As City officials reel from the impact of MGM’s last minute decision to end its bid for a full scale casino license in Yonkers, election day 2025 looms. It has been a sleepy election season, but with the changed fiscal landscape, the stakes are suddenly higher.
The MGM Yonkers casino is the City’s largest private employer. Last week’s bombshell announcement has left our elected officials in shock. Simply put, they were counting on a fully licensed casino to inject tens of millions of additional dollars into the Yonkers economy and the City’s annual budget in the near future. Now this dream is dead – the casino will remain open, but it faces an uncertain future when it has to compete with nearby casinos with table games. City officials need a plan B. The City’s finances will depend upon what they do.
The MGM decision came just two weeks before Yonkers voters go to the polls to elect candidates who will serve for the next four years in four of seven City Council seats, including the Council President. For the most part, the Yonkers election has been lost in the shadow of New York City’s noisy and high stakes Mayoral campaign. Although candidates have done their best on social media, as far as traditional media is concerned, the Yonkers election is almost a non-event. There has been next to no reporting on or analysis of the issues in the campaigns. Despite this black hole in coverage, the election is important, and takes on even greater significance as the City faces looming possible future budget deficits based on the MGM decision.
We at The Yonkers Ledger are trying to fill the void left by the old media. We seek to help voters understand what is happening politically so they can make informed voting decisions. In this article we examine the races for four Yonkers City Council seats that are up for grabs this November.
Please note, early voting begins in just a few days on October 25th leading up to Election Day November 4th. October 25th is also the last day to register to vote. We hope all voting age U.S. citizens who live in Yonkers register and exercise their constitutional right to vote. We especially encourage all young people who have turned 18 to register and vote as we need the next generation to be involved in our democracy.
The City Council Races
The campaign for City Council President is the only citywide race. There are three individual Council races in the 2nd, 4th and 6th Districts. (Although not the subject of this article, the candidates for Westchester County Executive, four seats on the Westchester County Board of Legislature, and one New York State ballot question will also appear on the ballot.)
City Council President
In the citywide race for City Council President, the incumbent Democrat Lakisha Collins-Bellamy faces off against Republican Dean Politopoulos. Working Family Party candidate Angelique F. Lopez will also appear on the ballot.
Collins-Bellamy, seeking a second term, won the Democratic primary over four other candidates with approximately 38% of the vote. In addition to her position as Council President, Collins-Bellamy has a full-time position as an attorney for the Yonkers Municipal Housing Authority. The turnout in the primary was exceedingly low, with less than 12% of registered Democrats voting. Of 7,950 votes cast, Collins-Bellamy received 3,028.
Also in a low turnout race, Dean Politopoulos won the Republican Party primary in a two-way race with 65% of the vote. He is a former police and public information officer in the Yonkers Police Department, and currently works for Motorola Solutions, which has contracts with the Yonkers Police Department. Politopoulos received 1,631 out of 2,541 votes cast.
As The Yonkers Ledger previously reported after the primary election, it appears that there are no great policy differences separating Collins-Bellamy and Politopoulos. https://yonkersledger.creativeopen.net/news/election-analysis-yonkers-city-council-president-race/54476/ Both candidates are solid supporters of Mayor Mike Spano. If warranted, after the City Council President’s candidates forum scheduled for October 22, 2025, The Ledger will provide an update on this race. We want to hear what the candidates have to say about the future of MGM.
Council District 2
The 2nd District covers the southwest quadrant of the city beginning at the Bronx border but not extending to the Hudson River waterfront. (District 1 now extends along the Hudson River in a narrow strip from the Bronx to Hasting-on-Hudson borders.)
The Democratic incumbent Corazon Pineda-Isaac, who is seeking her third term in office, easily defeated her challenger in the June Democratic primary with 69% of the vote in another low turnout election.
Pineda-Isaac ran in the primary without the endorsement of the Yonkers Democratic Party. Instead, the Party supported her opponent. Pineda-Isaac is now running unopposed, in this heavily Democratic district.
It has been asserted that the Yonkers Democrats withheld their support as payback for Pineda-Isaac’s unsuccessful challenge to incumbent Mike Spano in the 2023 Democratic primary for Mayor.
With respect to the MGM decision, Pineda-Isaac stated that there will be a financial impact when new competing casinos open. However, in the interim she believes the City has time to prepare. She recognizes that the loss of future anticipated revenue will make the City’s upcoming labor negotiations with the municipal labor unions more difficult. However, she believes that the racetrack property is a valuable asset which will continue to contribute to the City’s economic well-being regardless of what happens to the casino.
Council District 4
The 4th District is located in the southeastern quadrant of the city, and pits the Democratic incumbent John Rubbo against Republican Anthony Solieri Jr.
Mr. Rubbo is the Majority Leader of the Council and a co-owner of the Yonkers Brewing Company in downtown Yonkers. He is a strong supporter of Mayor Spano. He was initially elected to the Council in 2017 as a Republican, and then switched his registration to Democrat in 2019. This year he is also running on the Conservative Party line.
According to Rubbo’s website:
“[He] is deeply passionate about Yonkers and dedicates himself tirelessly to improving the lives of District 4 residents. His mission is to create opportunities for young families, ensuring Yonkers remains affordable and welcoming for generations to come. Ultimately, John’s vision is to build a city his children—and all children—can proudly call home.”
Solieri describes himself as a community activist and the owner of a small security installation company. He is part of a minority coalition within the Yonkers Republican Party that believes the Party has compromised its ideals by failing to run independent candidates who are not aligned with the Democrat Spano’s political machine. Solieri said that he had to overcome opposition from the pro-Spano elements in his party to gain the nomination.
Both Solieri and Rubbo were strong supporters of the MGM casino application to receive a full casino gaming license at the racetrack, which is located in their district. Before MGM’s withdrawal, Solieri criticized Rubbo as not accurately describing the terms of the Community Benefits Agreement the City had reached with MGM. He also questioned the hidden costs of the proposed new library and other projects that were to be funded, in part, through $10 million from MGM. He asserted that Rubbo unethically tried to leverage his position as Council member to receive a contract with MGM for his brewery. Solieri claims he is not a “yes man,” but the candidate for the people, while his opponent is funded by corporate interests.
Rubbo asserts that Solieri claims are baseless. He said that before he was elected to City Council, his brewery did sell beer to the Rooneys, the former owners of the casino. However, approximately four years ago, when it became clear that the casino would be applying for a full gaming license that would come before the City Council, he stopped doing business with the casino in order to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest. He also stated that the decision to create a library in the former synagogue in Lincoln Park was an initiative of the Mayor’s irrespective of casino money, and he continues to support it.
Rubbo is well versed in the details of the City’s relationship with MGM, and the revenue that flows to the City from the casino. He believes that the Community Benefits Agreement with MGM would have been important for District 4 in particular and the City in general. He believes that the City must work with the State of New York to rework the City’s deal with the casino going forward to ensure that the City gets its fair share of the casino revenue, even if it diminishes.
Council District 6
The 6th District covers most of the northern section of the City extending from the Scarsdale border almost to the Hudson River and dipping south to Palmer Road.
Incumbent Republican Anthony Merante is seeking a third term in office. In a rematch, he is facing off against Democrat and Conservative candidate Tim Hodges. In 2021, Merante defeated Hodges by approximately 300 votes in the general election.
Merante, a certified public accountant with an office on Central Avenue, says he is running on his record of many years of service to the district. His motto is “It’s all about you.” His philosophy is simple: He listens and then acts when his constituents are in need. On Facebook, Merante is described as:
“….a relentless champion for Yonkers 6 District residents. Too often, he is the lone voice on the City Council—standing up for you and against overdevelopment that threatens our neighborhoods, voting NO on budgets that raised property taxes by 15%, and opposing the outrageous pay raises the Mayor and Council gave themselves. When others at City Hall turn their backs, Anthony listens. He never ignores the pleas of constituents in need. If he can help, he will always fight for you.”
Merante claims to be the true conservative in the race. He questions how his opponent can be both a supporter of the Mayor’s tax increases and still claim to be a tax fighting conservative, representing the Conservative Party.
In 2023 Merante ran unsuccessfully for mayor against Spano. During that campaign one of his key issues was the need to restore term limits to the City to ensure that our elected officials are focused on public service and not individual power.
Hodges, a retired Deputy Chief of the Yonkers Police Department, says that it’s time for new leadership in the district.
“I am running for Yonkers City Council because our district needs a representative on the City Council who, rather than grandstands and votes based on political expediency, will fight for the interests of the district. I want to be a working colleague with Mayor Mike Spano and representatives at all levels of government to deliver a budget that maintains crucial services for our City, but also holds the line on taxes for our homeowners. As with any growing city, Yonkers has some serious quality of life and affordability issues that are being ignored by the incumbent councilperson.”
On the MGM issue, Merante stated he was disappointed with the MGM decision, but understands it from a business perspective. He believes the City must make the best of the situation and work to ensure that MGM stays in place for as long as possible and at the same time seek additional revenue to replace any budgetary shortfalls. (We were unable to reach candidate Hodges for comments.)
The race for the 6th District seat promises to be the most competitive of all Council races. While Merante has strong support from his constituents, the voter registration numbers in the district now favor Democrat Hodges. The election is likely to turn on which candidate gets his voters to the polls during early voting and on Election Day.
Conclusion
Whoever wins the City Council races in November, Mayor Mike Spano will still be the biggest winner. He already has the support of a solid majority on the City Council, and this is unlikely to change. During his four terms in office (thanks to two consecutive votes of the City Council to override the City’s term limit law) Spano has consolidated political and governmental power within his office. It’s no wonder that the magazine City and State – New York recently named him the second most influential leader in Westchester County behind Andrea Stewart-Cousins (also from Yonkers) who is the Majority Leader of the New York State Senate.
Mayor Spano will need all the support he can get from the Council, as he grapples with the fallout from the MGM decision. The future of our slot-machine-only casino and the money that it pays to the City is now very much in doubt. The Mayor and the City Council are going to need to figure out how they intend to plug the expected budget deficits. The Council Members elected this year will play an important role in the process.
The anticipated low voter turnout tends to benefit the incumbents, who can more easily raise campaign funds and are experienced at getting out the vote. Even though the most likely outcome is more of the same, The Ledger urges everyone to exercise their Constitutional right to participate in our Democracy.
