Ryder Kessler wants the Assembly seat Deborah Glick has held for 36 years, and he is running for it again. The West Village Democrat is on the ballot for New York State Assembly District 66 ahead of the June 23 primary, his second run at the seat after a 2022 loss, according to a candidate questionnaire published by Tribeca Citizen on June 8.

District 66 covers some of Manhattan’s most storied blocks, from the West Village through parts of Tribeca and Soho, and the pitch Kessler is making to voters there is blunt: the neighborhood is too expensive to keep its promises. He lists three first priorities if he wins. Lowering costs, especially housing. Defending democracy, including getting ICE out of the city. And street safety.

Kessler, 40, grew up near Union Square and has lived in the West Village for close to 20 years. He told Tribeca Citizen that when his parents moved to the Village in 1980, his dad drove a cab and his mom was an artist and a young family could afford it. Now, he said, average rents in Manhattan run over $5,700 a month.