While the June 24 primary elections will hugely impact the course of New York City politics, they were set to be less pivotal for Greenpoint and Williamsburg’s District 33, with our incumbent city council member, Lincoln Restler, running unopposed.
That’s changed now, with a new challenger throwing their name into the hat.
Brooklyn Heights resident Sabrina Gates filed to run shortly before the April 3 deadline, City & State reports. Though Gates has yet to start fundraising, she’s earned the backing of the Brooklyn Democratic Party’s chair, Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn.
An Eric Adams ally, Bichotte Hermelyn has faced several allegations of corruption and cronyism since taking office in 2020 and frequently spars with the more progressive wing of the party’s slate, including Restler.
A judge recently rejected Restler’s challenge that the Gates campaign improperly collected signatures.
This marks the second time Restler and Gates will face off in the city council primary. Both ran in 2021. Restler captured a little less than 50% in the first round of ranked choice voting, with Gates coming in at 5.5%. We spoke to all the primary candidates at the time; check out our interview with Gates here.
Gates denied that Bichotte Hermelyn played a role in her decision to run, though she told City & State that she valued the chair’s opinion.
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