City Councilman Dennis Gallagher (R-Middle Village) will step down from office Friday as part of a plea deal that will keep him out of prison after he pleaded guilty in March to sexually abusing a 52-year-old woman in his Metropolitan Avenue district office.
Gallagher, who was elected to the City Council in 2001 and would have been term limited out of office in 2009, will resign his post nearly nine months after police raided his office following an accusation that he brought the victim, whom he had met at the Middle Village bar Danny Boy's, back to his office and raped her.The councilman, who is married and has two children, pled guilty to two misdemeanors - sex abuse and forcible touching - in March as part of a deal that will not require him to serve prison time or register as a sex offender.
As part of the deal, Gallagher was also required to write a letter of resignation, enroll in an alcohol treatment program and not contact the victim.
The councilman ran for the Council in 2001 after working as chief of staff for former City Councilman Thomas Ognibene. He was also a former investigator for the New York State Crime Victims Board.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg will set a date for a special election within three days after Gallagher steps down on April 18. The election must then take place within 30 to 45 days, a city Elections Board spokeswoman said. The candidate who wins the seat will fulfill Gallagher's duties for the remainder of the year and another election will be held in November to determine who will fill the seat in 2009, she said.
A third election will be held in November 2009 and the winner will serve for two years, the spokeswoman said. If a candidate wins all three elections, he or she could run for one more four-year term in 2011, she said.
Candidates vying for Gallagher's seat include Democrats Elizabeth Crowley, a cousin of U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) who previously ran against Gallagher in 2001, and Charles Ober, first vice president of the Ridgewood Property Owners and Civic Association. The Republicans in the race include Anthony Como, a commissioner with the city's Elections Board and an aide to state Sen. Serphin Maltese (R-Glendale); Ognibene, a 2005 mayoral candidate who held Gallagher's seat for 10 years; and Joseph Suraci, a Middle Village attorney who previously ran against state Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan (D-Ridgewood).
