The city’s Campaign Finance Board on Monday made it official: NY1 will host a 90-minute Democratic mayoral debate on Wednesday, August 23, with Sal Albanese as the only Democratic challenger going up against Mayor Bill de Blasio. And while Albanese may be battling low name recognition and a massive fundraising gap, he does have plenty of experience to draw from. NY1's Bobby Cuza filed the following report.
It has been a common refrain for Sal Albanese.
This year marks his third run for mayor—fourth if you count 2001, a race he pulled out of early. He also ran unsuccessfully for state Assembly in 1978 and Congress in 1992.
But Albanese, who was born in Italy, came to Brooklyn at age eight and spent 11 years as a public school teacher, made his biggest mark during a 15-year run as a city councilman representing Bay Ridge and other neighborhoods in southwest Brooklyn, which then, as now, can lean conservative.
"It's considered one of the most difficult seats for a Democrat to win in the city," Albanese said in 1993.
NY1 profiled his hard-fought re-election campaign in 1993. He would win that race and later introduce perhaps his best-known piece of legislation, a prevailing wage bill that boosted pay for city contractors.
Albanese left the Council in 1997 to launch his first bid for mayor.
"I will win the Democratic primary," he said at the time.
Albanese wouldn't win, but had a respectable showing against Ruth Messinger and Al Sharpton, finishing with 22 percent of the vote.
He wouldn’t fare so well in 2013, when he got lost in a crowded field, ultimately placing eighth in the primary with less than one percent of the vote, though he did get in some shots at the future mayor.
"Bill de Blasio turns public safety into political theater," Albanese said at the time.
This time around, Albanese gets de Blasio all to himself on the debate stage. He's largely running against the mayor's record.
"There's a real feeling in the city that we need a new mayor. And people are just looking for an alternative," he said.
There's been little attention paid to his candidacy, though he did win headlines by visiting the mayor's Park Slope gym, trying to goad him into riding the subway. His hope is that he can score more points at next week's debate and begin convincing voters to get on board with his campaign.