Carl Wilson, one of four names on the ballot in April 28’s NYC Council District 3 Special Election, is the only LGBTQ-identified canddate in that race. We recently conducted a 30-minute, on-record phone interview with Wilson, the transcript of which yielded the below Q&A (edited for our style quirks and presented in a condensed manner).
Scott Stiffler, for LGBTQCommunityNews.nyc (LGBTQCommunityNews): What originally brought you to NYC, and what motivated you to become a candidate in the Special Election race for District 3’s City Council seat?
Carl Wilson (Carl): I moved to NewYork City looking for something bigger. So many people I know, especially queer people, that’s what brings them to the city. And at the time, I didn’t fully realize what that [something bigger] meant—but it definitely had to do with the fact that I was closeted… So that’s a big part of why I’m in this race–to keep fighting for the New York that makes it possible for a young person to move here and build a life for themselves.
LGBTQCommunityNews: What age were you when you moved to New York?
Carl: That was in 2009; so I was 18 years old. I went to NYU, and I was closeted through most of that time, even though my degree was in drama [also with a musical theater focus]… And along that journey, I found community; folks like me. They gave me the courage to eventually come out and be myself.
LGBTQCommunityNews: Talk about the public service arc that’s taken you up to the present run for CD3.
Carl: After the disastrous results of the 2016 presidential election, I knew I had to be part of the solution, to ensure we have leaders who understand what’s on the line… My very first job in politics was being the campaign manager for a district leader race, focused on Hell’s Kitchen. We were successful… Through my organizing after the election is how I created the Hell’s Kitchen Democrats, along with other like minded young gay leaders in the community. We established it as the [Democratic] club in Hell’s Kitchen. Ten years later, we’re still going strong.
LGBTQCommunityNews: How did you get involved with working for elected officials?
[CD3 Council Member/Speaker] Corey Johnson hired me to be a Hell’s Kitchen and Chelsea liaison. I spent the majority of his speakership being his representative–going block by block, meeting community leaders, learning every issue and working to use the mechanisms of government to deliver for folks… That’s of course where I met Erik Bottcher [Johnson’s Chief of Staff]… I left [City government work] for a little bit and worked at a Business Improvement District and then came back to the [City] Council to be Erik Bottcher’s Chief of Staff, which is a position I’ve held for most of his term as a Council Member.
Editor’s Note: The CD3 seat has been held by queer people for the past 34 years. Erik Bottcher, an out gay man, began his time in 2022. His February 4, 2026 resignation was submitted one day after winning a Special Election to fill the NYS Senate seat vacated by Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who left that position to start 2026 as the first openly LGBTQ+ Manhattan Borough President. Prior to Bottcher, the CD3 seat was held from 2014 to 2021 by openly gay Corey Johnson. (Bottcher was his Chief of Staff from 2015 to 2021; Johnson was Speaker from 2018 to 2022,)
Preceding Johnson was Christine Quinn, whose started in 1999. She left in 2013, having distinguished herself as the Council’s first female, and first openly gay, Speaker. Prior to Quinn, Tom Duane arrived in 1992 as one of the Council’s first two openly gay members, and served until 1998. The following year, elected to represent the 29th District, Duane became the NYS Senate’s first openly gay member, and only openly HIV-positive member.
LGBTQCommunityNews: If elected, what are your plans for the District Office, and how do you view its role as a resource for residents and business owners in need of assistance?
Carl: After legislating, Constituent Services is probably the most important function of a Council [District] Office–helping residents of the district with their needs, whether that is working to resolve an issue with a City agency or tenant protections, or helping seniors get access to services that they need. It’s often unglamorous, but it really makes a difference in people’s lives.
LGBTQCommunityNews: What are the actual mechanics involved—the step-by-step process?
Carl: It starts with somebody calling or writing to us [the District Office]. And then it typically gets assigned to a representative who is, essentially, the Case Manager. They’ll make the initial point of contact, get all the details, and then see who we need to bring into the conversation to help resolve it. Sometimes it’s calling up a rep at the Department of Buildings to help deal with a Certificate of Occupancy, or getting an inspector out to look at a problem… We have a big city, a lot of agencies. And unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for somebody to get trapped in bureaucracy or not have the appropriate follow-up from an agency. So our job is to sort of push through that, to get it up front and center with the folks who can help resolve the issue.
LGBTQCommunityNews: In what way, if any, would your District Office staff bring a queer perspective to their work?
Carl: You know, [Manhattan] Community [Board] Districts 4 and 5, which is what we [Council District 3] predominantly cover, have a long history of being a home to the queer community. So absolutely, anybody I hire is going to need to be fully aware of those sensitivities, and have that front of mind when they are working with constituents. And to have that same deep level of compassion for any person going through difficult moments… I will also want them to get out there and start getting themselves really entrenched; meeting with service organizations and going to community meetings to learn what the issues are, so they [constituents] will feel comfortable coming to them with concerns or issues they need help with. And then knowing what those connection points are, so we can get them help that they need.
LGBTQCommunityNews: Here’s another hypothetical, predicated on having emerged from the Special Election—and after that, the June Primary and November General Election—as CD3’s rep: How will you approach a City Council Member’s role in formulating the annual City Budget?
Carl: You know, I believe the negotiating of the budget every year is one of the most important parts of the job. These decisions have a profound impact—so our budgets have to make sure that they’re delivering for New Yorkers.
Note: The conversation turns to this LGBTQCommunityNews.nyc article noting substantial gains in the 2026 City Budget, for LGBTQ+ care and services (particularly for trans people), secured in large part by the combined efforts of individuals who comprise the LGBTQIA+ Caucus of the New York City Council.
Carl: At the time [of the 2026 budget negotiations], I was Chief of Staff to the co-chair [Erik Bottcher] of the LGBTQIA+ Caucus, and saw the work that went into advancing a number of rights protections and resources—millions of dollars more for services specifically for the trans community, at a time when they were [and are] under threat from the federal government. I was really proud of that work… And I’m heartened to see that the LGBTQIA+ Caucus has [recently] hired an executive director. This new addition to the staffing, I think, shows further commitment to their ideals. And I’d be eager to work with them to, at a baseline, maintain what we secured and also see how we can build off of that.
LGBTQCommunityNews: How would you, as a Council Member, work in conjunction with other City, State, and Federal electeds to advance common causes?
Carl: We’re lucky that we have really great representation at each level of government for our community… So “pushback” is a big part of how we all are able to work in close coordination, utilizing the resources from each level of government at once. I’m sure you saw the news that broke just a little while ago that the Trump administration has backed down on that directive to remove the pride flag from Stonewall National Monument.
And I think that was because we all joined together. We rallied our individual constituencies, and we all said, “We’re not going to put up with this. We’re not going to be bullied.” We demanded a change in this policy and we made a lot of noise. We got a lot of attention and look, we were successful. So that kind of collaborative pushback is really important in protecting not just what we have now, but future initiatives
LGBTQCommunityNews: And how, through budget negotiations or other means, would you address federal withdrawlds of fundign for queer health concerns?
Carl: What we’re seeing right now, especially with significant cuts coming out of the Big Ugly Bill, is that this is affecting a lot of our health care centers that have been the anchors in the LGBT community for not just overall health care, but specifically, mental health care and gender-affirming health care. So it’s really important that we’re exploring every way that we can make up [federally provided] gaps in funding for the city… The city has resources, but not an infinite amount. So we’ve got to work closely with our [state/federal/other] partners, to help make sure that those community-based clinics—who have the trust to do the work—remain open, and can offer that care with low barriers to access.
That’s gotta be a priority for us when we’re talking about how we can best ensure safety and dignity when it comes to LGBTQ+ access to care. In the Council, we will absolutely be out there to make noise, to call attention to it—sponsoring resolutions doing what we can to apply pressure from the city level, to advance initiatives that are going to fill in gaps and discrepancies that are created by a hostile federal government.
LGBTQCommunityNews: Have you heard anything from queer constituents, while campaigning for the Special Election–the issues that are on their minds?
Carl: Well, I think a lot of the issues that are really affecting the LGBTQ+ community are the same kitchen table issues that are affecting many new yorkers. I know a lot of folks are concerned about housing, about affordability. They’re concerned about getting access to health care, about the schools that their kids go to. I think if we focus on how to address those problems, we’re going to be able to lift up not just our LGBTQ+ neighbors, but all New Yorkers. So that’s going to be my focus, if elected to the City Council.
LGBTQCommunityNews: Thanks for your time today–and we’re almost out of time. Is there anything about your presence in this campaign that we haven’t touched upon, or that you’d like to emphasize?
Carl: ‘m the only LGBTQ+ candidate in this race, and while that is not something someone needs to be a Council Member, I think it is a valuable perspective at a time when we have a hostile federal government that is attacking the most vulnerable among us, particularly immigrants and queer people, and especially our trans siblings. I think that perspective matters for the representative who has [the Stonewall Inn] the birthplace of the modern [LGBTQ+ rights] movement in their district, but it is not the only perspective. I am a renter, I know what it’s like to work paycheck to paycheck, and gig to gig. I’ve been working in City Hall and in our community for the past decade, and I’m ready to get to work on day one. When I am legislating and making budget decisions, it is important to make sure New York is a place where people can thrive because of who they are, and not be targeted in spite of it.”
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