Ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed Wednesday that he is looking to run for a newly redrawn Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn congressional seat.
De Blasio announced on Twitter that he formed an exploratory committee for New York’s newly redrawn 10th Congressional District, which The Post first reported Tuesday he is eyeing for a political comeback.
“Our neighborhoods need help as we recover from COVID. Our nation needs help as democracy is threatened and working people struggle,” he posted along with a link to a website that solicits emails from potential supporters.
“I am ready to serve to continue the fight against inequality,” the former mayor added. “Today I am forming an Exploratory Committee for the new #NY10.”
The 10th District is currently represented by veteran Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who announced he will vacate the seat, after his Upper West Side neighborhood was removed from it and instead compete against former longtime ally and fellow Democrat Rep. Carolyn Maloney in her newly redrawn 12th District, which now includes Nadler’s address.
On Wednesday afternoon, de Blasio received a pre-launch stamp of approval from the head of the Brooklyn Democratic Party.
“Bill De Blasio (sic) is the most qualified progressive candidate who I believe can win this diverse seat,” Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn (D-Flatbush) said in a prepared statement provided by a spokesman.
The announcement came a day after a state lawmaker told The Post that de Blasio had informed him Tuesday he will launch a congressional campaign.
“He’s in, he’s running. He’s calling people,” state Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein (D-Borough Park) said Tuesday. “Based on the conversation that I had with him earlier today, he is running for Congress in the new NY-10 Congressional District.”
A draft plan for New York’s 10th District includes the Manhattan neighborhoods of Tribeca, Greenwich Village, the East Village and the Lower East Side, as well as Dumbo, Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope — where de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane McCray, own property — along with Windsor Terrace, Borough Park and part of Prospect Heights.
The borders for the new districts will be finalized on Friday.
The proposed district notably includes a very small percentage of black voters, who were de Blasio’s strongest supporters during his mayoralty, according to polls. The new district’s voting-age population is 8% black, 20% Asian, 37% Hispanic and 31% White.
A source previously told The Post that de Blasio has enlisted his former liaison to Orthodox Jewis to gauge support for his candidacy in the district, which includes a substantial amount of members of the traditionally bloc-voting community in Borough Park.
According to sources and reports, others who may launch a bid for the new seat include state Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan), state Assemblyman Robert Carroll (D-Park Slope), State Sen. Simcha Felder (D- Borough park), Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon (D-Boerum Hill), and Daniel Goldman — the lead counsel on House Democrats’ first impeachment of former President Donald Trump who briefly ran for state Attorney General before bowing out of the race.
Before the New York Democrats’ proposed redistricting maps were thrown out, de Blasio considered a run for the NY-11 District, but in February dropped his bid before it began. That district included Staten Island as well as Park Slope and other parts of Brooklyn.
The 61-year-old Democrat last year took steps toward a run for governor, before announcing in January he would not seek the post.