This story originally appeared in New York Focus, a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York. Sign up for their newsletter here.

As chair of the New York City Council’s Land Use Committee, Rafael Salamanca has the power to determine whether development projects live or die — and it’s made him a magnet for campaign donations from the real estate industry.

Salamanca, who is now running for Bronx borough president, has long maintained a campaign committee for his city races — one that is bound by strict contribution limits for individuals doing business with the city, including developers.

But that’s not his only fundraising vehicle. A New York Focus investigation has found that Salamanca opened a second campaign committee in recent years — one which funds his campaigns for an unpaid position in the Bronx Democratic Party — that is subject to much looser rules.

Developers have donated the maximum allowed to his city campaign, then made much larger donations to the second committee — sometimes on the same day.

Over less than three years, Salamanca raised $244,000 through the second , even though he’s never faced a challenge at the ballot box for the comparatively lowly post of district leader.

“That’s an extraordinarily high amount to have in a district leader campaign chest,” said Sarah Steiner, an attorney and former chair of the election law committee for the New York City Bar Association. “It’s an unpaid position.”

Salamanca then spent hundreds of thousands of dollars from the to pay for restaurant bills, bar tabs, liquor store purchases, his wife’s salary for her role as his campaign treasurer, and other expenses.

As of January, the committee had reported expenditures totaling nearly $268,000 — or $24,000 more that it raised. The discrepancy appears to be the result of errors in campaign finance reports overseen by Salamanca’s wife, Jessenia Aponte.

Since 2016, Salamanca campaign committees have paid Aponte $156,000, including $29,000 in recent years from the district leader campaign .

Normally, Steiner said, a treasurer for a district leader would “rarely get paid, or would get paid very little,” although since Salamanca is raising so much money, his filings are more extensive than the typical district leader candidate.

Since March 2022, Salamanca shelled out more than $55,000 on dining and alcohol through the second campaign , including on 46 occasions at two locations of the Bronx restaurant Enzo’s, a favorite haunt of Bronx politicos. And the recorded more than $25,000 spent on Uber rides, gas, and other vehicle-related expenses.

New York state has notably loose laws concerning what campaigns are allowed to spend their money on. A spokesperson for Salamanca’s borough president campaign, Christian Amato, said all of the politician’s spending was “tied to campaign activity or political duties.”

“In Bronx politics, meetings are often held over meals — typically at places like Jimmy’s or Enzo’s,” Amato said. “Rafael chooses to cover the tab to avoid any feeling of obligation among those he meets with. Transportation is for campaign and political activities.”

Loose Laws

Salamanca ran unopposed for district leader in 2022. He was reelected to the position last year, again without an opponent.

He is now running for Bronx borough president against incumbent Vanessa Gibson. They face off in a Democratic primary on June 24.

Why did Salamanca’s district leader campaigns raise and spend so much, despite never facing a challenger at the ballot box?

“The expectation is always to prepare for a potential challenge,” Amato said. “Fundraising and readiness are necessary even when an opponent doesn’t materialize.”

The transportation costs reflect Salamanca’s need to “attend meetings, events, and constituent engagements, particularly since Rafael” — unlike Gibson — “does not have a city-provided driver.”

There’s nothing illegal about Salamanca having two s. But his district leader campaign committee is not allowed to subsidize his borough president campaign, which faces a strict spending limit. While records do show certain overlaps between their spending, Salamanca’s campaign said their activities are kept strictly separated.

Under New York City’s campaign finance laws, people in the city’s “doing business” database cannot donate more than $250 to a City Council candidate or more than $320 to a borough president candidate per four-year election cycle. The law is meant to limit the influence of deep-pocketed individuals seeking to sway city government.

While city campaign finance laws are strict, the district leader is governed by much looser state laws that allow corporate donations, place no special restriction on gifts from people with government business, and generally allow much larger donations.

Salamanca has raised over $130,000 for the district leader campaign from donors to his city-level campaign, or from those connected to those donors.

Take one Bronx builder, Foxy Management, run by the father-son team of Sheldon and Jeff Fox.

Salamanca directed $728,000 in discretionary funds to a 168-unit affordable housing project for seniors in the Bronx in the 2016 city budget. The developer was Foxy Management, and Jeff Fox singled out Salamanca for praise when the project broke ground a year later.

In 2018, Salamanca was named the Land Use Committee chair, which has the power to approve or deny zoning changes sought by developers. That year, he directed $500,000 more in discretionary funds to a 177-unit senior housing development in the Bronx. Again, the developer was Foxy Management, whose principal again credited Salamanca.

Jeff and Sheldon Fox have repeatedly donated the maximum allowable amount per election cycle, $250, to Salamanca’s bids for City Council, including on March 17, 2022. That same day, Salamanca filed paperwork creating the Bronx Democratic Party district leader committee — and Sheldon immediately donated $2,500 more to the new .

In October 2022, Sheldon, Jeff, and Jeff’s wife gave a combined $10,800 more to the district leader committee. Foxy Management — which as a corporation could not donate to the city-level campaign — gave an additional $4,400.

Since Salamanca took office in 2016, Jeff and Sheldon Fox and their spouses combined have donated nearly $31,000 to his campaigns, with more than half going to Salamanca’s second campaign committee. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

There are numerous other examples of double donors.

On May 13, 2022, an official at Brooklyn-based Spigro Management LLC, as well as the wife of a company executive, cut $1,600 checks to Salamanca’s city campaign , the maximum the two could donate for a potential borough president candidacy. On that same day, both of them — plus a third company official — each gave $4,400 checks to the district leader .

Michael Muzyk, then-president of Baldor Speciality Foods, donated $1,600 to Salamanca’s City Council on June 13, 2022. Salamanca’s campaign had to refund all but $250 because Muzyk is in the city’s “doing business” database.

That same day, a corporate arm of Baldor donated $4,400 to Salamanca’s district leader . Since then, two more companies associated with Baldor have given an additional $6,000. Baldor, a Bronx-based food distribution company, has served as a vendor for New York City agencies.

In 2019, Salamanca sponsored and pushed through a property tax exemption sought by Manhattan-based Azimuth Development, as well as a zoning application allowing a 330-unit project on Bruckner Blvd. Since then, officials from Azimuth Development or their spouses have donated $6,350 to the city s and at least $3,000 to the state .

Salamanca also backed the developer’s controversial effort to demolish a 150-year-old church and turn it into ive housing. The company did not respond to questions from New York Focus.

The Salamanca campaign spokesperson, Amato, argued that Salamanca’s fundraising tactics did not undermine New York City’s low donation limits for people with business before city officials.

“Individuals who want to Rafael’s work in the community sometimes offer contributions via business checks, which cannot be accepted by the city campaign ,” Amato said. “In those instances, if they choose to contribute separately to the District Leader to community events, that is their decision.”

Salamanca’s fundraising through a second campaign is not unprecedented.

His predecessor as land use chair, former Councilmember David Greenfield, chaired the powerful committee between 2014 and 2017.

Beginning in 2013, Greenfield raised more than $300,000 through a committee set up for an unspecified state office. Like Salamanca, much of the money came from real estate developers who also donated the maximum amount to his city .

Unlike Salamanca, however, Greenfield spent almost nothing from the haul. He did not run for city council reelection in 2017 and more than $300,000 remains in the , unspent.

Spending Limit Sidestep

In this year’s race for Bronx borough president, neither Salamanca nor Gibson are allowed to spend more than $1.78 million on their primary campaigns, and they face potential fines if they exceed the cap.

Gibson has been fined before: Following a successful City Council bid in 2013, her campaign was fined nearly $69,000, primarily for exceeding the city’s mandated spending limit. In 2020, she was fined $5,000 for allegedly seeking to use her public position to avoid a traffic violation.

If Salamanca’s district leader committee were subsidizing Salamanca’s borough president campaign, it could provide an unfair leg up and exceed the spending limit.

Salamanca’s district leader has only reported expenses through January 2025, so there is limited data indicating potential overlaps between the committees.

Still, records show that on March 15, 2024, Salamanca’s borough president campaign spent nearly $450 at a Bronx liquor store on “beverages for events,” and the same day, the district leader spent $457 at the same Bronx liquor store. Since he was on the ballot for district leader in June 2024, the purchase might be given greater latitude by city campaign finance regulators.

On Dec. 11, 2024 — after the 2024 elections were over — Salamanca’s borough president campaign spent $519 at the same Bronx liquor store for the campaign’s “fundraising.” The same day, the district leader committee spent $618 at the same store.

Salamanca’s campaign said he often has “multiple events in a single week related to both his council responsibilities and political work. Purchasing supplies on the same day for different events is routine and clearly separated.”

Between March 2024 and May 2025, the borough president campaign has spent just $506 on 24 Uber rides. The district leader has spent far more, despite Salamanca never facing an opponent at the ballot box for that office. Between March 2024 and January 2025, the district leader made 107 payments totaling over $3,200 for Uber expenses.

Through at least 2024, the district leader paid a $120 monthly bill for Internet, while through mid-May, the borough president campaign has reported no payments for Internet services.

Salamanca’s campaign said there was “no crossover” between the borough president and district leader campaign spending.

“The district leader committee s Rafael’s responsibilities as District Leader,” Amato said. “The borough president’s campaign is managed separately and is not subsidized in any way by the other .”

The district leader has also reimbursed Salamanca more than $1,100 for 12 expenses which contain no descriptions in the filings.

Aponte, who oversees those reports, has also served in the past as campaign treasurer for two other Bronx candidates, including former state senator Ruben Diaz Sr.

“She has managed multiple filings over the years without a single fine or violation,” Amato said. Aponte is not serving as treasurer for her husband’s borough president campaign.

Three years ago, the New York Post reported that Mayor Eric Adams’ parks department had filled two high-ranking, $177,000-a-year posts with figures tied to the Bronx Democratic Party.

One of the jobs went to Aponte, a longtime department employee. With the promotion, she received a $72,000 raise. The Post reported that Salamanca had campaigned heavily for Adams in 2021, helping him lock up Hispanic votes.

In 2024, according to city records, Aponte’s salary increased to $194,000.