Cohen announces Council candidacy on City Hall steps

Community Board 8 member Andrew Cohen has announced his candidacy for the City Council seat now occupied by Councilman Oliver Koppell. The term-limited incumbent is serving his third and final term representing the Bronx’s District 11.

Mr. Cohen, a Democrat, is the second official candidate for the open seat. Community activist Cliff Stanton announced his candidacy in January.

Until recently, there was some question as to whom the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club would run against Mr. Stanton, who has long been a critic of the club and its leaders. 

There was even speculation that Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz would give up his statewide position to run for the post. 

But on Tuesday, Mr. Dinowitz, along with Mr. Koppell, Rep. Eliot Engel and state Sen. Jeff Klein, announced their support for Mr. Cohen when he made his candidacy official on the steps of City Hall.

Flanked by the four longtime incumbents, Mr. Cohen moved from the margins of local politics into the limelight. 

He is a long-standing member of the Ben Franklin Reform Democratic Club, at times serving in various posts at the influential political club, including serving on the executive committee. He has petitioned and campaigned for many candidates supported by the club and is likely to get the backing of the powerful Bronx Democratic County Committee, of which Mr. Dinowitz is the County Committee chair. 

Mr. Cohen, who has also worked as legal counsel to Mr. Dinowitz, was elected to the honorary title of vice chair to the Bronx Democratic County Club in September.

Though the Ben Franklin Reform Democratic Club will not make an endorsement until its members vote next year, with its core leaders supporting Mr. Cohen, he will likely have the club’s support.

Mr. Cohen, 43, grew up in the Rockaways in Queens. He  has lived in Riverdale for 12 years, first at Skyview and now in a private Spuyten Duyvil home with his wife Dr. Heather Erhard and their 4-year-old daughter Sarah. He is an attorney and adjunct professor at City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He worked as a court attorney in Bronx Supreme Court for eight years until 2010.