Assembly. Last year, Rivera’s salary on the council was $148,093. Epstein’s salary was $145,000, but since he works out of the state capitol in Albany, it means added housing costs.

When former city council member Dan Garodnick (now the NYC Planning Commissioner) was being hyped for the assembly seat then being vacated by Brian Kavanagh who was moving up to the NYS Senate, he expressed no interest. “I can’t afford the pay cut,” Garodnick told one supporter at the time.

Weiner last served in Congress in 2011 when he was forced out over his first sexting scandal. At the time, he was using the pseudonym “Carlos Danger” to contact several women including one who was a 15-year-old minor.

He made a comeback bid in 2013 running in the Democratic primary for Mayor, but another sexting scandal derailed that campaign. In 2017, he began serving 21 months in prison for sexting a minor and was released in 2019.

He also may have contributed to problems in the presidential run of Hillary Clinton in 2016 where his then-wife Huma Abedin was a top aid to Clinton and some emails from Clinton ended up on his laptop, which the FBI was investigating.

”The things in my past...the things about my background...it’s a lot, it’s a lot,” Weiner said on his show.

Epstein seemed to be unbothered by a potential Weiner run.

“Anyone who wants to run should run for sure,” Epstein told City & State when queried about about Weiner potentially thrusting himself into the race. “That is the Democratic process,” said Epstein

Gordillo and Batchu blasted the idea.

“Families in Lower Manhattan deserve better than failed New York and Washington politicians using our moment of need for their own political comeback,” Gordillo said in a statement.

Batchu posted on X. “Trump wins, and now every creepy, washed-up politician thinks they can make a comeback. My constituents deserve better than to serve as the audience for a disgraced politician’s redemption tour.”