A former City Council aide with autism is accusing Democratic Councilman Justin Brannan of being one of his tormentors while endorsing the pol’s GOP rival, Councilman Ari Kagan, in their Brooklyn race.
Michael Bistreich — who settled a discrimination suit against the city for $850,000 in 2021 — endorsed Kagan for the newly drawn 47th District while unloading on Brannan, a former co-worker, in an explosive video where he mentioned being locked in a basement like an “unwanted creature.”
Brannan had worked alongside Bistreich as a staffer for then-Councilman Vincent Gentile before Brannan’s own election to public office.
Bistreich’s bashing of Brannan wasn’t the only recent salvo in the race.
An independent political action committee backing Brannan has also sent out mailers attacking Kagan as a former communist when he lived in the old Soviet Union, for switching from Democrat to Republican last year to run against Brannan and for voting against the city budget.
The fierce mudslinging is a sign of a very tight race.
“Unfortunately after I was hired, I began getting harassed, bullied and abused by people in that office. I’m very sad to have to say that one of those people is council member Justin Brannan,” Bistreich said in the video released by the Kagan campaign.
“During my time there, I suffered daily. I had humiliating experiences, like being locked in the basement as some type of unwanted creature, something that Brannan laughed heartily at,” Bistreich said.
He recalled a “very humiliating experience” in which he claimed Brannan cracked a joke telling him to test new alarm doors being installed in public schools after a kid with autism, Avonte Oquendo, bolted and died. A state law required the new exit doors.
“Brannan thought this would be a good opportunity to get some laughs by saying that because of my disability, I should test the doors,” Bistreich said.
“This is the type of bullying and abusive behavior that we do not need in our leadership in our City Council,” he said.
Bistreich said the “single worst thing” Brannan did was “call me a liar” — but claimed he was “vindicated” when the city agreed to settle his discrimination suit for the whopping sum two years ago “resulting from the abuses I suffered at his hands and the hands of other staffers in that office.
“If Justin Brannan would do this to me, is he someone who is going to keep his promises to you and be good to the people of south Brooklyn? I don’t think so,” Bistreich said in the video, urging constituents to vote for “integrity” by backing Kagan.
Bistreich has leveled accusations against Brannan before, going back to 2017.
Brannan has not only denied the accusations, he told The Post he plans to sue Bistreich for slander, and his campaign rep dismissed him as a “Republican operative.”
“Justin’s desperate political opponents have been using Michael to lodge these false accusations since 2017. Justin was not named in this lawsuit and was never subpoenaed,” said Brannan campaign spokesman Ian Brown.
“Michael Bistreich is a Republican operative and Ari Kagan donor who sued the city for $10 million but settled for $850,000 once he was told his case would need to go to court.”
The Brannan camp noted that Justin’s uncle was autistic and that when his grandparents passed away, Justin and his mom took care of his uncle.
A local group that helps kids with disabilities, the Guild for Exceptional Children, issued a statement saying Brannan has “always been a great friend,” including by providing funding to its autism awareness program.
“The Guild for Exceptional Children could not ask for a better partner in advancing our mission for New Yorkers with disabilities,” said CEO Josh Riley.
Meanwhile, mailers sent to voters by a pro-Brannan PAC, Future NYC, said, “First Ari Kagan was a Communist, who became a Democrat turned Republican who votes with socialists” — noting his vote against the city budget. The mailer called him “unhinged.”
Kagan on Sunday said he was a member of the Communist Party for two and a half years when he was a journalist in the former Soviet Union 40 years ago.
“It’s complete desperation,” he said of the red-baiting.