LOWER MANHATTAN — Woody Allen could have a new leading woman in Manhattan.
Allen recently wrote a $175 check to Julie Menin, the Community Board 1 chairwoman who is eyeing a run for Manhattan borough president in 2013, according to records released Tuesday by the Campaign Finance Board.
Menin collected nearly $480,000 from 795 people in the fundraising period ending Jan. 11, with more than half of the donations at $250 or less, according to the Campaign Finance Board.
"I'm very humbled and gratified by the strong support we have received in a little under eight weeks [since beginning to fundraise]," Menin said Tuesday. "We feel we have very strong community and grassroots support in a short period of time."
Other influential New Yorkers who are supporting her candidacy include former Gov. David Paterson, who gave $500, and Tribeca Film Festival founders Craig Hatkoff and Jane Rosenthal, who each gave the maximum $3,850.
Many of Menin's donations came from people who live or work in Lower Manhattan, including more than 20 members of Community Board 1; Joe Daniels, president of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum; Sheila Birnbaum, special master of the $2.8 billion 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund; Michael Dorf, owner of City Winery; and Carol Willis, director of Battery Park City's Skyscraper Museum.
Menin also received broad support from the real estate and finance worlds, with developer Joseph Moinian and Stephen Seigel, chairman of global brokerage at CBRE, each donating $3,850, and leaders of Massay Knakal, Cantor Fitzgerald, Rialto Capital and others contributing as well.
Other notable donors include Eugene H. Zagat (also known as Tim Zagat), founder of the Zagat restaurant guides, who gave $3,850; philanthropist Laurie Tisch, who gave $1,500; and restaurateur Jeffrey Lefcourt, who gave $1,000.
Although Robert De Niro co-hosted a fundraiser for Menin last week, he has not yet donated to her campaign, records show.
Menin has not formally declared her candidacy for borough president but has said she would consider running if the current borough president, Scott Stringer, runs for mayor, as is widely expected.
