Nassau County Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) on Friday said he has asked Legislator Ellen Birnbaum (D-Great Neck) to resign, following racially insensitive comments made by the Great Neck lawmaker.
“Last night at our caucus meeting I asked legislator Birnbaum to resign,” Abrahams said at a press conference at the legislature building. “It is my understanding that she has chosen not to resign.”
Birnbaum on April 30 made insensitive remarks, Abrahams said, about the African-American community and the “Yes We Can” community center in New Cassel, which has missed out on revenue projection and membership enrollment, according to Newsday.
“Her remarks were clearly applied to the African-American community,” Abrahams said.
The freshman legislator told two of her staff members that New Cassel was a “bad neighborhood because African-Americans lived there,” Abrahams said at the press conference. Her remarks were overheard by an employee for Legislator Siela Bynoe (D-Westbury), who represents the area.
Abrahams later said that there were no racial epitaphs used by Birnbaum.
Abrahams said he learned about Birnbaum’s comments on May 1 and immediately started to interview the legislator and staff members who were witnesses to the incident.
“We did not sit on this issue,” he said.
Abrahams, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for New York’s 4th Congressional District, said he has taken steps to strip Birnbaum of her legislative powers.
“I am permanently expelling legislator Birnbaum from the minority caucus,” he said. “I am stripping legislator Birnbaum of all committee assignments.”
Birnbaum sits on five committees within the legislature: Government Services & Operations, Finance, Veterans and Senior Affairs, Towns, Villages and Cities and Planning Development and the Environment, according to the Legislature website.
Birnbaum, who was elected to the legislature in November, is the former Town of North Hempstead’s director of intermunicipal coordination
Abrahams also said he is reassigning one of Birnbaum’s staff members, who requested to be moved to another office.
Abrahams said the sanctions were placed on Birnbaum- whose district includes Great Neck, Herricks, North Hills, North New Hyde Park and Searingtown/Albertson- to show that the legislature has a zero tolerance policy against racism.
“This level of insensitivity will not be tolerated,” he said. “It should not be tolerated in the legislature, it should not be tolerated in the county and should not be tolerated in America.”
Abrahams also said he’s asked Erase Racism to provide “sensitivity training” for all legislators and their staff on June 9 and 10.
Abrahams said if Birnbaum were to resign, a special election would have to be called by Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano to fill her seat.
Efforts to reach Birnbaum for comments were unavailing.
Mark Birnbaum, Ellen Birnbaum’s husband, is a village justice for the Village of Great Neck.
