And then there were six: Another Dem joins the Bay Ridge City Council race

Democratic District Leader Kevin Peter Carroll is poised to join the race to replace term-limited City Councilmember Vincent Gentile.

Carroll told this paper on Tuesday, February 7 that an email to supporters could go out as early as that evening announcing his candidacy, confirming a rumor that has been percolating for months.

In announcing his candidacy, Carroll – an aide to Councilmember Steve Levin – joins former Gentile aide Justin Brannan and District Leader Nancy Tong on the Democratic side, and John Catsimatidis aide Robert Capano, State Senator Marty Golden aide John Quaglione and former Congressmember Dan Donovan aide Liam McCabe on the Republican side.

In addition, as Carroll acknowledges, there are likely to be even more Democratic candidates running for what will be an open seat representing Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach and Bensonhurst. Currently, Assemblymember Peter Abbate and the Reverend Khader El-Yateem are rumored to be interested in making the race.

Why run in such a crowded field?

“I want to give a voice to the people in the district,” said Carroll whose current unpaid party post aligns with the Brooklyn portion of the 64^th Assembly District which covers parts of Bay Ridge. “I’m going to listen to the people, ask them what their issues are.”

In addition, said Carroll, he would fight to “make sure we get our fair share of city money and have a seat at the table. There are so many projects we can work on here, and that we need to work on.”

One, in particular, is the current sewer and water system. “We need a fully updated system,” Carroll contended. “There are potholes everywhere. It’s falling apart and we need real substantial money to be funneled in to fix that.”

Gentile has represented the 43^rd C.D. since 2003, when he narrowly won a five-way special election for the seat.