Which Mayoral Candidate Gets To Be The “Brooklyn” Candidate?
But you know else is from Brooklyn, and running for mayor? Sal Albanese. A former Bay Ridge city councilman and New York public school teacher, Albanese has lived in Brooklyn since he was eight years old. He also has a decades-long history of advocating for progressive politics in the borough. Even his campaign slogan is “Five Boroughs, One Future.” Sal Albanese is super fucking Brooklyn (and also, obviously, kind of a favorite in our offices).
Maybe more importantly, though, Albanese is more than happy to take public jabs at de Blasio’s candidacy, nicknaming him “Broadway Bill” for his impressive roster of celebrity endorsements, and telling Politicker, “You listen to him on the campaign trail and you’d think he was the third coming of Martin Luther King Jr. […] He comes across as this major leader of grassroots people in New York City when in fact he’s just a career politician that machinates all day long … He’s a behind-the-scenes guy and we’re going to expose that.”
Granted, “Broadway Bill” is not that sick of a burn—some people (“theatre” nerds) might even mistake it for a compliment—but Albanese’s approach of repeatedly hassling de Blasio is really a surprisingly effective one. Whether or not you’ve made your mind up (or actually care much at all) which of the mayoral candidates really, truly represents our borough, he’s pretty much guaranteed that we’ll have to keep talking about it.
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.