City Council Speaker Julie Menin has created a statewide political action committee aimed at helping Democrats in November, a move that is already stirring talk about whether she is positioning herself for a future bid beyond City Hall.
Menin, 58, registered “New York Rising PAC” with the State Board of Election last week. Political insiders told The Post the move appears designed to expand the increasingly influential New York City lawmaker’s reach across the state.
“Menin is redefining what it means to be an activist speaker by helping Democrats in other parts of the state and planting IOUs in the future,” said one well-connected Democratic source familiar with her political operation.
Veteran political strategist Hank Sheinkopf called Menin’s new fundraising vehicle a “making friends” PAC.
“Nothing makes better friends than writing a candidate a check from your PAC,” Sheinkopf said, noting that the committee could allow Menin to send thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates — support that could prove useful if she later pursues higher office, including a possible run for mayor, governor or senator.
“It’s very smart. It boosts her exposure. She’s using her political muscle to advance to the next step,” he added.
The PAC’s launch follows a high-profile win for Menin, the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, after she pushed back against the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s widely criticized decision to honor convicted antisemite and fashion designer John Galliano.
In her role as council speaker, Menin has also emerged as a counterweight to democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The council held hearings on the Mamdani administration’s botched rollout for administering the pied-a-terre tax and its rocky response to the recent Legionnaires’ disease outbreak on the Upper East Side.
The panel of pols also will soon grill the mayor’s office for using a secret, encrypted messaging channel to peddle positive coverage to nearly 200 social-media influencers.
Menin is already a featured speaker at a Sept. 15 White Plains event in Westchester County to help raise funds for the Democratic Majority Action Committee.
Among other things, Menin is expected to discuss “combating extremism” including antisemitism, according to an invitation obtained by The Post.
“A Conversation with Julie Menin, New York City Council Speaker. Winning in an era of of political extremes: How Democrats build coalitions that deliver,” the invite says. “Join Democratic leaders for an important conversation about strengthening our party, combatting antisemitism and building the broad coalitions we need to win.”
Menin, whose council tenure is term-limited in 2029, insists she created the NY Rising PAC only to support fellow Democrats, not to strengthen her statewide ties for a potential run for higher office down the road.
“Speaker Menin opened NY Rising PAC to support Democrats up and down the ballot in this fall’s midterm elections,” said Menin spokesman Max Kramer.
Sheinkopf noted that former council speakers have fizzled in their campaigns for New York City mayor, such as Peter Vallone, Gifford Miller, Christine Quinn and Corey Johnson.
But the previous council speaker, Adrienne Adams, is Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s running mate for lieutenant governor this fall.
“She’s bucking history — the best way to buck history is to start early,” Sheinkopf said of Menin.
But if the council speaker is eying the mayor’s job, Mamdani is up for re-election in 2029, and it’s difficult to topple an incumbent.
The last mayor to lose re-election was Democratic incumbent David Dinkins in 1993.
