The Hotel and Motel Trades Council, which has been steadily beefing up its political profile over the past year, has issued its second endorsement in the Feb. 24 City Council special elections, backing Frank Gulluscio in the 32nd CD.
Gulluscio is former aide to the man whose seat he's trying to land, now-Sen. Joe Addabbo, and district manager of Community Board 6. The HTC's decision to support him should come as no surprise, as the union was a big supporter of Addabbo, who has endorsed his former staffer.
Also running in the 32nd are: Geraldine Chapey, Glenn DiResto, Mike Ricatto (although his bid has been hobbled by a recent fatal accident in which a 9-year-old boy was struck and killed by his campaign bus), Lew Simon and Eric Ulrich.
The special elections are nonpartisan, but the GOP is hoping it has a shot at boosting its numbers on the Council back to three with Ulrich's candidacy.
The HTC has 30,000 members in the metro area, including 12,000 in Queens and some 600 in the 32nd CD.
Earlier this month, the union announced its endorsement of Julissa Ferreras, a former aide to Sen. Hiram Monserrate, who is running for the seat he departed in the 21st CD.
The HTC was the first union to endorse Ferreras. She's also being supported by the labor-backed Working Families Party and UFCW Local 1500.
NOTE: The press release misspelled Gulluscio's name as "Galluscio." This post has been corrected to reflect the appropriate spelling.
