Bay Ridge City Councilmember Vinnie Gentile confirmed yesterday that he will support incumbent Assemblywoman Pam Harris for re-election over challenger Kate Cucco in the upcoming primary election.
Gentile is also backing Chris McCreight for the male Democratic District Leader in the 46th AD – thus marking the first time a local elected official is suggesting through their endorsements that a split ticket between Team Harris and Team Cucco might be the best thing for the district, which includes Coney Island, Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights.
Team Harris’ slate includes City Council Member Mark Treyger (Coney Island, Bensonhurst) and Dilia Schack for male and female Democratic Assembly District leaders. Team Cucco’s slate includes McCreight and Brigitte Purvis for the district leader positions.
Gentile’s support for Harris comes as something of a surprise because Cucco used to work out of his office while she was chief of staff for former Assembly Member Alec Brook-Krasny when the two lawmakers shared office space.
But Gentile’s continued support for McCreight over Treyger is not surprising. McCreight ran both Gentile’s 2013 successful re-election campaign and his unsuccessful Congressional campaign last year.
Treyger and his political mentor, Assemblyman William Colton, offered only lukewarm, if any support for Gentile’s Congressional run as well as little support for any Bay Ridge Democrats running against Bay Ridge Republican State Sen. Marty Golden in the last few elections.
More interesting is the Bay Ridge Democrats, which McCreight (and several political heavyweights) belongs to, voted early in the primary season to not make an endorsement between Harris and Cucco. Sources said the no endorsement vote is a done deal and there cannot be a re-caucus of voting members.
In a separate, but somewhat related move, Gentile announced he has met with and come to agreement of support with Warren Chan and Chan’s non-profit Asian Community United Society over his Aggravated Illegal Conversion bill.
Chan is the political mentor of Billy Thai, the insurgent candidate running for Democratic District Leader against longtime 47th Assembly District Leader Charlie Ragusa, who in turn is a longtime compadre of Colton.
Both Chan and Thai have been critical of the conversion bill, in part because there is a lack of any affordable housing or any in the pipeline for the growing Asian population in southwest Brooklyn
“I am pleased to receive Mr. Chan and the Asian Community United Society’s support in this effort. As he mentioned, illegal conversions put tenants, first responders, and neighbors in extremely dangerous situations. Our targets are the bad actor landlords who weave this tangled and hazardous web repeatedly citywide. I look forward to working with ACUS on ending this epidemic,” said Gentile.
“We both agree that substandard housing is not affordable housing and that we must work towards a solution to bring affordable housing to southwest Brooklyn, so that immigrant tenants have alternative living situations other than illegal conversions,” he added.
Gentile refused comment as to whether he will support Thai over Ragusa in the district leadership race.
Meanwhile, Harris held a fundraiser last night at Tom’s Coney Island on the Coney Island Boardwalk, which drew both dozens of working-class grassroots supporters and political muscle.
Among the officials that attended and lent support to Harris were Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, Kings County Democratic Party Chair Frank Seddio, City Council Members Treyger and Chaim Deutsch, Assembly Members Walter Mosley and Helene Weinstein, and Democratic District Leaders Ari Kagan and Schack.
The Primary Election is Tuesday, Sept. 13.
