Affordable New York, a local super PAC d with property rental company Airbnb, is spending $100,000 on a City Council contest to replace term-limited Democrat Diana Ayala in the South Bronx and East Harlem, according to the latest campaign finance disclosures.  

The super PAC is throwing its weight behind Ayala’s chief of staff, Elsie Encarnacion and has already spent big on other Bronx Council races. Affordable New York sunk $186,120 into Councilmember Kevin Riley’s reelection bid against Andy King, who formerly represented that district; $74,738 towards Councilmember Oswald’s Feliz reelection; $99,862in of reelecting Councilmember Althea Stevens; $65,000 to reelect Councilmember Eric Dinowitz and $27,692 on behalf of Council Majority Leader Amanda Farías.

It has also contributed $100,635 towards Rafael Salamanca’s bid to unseat Borough President Vanessa Gibson. 

Of the more than $1.1 million that Affordable New York has spent on New York City’s elections this year, 58% has been spent in The Bronx. 

In November, Riley, Salamanca, Feliz, Stevens and Ayala co-sponsored a bill that would allow owners of one- and two-family homes to use their properties as short-term rentals, a year after a law took effect that banned owners from renting out a whole house or apartment to guests for less than 30 days. 

Asked about Affordable New York’s election spending, Nathan Rotman, director of policy strategy for Airbnb’s North America division, said the company “is just getting started.” 

“We are planning additional major investments in primary and general election races across New York City in 2025 and the state in 2026 to candidates who champion common-sense solutions that address the affordability crisis head on, promote neighborhood safety, and empower homeowners to share their homes,” Rotman told THE CITY in a statement. 

The company — which Uber and DoorDash as major tech companies betting big on Council races — said that it is ing candidates that are in favor of empowering homeowners, and is targeting The Bronx because residents there struggle hardest with affordability.

Affordable New York, which spent $100,000 on May 23 for online ads promoting Encarnacion, is the second independent expenditure to attempt to influence the race to replace Ayala. 

Ending Homelessness & Building A Better NYC, financed solely by two donations totaling $1.6 million from Wall Street financier Michael Jenkins, has spent $293,616 ing López through T-shirts, tote bags, mailers and internet ads. That spending, also including mailers attacking Santana and Encarnacion for supposedly “playing political games” while residents struggle, has already exceeded the $228,000 total spending Council candidates are allowed in the city’s matching funds program meant to limit the influence of outside spending. 

Operated by Tomás Ramos, who also manages social services nonprofit Oyate Group, Ending Homelessness & Building A Better NYC also reached into its deep pockets in an unprecedented effort to remove five candidates running against López from the ballot for the June 24 Democratic Primary in failed legal challenges.

One longtime election attorney described the move as “borderline frivolous.” 

Throwing Jabs 

López’s rivals in the race have tried to turn the financial from Ramos into a liability at numerous candidate forums, including one last Wednesday organized by newly eligible to vote seniors at The Laboratory School of Finance and Technology in Mott Haven. 

“What we need to understand and know is that in this election, there’s a Super PAC that’s trying to take your community and gentrify it and raise higher prices when you can’t afford to be here,” Raymond Santana told hundreds of students in the school’s auditorium. 

Santana also criticized Encarnacion as part of an old guard he said is responsible for the “current conditions of the neighborhood,” including high rents and opioid use. 

Nicholas Reyes, a state committee member for the 68th Assembly District, pointed a finger at López and declared: “I just want to say that on this stage, somebody put all of us inside legal litigation for his own purpose. That man right there.”

López left time on the clock during his closing statement after getting interrupted by Reyes and student reactions. 

“I’m here running because I care about the future in this community. I’m not gonna keep responding today,” he said. “If this is how we’re gonna continue, then you know what? I’m not gonna engage it. Thank you so much for being here today. I appreciate you all.”

After the debate, López told THE CITY that he was the frontrunner, and was being targeted for that reason, adding that he didn’t “really care about it. All I really care about is making sure I’m talking to voters.”

In any event, “The PACs are independent,” López continued. “I can’t control what they spend their money on. I can’t even tell them. I can’t have any communication with them. All I can do is focus on what I’m doing. If I was sold out to Wall Street, as many people say, I wouldn’t still be raising money.”