Andrew Tobia
Contributing Editor
Last night, New Yorkers from across the five boroughs went out to vote in the municipal general election. Bushwick residents appear to be pleased with the work of their existing council members, because they both won re-election.
Councilman Rafael Espinal (D) in City Council District 37 defeated Green Party candidate Persephone Smith. Smith garnered exactly 1,111 votes, while the incumbent Espinal got just over 10,000, beating his challenger by a 90 percent margin. District 37 covers a large chunk of Bushwick, as well as Brownsville, East New York, and Cypress Hills.
Councilman Antonio Reynoso, of the Democratic and Working Families parties, won re-election unopposed in City Council District 34, which covers all of East Williamsburg, as well as parts of Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Ridgewood.
The outcome was slightly different in neighboring District 30, which covers areas of Ridgewood not represented by Reynoso, as well as the Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, Woodside, and Woodhaven neighborhoods of Queens.
Incumbent Council Member Elizabeth Crowley was narrowly defeated by challenger, Republican Robert Holden. When Crowley was elected in 2008, she was not only the first woman to represent District 30, but the first Democrat as well. Out of just over 20,300 votes cast, Holden came out ahead by a minuscule 133 votes; however, there are still absentee ballots to be counted before the declaration of Holden’s official win.
Elsewhere in the city, results were largely as expected. Mayor Bill de Blasio won re-election easily, though by a smaller margin than his first campaign. Also winning re-election were Comptroller Scott Stringer, Public Advocate Letitia James, and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, all democrats.
Cover image courtesy of Arnaud Jaegers on Unsplash
