Gale Brewer won the race to represent the 6th City Council district, the fourth time she’s been chosen to represent the district. She told West Side Rag she wants to come back to her job to reinvigorate constituent services and work on issues like affordable housing and public safety on the Upper West Side.
With 74.5% of precincts reporting, Brewer had received 23,438 votes. Her competitor, Republican Nancy Sliwa, had received 3,475.
Brewer will step down as Manhattan Borough President in January after serving two terms.
“She told West Side Rag she wants to come back to her job to reinvigorate constituent services….”
Ouch.
Albeit, irony about the borough presidents appointing NYC CB members directly.
The point being that too oft out of touch CB members–who have never held elected office or worked in constituent services for an elected office holder–end up being elected to the NYC City Council seats.
Gale Brewer may just be the most effective elected official we have had in NYC in quite some time. Nice to have her back on the UWS. Congrats!
Ian A:
What has been so [positively] effective about Ms Brewer’s 2 terms as Manhattan Borough President?
While I agree that Ms Brewer will likely be a much more effective Council Member for District 6 than the current person who holds that office, to call Ms Brewer “the most effective” is a bit of a stretch.
I detest Michael Bloomberg and never voted for him, but his creation of the 311 system and the vastly improved NYC dot gov websites was very effective. Too bad that even in the last 2 months, De Blasio (and his team) have degraded both the call center and website/s even further.
I requested removal of a dangerous looking dead tree on 311. Their reply took about three weeks and included this disclaimer, “ Please note that addressing this work can take up to a year or more depending on the higher priority work identified during this period and resources available to address this work.”
James?
311?
Why bother with that any longer?
I contacted Corey Johnson’s office about a dead tree some years ago, it was severely trimmed back a few months later.
Johnson’s office is much better about those kinds of things than Helen Rosenthal.
And the good news here is that Nancy Sliwa lost.
Ugh, get ready for yet another four years of watching her bring in more homeless shelters and trying to chase developers out of the neighborhood instead of focusing on the rise in crime and decline in our quality of life. Nice going, voters!
Just move to Jersey already
Thanks Will, but I prefer Westchester or Connecticut to Jersey. Either way, I can’t speak for your standards, but personally I still hold out hope that future UWS voters will realize how damaging Gale Brewer and her “Progressive” cohorts are to our city.
Although you probably did not intend it this way, your comment – “Just move to Jersey already” – seems similar to the remark made by right wingers to left wingers who opposed the Vietnam War: “America – Love It or Leave It!”
Why is criticism of Ms. Brewer, a politician/public servant with a long record of achievements and faults, greeted with a discussion killing “Just move to Jersey”?
Is the criticism too painful to bear?
Why so aggressive a defense?
Because the complaining is getting old, and at a certain point it’s about taking action or moving on. Go out there and do something about it. Take a stand, but please enough of the pontificating and consternation on online news publications. New Yorkers don’t spend enough time out on the street anymore.
Gale Brewer has ruined our neighborhood before and she WILL do it again.
How is Ms Brewer directly responsible for so many Duane-Reades, CVSes, and Chipoltes?
What’s wrong with Chipotle? Would you rather have empty storefronts? Would you rather the employees there not have jobs? It is relatively healthy food.
Not sure why no one likes chains. They too once started as small businesses. Chipotle was founded by a guy with a dream and hard work – that is the American way.
What’s wrong with Chipolte?
The food gives one brain fog, not to be confused with feeling sleepy after eating a big burrito.
Progressives and their agendas were soundly rejected across the country yesterday. The progressive wing of the Democratic Party has alienated mainstream voters and caused even people who despise Trump to vote for the GOP.
The UWS is one of the few places where someone like Gale Brewer can win an election.
Her victory is one more unfortunate example of NYC being out of sync with the rest of the country.
No major progressives lost on election day, though? Just moderate establishment Dems
And thank goodness for that.
I have a few recommendations for moving companies if you think living out in the sticks would be nicer…
Hey, I grew up in what you pejoratively call “the sticks,” buddy, and in a lot of ways, it was better. But I live where I choose to live because we are in a country where people can do that. People – including original poster – can live wherever they want. And just because they want their home to be a better place doesn’t mean that you should just tell them to move whenever they disagree with you. How stuck up. How rude.
And this idea that anything not New York is “the sticks”? Don’t try to tell me you meant that as a complement. This kind of attitude is exactly why people are voting red, as another poster pointed out. Why should people in these so-called “sticks” vote the way New Yorkers tell them to when all we do is assume they’re too stupid to make their own decisions then show obvious contempt by turning their home into an insult? Since when did “the sticks” become hell (as in “go to hell, arrogant a-hole”)?
Thank you – totally agree. I am a lifelong Democrat but I find so many Democrats, particularly those here on the UWS, to be completely tone deaf and self-righteous. They are handing the 2022 and 2024 elections to the Republicans by focusing on culture war issues and finding reasons to be offended rather than basic issues that appeal to all Americans. And stop telling people what they should be offended by.
While NYC is falling apart, they are fighting about tearing down the statue of Thomas Jefferson in city hall. What a great use of time and energy!
At least we got Adams for Mayor rather than Wiley, etc.
An interesting commentary on this election are the following stats for the Mayoral race with 98% of scanners reported:
9 Candidates plus assorted Write Ins;
8.2 Million NYC residents; and
992,802 votes cast in ADs city-wide
The number of votes cast for Mayor of New York City in 2021 says quite a lot.
Is it time for New Yorkers to be more involved with who makes it to the Primaries in the first place?
It takes work to hold on to a Republic.
Congratulations, Gale Brewer! Great to see you back in the City Council. I am confident you will ignore the usual anonymous, cranky right-wingers who love to post here. 🙂
No doubt that Gale was going to win. Gale Brewer has done more for the Upper West Side and in Manhattan than any other politician on this year’s ballad.
Our congratulations and support and friend of the W. 80th Street, Block Association.
Gale Brewer is our HERO today‼️
The last thing NYC politicians deserve these days is a ballad.
I am unbelievably disappointed in the results of the election, both with Gale Brewer who has proven time and again for *years* that she is an ineffective leader, and with Eric Adams (who lives in New Jersey) as the next mayor. So many many people have complained vociferously about the state of the city and quality of life issues, but on election day, don’t vote with change in mind. It’s really demoralizing at this point.
Get ready for even more homeless shelters.
What a waste of votes and a waste of time.
She is a lifer.
She should be voted out the next time she runs for any office.
And run again she will.
Again, and again, and again and again…..
Term limits is the answer.
Gale Brewer proving single-handedly that term limits are a joke.
Can’t think of a single thing Gale Brewer did the last time around. Nothing.
Having lived since 2013 next to a building where no repairs are being performed despite an ugly compulsory shed around it, Ms. Brewer’s top priority should be to get rid of these countless sheds and scaffoldings marring the Upper West Side.
The Department of Buildings excels at finding fault with building facades and forcing owners to erect a shed. But once the shed has been raised, the Department seems to evaporate. No enforcement of the issued repair mandate, no deadlines to complete the work, no empathy for residents trapped behind netting or neighbors confronting a never-ending eyesore.
I hope Mr. Brewer will use her position to put an end to the indifference, arrogance, and inaction of building owners ignoring mandated structural repairs. Even better, let Ms. Brewer have our new City Controller audit the Department of Buildings. They are a clear waste of our tax money.
It is high time the Upper Shed Side became the Upper West Side again.
as bad as those in dc, never want to leave, give somene elese a chance at the job and maybe do better. our founding fathers did not want to be in dc any longer than necessary, theyh were farmers, trades people etc etc etc and said let us go home. govet jobs elected anyway, no matter your status shokld have term limit(s).
This wasn’t an election, more like game of musical chairs.
Aside from some city council seats, Manhattan DA, and few others nearly all over races were won by same career politicians who previously held another office.
Term limited out of one spot, they just maneuvered themselves into another. In four or eight years when their time is up yet again we shall see same thing.
So far term limits as invigorating NYC politics and bringing in fresh blood has been a dud.
She’s the best. YAY, Gale, we need you now more than ever.
Gale Brewer is beloved by the entire Upper Westside. Long may she serve.
Read some of the comments here.
She is obviously NOT beloved by everyone on the Upper West Side.
Don’t worry Sara Lind will win in 2029!
Thanks to NYC’s charter there will be another election for city council seats in 2023.
“Of the 51 members, only 16 are up for re-election. And for the first time in 20 years, all winners will serve a two-year term as opposed to the usual four.”
This is triggered by census results which in turn will lead to redistricting.
https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2020/01/15/nyc-elections-2021-whos-running-city-council-why-two-year-terms-instead-of-four
To an extent it isn’t about not liking Gale Brewer or any of the other career NYC politicians. But more to point it is very difficult for fresh and new blood to get themselves elected.
Gale Brewer and others went on about how these previously term limited out city council member have a “wealth of institutional knowledge”. Thus they deserve to be put back on city council so newly elected members (what there is of them) can benefit.
Well if same people keep turning up in elected offices election after election, how is anyone else supposed to gain experience?
Gale Brewer is one of the people in NYC I most admire. Maybe THE NYC person I most admire. Glad I’ve had the opportunity to tell her how grateful I am.
It has been noted that Clinton Democrats are the New Republicans…