BY SOFIA CANONGE
In what was intended to be a platform for civil discourse and community engagement, the Brooklyn City Council Candidate Forums, hosted by Schneps Media and PoliticsNY and sponsored by AARP New York, took an unexpected turn as hecklers and interruptions disrupted the event.
The evening began on a promising note, with candidates from both sides of the aisle; Republican candidate Yin Tang of District 43 and Democrat-turned Republican Councilmember Ari Kagan of District 47 as well as Democratic candidate Amber Adler of District 48 and current Councilmember Justin Brannan of District 47.
Affordable housing, an issue crucial for many Brooklyn residents, was at the forefront of discussions. Candidates shared their proposals, but the atmosphere grew tense as passionate hecklers among the audience of about 50 attempted to drown out some of the speakers, clearly disagreeing with their positions.
“I personally believe that affordable housing is only affordable if an apartment rented isn’t more than one week’s worth of average salary. To me, that’s how you live and not just how you survive,” Adler shared when the forum questioned candidates on improving access to affordable housing.
At this point, many attendees booed and demanded, with snide comments, that candidates look at the issue through the lens of homeowners rather than renters. Republican candidate Kagan was quick to appeal to them.
“Unfortunately, my colleagues are making life in New York City much tougher. One of my prime examples is that my opponent voted for Local Law 97. That creates a huge problem for both old and new condominium owners who are paying up exorbitant maintenance fees, and cannot afford to even coexist due to this Local 97 law,” Kagan said during his allotted 90 seconds.
Most of Kagan’s answers received cheers and applause from the audience, some of whom raised signs supporting and encouraging others to vote for him. However, the same audience turned to jeers and loud interruptions when other candidates spoke.
This created tension and chaos when organizers tried to quiet them down and reminded them that the event was intended to be a forum, not an open debate.
“Enough! Enough! You’ve come here to hear everybody’s viewpoint. I would appreciate it right now if everybody would stop screaming and let’s just hear what they have to say, not what you have to say!” Jada Camille, moderator of the forum urged the rowdy crowd.
Despite many attempts to calm the situation down, the conflict reached its climax when the forum tried to end the night with a pressing question regarding how candidates would handle climate change in light of the serious floods Brooklyn experienced just last week.
“Climate change is natural!” “No one cares!” “Let’s talk about public safety!” “What about violent crimes?!” were the loud chants heard throughout the whole room, overpowering the moderators and organizers trying to calm everyone down.
Due to the chaos and loud objections invoked by the attempt to discuss climate change in Brooklyn, the candidates had little to no time to further discuss any other matters. Organizers were quick to wrap things up in what appeared as an effort to avoid more violent confrontations.
Candidates were given their last 60 seconds to deliver closing statements.
Justin Brannan, Democratic candidate for newly redrawn District 47 and elected councilman for district 43, ended the night with a reminder.
“Probably the number one saying you hear in politics famously said by Fiorello LaGuardia is that there is no Republican or Democratic way of taking out the garbage. The job is to just get it done,” Brannan said. “It’s important that taxpayers get to see a return in their investments through their communities and it happens when you have a council member who is in the room with power and wants to get those things done.”
A heckler continued to harass Brannan while exiting the building, shouting and shoving a camera in his face. A hostile crowd then followed behind Brannan and his team until he left in a car.