Head of the Brooklyn Democratic Party,
Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn called out Council Member Justin Brannan on seven-year-old harassment claims of former city council aide with autism.
File photo by Caroline Ourso/Courtesy of Justin Brannan
Things in Brooklyn’s most-watched City Council race have taken an awkward turn.
Just a week before the Nov. 7 election, Democratic party leadership in the borough took aim at Democratic nominee, Council Member Justin Brannan for his alleged involvement in harassing a former City Council staffer with autism. Brannan says the claims are bogus, and a number of Democratic district leaders in Brooklyn are defending him amid criticism from the party boss.
Brannan is in the fight of his political life as he faces a stiff challenge from Republican Ari Kagan for the 47th City Council seat. The two pols are facing each other for the first time after redistricting; Kagan, a former Democrat, switched parties last year and announced his intention to run against Brannan, ultimately winning the GOP nomination in the June primary.
But despite the risk of Democrats losing the 47th Council seat to the Republican competition, Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, chair of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, spoke out against Brannan on Tuesday in response to a public statement and video released by the former staffer, Michael Bistreich.
In the video — posted online by a representative for Brannan’s Republican opponent Ari Kagan — Bistreich alleges that Brannan harassed him due to his having Asperger’s Syndrome, a developmental disorder on the autism spectrum, while the two worked in the office for ex-Council Member Vincent Gentile.
Brannan was neither named in the original lawsuit nor called to testify in court — however, the incumbent is mentioned in the court documents as allegedly being present during some of the attacks on Bistreich.
“As Democrats, we have to hold our own Party members…
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