New York City

Assembly Member Diana Richardson named Brooklyn deputy borough president

Borough President Antonio Reynoso chose a fellow progressive, which will create an open legislative seat.

Assembly Member Diana Richardson was selected to be Deputy Brooklyn Borough President.

Assembly Member Diana Richardson was selected to be Deputy Brooklyn Borough President. New York State Assembly

Assembly Member Diana Richardson was selected to be the deputy borough president under Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, creating a progressive alliance in Borough Hall, and leading to a legislative vacancy and special election in Central Brooklyn.

Reynoso’s office announced the appointment Monday afternoon, saying that Richardson would be focused on “addressing food insecurity, reducing gun violence, and supporting Brooklyn’s Community Boards and ensuring they are reflective of the communities they serve.” Richardson did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but tweeted a video of the news featuring her in Brooklyn Borough Hall while Jay-Z’s “Public Service Announcement” played.

Richardson is a progressive Democrat who was first elected to the Assembly on the Working Families Party line in a 2015 special election following former Assembly Member Karim Camara’s appointment to then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration. Nobody had the Democratic Party line in the race, but she became the first state legislator to win while running exclusively on the WFP line.

Reynoso is Latino, and from Williamsburg, and appointing Richardson would provide some balance of gender and race in his office, following a 2021 Democratic borough president primary that saw Brooklyn divided in part along racial lines.

Richardson did not back Reynoso in that race, instead endorsing Khari Edwards – a fellow Black candidate from Central Brooklyn. Edwards praised the expected appointment, calling Richardson “a seasoned legislator who really put the community first.” He thought it could help Reynoso’s reach among people that didn’t support him in the primary. “I think it’s a good choice for Antonio because when he was running, he lacked the Black community, the Caribbean community, which she is a part of.”

But Richardson and Reynoso have aligned on many issues in the past – most recently joining together with other progressive reformers to call for Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn’s resignation. At a November rally, Richardson had some of the sharpest words for Bichotte Hermelyn, accusing her of “divisiveness” and threatening to run a challenger for district leader against the county leader’s husband, Edu Hermelyn.

Richardson and Bichotte Hermelyn have a long-standing political rivalry. The county leader declined to endorse Richardson’s reelection effort in 2020 when she faced a challenge from former state Sen. Jesse Hamilton. 

Richardson will resign her seat representing the 43rd District, covering parts of Central Brooklyn including Prospect Lefferts Gardens and Crown Heights. Gov. Kathy Hochul would then be expected to call a special election, most likely sometime in early March.

It would be the latest in a string of special elections to fill New York City-based Assembly seats. A special election has been called for Jan. 18 to fill former Assembly Member Robert Rodriguez’s seat in East Harlem. And a special election will be held Feb. 15 for the Upper Manhattan seat vacated by now-Council Member Carmen De La Rosa and the East New York seat formerly held by now-Council Member Charles Barron. A special election could also be called soon for Assembly District 58 in East Flatbush, if Assembly Member N. Nick Perry’s appointment as U.S. ambassador to Jamaica is confirmed as expected.

Despite the tension between Richardson and Bichotte Hermelyn, some speculated that the Brooklyn Democratic boss would be pleased by the appointment, since it creates an opportunity for her to get another ally in the Assembly. “It’s certainly going to cause political upheaval. I can’t see that Rodneyse would be anything but pleased by it,” said Howard Graubard, a Brooklyn-based election lawyer. “All of a sudden you open up a situation where there’s no incumbent.”

But Richardson already has her own candidate. She told Brooklyn Paper on Monday that she, Rep. Yvette Clarke and state Sen. Zellnor Myrie will be supporting Jelanie DeShong, who currently works as Hochul’s assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs.

Another name that has been raised as somebody who could be interested in the seat is Sarana Purcell. Bichotte Hermelyn backed her for district leader in the 43rd Assembly District late last year. Purcell did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Jesse Hamilton once represented the area in the state Senate from 2015 through 2018 as a member of the Independent Democratic Conference – a group of Democrats who entered a power-sharing agreement with Republicans. Hamilton lost reelection in 2018, and also lost a comeback bid in the Assembly in 2020. Another run in 2022 sounds unlikely. “I don’t know,” Hamilton told City & State on Monday. “I won’t rule it out. But right now, I’m not thinking about it too much.”

The race also presents an early opportunity for New York City Mayor Eric Adams to get involved in electoral politics as chief executive. Adams represented the area in the state Senate from 2007 through 2013 and championed Hamilton to succeed him. Adams’ political efforts stumbled in the City Council speaker race, but his support in this race could go farther in helping to elect a candidate.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.