Meet the 47th Council District candidates
BY KIRSTYN BRENDLEN
The race to become the
next representative of the 47th
Council District remains one
of the few competitive races in
the borough. Republican Mark
Szuszkiewicz faces off against
Democrat Ari Kagan to replace
the term-limited Mark Treyger,
who has held the seat since
2014.
District 47 comprises Coney
Island, Bensonhurst, Sea
Gate, and Gravesend. Treyger,
a Democrat, easily won two reelection
campaigns during his
tenure as councilman, and has
endorsed Kagan, his director
of operations since April 2020.
But Szuszkiewicz, who has promoted
conspiracy theories and
recently posted about dodging
the vaccine mandate on his social
media accounts — nearly
won the race for Assembly District
46 last year, losing to Democrat
Mathylde Frontus by a
margin of only a few thousand
votes.
Brooklyn Paper spoke with
Kagan and Szuskiewicz about
the most pressing issues in the
district and their plans if they
win the election.
Brooklyn Paper: What’s
your professional and political
background? What made
you decide to run?
Ari Kagan: I’ve worked
here for many years as a journalist
COURIER L 10 IFE, OCTOBER 22-28, 2021
for Russian language
ethnic weekly newspapers, and
later on I started to host my TV
show. I still have a weekly TV
show on the Russian Television
Network of America. I have my
morning news program on a
Russian language radio station.
In 2012 I ran for Democratic district
leader in the 45th Assembly
district, which includes
some of the neighborhoods of
my current council district.
But of course, the biggest call
of my political and personal life
started in January 2020 when I
started to work as the district
director of operations for councilman
Mark Treyger.
Mark Szuszkiewicz: I’ve
worked several blue collar and
white collar professions including
becoming a stockbroker at
the age of 19, a fi nancial adviser
for several fortune 500 fi rms, a
real estate salesperson, a truck
driver so that I can get paid to
travel, a local cable tv show
host, and other professions.
I ran for State Assembly last
year and it was my fi rst time
running for offi ce. I ran for offi
ce the fi rst time after covid
because I don’t trust politicians
to do the right thing, but I know
that I will fi ght to do the right
thing and fi ght to make the
changes that need to be made.
I was born and raised in Brooklyn
and the city keeps getting
worse. I ran again for city council
this year because I still feel
that I can make a positive impact
if I’m elected.
BP: Small businesses
across the city and in District
47 are struggling to recover
from the pandemic.
What do you think is the
best way to help them?
AK: Small Business Services
should be reformed,
should be reorganized, should
be more responsive to small
business owners. I have a very
good relationship with Randy
Peers, the president of the
Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.
That should be the example
for SBS, in my opinion,
the chamber of commerce
should be an example in terms
of visiting small businesses,
trying to accommodate all languages
possible. Many small
business owners are immigrants
who have not the slightest
idea about some of the services,
some of the programs,
and they are only learning
about city agencies when they
are getting another fi ne, another
mandate, nothing else.
MS: There are grants and
loans through the SBA and I
would like to have a specialist
on my staff to help with the
application process for small
businesses and nonprofi ts to
help them apply for the various
programs available. Aside from
that, the mandates have been
destroying small businesses
and I will continue to speak out
against them and help with legal
actions against the city for
their part in destroying small
businesses.
This interview has been edited
for brevity. For more on issues
like climate change, criminal
justice and others, visit
BrooklynPaper.com.
New York City’s general election,
where voters will make
their choices for city council,
mayor, public advocate, and
more, is Nov. 2. Early voting
begins Oct. 23. Find out more
about where and how to cast
your vote, and enter your address
to view a sample ballot at
vote.nyc.
ELECTION 2021
Ari Kagan, a Democrat and staff member for Mark Treyger, is running
against Republican Mark Szuskiewicz (right) to replace his term-limited
boss in the 47th council district. Courtesy of campaigns
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