NY1 first reported that Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer has won the Democratic primary for City Council’s District 6, receiving 17,220 of first choice votes (53.8%). The race was called since she has received more than 50% of first-choice votes, so Brewer will replace the term-limited Helen Rosenthal.
Runners-up received the following distribution of first-choice votes:
- Maria Danzilo: 4,805 votes (15%)
- Sara Lind: 4,368 votes (13.7%)
- Jeffrey Omura: 3,326 votes (10.4%)
- David Gold: 1,469 votes (4.6%)
- Zach Weiner: 810 votes (2.5%)
“I am honored to receive the support of so many Democrats in this election. Tuesday’s results showed that the West Side believes in continuing to build an inclusive neighborhood, where everyone is welcome, with thriving small businesses, and where government works for the people.
“The West Side is in my bones. I have lived, worked, raised kids, and been devoted to building a diverse caring community on these blocks, through crime waves, recessions, Mayors of both parties, and this pandemic. I humbled by the trust placed in me by the voters of District 6.
“I am also deeply grateful to my fellow candidates in District 6 who devoted themselves to listening to our neighbors over these past months. I am proud to have been in this race with you!”
Brewer held the District 6 council seat for years before becoming Manhattan Borough President.
Again!
— Gale A. Brewer (@galeabrewer) June 23, 2021
we are doomed
Gale is the most beloved USW politician since Bella Abzug (and we have had and still have many beloved politicians here). She is one of the most effective and responsive politicians in the history of this City, and particularly on the UWS. After all, she entered the race late, and yet picked up more than 50% of the first-choice vote. That speaks volumes about the UWS’s love of and trust in her.
Congratulations!!
Right! You live in NJ? Hope,next shelter will next to you. Diversity,WELCOME to UWS!
You summed it up perfectly. A sigh of relief… We all have a lot of work ahead of us post-pandemic, but I’m confident that neighbors will pull together to help our resilient city and neighborhoods recover.
Gale will destroy the UWS Community. She is The Worst Candidate for the UWS. Sickens me
“We’re doomed” and “she’ll destroy the UWS.” Such hyperbolic BS. Why would we be doomed and how will she destroy the UWS? State your case better.
I agree with you. It should be a norm that whenever someone says “so-and-so is the greatest (or the worst)”, they should provide a reason. Otherwise the statement is of no use to anyone who reads it.
Funny, she was City council person on the UWS for two full terms and didn’t “destroy” the community. Indeed, she did many good things for her constituents. And as BP, she was extremely effective.
The fact that the majority of UWSers voted for her means that she represents the values that we believe in. You clearly do NOT believe in those values. So, without rancor, you are always free to leave.
She is part of the group that brought persons with substance abuse issues to our neighborhood and saw the crime statistics reach historic levels. Also, part of the group who are in favor of decriminalizing quality life offenses.
Sadly, that comment just shows how new and unknowledgeable you are. People with substance abuse issues, and the quality of life issues that can accompany that, long predate Gale’s tenure as City Council member on the UWS. That she supports the inclusion of residences and shelters in the neighborhood is, as I noted above, something that this neighborhood has traditionally welcomed, because we are willing to make some sacrifices in order to inclusive and compassionate.
As for crime statistics, I was president of the 20th Precinct Council for 4 years, and on its Executive Board for 11 years. And if you know anything about crime stats (which you clearly do not), you would know that the stats that have gone up are NOT related to homelessness or the housing homeless in residences and shelters. You are scapegoating.
When she’s being bashed from the lefties for not being progressive enough and being bashed by the centrists for their quality of life issues, she’s probably doing something right. I’m glad I voted for her.
LOL! Good call!
Of course she ruined the neighborhood. She allowed countless shelters and SRO’s to saturate the UWS which is now unmanageable. Walk down Broadway – the entire 30 blocks. Our neighborhood has the mentally ill and drug-addicted shelter clients walking around all day every day as I see it firsthand outside my window. Same ones, every day, with no accountability or mental assistance. Will she do something about it this time so EVERYONE in the neighborhood has a quality of life? Well, I guess we’ll see – OR NOT.
The other 50% of people voted for a beautiful safe neighborhood to walk around and enjoy instead of being accosted every time we go out our doors.
Allowing drug-addicted or mentally ill human beings to walk around all day, every day, coming up to people is not compassionate. It’s just out of control.
I can tell you are relatively new to the nabe.
“Of course she ruined the neighborhood. She allowed countless shelters and SRO’s to saturate the UWS which is now unmanageable. Walk down Broadway – the entire 30 blocks. Our neighborhood has the mentally ill and drug-addicted shelter clients walking around all day every day as I see it firsthand outside my window. Same ones, every day, with no accountability or mental assistance. Will she do something about it this time so EVERYONE in the neighborhood has a quality of life? Well, I guess we’ll see – OR NOT.”
First, you are conflating several populations. First, there are the permanent residences, the tenants of which have every right to be here, just as you do. Second, there are those who were temporarily placed in hotels in order to help them survive the pandemic. You apparently don’t care if they had died. Some of us do. Third, there are the “street homeless,” a population that has existed since time immemorial – and one whose numbers swelled when the subway were closed during the pandemic. Again, you seem to have very little tolerance or compassion for those less fortunate than you. And Gale did not “cause” these issues: yes, some of the new permanent residences and shelters were cited while she was in the City Council. But they were approved by the Community Board, and by the overwhelming majority of residents of the area. Because most of us do not feel threatened by them, and welcome them here.
“The other 50% of people voted for a beautiful safe neighborhood to walk around and enjoy instead of being accosted every time we go out our doors.”
By “beautiful safe neighborhood to enjoy” you mean “White property owners.” Nice try. But your veiled racism is not nearly as veiled as you hoped.
“Allowing drug-addicted or mentally ill human beings to walk around all day, every day, coming up to people is not compassionate. It’s just out of control.”
First, it IS compassionate to allow those less fortunate to live wherever they choose, and to make the small sacrifice in doing so. Second, it is not as if attempts have not been, and are not being, made to solve this crisis, which, again, has been with us for several decades. And Gale has actually been at the forefront of those attempts for decades. That she (and others) have not been as successful as many of us would like is not for lack of trying.
Maybe instead of using racist tropes and sniping from the sidelines, you might try actually DOING something and getting involved in being part of the solution. Every think of THAT?
I have lived on the UWS for 18 years. You have no right to judge me or anyone else that differ from your opinions. And race has NOTHING to do with seeing drug-addicted and mentally ill individuals walk around all day and accost people, there are plenty of white individuals doing it. So step off your pedestal – you are not God to judge anyone. I find fault with how mismanaged and out of control this neighborhood is and have a right to express it. For you to name-call anyone that has a differing opinion shows who YOU really are.
“I have lived on the UWS for 18 years. You have no right to judge me or anyone else that differ from your opinions. And race has NOTHING to do with seeing drug-addicted and mentally ill individuals walk around all day and accost people, there are plenty of white individuals doing it. So step off your pedestal – you are not God to judge anyone. I find fault with how mismanaged and out of control this neighborhood is and have a right to express it. For you to name-call anyone that has a differing opinion shows who YOU really are.”
And I have lived on the UWs for 56 years. So I have FAR more knowledge and experience of its politics and positions than you.
You say you find fault with how “mismanaged and out of control” the neighborhood is (in your opinion). I think “out of control” is hopelessly hyperbolic. Yes, the situation got worse – primarily as a result of the pandemic. And again, there have always been homeless and mentally ill people walking the streets (and occasionally accosting people),; there is nothing new in this, and to blame Gale – which is what you started out doing, or we would not be having this discussion – is absurd.
You are absolutely entitled to your opinion and your feelings. What you are not entitled to do is throw blame around willy-nilly without looking at the history and totality of the situation.
And as for “racist,” when you use euphemisms and tropes like “beautiful safe neighborhood,” it is obvious what you mean, whether you intend it or not.
Frustrated:
You claim that you’ve lived on the UWS for 18 years, but you supposed SROs, which have been here for more than 100 years, are new.
Nor is drug addiction new to the UWS, plenty of Wall Street types who live here abuse drugs–cocaine especially.
Jay:
Thanks. As a matter of history, the homeless crisis as we know it was the result of a perfect storm of three things occurring almost simultaneously in the mid-70s. First, there was the closing of the five “mental hospitals” (most notoriously, Willowbrook) – which were horror shows, and needed to be closed – but the State failed to provide adequate housing and support services for most of those being released. Second, there was the de-funding by the federal government of many State programs that were needed to deal with not only the new mentally ill homeless, but also the homeless crisis in general (you may remember the famous Daily News headline “Ford to City: Drop Dead”). Third, from the mid-70s to the early 80s, there was the emptying (sometimes by illegal means) of many SROS so developers could turn them into middle- and upper-class housing.
Although there were always homeless people in NYC, even on the streets, that number was only in the hundreds until these things occurred. It quickly grew into the thousands, and then tens of thousands. And although there was always SROs as well (some, as you note, predate the mid-70s by quite some years), the growing crisis led to the need to create some sort of system to handle it. It began with the shelter system (an imperfect, and ultimately self-defeating one), and then the idea o transitional and/or permanent housing, including what came to be called “affordable housing” (which was never any such thing), which pretty much began under Koch.
It might also interest you (and others) to know that homelessness grew under every mayor except Dinkins, who actually lowered it (for a while). The biggest increases were under Giuliani, and particularly Bloomberg, under whom the number went from ~39,000 to ~55,000 – the largest increase in history, by a mayor who ran on a platform of “cutting homelessness by one-third.” Under BdB, it has grown to ~63,000.
Doomed may be a tad strong but I am with the sentiment. In a weak field I was hoping for Danzilo. We keep electing them and get what we deserve good and hard.
Please explain what you are “blaming” her for. It may be that your placement of blame is inaccurate.
Beautiful safe neighborhood is racist. I’ve heard everything I need to hear from Ian. I’m with Frustrated the racist.
So tell me…when did it become NOT beautiful and NOT safe? It didn’t have anything to do with White people did it? Or with those who own property? Or with those who have a roof at all? If so, then who, exactly is making it NOT beautiful and Not safe? And you tell me it is not a racist, or at very least euphemistic, comment? What is it then? I simply call it as I hear it. And when I hear phrases like that, I hear “people of color, and people less fortunate than me, are making my neighborhood not beautiful and not safe.”
Tell me I’m wrong. And explain HOW.
Ian – I have great sympathy for you. It must be a very sad and pathetic life you have. You call people racists because they believe in clean safe neighborhoods. The reality is YOU are the racist. Every time someone calls for a safe community, you and others like you respond by saying the people who want safe communities are racist. This clearly makes YOU the racist. YOU are saying that it is blacks who make the community unsafe. Anyone who commits crimes and/or destroys our quality of life is unwelcome here on the UWS…… no matter what color they are.
YOU are disgraceful and YOU do not deserve to live here. Go somewhere else. Leave us to live happily and safely in our safe and clean neighborhood …. whatever color we are.
“Ian – I have great sympathy for you. It must be a very sad and pathetic life you have. You call people racists because they believe in clean safe neighborhoods. The reality is YOU are the racist. Every time someone calls for a safe community, you and others like you respond by saying the people who want safe communities are racist. This clearly makes YOU the racist. YOU are saying that it is blacks who make the community unsafe. Anyone who commits crimes and/or destroys our quality of life is unwelcome here on the UWS…… no matter what color they are.
YOU are disgraceful and YOU do not deserve to live here. Go somewhere else. Leave us to live happily and safely in our safe and clean neighborhood …. whatever color we are.”
I appreciate your sympathy, but it is misplaced. I, too, want a safe community. But I don’t “couch” it in phrases that are at best euphemisms. None of those of your ilk actually say what they mean. “Frustrated” did not explain what he actually meant – that the problems include mismanagement, etc. – until long AFTER he had decided to use coded language. You, too, are hiding behind projection, simply attempting a tit-for-tat.
I have lived here for over 55 years, and have very few issues with this neighborhood. Could it be cleaner? Sure, so could any neighborhood in a huge city. Could there be less crime and more “safety?” Of course, but blaming specific “others” for that is at best misguided and ignorant, if not openly racist.
Now, if you and others want to have a discussion about policies and management, and possible solutions, I am all up for that. But you and your ilk prefer to snipe from the sidelines, while others – like me – have been involved in trying to actually find solutions, and helping those less fortunate.
I have been serving the UWS community for 40 years in this regard. What the f—- have YOU done?
Newbies moving to NYC and upset it’s not Kansas on the Hudson. I’ve lived in NYC since 1978. Funny seeing so many people complaining about SROs and homeless. NYC in 2021 is like Disney World compared to what it was in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. People swarmed to the city then and they will swarm to the city now. If you don’t like the diversity, and yes economic diversity adds to NYC, you can always leave. A lot of folks are who didn’t like it last year left. Nobody is stopping you. You can always tell a true New Yorker by their kindness. You can tell a newbie by their judge mental attitude.
Thank you and Amen!