McCreight hints Treyger is a carpetbagger

Councilman counters that he has strong track record

June 15, 2016 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Chris McCreight is blasting Mark Treyger over the issue of the councilman’s residency. Photos courtesy of McCreight's and Treyger’s respective offices

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The race for Democratic leader in the 46th Assembly District (AD) focused this week on the issue of one candidate’s residency as his rival hinted that he’s a carpetbagger who doesn’t even live in the district that he’s running in.

In a sign that the district leadership race is growing increasingly bitter, Chris McCreight called on Councilmember Mark Treyger to tell voters if and when he plans to move into the 46th AD (Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights-Coney Island).

Treyger lives in an area of Brooklyn that is technically in the 47th AD.

Under New York state election laws, Treyger does not have to live in the 46th AD during the campaign, as long as he moves into the district by Election Day.

Treyger and McCreight are currently circulating petitions to collect enough signatures from registered Democrats get on the ballot for the Sept. 13 Primary.

“Call me old-fashioned, but I think you should actually live in the district you want to represent,” said McCreight, who lives in Bay Ridge. “I’m calling on Mark to do the right thing: move into the district or stay where he lives and run there.”

McCreight, a political consultant running with the backing of the Bay Ridge Democrats club, charged that Treyger has made it a habit of moving into a neighborhood when the political grass is greener for him.

“When I found out Mark was running against me, I thought it was odd because I knew he had just moved into Bensonhurst to run for City Council a few years ago,” McCreight said.

McCreight pointed to campaign finance records that indicate that Treyger lived in Bergen Beach in 2013 when he ran for the City Council seat in the 47th Council District (Coney Island-Gravesend-Bensonhurst). Treyger did eventually move into the council district.

In a statement to the Brooklyn Eagle, Treyger dismissed McCreight’s carpetbagger insinuation.

“I’m proud to have been a resident of Southern Brooklyn my entire life, and I’m proud to stand by my record of accomplishments in our community. We all know that the way Albany draws district lines nonsensically divides communities, but that shouldn’t stop us from electing the best representative with the strongest track record as our Democratic state committee member,” Treyger stated.

A district leader, more formally known as state committeeperson, is an unpaid volunteer who serves on the executive committee of a county political party for a two-year term. District leaders help select candidates to run for the City Council, state Assembly, state Senate and congressional seats and organize grassroots efforts to get candidates on the ballot. They are also instrumental in getting poll workers hired to work at polling places on Election Day.

Each AD has a male and a female district leader in each of the major political parties.

Brooklyn has 21 ADs.