Former Manhattan BP Candidate Carlos Manzano Mails For Katz, de Blasio

A former candidate for Manhattan borough president has taken the unusual step of sending thousands of campaign mailers on behalf of two candidates to a personal list of friends and supporters, and paying for the effort out of his own pocket.

And they are not even from Manhattan.

Carlos Manzano, who ran at the bottom of the field in the 2005 race won by Scott Stringer and serves as the executive director of the mayor’s Commission on Latin Media and Entertainment, has spent about $1,500 of his own money to send out mailers touting his endorsements of Melinda Katz for comptroller and Bill de Blasio for public advocate.

Photos and biographical snippets for Katz and de Blasio appear together on one side of the mailer, while the other side features a personal message from Manzano and lists his home address and e-mail.

Manzano said in an interview that the mailers were sent to a list of about 4,000 friends and supporters across the city, which he compiled in part from his campaign for borough president. Manzano is also the former president of the McManus Democratic Association in midtown Manhattan, which has endorsed Katz and de Blasio as well.

“Everybody’s being bombarded with all kinds of campaign literature right now,” he said. “So it does make a difference when someone sends a personal message.”

Manzano said both campaigns approved of the effort before he sent out the mailer, and that he reported the expenses as in-kind contributions to the city’s campaign finance board.

“This is a personal contribution to both campaigns,” he said.

Ben Branham, a spokesperson for Katz, said the mailer was the only one of its kind that he knew of, and that the campaign had to ensure first that the contribution was legal before allowing Manzano to move forward.

“It was all vetted by our accountants and everything else,” he said.

Matthew Wing, a spokesperson for de Blasio, said the campaign approved of the mailer as well.

"Carlos did clear the mailer with us and we were fine with it," he said.

To some, the format of the mailer suggests that Katz and de Blasio are running mates, given that their images appear next to one another on one side without any explanation as to why. But spokespeople for both campaigns said that it was Manzano’s choice to put the two on the same mailer, and that they did not object because he was using his own money.

Manzano said it would have been too expensive for him to send out separate mailers for each candidate.

“I can’t afford to do that,” he said.

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