{"id":60754,"date":"2025-12-04T15:06:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T15:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/60754\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T15:06:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T15:06:10","slug":"brooklyn-borough-prez-antonio-reynoso-to-run-for-congress-in-ny-7-seeking-to-replace-outgoing-u-s-rep-nydia-velazquez-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/60754\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn Borough Prez Antonio Reynoso to run for Congress in NY-7, seeking to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"antonio\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso is running for Congress. <\/p>\n

File photo by Paul Frangipane<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso will run for U.S. Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez\u2019 congressional seat, he announced Thursday.\n<\/p>\n

Vel\u00e1zquez, a progressive who has represented parts of Brooklyn and Queens in New York\u2019s 7th Congressional District for three decades, announced late last month that she will retire<\/a> in 2026.<\/p>\n

In what\u2019s shaping up to be a heated midterm election in New York, Reynoso is the first person<\/a> to declare his candidacy for her seat \u2014 though Council Member Tiffany Cab\u00e1n, state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez and Assembly Member Claire Valdez are all said to be actively exploring runs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NydiaRep. Nydia Vel\u00e1squez is retiring next year, leaving her seat open. File photo by Todd Maisel<\/p>\n

In a statement, Reynoso said that the outgoing congresswoman, who he viewed as a \u201chero and friend\u201d had always been a mentor.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is the progressive pioneer who laid the groundwork for an entire generation of new leftist voices at every level of government, and no one can replace her presence,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we must continue her fight, and we will continue that fight because the need has never been greater.\u00a0 Under Trump\u2019s cruel administration, working families are suffering while the wealthiest thrive; immigrants and people of color are being attacked, arrested, and erased; our rights are being trampled; and the safety net that families could once depend on is getting callously cut to shreds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reynoso, a left-leaning Democrat and Brooklyn native who has been involved in local politics for more than 15 years, has already proved popular in parts of Vel\u00e1zquez\u2019s district. From 2014 to 2021, he represented the 34th Council district \u2014 which covers Bushwick, Ridgewood and Williamsburg \u2014 on the City Council. NY-7 includes those neighborhoods as well as Long Island City, Astoria, Sunnyside, Maspeth and Woodhaven in Queens; and Clinton Hill, Downtown Brooklyn, East New York, Fort Greene, and Greenpoint in Brooklyn.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2021, Reynoso earned more than 72% of the vote in the Brooklyn Borough President\u2019s race, and was re-elected earlier this year by a slightly wider margin.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

As borough president \u2014 a role that is largely ceremonial \u2014 Reynoso has focused on equitable development and public health.
\n\"\"Reynoso delivered his 2025 State of the Borough Address at the Boys and Girls High School in Bed-Stuy in April. File photo by Gabriele Holtermann\n<\/p>\n

Shortly after he was elected, Reynoso formed a \u201cMaternal Health Task Force,\u201d to address shortcomings in healthcare for pregnant people and new parents, he has since allocated significant funding to maternal health programs and wards in Brooklyn hospitals, formed a \u201cCommunity Baby Shower Fund,\u201d and earlier this year helped to create a new Perinatal Mental Health<\/a> program at Brooklyn College.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He has released two \u201cComprehensive Plans\u201d for Brooklyn, which seek \u201cto address New York\u2019s lack of a citywide plan and chart Brooklyn\u2019s way to a more equitable future,\u201d through long-term, thorough planning and development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Born to immigrant parents who were struggling to make ends meet, the Beep rose from childhood poverty in South Williamsburg to a career in public service.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me be clear, I am only here because of that safety net. Full stop,\u201d Reynoso said. \u201cI was born to two immigrant parents struggling to make ends meet, and we needed food stamps, Head Start, and housing assistance to survive. But with those public investments, I was able to grow up, go to college, and build a career fighting for my neighbors on the City Council and now as Borough President. It was not my plan to go into public service, but when the ultrawealthy, special interests and corrupt politicians came for our neighborhood and our homes, I organized and fought back, and we won.\u00a0 That showed me the power of progressive organizing, and it\u2019s exactly the kind of fight we need to bring to Trump\u2019s door today. That is why I am honored and humbled to announce that I am running for Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

He already garnered the endorsement of four members of the City Council whose districts overlap the highly diverse 7th CD: Jen Guti\u00e9rrez, Sandy Nurse, Shekar Krishnan and Lincoln Restler.
\n\"antonioReynoso has a longstanding progressive track record, and immediately won endorsements from several Brooklyn lawmakers. File photo by Gabriele Holtermanm\n<\/p>\n

All praised Reynoso\u2019s proven track record of delivering on his progressive values.<\/p>\n

Guti\u00e9rrez, his former chief of staff, noted that she had witnessed first-hand how he fought for his community.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether, we delivered millions for our parks, schools and NYCHA, and successfully fought environmental racism by passing the Waste Equity Bill to reduce trucks and trash in lower income communities,\u201d Guti\u00e9rrez said.\u201cNow, I\u2019m proud to endorse him for Congress so he can take our fight to DC and defend our community and our neighbors from Trump\u2019s extremism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nurse said that Reynoso was \u201cuniquely qualified\u201d to become the champion for working families in Congress.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cHe knows what it means to be poor, he understands the needs of our immigrant neighbors, and he knows how to make government work for the people we serve. I\u2019m thrilled to endorse him and look forward to helping him win this critical race,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso is running for Congress. File photo by Paul Frangipane Brooklyn Borough President Antonio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[2898,98,9788,100,99,858,2659,859,9,32472,24,12,29446,63,8004,87],"class_list":["post-60754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-antonio-reynoso","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-borough-president","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-congress","tag-election","tag-house-of-representatives","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-7th-congressional-district","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-ny-7","tag-nyc","tag-nydia-velazquez","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}