NYC-CC39: Could a Brooklyn City Councilwoman (D) Lose Because of Her Stance on Gaza?
But the race in Brooklyn’s 39th Council District, an area that includes Park Slope and a constellation of surrounding neighborhoods, has attracted precisely that sort of attention. The focus has had less to do with championing a new political voice — someone, for example, with an inventive plan to introduce hundreds of low-equity co-ops — than about extinguishing the existing one. In this case, the relevant voice belongs to Shahana Hanif, a child of Bangladeshi immigrants who, four years ago, was elected as the first Muslim woman on the City Council, where she has served as co-chair of the Progressive Caucus.
Ms. Hanif, 34, is a district native, having grown up in Kensington, sometimes called “Little Bangladesh.” She has been an outspoken advocate of the Palestinian cause and last year joined campus protests at Columbia to stand in solidarity with students supporting Gaza, to the displeasure of some of her constituents.
Her positions on policing have also rattled some residents in and out of the district. David Yassky, a former city councilman who lives elsewhere in Brooklyn and runs a private foundation, is among those supporting her opponent, Maya Kornberg, a senior research fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice. A progressive, Mr. Yassky was taken aback when Ms. Hanif and her office did not seem to treat as an urgent criminal issue the fatal beating of a golden retriever mix early one morning in Prospect Park three years ago. The dog was attacked in front of its owner by a man roaming the park, who was muttering about immigrants, throwing bottled urine around and seemingly under the spell of severe mental illness.
Even before anyone had emerged to challenge Ms. Hanif, a political action committee called Brooklyn BridgeBuilders had organized to defeat her. In its online literature, the group describes District 39 as a place where “most voters identify as progressive but feel let down by performative politics.” Ramon Maislen, the founder, explained the origins of his mission more specifically to me. “Most of our members voted for Hanif, the first time around,” he said. But after Oct. 7, Jewish leaders met with her and went away disappointed.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/23/nyregion/shahana-hanif-maya-kornberg-council-race.html
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