Antonio Reynoso: My Mandate as the Next Brooklyn President

BY WWT EDITORIAL TEAM

On November 2, the likely next leader of Brooklyn will be in office. The South‐side Williamsburg‐born Brooklynite, Antonio Reynoso has represented his con‐stituents, Bushwick and Ridge‐wood, from District 34, will be elected into office as the 19th Brooklyn borough president. During an interview with Peo‑ ple, Power & Politics, he shared the focus and how he intends to execute his bold, ambitious, and progressive plan for the whole of Brooklyn borough. The dis‐cussions focused on what his administration's key areas of accountability will be when he becomes elected. According to him, the central theme of his tenure remains the issue of maternal health and health equality for black women. A problem he reveals is of great importance to him, hav‐ing experienced firsthand the dangers black women face dur‐ing their pregnancy and birthing." I want to make Brook‐lyn the safest place for women to have babies. It's going to be a goal for us to achieve from day one. It is a personal story for me. My wife had a baby in a public hospital, and, sadly, my wife is eight times more likely to die during their pregnancy and the birth of our child than her white counterpart. It is a sad thing to realize, and I want to do my part as an ally". His strategy will focus on im‐proving facilities, processes and making sure the voices of women and those concerned are heard. Working collabora‐tively with NYC Mayor‐elect, he will devise ways of actualizing the plan. "…we are going to have a conversation about em‐powering midwives and doulas. I think that is the best way for us to effect meaningful change. And the way that we are going to do that is by centering black women's health and making sure that the facilities and the processes and the voice of black women mostly are centered in their birthing experience." Being an offspring of immi‐grants, his plan for documented immigrants in New York in‐cludes a commitment to ensur‐ing that they can participate in deciding the future of their bor‐ough by ensuring that they have the voting rights to contribute in choosing leaders in a city where they live. "…If you have a green card and you are a resident of New York, then you should have an opportunity to vote in elec‐tions. If you live in the city and you have been contributing in any way, shape, or form, you should have access to be able to hold your elected officials ac‐countable at least choose who they are." He acknowledges this importance among documented immigrants, especially amongst Latino, African and Caribbean communities, which are left out of active participation in shap‐ing the political landscape. "The current Borough President, soon to be Mayor Adams, I've heard that he initially said he is supportive of it. Given that his victory was mostly a black and brown coalition, it would be great for him to do, to show ap‐preciation to the Latino, Caribbean, and black communi‐ties that he is grateful, and wants to give them a larger voice in the New York political landscape." Also, upon his assumption of office, Mr. Reynoso's top five pri‐ority issues besides maternal and black women's health in‐clude education, housing, open space, and celebration of cul‐tural diversity. On education, ensuring that students in the borough are healthy and safe remains crucial in his agenda."Given what is happening in COVID, we must look out for the interest of our children, we can protect our children through vaccines, so we have to hold them (principal, continued on page 7

Antonio Reynoso/ continued from page 6 supervisors, and teachers) ac‐countable to do that." Jointly, promoting educational attain‐ment for the average black and brown student, most of whom are not getting the quality of ed‐ucation they deserve, remains paramount. "But outside of just their health and safety, because of COVID, it is just education at‐tainment. Black and brown have been getting some subpar edu‐cation, and they are not meeting reading proficiency for decades, and we need to do more. We need to hold people accountable as to why our children are not getting the highest quality of ed‐ucation," he states. Remarkably, the future seems bright with promises of afford‐able housing in the borough, with plans to create a place where there will be no more dis‐placed persons, where home‐owners will be able to keep their homes, and newcomers can find a place for themselves. Reynoso intends to "keep peo‐ple in their homes, in their neighborhoods, while also al‐lowing for new people to come in. They don't need to be mutu‐ally exclusive. You don't need to build and displace our people. We can protect our people and build moderate housing, and I think I want to focus on that." He also aims to ensure ade‐quate green space, recreational facilities, and parks, especially for poor black and brown peo‐ple communities. "Right now, Farah Louis's district has the least amount of park space in the entire city of New York, which means that her con‐stituents are not getting the green space and recreational opportunities that other com‐munities get. So, I want to help those types of communities get more green space." He considers this important to promote the health and quality of life of com‐munity members. "People un‐derestimate the value and quality of life improvement of green space in these communi‐ties. Look, you go anywhere, wherever there is the least num‐ber of parks are, you will proba‐bly go to find poor black and brown people. I want to ad‐dress this as well," he said. Recognition and celebration of the diverse cultures in the bor‐ough remain paramount given the diverse cultures that exist and are showcased. According to him, "The Caribbeans all have their days, and I want to make sure we celebrate them, and we could all appreciate it. I want people celebrating with us for every single culture and com‐munity. I don't think we need to isolate a Dominican event for Dominicans only. There is no reason why we can't all cele‐brate it. So I am really looking forward to shining a light on the beautiful culture and beautiful people of Brooklyn." Ultimately, the presumptive Borough President, Mr. Antonio Reynoso, plans to be a hands‐on leader, devoting his attention to areas in the community that most need his help, especially in the black and brown communi‐ties. He states, "So, I want to spend my time in areas that did‐n't necessarily vote for me, I lost these places, I didn't get all the votes there, and I am going to show people that it is not about where the vote comes from, it is about where the needs are. I want to show this community that I want to be there for them. I want to be present, so I want to go again to the areas that need my help. Where they have the lowest education attainment, the lowest amount of park space, the worst type of hous‐ing, no jobs, that is where I am going to spend my time. They will see me, and I hope that I can make a difference in their lives." Building equity remains a uni‐versal language for his adminis‐tration, as he wants to build an all‐inclusive community across the board. He believes that "If I can take care of the poor and the people that need me, then all of Brooklyn rises. So, I really want to build equity into the work that I am doing. I was a young black boy from the south side that had welfare, food stamps, section 8, housing. The government did a lot for me. I want that to be the standard, I don't want that to be a privilege, I want everybody to have that opportunity, so I am going to use the government to help the peo‐ple that need the help." As the days gradually draw near for the final election, we look forward to seeing him con‐firmed as the borough president and sworn into office.t

“Here in Brooklyn, we succeed by never giving up and never giving in. Right now, we need to be tough and pull together in the aftermath of COVID to finally address our affordable housing shortage, dismantle systemic racism, save our small businesses, fix our schools, and stop overdevelopment and gentrification. Brooklyn makes us all who we are; and together, we’ll make Brooklyn stronger and fairer for everyone.” ‑ Antonio Reynoso

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