With the September 13th primary approaching, Democratic candidates Ross Barkan and Andrew Gounardes are set to face off for the opportunity to take on incumbent Republican State Sen. Marty Golden to represent New York’s 22nd Senatorial District.
Both Barkan and Gounardes were born and raised in the Bay Ridge/Dyker Heights/Bensonhurst edge of the district. The rest of the district includes the neighborhoods Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach, Gravesend, Manhattan Beach, and parts of Sheepshead Bay, Borough Park and Midwood.
KCP reached out to Barkan and Gounardes to see where they stand on the issues affecting some of the other neighborhoods in the district. Thus, the following question was asked:
As a resident of Bay Ridge, you are from one end of the district you want to represent, what do you think are the biggest issues in the other end of the district such as the neighborhoods of Gerritsen Beach and Marine Park and how do you plan on addressing these issues?
Barkan: “There are a wide variety of issues. Lack of transportation options, unsafe streets, recovery from Sandy, funding for infrastructure, reckless overdevelopment, and a lack of investment from the city and state. We are knocking on more doors than any other candidate who has run here and we are building the coalition to win. When I am elected to the state senate, I will be working diligently to address all of these issues.”
Gounardes: “The issues facing southern Brooklyn are not limited to one or two neighborhoods. Residents across the entire district keep mentioning education, pedestrian safety, property taxes, and mass transit as some of their biggest concerns. My campaign has released substantive plans to address each of these issues.”
