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Reality Show Would Follow New York City Councilman’s Mayoral Dreams

Eric A. Ulrich at City Hall on Tuesday. Mr. Ulrich, 31, represents areas of southern Queens and is one of just three Republicans on the 51-member City Council.Credit...Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

Eric A. Ulrich, a relatively unknown 31-year-old city councilman from Queens, has been considering a long-shot bid to challenge Mayor Bill de Blasio in next year’s election.

Those deliberations may soon play out before a national television audience.

His morning and evening routines, his work at City Hall and his aspirations to become the mayor of New York City could all be fodder for a reality show that was quietly approved by a city oversight body last month.

Cameras would track his every move, from home to office, and focus on his decision about whether to challenge Mr. de Blasio as a Republican in an overwhelmingly Democratic city.

And, if the producers have their way, the show could begin airing in the heat of the 2017 mayoral race.

The show — still in the early phases of development — is the brainchild of two freelance producers, Brad Trackman and Johnny Russo. They are creating the as-yet-unnamed project with Left/Right, the New York-based production company behind Showtime’s political documentary series “The Circus,” about the 2016 presidential campaign; the television version of “This American Life”; and VH1’s “Mob Wives.”

Gaining political credibility through a reality show might seem like an unorthodox strategy. Then again, a certain other native of Queens rode the notoriety he gained through “The Apprentice” all the way to the White House.

It also would not be the first time that documentarians have shadowed the life of a mayoral hopeful, though their presence has hardly been a good-luck charm. Filmmakers watched the minutiae of Anthony D. Weiner’s daily life as he strode back onto the New York political scene in 2013, only to be undone by further revelations about his lewd texts with women. There were also cameras from The New York Times documenting Christine C. Quinn, then the City Council speaker, in her bid that same year to run the city. Both lost badly to Mr. de Blasio, a fellow Democrat.

But that recent history has not dissuaded Mr. Ulrich, a telegenic second-term councilman who represents areas of southern Queens — one of just three Republicans on the 51-member Council.

He said his decision about running for mayor — “Is he going to make the leap or not?” — would likely be part of the drama of the series.

“It’s not going to be a boring show,” he said, his enthusiasm for the project evident. “I think it’s going to be a very funny show.”

Although Mr. Ulrich has not formally declared his candidacy, he has been contemplating doing so for several months and has been openly critical of Mr. de Blasio. He formed a committee to raise money, with the office listed as undeclared, and he has held three fund-raisers since the middle of the summer.

Mr. Ulrich said he was approached by Mr. Trackman and Mr. Russo in September about whether he would be interested in the project, and they met with a co-president of Left/Right, Banks Tarver, soon after.

Mr. Trackman recounted the discussion after the meeting: “Banks turns to me and says, ‘You know who that guy is?’ I go, ‘Who?’ He goes, ‘A star.’”

Mr. Tarver declined to be interviewed, but he wrote in an email that he found Mr. Ulrich to be “a compelling, interesting and committed public servant.”

But before moving forward with the documentary project, Mr. Ulrich sought permission from the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board to ensure that his participation would not violate city rules.

The proposal was described by the board in a Nov. 28 letter: The production company would film Mr. Ulrich for “a couple of weeks to produce a five-minute ‘sizzle reel’ that it would shop to television networks.” Mr. Ulrich told the board that the project would not get in the way of his daily work as a councilman.

“I anticipate giving them as much access as I possibly can,” Mr. Ulrich said. “I won’t be holding anything back.”

The board ruled that he could participate in the project so long as he was not paid and did not disclose confidential information.

How Mr. Ulrich’s colleagues on the Council would react to the cameras was an open question. Robin Levine, the top spokeswoman for the Council speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito, a Democrat, said in a statement, “We expect all of our members to present themselves in the appropriate and professional manner befitting of public office.”

The sizzle reel, essentially a proposal for the show, would probably be completed by January, in time for a major reality television conference in Washington, Mr. Trackman said. That means that in the coming weeks, cameras would begin trailing Mr. Ulrich around City Hall and his office in Ozone Park, Queens, and during some of his hours in his condominium in Lindenwood, Queens.

If the show is picked up quickly, Mr. Trackman said, it could be on the air by the spring. “We anticipate the show will be picked up,” Mr. Russo said.

“Eric’s personality is unique — his age, the district he represents,” Mr. Trackman, who also works as a stand-up comedian, said. “His personal story is really a unique New York story.”

Mr. Ulrich said his wife, Yadira Moran-Ulrich, who works in human resources at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, and their 4-year-old daughter, Lily, would also probably appear on the show.

Other characters from Mr. Ulrich’s district also attracted the attention of the producers: the man from Aldo’s Pizza in Ozone Park; a colorful local priest.

“His grandmother comes in almost every day and cleans and dusts in his office,” Mr. Trackman said. “It’s really a microcosm of New York itself.”

One person not expected to be part of the show is President-elect Donald J. Trump. Mr. Ulrich said that while he was a Republican, he was not a supporter of Mr. Trump’s.

“I was a supporter of Gov. John Kasich” of Ohio, he said. Mr. Ulrich recalled that Mr. Kasich had eaten pizza with a fork and a knife — a moment of cluelessness routinely displayed by politicians visiting the city — in Mr. Ulrich’s district when he visited New York during the Republican presidential primary campaign.

“I think that hopefully my experience and this show will be an eye-opener for other Republicans around the country,” he said.

As for whether having cameras around could curse his mayoral bid, should he chose to pursue one, Mr. Ulrich said he was not concerned.

“Because I’m just going to be myself,” he said. “If people don’t like it, they can go back to watching ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ I don’t know what to tell you.”

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 17 of the New York edition with the headline: Reality Show Would Follow Councilman and His Aims. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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