North Brooklyn’s newly elected female District Leader and Greenpoint native Kristina Naplatarski, has announced her pick for assembly district 50’s new male District Leader.
Naplatarski unseated longtime incumbent Linda Minucci during the June primary elections, and this week picked Williamsburg resident and staffer for outgoing Assembly Member Joe Lentol, Emile Bazile, to replace Nick Rizzo, who lost the seat due to objections to his petitions during the last election cycle.
“I am proud to announce my nomination of Emile Bazile to fill the impending vacancy of Assembly District 50’s Male District Leader seat,” said District Leader-elect Kristina Naplatarski in a statement on Tuesday. “As a lifelong resident of Southside Williamsburg with a strong track record of public service, Bazile has a deep understanding of the 50th Assembly District and is committed to serving the needs of its diverse constituencies.”
Bazile grew up in NYCHA housing as the son of Haitian immigrants and is expected to be confirmed next month, making Bazile the first Black district leader for AD-50. “I envision working with my co-leader as a community advocate, drawing attention to issues affecting the district such as housing affordability, environmental justice, and insufficient infrastructure to accommodate our district’s unprecedented growth,” he said. “I also want to focus on conducting outreach to underrepresented portions of the district to ensure that voices who are often marginalized are heard and served.”
A coalition of Brooklyn democrats are supporting Bazile’s nomination including U.S. Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, NYC Council Member Antonio Reynoso and Brooklyn Democratic County Leader Rodneyse Bichotte.
Both Naplatarski and Bazile will be sworn in at the next Kings County Democratic Party meeting that will be scheduled for sometime this fall.