Dems dodge civic group’s debate; Brannan, Kagan to face off on NY1

Southern Brooklyn Democrats boycotted the Dyker Heights Civic Association’s traditional City Council debate at St. Philip’s Parish Hall Oct. 12, ceding the floor to their Republican and Conservative opponents.

Democratic Councilman Justin Brannan – running against Republican Councilman Ari Kagan – implied on social media that his party dodged the debate because longtime Civic Association President Fran Vella-Marrone and executive board member Jerry Kassar support his opponent. 

Vella-Marrone is the chairwoman of the Conservative Party of Kings County. Kassar is the chairman of the Conservative Party of New York State and has written a weekly opinion column for this newspaper since the late 1980s. 

Brannan and Kagan are fighting it out in the redrawn 47th District, which now includes Bay Ridge, Coney Island and parts of Bath Beach and Dyker Heights. On Oct. 4, the two candidates took part in a PoliticsNY forum at the Bay Ridge Manor that was moderated by Brooklyn Paper reporter Jada Camille. On Tuesday, Oct. 24, they will debate on NY1 starting at 7:25 p.m.

At the Civic Association forum, which was moderated by journalist John Alexander, Kagan said crime is out of control.

“People do not feel safe at all,” he said. “You go to Rite Aid pharmacy, and you see aisles locked because they’re afraid someone is going to rob them and take everything and get away.”

District 38 candidate Paul Rodriguez also talked about crime. Rodriguez is running against Councilwoman Alexa Aviles in a district that now includes Sunset Park and parts of Bensonhurst and Dyker Heights.

“Public safety issues have been an ongoing thing for a few years,” he said. “In fact, if you speak to people in Sunset Park, they’re talking about how bad things are getting. It has never been an easygoing kind of a place. It’s had its history of roughness. So for them to say things are getting really bad, you know it’s bad.”

Vito LaBella – running against Republican Ying Tan and Democrat Susan Zhuang in District 43 – said the city is in a downturn on many fronts. LaBella lost to Tan in the Republican primary and is running on the Conservative line in a district that includes parts of Bensonhurst, Borough Park and Sunset Park. Tan did not attend the debate.

“Right now the things that are making the community feel unsafe are not the index crimes but the quality of life problems,” said the retired NYPD lieutenant. “Smoking marijuana walking down the street, the petit larceny, the impunity, the homeless individuals who are on the streets and in the subways and are not getting help. We need to repeal all of the anti-police, pro-criminal program policies that the previous City Council enacted.”

Councilman David Carr is running unchallenged in District 50, which includes parts of Bath Beach, Dyker Heights and Fort Hamilton, along with parts of Staten Island. He expressed support for law enforcement and said the government is not doing right by the taxpayers.

“We want to make sure our men and women in blue have the resources they need, the headcount they need, as well as pushing back on some of these radical proposals that are seeking to raise your property taxes and cut services that are essential to your lives, instead of spending $4 billion on migrants that this administration is doing,” he said.