An ambitious and charismatic figure in local politics, Espinal knows the right people at the right publications - Time Out once named him one of its ‘New Yorkers of the Year’ in 2017, alongside rising stars like the Desus & Mero crew and ex- Refinery29 blogger Ashley C. Alessandra Biaggi, Jessica Ramos and Julia Salazar have all put their weight behind him.īut those progressives are in office and Espinal is not. While no candidate seems to have yet secured the mantle of the city’s post-Sanders ‘progressive’ wing, Stinger seems to be closest at tying those up: State Sens. Meanwhile, Yang’s fellow frontrunners, like Eric Adams and Scott Stinger, have already scooped up the support of unions and elected officials by the dozens. While the name recognition has made Yang a frontrunner from the get-go, the endorsements he has accrued in the race so far have been eclectic: a lone councilwoman and a State Rep. - both to little fanfare, back in January - along with random celebrities like Amy Schumer and Super Mario Bros.-star John Leguizamo. Photo Courtesy of Rafael Espinalīut the former councilman and the mayoral candidate have a lot to offer each other. Now, he’s eying to endorse Sanders’ 2020 rival Andrew Yang. (Reusing a photo he took with Sanders that time around, Espinal had endorsed Sanders again in that race.)įormer New York councilman Rafael Espinal with Senator Bernie Sanders, who Espinal endorsed in the 20 Presidential races. The Yang campaign had been teasing the event all weekend, sending out feelers to his fans in the financial press but Espinal’s appearance was something of a surprise - in 2016, Espinal made slight waves as the only member of the City Council to endorse Bernie Sanders, who Yang had later challenged in the Democratic primaries four years later. But on Monday, Espinal was speaking on behalf of a group of local bar owners who had showed up for the social-distanced campaign speech at the currently-closed rooftop bar at Elsewhere in East Williamsburg. In his time since resigning his spot on city council last year, Espinal picked up a top job working for the Freelancer’s Union, a nonprofit trade group that markets health insurance to freelancers. “I have not formally endorsed yet, but to tell you the truth, a lot of our members are excited about Andrew Yang’s campaign, so there might be more news around that in the next few weeks,” Espinal said, according to Politico. More notable than Yang’s appearance, however, was that of the neighborhood’s former city councilman: Rafael Espinal. Like a band whose debut run earned a modest 6.3 on Pitchfork, Andrew Yang appeared at Bushwick’s Elsewhere on Monday to make his case before the nightlife crowd of East Williamsburg.
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