City Council Member Susan Zhuang of District 43 is running for re-election, but she also has competition.
Independent candidate Jerry Chan is running against Zhuang, who was elected in 2023 after redistricting turned District 43 into a new Asian-majority district. Although the two candidates will not square off until the November general election, they are vying for the attention of south Brooklyn voters who have leaned conservative in the past several years.
Both Zhuang and Chan are immigrants from China and came to the United States as teenagers. Zhuang enrolled as an international student at the State University of New York at Oswego and later attended the University of Southern Indiana to get a master's degree.
Chan attended Lafayette High School in Bath Beach, and attended City College before turning his focus on his family's restaurant. He then enlisted in the Navy, and took part in the NATO-led Operation Deliberations Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995. Chan served in the military for 11 years, five years active and six years in the reserves.
When he returned to New York, Chan enrolled in trade school and went on to work at an insurance company. He is proud of his volunteer work with a community emergency response team in Coney Island during Hurricane Sandy.
Chan recently resigned from a job at a financial company to focus more on his campaign for the city council seat in District 43, which covers parts of Sunset Park, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Gravesend and Borough Park. He was compelled to run because he feels nothing has changed in the district in the last two years.
Chan believes affordable housing is important, but believes a better funding formula should be figured out. He also wants schools to have more Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs that will lead to more jobs for future generations.
He also wants to change public safety policies and would aim to get placed on the Council's Committee on Public Safety, if elected. He is against downsizing the city Police Department, and would like city agencies to come up with additional mental health-realted public safety initiatives.
"We need to have all agencies to come on public safety and also for mental health. Public safety is also getting 911 to respond quickly when you dial 911. It's very difficult to dial 911 The operator asks a whole bunch of questions [and then says] I'll transfer you. And then when you transfer, it is to repeat the same question again," Chan said.
Zhuang, meanwhile, is running again because she feels she has a lot to finish. Education is a top priority, as she believes students are still suffering from a learning gap from the pandemic.
She also wants to see better mental health resources, especially in additional languages. She says the district has local case workers who are fluent in Spanish, but must use translators for Chinese clients despite the area's large Chinese population.
Zhuang also seeks to boost the number of city officials who speak multiple languages, including in Cantonese, Mandarin and Bengali. She also wants to see more cleaning done in local parks and sidewalks, as well institute measures to stop Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fraud, lower property taxes and add resources to help drug addicts get clean.
One issue both candidates will continue to face is the resistance from residents on building homeless shelters in the area. At a July protest against a proposed 86th Street and 25th Avenue homeless shelter, Zhuang bit a cop and was arrested during a clash with police. The criminal case was dismissed in April, but a civil suit remains.
Chan said he would not protest himself, and prefers to sit down and have conversations on how to work out the idea of a shelter.
As for her arrest, Zhuang said she doesn't think it will impact her campaign.
"I fight for the community and people appreciate it," she said.
When asked why voters should choose them in November, Chan said he would "get things done."
"I don't just talk about making changes," he said. "I will make changes. People that know me know I just don't talk about it. I will make a change. I will do my best. If I have to stay up to get something done, I get it done. You need someone that."
As for Zhuang, she believes her fighter mentality will continue to attract voters.
"I'm a fighter. I'd vote for someone like that," she said. "When I walk down the street, people walk up and talk to me because I fight for their interests."
