The Yonkers Ledger Candidates Series
The Republican and Democratic Primaries will be held on June 24, 2025, with races for City Council President and certain City Council Districts on the ballot. The Yonkers Ledger sent a five-point questionnaire to all seven candidates for City Council President 2025-Lakisha Collins-Bellamy, Tasha Diaz, Mike Khader, Chuck Lesnick, Dean Politopolous, Ron Schutte and Pete Spano. Once the candidates answered the questionnaire (read their responses here), our reporters followed up with an interview. One candidate, Tasha Diaz, did not respond.
Disclaimer: Our reporter, Phil Zisman, conducted four of the six candidate interviews. Phil is a former Inspector General of the City of Yonkers and served in office during Chuck Lesnick’s first term in office from 2006 to 2009. Zisman in his capacity as IG regularly gave formal and informal ethics advice to all city officials — including Mr. Lesnick – and employees who requested it, and when appropriate rendered opinions on specific questions of government ethics. Copies of Zisman’s published opinions are still available on the Yonkers Inspector General webpage on Yonkersny.gov
Introduction
Chuck Lesnick served two-terms as Yonkers City Council President from 2006 to 2013, and he wants his old job back. His past service to the people of Yonkers gave Lesnick a sense of joy and satisfaction. But now he sees danger ahead for the city in the second Trump administration, especially for our immigrant population. He believes that experienced leadership is what’s needed to ensure the well-being of all our residents during these uncertain times.
Lesnick is nothing if not experienced. During his long career, he has worked in federal, state and local government. He has worked with New York Governors Mario and Andrew Cuomo, Congressman Nita Lowey and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In Yonkers, in addition to his eight years as City Council President, he also served as the Director of Economic Development; held senior positions at the Yonkers Local Assistance Corporation and the Yonkers Industrial Development Agency; and currently serves on the Yonkers Parks and Recreation Board.
Lesnick cited several accomplishments in Yonkers that he is proud of, including: restoring $3.5 million in federal funding that was previously withdrawn because of the city’s failure to comply with court orders related to the desegregation case brought against the city in the 1980s (The money was used as part of the city’s funding to restore the city pier); facilitating the move of the Science Barge from New York City to the Yonkers waterfront without cost to the city; and securing $18 million from HUD, which allowed Yonkers to issue low interest business loans to spur economic development.
Lesnick has been a Yonkers resident for nearly 40 years. In addition to his government work, he is a practicing attorney with a focus on real estate law and property management. He is currently a Yonkers Democratic Party district leader, and in the 1990s served as the Democratic Party Chairman.
Lesnick is endorsed by the New York League of Conservation Voters, the New York Working Families Party, American Federation of Government Employees, the Democratic Municipal Officials organization and Community Voices Heard. (Lesnick also has a primary for the Working Families line on the ballot.)
On the Issues: Development
Lesnick believes that Mike Spano has been an effective mayor, in part, because he controls both the Yonkers Democratic and Republican Parties. Lesnick generally supports the development that has taken place during Spano’s time in office, but believes that sometimes the mayor can be heavy handed and intolerant of dissenting points of view.
In particular, in its zeal to push through new development projects, the administration can cut short community engagement. Lesnick noted that with respect to the expansion of the MGM casino, the administration has done a good job listening to the concerns of the community and following the lead of the Council Member from that area. However, the administration did not allow enough time for the residents of Southwest Yonkers who live near the old Leake & Watts property, to weigh in on the proposal to build another movie studio in their neighborhood. He believes that if the approval had not been rushed, a better community benefits agreement with the developer, more favorable to the community, could have been achieved.
Affordable Housing and Accessory Dwelling Units
With respect to affordable housing, Lesnick noted that he initially proposed requiring 20% affordable units in the city’s Affordable Housing Ordinance when he was the Council President, but only 10% was approved. If elected, he intends to push for 20% again. Lesnick is also on the record for wanting to address the accessory dwelling unit problem in the city that affects single family zones. He believes that there should be a pathway for legalizing such units. but only if they are safe and pay appropriate property taxes.
Term Limits
As for term limits, he thinks Yonkers voters should decide the issue. Personally, he believes elected officials should be allowed to serve no more than 12 years in office.
Budget Priorities
Education is a top priority. Lesnick believes the city must continue to support our schools and never provide less support than the current level. He wants to make sure that “there are no cuts to Arts, Music & Sports and Special Ed”. He also values capital funding for city parks and the Hudson River Museum, and the SNUG program that seeks to keep guns off the streets.
Government Integrity and Ethics
Lesnick believes that the City Council should work to build trust with Yonkers residents. A well-functioning City Council is transparent and “must activate local residents into civic participation.”
With respect to the role of the Yonkers Board of Ethics and Inspector General, he stated that when he previously served as City Council President, he regularly sought advice from both to determine how to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest on issues that came before the City Council. He also had the Council pass a resolution directing the Inspector General to conduct audits of development projects to make sure that developers met their commitments to the neighborhoods where new projects were built. Lesnick stated that if elected, he intends to continue to utilize the Inspector General and the Yonkers Board of Ethics proactively.
With respect to allegations of unethical actions that some of his rivals in the primary have made against each other, Lesnick refuses to engage in a negative campaign. He stands on his record of achievement.
Lesnick is a known political figure in Yonkers, in part, because of his activity on social media. He has approximately 15,000 followers on FaceBook and Instagram. He attends as many political and civic events as he possibly can, and usually posts numerous photos of himself and others who are in attendance. He recognizes that some people may roll their eyes at what they may consider compulsive or silly behavior, but he says he’s often requested to publicize these events, and he enjoys meeting people who attend. He thrives on personal interactions.
Lesnick hopes his visibility across the city will translate into votes in the primary. But he also is engaging in a targeted campaign to persuade prime Democratic voters to support him. He has also teamed up with 2nd District Council Member Corazón Pineda-Isaac, who is running for reelection this year and has a primary challenger. Lesnick believes 3,000 votes may be all that is necessary to win the primary.
Conclusion
Whether Lesnick’s message resonates with voters and validates his return is yet to be seen. Regardless of the outcome, he intends to stay engaged and work to make Yonkers better.
Voter Information
To learn more about the candidates, watch the League of Women Voters 2025 City Council President Democratic Debate here and the League of Women Voters 2025 City Council President Republican Debate here
Early Voting Begins June 14, 2025 and Primary Day is June 24, 2025. Click here for more information on where and how to vote: https://citizenparticipation.westchestergov.com/voting/early-voting-2025
