This was an exciting year for local politics. Nothing gave me more pleasure (and work) than to cover the 43rd city council district race covering Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach and Bensonhurst.
The community’s engagement rivaled no other district in the city and the resilience of the nine “active” candidates was inspiring. The tenacity of the local civic groups, unpaid activists and journalists is unparalleled and I was honored to be part of the conversation. Here’s a look back at my favorite pieces throughout the year, in no particular order.
1. Justin Brannan Engages Community in Bay Ridge City Council Race, Posted May 30, 2017
I had completed several candidate profiles and was beginning to get the hang of writing them, but the unexpected interruptions from residents in the community during this interview shaped this into one of my favorite profiles. “Hi Justin,” Good luck Justin” and even “When’s the election Justin?” were just a few of the sound bites during the hour-long talk. Brannan’s Mayberry reference could not have been a more precise description of the neighborhood.
Brannan eventually won the seat to replace outgoing Councilmember Vincent Gentile, but a subsequent tweet commending me on the correct spelling of the word “sfogliatella” was, for me, the highlight of his campaign.
2. Nine Candidates At City Council Seat Verbally Joust at Forum, Posted Aug. 17, 2017
When a Bensonhurst resident yelled, “Get the Asians out of here!” during this city council forum, it introduced a newsworthy racial narrative to the topic of illegal home conversions.
However interesting, KCP was the only publication to report the incident despite several reporters being in attendance. That racist narrative would appear in several stories throughout the year and illegal home conversions continue to be a contentious sore spot for the district.
3. Partisan Politics Alleged in Rally to Remove Ft Hamilton Army Base Confederate Names, Posted Aug. 23, 2017
Amid the movement to rid Confederate emblems, the Ridge’s version did not disappoint. Congress Members and candidates came to Bay Ridge to protest streets named after Confederate Generals at Ft. Hamilton’s Army Base.
When a counter-protester showed up to challenge Congress members on what he called a “partisan gathering,” an interesting exchange ensued. Also featured in the story are the Rev. Khader El-Yateem, Justin Brannan and Congressmember Dan Donovan articulating their thoughts on the topic.
This was also the day when a news veteran tried to bully me. She’s from channel 7 is all I’ll say –– for now.
4. Salty Dog Slugfest: Brannan, Carroll, El-Yateem stepped To The Plate, Posted June 8, 2017
Amused at the notion that a candidate’s forum would be held at a local bar, I wrote this piece rather tongue-and-cheek. I grew up in a household of huge baseball fans and could not resist mirroring the back-and-forth forum style to that of a World Series game 7.
All the while an NBA final commenced in the noisy room next door. To be completely transparent, I gave my editor two versions of which Stephen Witt chose this one. What I did not expect was the archival baseball photo that accompanied the story at post time – only at KCP.
5. Bay Ridge Polls Grow Contentious In Hotly Contested Election, Posted Nov. 7, 2017
I would be remiss if I did not include the altercation between a voter and State Sen. Marty Golden’s brother at the Shore Hill voting site on Election Day. This story, complete with voter intimidation, cookie-gate material and an adorable picture of John Quaglione’s wife and daughter was one of the most blatant disregards of the electoral process I’ve seen in my short career as a journalist.
Although not obvious from the headline, my hopes in reporting the altercation was to bring awareness to a long-standing tradition of ballot bullying –– an offense not committed at the hands of the candidate, in this case.
