Powers Wins East Side Council Race, Robinson In Rant Urges Jews to Flee “Irredeemable” City
In an election night post on X, (formerly known as Twitter) losing Republican candidate Brian Robinson in a bizzare rant, said “the city has chosen its own suicide. Jews get out while you can. My family will be.” He verified to Straus News that “yes, I posted it.” He is Jewish and said he fears rising anti-Semitism.
| 09 Nov 2023 | 05:25
Incumbent Democrat Keith Powers pulled in 73.4 percent of the votes cast in the East Side race for district 4 city council, defeating Brian Robinson, who pulled in just 25.3 percent of the votes cast. Robinson, who is Jewish is urging Jews to now flee the city due because he fears rising anti-semitism. Photo: KeithPowersNYC
Republican candidate for City Council Brian Robinson lost to incumbent Keith Powers by a wide margin in district 4 race. Robinson, who is Jewish, said he is now urging Jews to flee the city due to rising anti-semitism.
Incumbent Keith Powers, the democratic majority leader in the City Council, swept to a resounding victory in a district that includes Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village and large parts of the UES, defeating Republican opponent Brian Robinson.
Robinson, in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) after the loss, congratulated Powers but said New York City is “irredeemable” and urged Jews to flee the city.
Robinson, who is Jewish said he is discussing leaving the city himself and may head to Florida.
”Thank you to all that fight the good fight with me. NYC is irredeemable,” he wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). “Congratulations to @KeithPowersNYC. The city has blindly chosen its own suicide. Jews, get out while you can. My family will be. To the Nazi machine machine (sic) that killed a great city: You are a grave disappointment.”
In the unofficial tally, Powers had 12,216 votes or 73.4 percent of the votes cast to Robinson’s 4,348 which included 4,213 on the Republican line and 135 on a third party Parenting Party line, which combined to give him 25.3 percent of the vote, according to the unofficial results from the Board of Elections, which said it had tallied 96 percent of the vote.
Powers said, “There’s no place for this ugly rhetoric during the race or after. I am very grateful the East Side loudly rejected this type of extremism on election day.”
Due to term limits, this two-year term is the final city council election for Powers. He succeeded Dan Garodnick, who is now the City Planning Commissioner, in 2018. Due to realignment after the last US Census, the previous term was also only two years instead of the traditional four years. It returns to a four year term with the next election.
District 4 takes in a broad swath of the UES that includes Central Park South, Grand Central Terminal, Tudor City, Carnegie Hill, Yorkville, the United Nations plus mid-town East neighborhoods Waterside and Turtle Hill as well as Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town, where Powers grew up and still resides.
“From Stuyvesant Town to Carnegie Hill, I’m deeply grateful to the residents of district 4 for your continued support and confidence,” Powers posted on X. “I’ll never take that for granted. I’m extremely lucky to serve this great district–and the greatest city in the world.”
Robinson, his defeated opponent, meanwhile is thinking about getting out of town. “I am discussing the future with my family right now,” he said. He said he may move to Florida.