Bay Ridge

Cynthia Nixon catches criticism from both parties during Bay Ridge visit

May 11, 2018 By Andy Katz Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Longshot Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon addressed the Bay Ridge Democrats at the Bridgeview Diner in Bay Ridge on Thursday night. Eagle photos by Andy Katz
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Welcome to Brooklyn, Cynthia.

Insurgent Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon was buffeted from the left and the right during a visit to Bay Ridge’s Bridgeview Diner on Thursday night, with one attendee challenging her racial views while a half-dozen people in red “Make America Great Hats” protested her liberal beliefs outside.

Several dozen members of the Bay Ridge Democrats club came to take the measure of the former “Sex and the City” star who is now challenging Gov. Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic nomination.

“I would love to support her, but who knows?” Lynn Grass said with a sigh. “She’s a longshot.”

Third-generation Bay Ridge resident, Noreen Corducci, added, “We need more women in office,” but shrugged off whether Nixon, who trails Cuomo badly in early polls, is that woman.

“It’s just so hard to get in the door. The establishment has all of the money, and the power, and the contacts,” she said.

Nixon gave a standard stump speech that touched on liberal topics and earned her sustained applause from the club.

“We need Medicare-for-all, single-payer healthcare,” she said. “We must stop the over-incarceration of communities of color. There are over 25,000 people in New York jails right now, and 70 percent of them are there because they can’t afford bail. We must end cash bail!”

Bay Ridge Democrats member Lynn Grass (left) confronts pro-Trump demonstrators outside Bridgeview Diner on Thursday night.

Nixon called for Cuomo to do more for immigrants, including making New York State a “real” sanctuary state and issuing driver’s licenses for all immigrants.

President Trump was mentioned only once by name.

“In this time of Donald Trump’s divide and conquer, it’s more important than ever that we show the country and we show the world that New Yorkers can come together and lead!” she said.

“New York is the natural hub of the resistance, and we have been holding back too long … Change will never come if we rely on politics as usual. I am so proud to part of this group of women who are running for office for the first time.”

After fielding a handful of on-topic questions, Nixon turned to go, but took one more query from Lutchi Gayot, who introduced himself as a candidate hoping to unseat Rep. Yvette Clarke in the neighboring 9th Congressional district. Gayot, who is black and a Republican, confronted Nixon on a controversial comment she made a week earlier in which she suggested that once New York State legalizes marijuana, officials should ensure that blacks get sales licenses as a form of “reparation.”

The word refers to efforts to pay back African-Americans for the economic contributions they made, but did not benefit from, during hundreds of years of slavery in this country — so Nixon’s use of the term offended many blacks.

“I want to know if you feel you owe an apology for saying that legalized pot should be part of reparations for slavery, when what the community really needs is better access to education and to schools,” Gayot started.

Bay Ridge Democrats President Chris McCreight tried to intervene, ““Wait,” he said. “We promised her—”

But Nixon took the question.

“I think it’s really important that marijuana be legalized. And it’s a multi-billion-dollar industry, and we have to ensure that people like John Boehner aren’t the only ones in on the ground floor,” she said, referring to the former House speaker, who has become a latter-day pot entrepreneur. “And we need to prioritize the families and the communities that are most harmed by the war on drugs.”

Gayot was unimpressed by Nixon’s explanation.

“As a point of reparation, we need education, access to schools,” he said. “Not marijuana legalization.”

Bay Ridge Democrats President Chris McCreight tries to intervene as Congressional candidate Lutchi Gayot tried to ask Nixon about her recent controversial comments about marijuana as a form of reparations for blacks.

Gayot’s friend, London Spears, added, “It’s a real insult.”

“It’s not—“ Nixon protested.

“You’re not African-American,” Spears interrupted.

Nixon pressed on with a broader explanation, arguing that “places such as Oakland and Massachusetts” have tried to make sure that “communities that have been hardest hit” by biased drug policies end up reaping some of the financial benefit now.

Nixon’s comments drew applause from the club regulars, but Gayot was disappointed. He and Nixon briefly chatted privately and swapped business cards before both called it a night.

Meanwhile outside, about a half-dozen protesters in MAGA hats marched with handmade signs and an American flag. The target was not Nixon, but Democrats in general.

One woman, who gave only the name Diann, called Democrats “hypocrites” on free speech because they objected when members of the National Rifle Association wanted to meet in the neighborhood.

“They took away our freedom of speech when they threatened Gargiulo’s,” she said of the Coney Island restaurant that was criticized for originally offering to host the gun event and raffle. “They’re the fascists!”

Another protester who declined to give her name played the race card.

“She wants black people to sell marijuana!” she screamed.

 

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