In New York Metropolis, a world beacon that pulls a various inhabitants from all around the world, the Metropolis Council has by no means had an individual of South Asian descent — or a Muslim lady — amongst its membership.
That modified on Tuesday, when Shahana Hanif, a former Metropolis Council worker, received her election in a Brooklyn district that covers Park Slope, Kensington and elements of central Brooklyn.
Hanif, who’s Bangladeshi American, was the primary Muslim lady elected to the Council in its historical past, even if the town is dwelling to an estimated 769,000 Muslims.
She was certainly one of two history-making South Asian candidates to win as properly; the opposite, Shekar Krishnan, received a seat representing Jackson Heights and Elmhurst in Queens. (A 3rd, Felicia Singh, one other South Asian candidate, misplaced to her Republican opponent in a carefully watched Queens race.)
In an announcement on Tuesday night time, Hanif mentioned that she was “humbled and proud” to be the primary Muslim lady on the Council — and the primary lady of any religion to signify District 39. She cited volunteers and endorsements from the group and progressive teams, together with the left-leaning Working Households Celebration.
“Collectively we’re constructing an anti-racist, feminist metropolis,” she mentioned. “We deserve a metropolis that protects its most susceptible, a metropolis that has equitable training, a metropolis invested in local weather options which might be native and pushed by communities, a metropolis the place our immigrant neighbors really feel at dwelling and heard and secure. This work requires all of us to maintain displaying up though the election is over.”
The Metropolis Council may also have it’s first out homosexual Black ladies function members subsequent yr: Kristin Richardson Jordan scored an amazing victory in a Harlem district, as did Crystal Hudson in a Brooklyn district that encompasses elements of Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, and Bedford-Stuyvesant.
A lot of different LGBTQ candidates clinched victories, together with Tiffany Cabán in Queens. Chi Ossé in Brooklyn and Erik Bottcher in Manhattan had run in uncontested races. Lynn Schulman was anticipated to win a seat in Queens.
The candidates are half of a bigger shift in New York’s Metropolis Council, which is poised to be practical as various subsequent yr as the town it represents. Greater than two dozen ladies are positioned to take a majority of the Council’s seats, for the primary time ever.
