Coney politicos spar over club’s debate
BY JESSICA PARKS
Two Coney Island political
clubs are at odds over a
City Council District 47 candidate’s
absence from a debate
and an area pol’s fi ery statement
defending it — words the
lawmaker said he completely
stands by in an interview.
It all began when Ari Kagan
— one of four Democratic candidates
vying to replace termlimited
Councilmember Mark
Treyger — refused to participate
in an April 29 debate
hosted by the Seaside Independent
Democrats. When asked
by a constituent why Kagan
— who Treyger has endorsed
to take his place — didn’t attend,
the southern Brooklyn
lawmaker said in a now-widely
shared Facebook post that the
club smeared Kagan for his
Russian-Jewish descent and
labeled the candidate’s campaign
manager an “intruder.”
“Kagan has participated
in many forums. The one tonight
was organized by a group
that smeared his name and his
identity as a Russian speaking
Jew, they smeared my offi ce,
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me personally, they smeared
his campaign manager calling
her an intruder while she’s
lived here her whole life and
contributed greatly to this
community, and others in our
community,” Treyger wrote.
“Ari spent time helping with
distribution and then speaking
with voters tonight and
solving problems rather than
participating in a sham.”
The Seaside Independent
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Democrats — a group founded
by Assemblymember Mathylde
Frontus in 2019 — characterized
the councilman’s words
as “preposterous,” “slanderous”
and an attempt to malign
the club’s reputation. In a
three-page statement, leaders
defended the group’s diverse
roster of immigrant members
from across the globe, including
board members who are of
Jewish descent.
“Treyger’s claim that our
club has smeared Ari and his
identity as a Russian Speaking
Jew was abhorrent as it
was deeply divisive,” the club
wrote. “As immigrants and
children of immigrants, we
ourselves have accents and
grew up in homes where our
parents had accents and did
not speak English.”
Now, members are demanding
the legislator — who has
had a seemingly “open secret”
rivalry with Frontus since she
narrowly bested former Treyger
staffer Ethan Lustig-Elgrably
in the 2018 race for her seat
— either show proof, or issue
club members an apology.
“We wholeheartedly reject
the claim that anyone in our
club has smeared Ari because
of his ethnic or religious identity
and demand that Treyger
provide proof of this wildly
slanderous claim or issue an
apology to the community immediately,”
the club went on.
But in an interview with
Brooklyn Paper, Treyger
clapped back, citing a pattern
of harassment from members
on social media.
“I 100 percent stand by my
statement,” Treyger said. “A
member of their board before
their second forum actually
by phone spoke to a leader,
that later called me, claiming
Ari Kagan does not write his
own Facebook posts because
there is no way he can write
his posts based on the way he
speaks.”
Frontus couldn’t speak to
the private phone call, but refuted
any claims that racism is
a theme within her club, citing
a “zero-tolerance” policy.
“We are not going to allow
anyone to do something to cast
a negative light on the club,”
Frontus said. “I have not been
aware of anything but my eyes
are wide open.”
Meanwhile, Kagan credits
his absence at the April 29 debate
— which was attended by
his opponents Steven Patzer,
Alec Brook-Krasny and Joe
Packer — to the group’s apparent
support of Patzer.
This story has been edited
for brevity. For the full article,
visit BrooklynPaper.com.
A political club founded by Assemblymember Mathylde Frontus is demanding
an apology from Councilmember Mark Treyger after he accused
their members of smearing the candidate he’s endorsed to replace him.
Courtesy of Mathylde Frontus’ offi ce/Brooklyn Paper fi le photo
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