Council Member Antonio Reynoso (Emil Cohen/ NYC City Council)
Oct. 12, 2020 By Allie Griffin
Council Member Antonio Reynoso, who represents parts of Williamsburg, Bushwick and Ridgewood, has gained several big endorsements over the past few weeks in his bid for Brooklyn Borough President.
Reynoso, who launched his campaign in June, has garnered the support from key progressives including Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and State Sen. Julia Salazar, along with Assemblywoman Maritza Davila last month.
“Brooklyn needs a Borough President who is a fierce champion for working people and social justice — the times we are living in demand nothing less,” Williams said in a statement. “That’s why I’m supporting Antonio Reynoso.”
The 37-year-old progressive politician is one of the frontrunners in the race to succeed current Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who is term-limited and expected to run for mayor.
The son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Reynoso was born and raised in the south side of Williamsburg.
He has represented the neighborhood where he grew up, within the 34th Council District, since 2014 and must vacate the seat at the end of next year due to term limits.
Reynoso has served as the Chair of Sanitation Committee for both his terms. He is currently working to create a citywide commercial waste zoning system and has passed legislation to cap the amount of trash handled by overburdened districts.
State Sen. Salazar, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, commended his work as Sanitation Committee Chair.
“Antonio has worked relentlessly to identify the problems facing our communities and to take action to resolve them—from making our shared streets in Brooklyn safer for all of us, to fighting for climate justice and waste equity in our neighborhoods,” she said in a statement.
The Council Member also was instrumental in bringing outdoor dining to New York City during the pandemic. He was the primary sponsor of the legislation that created the city’s Open Restaurants program and pushed to make it permanent.
Reynoso also has a progressive record on police reform. He passed legislation that requires the NYPD to notify civilians of their right to refuse a search and voted against the City Budget that cut $1 billion from the NYPD.
He said the $1 billion cut wasn’t enough to bring about systemic change to “a system of policing that discriminates based on economic status, race, religion, gender and sexual orientation.”
Reynoso faces a challenger in Council Member Robert Cornegy, who represents Bedford Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, for the borough president seat. New York City’s First Lady Chirlane McCray has been rumored to be mulling a run as well.
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