When New York City’s power brokers descended on San Juan, Puerto Rico, hours after the November elections, some expected the next City Council speaker would emerge under the palm trees.
New York lawmakers and their aides partied with lobbyists, labor leaders, nonprofit executives and other operatives over piña coladas at poolside hotel cabanas. But, by the end of the five-day SOMOS conference, nothing materialized.
This year the race for the second-most powerful job in the city, which can deeply impact the interests of the commercial real estate industry and which the council’s 51 members fill internally, is as wide open as it has been since at least 2001.
It has also been a slog.
