Ms. Velazquez’s congressional district covers about two-thirds of the Assembly district, but Mr. Gonzalez will have competition for the Latino vote. Mr. Lopez’s candidate, Rafael Espinal, is also Latino, and splitting the ethnic vote could help the third candidate — Mr. Towns’ daughter, Deidra — who is the lone African-American candidate in the race. (African-Americans make up 33 percent of the district’s voters, and Mr. Towns’ congressional district covers about a third of the Assembly district.)
But Mr. Gonzalez stands to benefit – with both groups – from the long histories of Mr. Lopez and Mr. Towns in Brooklyn’s bare-knuckle politics.
“Jesus is independent, un-bossed and un-bought,” said City Councilman Charles Barron, who ran a primary against Mr. Towns in 2006. “We can’t have people getting elected just because of their last name.”
Mr. Barron is one of the Council’s more outspoken voices advocating for African-American causes, but has shunned Ms. Towns in favor of Mr. Gonzalez.
“I have never even seen Deidra in East New York,” he said. “And Vito, please. I would never support anyone Vito has control over.”
(Mr. Gonzalez recently met with the Reverend Al Sharpton, though a spokesman for the reverend said she was unaware if an endorsement was pending.)
The support from the anti-Lopez camp extends even beyond the district’s borders.
On a recent Wednesday night, Mr. Gonzalez hosted a fundraiser at Bar Celona, a South Williamsburg lounge. His cousin, Jose Lopez, who also works for Make the Road, had hastily arranged what he called an “After Work Celebration!” by Facebook invitation. There were no speeches by the candidate and no elected officials.
About a dozen people milled around, including two Hasidic men from South Williamsburg. “We will be Jews for Jesus,” they said.
A labor lawyer, who has worked with Mr. Gonzalez in the past, handed over a crumpled twenty-dollar bill to the campaign manager, and she looked around for an envelope to put it in.
Earlier this month, local District Leader Lincoln Restler hosted a slightly more lucrative fundraiser at his parents’ Pierrepont Street apartment in Brooklyn Heights, and Mr. Gonzalez’s campaign said on Tuesday that it would report more than $75,000 in contributions, a healthy start for an Assembly campaign.
He also has the support of the New Kings Democrats, an organization of young reformers – including Mr. Restler — dedicated to chipping away at the entrenched power of Mr. Lopez.
But, for Mr. Gonzalez, it all comes back to the community.
In Bushwick, as he stepped over the open hydrants to reach people sitting on their stoops, a middle-aged man with a clipboard stopped to question him about the bullet points on his flyers.
“Police who respect us,” he read from the literature. “How are you gonna get that from them?”
“I know what it is to get a gun pulled in my face,” said Mr. Gonzalez. “But I also know what it is to get harassed. So just looking for the balance on having safety in the neighborhood but having police who respect us.”
The man nodded approvingly and asked about job creation.
“You go to my opponents, they say, ‘Build Walmart because Walmart brings jobs.’ But they bring shitty jobs,” Mr. Gonzalez said. “So I say let’s bring some good jobs to the neighborhood. What I am saying is this, man, we need an advocate that is from the community.”
“I agree,” the man replied, “for the people, by the people,”.
“I know I represent that,” said Mr. Gonzalez. “Sometimes you plan and it doesn’t work out the way you plan. But, you do know that I won’t compromise those values.”
“You know what’s up,” the man told Mr. Gonzalez.
For now, Mr. Gonzalez’s plan is try to outhustle his opponents.
Around 7 p.m., after two hours of campaigning, he told the staffer walking with him that she could go home. He wanted to pick up the pace.
“I literally jog,” he said. “It’s my workout plan.”
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Wow, I’m amazed at how Jesus pretty much has his entire family working at Make the Road. Talk about not doing politics as usual. And I am oh so amazed at how the media never picks up at the fact that Lincoln Restler’s dad works on Wall Street and that Lincoln is buying off all these people to try and garner support–again Politics as usual! These REFORMERS are all FULL OF CRAP! A wise American political figure once said, a reformer is only a reformer until (s)he is in the position; after that they return to business as usual.
jesus’ family are two staff out of a city wide organization. both of his family members have a more extensive and proven track than Rafael or Diedra
Where to begin? First, if you look at who is working on this campaign, and where the money is coming from, you can see right away that it’s from outside the district. Even Gonzalez seems to be more from the 53rd AD part of Bushwick. Wealthy “reformers” like Andrew Friedman and Lincoln Restler are using their parents Wall Street/Washington corporate connections to influence the race. Even the elected officials who have chosen to support him are mostly from Williamsburg, with the one exception of soon to be indicted Charles Barron. As for the WFP, why no word on the infamous history of Data & Field services? Finally, this article would have been much more interesting if it would have focused on the unlikely fact that Nydia Velasquez is supporting a candidate against her mentor and long time ally Ed Towns’ daughter. Gonzalez seems like a spoiler to me.
I think Jesus is smart. young dude from the hood got them all to the table. he’s been hustlin. I just met him on my block today. he’s the real deal. i don’t know these people you talk about but i did meet him and we needs change. clown politicians claiming their throne. if these politicians were really about the community they would support Jesus. he’s from here and paid his dues
I love the comments about “FAT CAT” Democ”RAT” Lincoln Restler and his “Wall Street” Ties
But this race is about “POWER” who has it and can they elect their choice.
The “Voters” are mere window dressing and the on;y real issue is which of the “POWERS” will win.
Before there was the “Oracle at Delphi” there was Count Vampire J. Machiavelli
VJ Machiavelli
The Legislative Budget is Too Damn High
Deidre Towns isn’t African-American. Her father, Rep. Towns, has been public with the fact that Deidre is adopted and is Puerto Rican (I believe he even mentioned this in this column before). You should do your research before writing stuff as fact.
Gonzalez has a sister and a cousin who have been working at Make the Road as long as he has. They spent their youth learning about the community they lived in and decided to dedicate their lives working to improve it as organizers and advocates. Nothing wrong with that. This is very different than having someone in your family earning over a half million dollars while working part time there as a so called director, such as Vito, or funneling six figures to their wife’s so called non profit, such as Erik. Espinal wants to call himself a community activist and has no background as such. I don’t even think he knows the definition of the term. Jesus has lived in the district his entire life, went to school there, and still hangs out there. Nothing else needs to be said except Google each candidate’s name, and do your homework. The facts are there. Jesus has the most credentials, hands down. It’s time for a change – let’s get rid of these empty suits!
I find it funny how Gonzalez and Towns’ supporters only attack Espinal and avoid any substantive criticism of each other. Espinal is a smart and agressive Democrat who is obviously the best choice for this community. He’s the only one that would be an effective Assemblyman, who would actually bring much needed resources to the district. Like Charles Barron, who endorsed him, Gonzalez seems like just another left wing demagogue, uninterested in forging coalitions or actually getting things done. The people living in the 54th AD don’t need another soapbox orator, they need results.