A former City Council aide with autism is accusing Democratic Councilman Justin Brannan of being one of his tormentors while endorsing the pol’s GOP rival, Councilman Ari Kagan, in their Brooklyn race.
Michael Bistreich — who settled a discrimination suit against the city for $850,000 in 2021 — endorsed Kagan for the newly drawn 47th District while unloading on Brannan, a former co-worker, in an explosive video where he mentioned being locked in a basement like an “unwanted creature.”
Brannan had worked alongside Bistreich as a staffer for then-Councilman Vincent Gentile before Brannan’s own election to public office.
Bistreich’s bashing of Brannan wasn’t the only recent salvo in the race.
An independent political action committee backing Brannan has also sent out mailers attacking Kagan as a former communist when he lived in the old Soviet Union, for switching from Democrat to Republican last year to run against Brannan and for voting against the city budget.
The fierce mudslinging is a sign of a very tight race.
“Unfortunately after I was hired, I began getting harassed, bullied and abused by people in that office. I’m very sad to have to say that one of those people is council member Justin Brannan,” Bistreich said in the video released by the Kagan campaign.
“During my time there, I suffered daily. I had humiliating experiences, like being locked in the basement as some type of unwanted creature, something that Brannan laughed heartily at,” Bistreich said.
He recalled...
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