Election 2014: 46th Assembly District

ALEC BROOK-KRASNY

Democratic/Working Families/Independence

Assemblymember Alec Brook-Krasny, the Democratic incumbent, has represented the 46^th A.D. for the past four terms.

The first Russian-speaking American member of the state legislature, Brook-Krasny emphasizes balance in his approach to governing, stressing that it is important to provide tax breaks and incentives for businesses and tax relief for families at the same time as making sure that government-supported programs that both employ and serve residents of the 46^th Assembly District – comprised of the neighborhoods of Seagate, Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Gravesend, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge – are adequately funded.

“While we are trying to reduce taxes,” he said at a recent candidate’s forum, “we have to find a balance between cutting taxes and cutting programs.”

With eight years of legislative experience under his belt, Brook-Krasny also can point to accomplishments before he was elected to serve. Having arrived in the U.S., as he recalled at another recent debate, with some $90 in his pocket about three decades ago, Brook-Krasny first made his mark as a business-owner, before starting a not-for-profit organization, The Council of Jewish Émigré Community Organizations, in 2001.

STAMATIS LILIKAKIS

Republican/Conservative

Businessman Stamatis Lilikakis, a first-time candidate, has thrown his hat into the ring to run for Assembly in the 46^th Assembly District, now represented by Democrat Alec Brook-Krasny.

A lifelong resident of Bay Ridge, Lilikakis will be competing in the only Republican primary in the borough because, he says, he thinks the state is driving business away, thanks to a plethora of taxes and regulations, and  because he believes there need to be changes in the current educational system.

He is, he stressed, “a small business-owner and I have seen how the state has made it almost impossible to run a small business, thanks to the taxes and regulations. As a business-owner, I know what needs to get done, but most politicians, on every level, have never run a  business so they have no idea what business needs, and they are driving business out of New York.”

Lilikakis also takes issue with high stakes testing as well as the Common Core curriculum. “The system doesn’t really work,” he said. “It has to be fixed or changed. You can’t have 15 people deciding policy on education when only one has been an educator. We have to let the trained professionals do what’s best for kids.”

Lilikakis would also like to see the culture of Albany change. “We’re one of the most corrupt states in the country,” he contended. “We have to bring some kind of morality back to the state. We need to get average citizens involved in the political system who want to do things for the proper reasons.”