Does Ydanis Rodríguez want his old council seat back?

Does Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodríguez want his old City Council seat back? Back in October, when the Adams administration was in full crisis-mode, there was speculation in the Spanish-language press that he might. He was term-limited out of the Upper Manhattan seat in 2021, and was succeeded by Carmen De La Rosa. 

Eli Valentin, who writes about Latino politics in New York, said he had heard more recently that Rodríguez is considering a run. The primary challenge would put Rodríguez at odds with De La Rosa, a protégé of Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who runs a formidable political alliance that has previously included Rodríguez dubbed “The Squadriano.” “It would not surprise me if his relationship with Adriano is strained right now,” Valentin said. 

On Oct. 21 in Hoy, political columnist Ramon Mercedes published a Spanish language column entitled: “Find out NY: Face Carmen de la Rosa?” In it, he noted that Carlos Gutiérrez, a TV personality Mercedes characterized as a close ally of Rodríguez, had openly called for Rodríguez to run on his show. “Entre Debates” airs on the Dominican network Super Canal 33. 

“Nobody can equal the work Ydanis did as a City Council member. And now, as commissioner of the Department of Transportation of New York, he is known everywhere,” Gutiérrez said in Spanish on the show. “So many people are asking Ydanis to return to the City Council because he understands the Dominicans and the Latinos of New York. The council is orphaned because Carmen De La Rosa isn’t doing the job like the people hoped for.” 

Rodríguez, a loyal ally of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, has served as Transportation commissioner since 2022 and is the first Latino in the role. In November, he received a prestigious award for Dominicans living abroad from the Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader. 

De La Rosa, who didn’t respond to a request for comment in time for publication, has filed to run for reelection next year and is currently unopposed. She was first elected to the City Council in 2021 after serving as an Assembly member for an overlapping Upper Manhattan district since 2017. Term limit rules only apply to consecutive terms, so Rodríguez could in theory return to the council after a four-year hiatus.

Rodríguez didn’t respond to a request for comment, but a source close to the commissioner said, “His intention is to remain Commissioner of Transportation and stay focused on bike lanes and making New York a more pedestrian-friendly city.”