In District 48, a Democratic Stalwart Faces Off Against a Former Republican

It’s been a tough few months for southern Brooklyn’s Council District 48.

The district, which includes the neighborhoods of Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Homecrest, and Midwood, has struggled with stubbornly high COVID rates and pandemic-related misinformation, even as vaccines have become widely available. An increase in hate crimes has rattled members of the area’s large Orthodox Jewish and Asian communities. And in April, local Council Member Chaim Deutsch was booted from office after pleading guilty to federal tax fraud charges.

Those are just some of the issues on residents’ minds as they pick between the six candidates angling to fill the newly-vacant Council seat.