Dan Goldman’s flack calls BMT co-chair Avilés an opportunist, by Eric Newstrom

In our last issue, we wrote about the month leading up to the vote that approved EDC’s Brooklyn Marine Terminal Vision plan. In a tense meeting, where first-term congressman and BMT Chair Dan Goldman shut down discussions of the revised plan they were voting on in favor of a quick vote (before anybody could change their mind again), the plan passed by a single vote.

The vote occurred because two Task Force members, City Councilmember Shahana Hanif and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso changed their minds, aligning themselves with Andrew Kimball, head of the Economic Development Corporation (EDC), whose plan it is, and Goldman, as well as Andrew Gounardes, a Bay Ridge politician who was recently redistricted to this area and named co-chair of the Task Force. Alexa Avilés is the other co-chair.

This came as a surprise to some, as earlier this summer ten task force members, including Hanif and Reynoso, had published a statement saying they would work together with the community to reshape the fundamentals of the planning process, and not support the current plan.

Following the vote, some members of this 10-person group indicated that it was difficult for everyone to get on the same page. While no one was willing to speak to details of the conversations had within the group, one recently told the Star-Revue that the issue was that the group couldn’t come up with what their “shared asks were” in terms of how the process should be changed going forward for better community involvement. Another task force member said that this was caused by lack of time and information.

Another problem may have been Reynoso and Hanif, who appeared disengaged in meetings with the “No-caucus.” And as the group was nearing a formalized plan, it became clear that the two would flip their votes.

Eventually, it was revealed that they were having their own separate conversations. “Not everyone came to the No-caucus in the spirit of collaboration, they came until they got a better deal,” one task force member said.

In last month’s article, Councilmember Avilés made clear that criticism should not be directed toward Hanif or Reynoso, but toward Rep. Dan Goldman, along with Mayor Eric Adams and the EDC.
“The people who made sure that this process continued forward with all its problems and the full disregard of the community, was the chair of the task force, Congressman Dan Goldman, it was the EDC, and it was the mayor’s office, and those are the ones that I’m most upset with and hold singularly responsible for this,” Avilés said then.

After publication, Goldman’s team complained to us that they were not asked to respond to this comment. We invited a response, and Simone Kanter, spokesperson for the congressman, emailed us the following:

“As Vice Chair of the BMT Taskforce, Council Member Avilés spent the last year opposing any plan so she could use it to run for higher office. First, she said the process was too rushed, but when her request for more time was granted, she organized protests because it was too long. Then, after she pushed for an independent evaluation of the maritime options and received it, she moved the goalposts again to oppose the plan. As she admits here, she never articulated what changes she wanted and would regularly go days and weeks without responding to outreach. As the final vote shows, an overwhelming supermajority of Task Force members voted in favor of this project, because they, too, have the neighboring communities in mind. There remains a lot of work to be done, but after years of decay and deterioration, this waterfront area will finally get the improvement it deserves.”

Avilés has not made any public statements regarding running against Goldman in the 2026 primary, but according to City & State New York, she was exploring challenging the incumbent. She also has been endorsed for that race by the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, NYC-DSA. One individual close to Avilés also told the Star-Revue that she, by all indications will run against Goldman. However, The New York Times reported in November that Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani—a DSA member just like Avilés—has privately told Avilés that he would support and campaign for Brad Lander, who has publicly indicated a desire to run.

Contrary to what Kanter claims, the protests that occurred in the spring and summer were all organized by community members, not Avilés.

In response to the congressman’s spokesperson’s comments, Avilés sent us this:

“This quote shows a true disconnect from the reality of our process. My positions have reflected the community’s concerns with the BMT re-envisioning. Dan Goldman’s inability to engage meaningfully in a community-driven process has been disappointing at every step. I have laid out my concerns regarding BMT in a thorough statement you can find on my website. Some of these issues include a lack of resiliency, transportation, or local affordability planning.”

Goldman’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Avilés statement.

Upon reviewing Kanter’s statement, community leader John Leyva wrote, “Fuck Dan Goldman,” via text, and noted that the statement was disingenuous.

One of the members of the No-caucus, who agreed to comment on the statement from Goldman’s office as long as they could remain anonymous, said that multiple parts are simply untrue. “The protests were organized organically in the community, she didn’t organize them. She was opposing what clearly became a plan that was out of scope and outrageous.”