Williamsburg’s anarchist bookstore is called “Property Is Theft.” But in a city with skyrocketing costs, patrons said having the co-chair of the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter live in a $1.5 million home in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn bought by his parents is relatable.
“It’s not the end of the world for me,” said Jay Blohm, 48, who described himself as a leftist.
Blohm argued parental help was all too common among New Yorkers.
“If you’re not benefiting a little bit, then you’re just struggling all the time,” he said.
Earlier this week, the New York Post reported that DSA-NYC co-Chair Gustavo Gordillo lived in the home, which is undergoing renovations to its front facade. Critics seized on the news as evidence that Gordillo was not practicing what he preaches. Some DSA members have been critical of property ownership as a concept and cast extreme wealth as a moral abomination.
The debate was reminiscent of last year’s mayoral campaign, when Andrew Cuomo criticized Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a “champagne socialist” for living in a rent-stabilized Queens apartment. In 2019, Bernie Sanders came under scrutiny for becoming a millionaire and owning three homes. Sanders, who credited his financial success to a best-selling book he wrote, refused to apologize.
“People voted with Bernie, and it showed that these smears didn’t land,” said Eric Blanc, an assistant professor of labor studies at Rutgers University who is a DSA member. “What people care about is what you do and what you fight for.”
The Property Is Theft bookstore features an extensive selection of works about revolution and Marxist theory. There’s a fake newspaper called the “New York War Crimes,” which lampoons The New York Times. One book, “Abolishing Carceral Society,” lists the author as the “Abolition Collective.”
Trent Thorne, 29, said he didn’t believe in owning property. But he added that $1.5 million didn’t strike him as a particularly valuable home in New York City.
“Maybe he could rent out to help some people out,” said Thorne, of Virginia. “But that’s ultimately up to him.”
Manolo De Los Santos, the executive director of the People’s Forum, which hosts DSA events and organizes leftwing protests, saw the coverage of Gordillo’s home as an attempt to sow division and distract working-class New Yorkers.
“There’s a real fight for most of us who live in the city to simply be able to live in an affordable city,” he said. “That is the real fight. We’re fighting against the interest of the billionaires that are represented precisely by the New York Post and its owners.”
Gordillo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But DSA co-Chair Grace Mausser characterized the story as “doxxing.” She said Gordillo was part of a long history of political leaders who benefited from their family’s wealth.
“We can’t choose what status we’re born into. But we can choose what we do with the privileges we inherit,” Mausser said in a text. “Gustavo, alongside many of his fellow DSA members and many great heroes of history from Friedrich Engels to FDR, has used his access to fight for the working class and organize for victories that are redefining American politics.”
Late on Friday, Gordillo said in a statement that he “experienced economic life in this country from many different vantages.”
“I know that it is often luck that determines whether someone has financial stability. This is wrong and it is exactly what I have committed my life to changing along with the democratic socialist movement. Luck or circumstance should not determine whether we can fully live our lives with freedom,” Gordillo said.