Think back some 25 years and with a little imagination one might have run into a lanky young Bill de Blasio downing shots and courting an equally young and pretty Chirlane McCray.
That was the scene Wednesday night when members of the Brooklyn Young Democrats political club packed into the Gowanus watering hole, Halyards, 406 3rd Avenue for their annual post holiday party.
BYD is filled with political activist young guns, who like a young de Blasio, have everything from CUNY to Ivy League degrees mainly in the public service field, and who cut their teeth in politics working on successful campaigns.
And like de Blasio and McCray before them, who both worked as operatives in the administration of former Mayor David Dinkins, many of the revelers now work as operatives for public office holders. But this is not a knock on them. There is nothing wrong with being young, educated, smart and politically involved. It’s the way of the world.
And for this seasoned political journalist, whose background consists of being a bawdy novelist and longtime subway musician, it was a good time to throw back a few glasses of wine and have some off-the-record political discourse with the young bloods.
Working the door when Kings County Politics photographer intern Emily Sanborn and this reporter walked in was BYD President Candice Julien, a proud CUNY undergraduate and post graduate, who now works in Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams office. Nearby was Patrick Rheaume, who formerly worked as press spokesperson for Brooklyn Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, but now also works for Adams. Missing in action from this year’s soiree was Adams’ Communications Director Stefan Ringel, the BYD President Emeritus.
Others at the party that this reporter saw and/or chatted with included BYD Treasurer John Wasserman and Daniel Abramson, both of whom work in the mayor’s office; Daniel Garcia-McGuire, who works for the Department of Education; Jelanie Deshong who works in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s New York City Office; and Casey Adams, who is City Councilman Stephen Levin’s Chief of Staff.
Of course no political gathering is complete without certificates of honor and decree doled out, and this year’s awardees were longtime former Assembly Member Joan Millman, Coney Island City Councilman and former public school teacher Mark Treyger and Williamsburg/Bushwick City Council Member Antonio Reynoso.
