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Recchia

After weeks of speculation, City Councilman Domenic Recchia has publicly confirmed that he’s taking aim at incumbent Congressman Michael Grimm for a district that spans Staten Island, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst and Gravesend in the 2014 Congressional elections.

Recchia confirmed his desire for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in an interview with the Staten Island Advance over the weekend.

“We’re running,” Recchia said. “We’re going for Congress.”

His team put out a press release on Sunday, stating that he will file papers to formally enter the race for New York’s 11th Congressional District this week.

“I am running because I believe we need leadership in Washington that gets results, leadership that can be trusted, and leadership that is willing to stand up and fight for a better future for the people of Staten Island and South Brooklyn,” Recchia said in the statement.

While his statement made no mention of his opponent Michael Grimm, he didn’t shy away from attacking the incumbent in his interview with the Advance.

“We need Grimm to stand up to the leadership of his party and fight for us more,” said Recchia. “Enough is enough. We can do better. We deserve better. It’s time for me to step forward and make a difference.”

In 2012, Grimm won a 53-to-46 percent.victory over Democratic challenger Mark Murphy, a candidate who was a consistent no-show at debates and community meetings. Murphy’s campaign, though, notched up support by slamming Grimm’s headline-grabbing fundraising flubs, in which he’s being investigated for accepting illegal campaign contributions. Grimm was named “one of the most corrupt members of Congress” by watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) for the fundraising allegations, the second year in a row he has made the list.

Recchia, a Gravesend resident, has served on the City Council since 2002 and, since 2010, has served as chairman of the powerful Finance Committee. He was previously believed to be eyeing the city Comptroller’s seat, and then Borough President, before squashing those rumors in January.

Newly elected Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, who represents the majority of Anthony Weiner’s old stomping grounds in the recently redrawn 8th Congressional District, had a warm welcome by a slew of New York political heavyweights before his inaugural remarks, according to a report in the New York Times.

Jeffries, who represents a large part of the Brooklyn southern coastline including of Coney Island, received a sterling introduction to the Congressional stage as Democratic political bigwigs like Senator Charles Schumer and Representatives Jerrold Nadler and Yvette Clarke were in attendance at Pratt Institute Memorial Hall.

It seems that Jeffries’ inauguration was the place to be seen, politically speaking, as according to the Times, every Democratic hopeful for the upcoming Mayoral race was in attendance including Public Advocate Bill di Blasio, Comptroller John C. Liu, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and former Comptroller William Thompson.

In his remarks, Jeffries paid tribute to retiring Representative Edolphus Towns and former Representative Shirley Chisholm who had previously represented large parts of the constituencies Jeffries now presides over. He also put forward a progressive message.

“We’re going to give you the government that you deserve,” Congressman Jeffries said. “That’s my mission. We’re not going backward. We’re going to keep moving forward.”