Modern, Refined race for Brooklyn borough president
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COURIER L 10 IFE, JULY 9-15, 2021
Beep, Beep!
Antonio Reynoso declares victory in
Councilmember Antonio Reynoso. Photo by Ariama C. Long
BY BEN VERDE
Williamsburg Councilmember Antonio
Reynoso declared victory in the
Democratic primary for the Brooklyn
borough president’s race on Tuesday,
after a count of absentee ballots
showed him fi rmly in the lead.
With the ballots counted and preliminary
ranked-choice tabulations
available, Reynoso holds a 54.8 percent
lead to Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon’s
45.2 percent. Simon conceded
to Reynoso soon after the data was released.
Preliminary election night results
showed Bedford-Stuyvesant Councilmember
Robert Cornegy in second
place and Simon in third. Rankedchoice
voting tabulations saw Simon
overtake Cornegy while Reynoso held
onto his lead. While some ballots remain
that need to be “cured” — meaning
a voter fi lled it out incorrectly and
it needs to be returned — it is all but
certain Reynoso’s lead will hold.
In a statement, Reynoso — who currently
represents the City Council’s
34th District, spanning parts of Williamsburg,
Bushwick and Ridgewood
— celebrated the win and thanked his
supporters.
“Our campaign was always about
building a Brooklyn for all of us — no
matter your race, your background, or
what zip code you live in — and I’m so
honored by the support that brought
us to this victory today,” he said.
Reynoso campaigned to the left of
most BP front runners, earning the
support of Sen. Bernie Sanders and
the Working Families Party. The candidate
focused his campaign on reversing
the inequities laid bare by the
pandemic.
“Growing up on Williamsburg’s
South side, our family didn’t have
much — we depended on food stamps
and Section 8 housing to get by — and I
saw fi rst-hand the challenges that our
working families face, from the toxic
effects of environmental racism to the
inequities in our school system to brutality
at the hands of the NYPD,” Reynoso
said. “This is a turning point for
our city, and we have the opportunity
to fi ght for not only a just recovery that
centers communities of color and those
most harmed by this pandemic, but
real, systemic change to address the
racial, social, and economic inequities
that got us here in the fi rst place.”
While the Democratic Primary all
but assures victory in seats like the
Brooklyn beep’s, the winner will still
have to face off against Republican
candidate Menachem Raitport in the
general election in November.
In the meantime, Reynoso’s victory
over Cornegy in the primary election
represents another local loss for the
Brooklyn Democratic Party, whose
leaders had favored the Bedford-
Stuyvesant councilmember. The party
fared poorly in local races across the
borough but triumphed with the presumed
victory of current Brooklyn
Borough President Eric Adams, who
on Tuesday night secured his lead
over former Sanitation Commissioner
Kathryn Garcia.
The next borough president will be
tasked proposing legislation, approving
zoning changes, making citywide
budget recommendations, and directing
for land use. Borough presidents
appoint members to the New York City
Planning Commission, and members
to other local boards.
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