Ari Kagan
Member of the New York City Council
from the 47th district
In office
January 1, 2022 – January 1, 2024
Preceded byMark Treyger
Succeeded byJustin Brannan
Personal details
Born
Arkadiy Kagan

(1967-01-29) January 29, 1967
Minsk, Soviet Union (now Belarus)
Political partySoviet Communist Party (before 1991)
Democratic (2002–2022)
Republican (2022–present)
EducationLvov Higher Military-Political School, Journalism Department
Baruch College (BBA)

Ari Kagan (born Arkadiy Kagan in 1967) is an American politician who was a member of the New York City Council from the 47th district, representing Bensonhurst, Coney Island, Gravesend, and Sea Gate. Elected in November 2021, he assumed office on January 1, 2022.[1][2][3][4][5]

Early life and education

Kagan was born in Minsk in 1967.[1] His parents were survivors of the Holocaust. His paternal grandmother Sofiya was killed in the Minsk ghetto in 1942 while his father Mikhail survived.[6][7]

After graduating Secondary School No. 20 in Minsk, he joined the Soviet Army and attended Leningrad Suvorov School. In February 1984, he was admitted to the Journalism Department at Lvov Higher Military-Political School, from which he graduated in 1988.[8]

In 1991, Kagan left the Soviet Army and the Soviet Communist Party. He said he "became disillusioned with the Soviet-Communist ideology".[2] He immigrated as a refugee to the United States with his family in May 1993, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the U.S., he attended Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing and Advertising in 1999.[9][4]

In 2002, he legally changed his name from "Arkadiy" to "Ari" when he became naturalized as a U.S. citizen. In a 2010 interview, Kagan said of the name change: "Firstly, Ari is shorter than Arkadiy, and Americans do not distort my name, and secondly, I like my new name because it resembles the abbreviation of the words "America - Russia - Israel"."[10][3][8]

Career

Journalism

As a military journalist, he worked in Soviet Latvia with the newspapers Sovetskiy Tankist in Dobele and Dlya Rodiny! in Riga.[2] Kagan said that he was "lucky to work in various papers during the Gorbachev era of Glasnost and Perestroika when criticism of authorities was allowed and sometimes even encouraged".[6] He told TabletMag that "I was not a dissident. But I was honest with myself, with my family, with my readers."[3]

In Brooklyn, Kagan worked as a writer for the Russian-language newspapers Yevreiski Mir and Vecherniy New York.[11][12][13][1] He also presented a weekly television program on the Brooklyn-based Russian Television Network of America (RTN).[14]

Democratic Party politics

In 2012, he was elected as a Democratic District Leader in the 45th New York State Assembly District and founded the political club Bay Democrats in 2014.[15][16] In December 2022, Kagan switched parties from Democratic to Republican in December 2022 and stepped down from his District Leader post.[17][18]

Work for elected officials

Kagan worked as a community liaison for Comptrollers John Liu and Scott Stringer, as an assistant to Congressman Michael McMahon and later as Director of District Operations to Council Member Mark Treyger, before succeeding Treyger in the City Council.[19] [20]

City Council

In November 2021, he was elected to the New York City Council, succeeding Mark Treyger.[21][22]

After switching his party affiliation to Republican due to his disagreements with Democrats, Kagan joined the Republican conference in City Council. Council Speaker Adrienne Adams suggested Kagan may lose his position as Chair of the Council's Committee on Resiliency and Waterfronts. "Voters sent Council member Kagan to the Council as a member of the majority conference and this drastic about-face seriously calls into question his commitment to the policy priorities of our conference that will impact his committee roles, particularly his chairmanship given the fact that he is joining a party that denies climate change," Adams said. Kagan resigned from the Committee Chairmanship shortly after, telling the Daily News that "I resigned rather than to wait until being expelled by the Council leadership."[23]

He has announced that he would run for re-election in the newly re-drawn 47th district.[24] The 47th district was heavily panned for one of the most significant gerrymanders in modern NYC politics, connecting Bay Ridge to Coney Island through a 1-block stretch, which included dividing a Coney Island housing complex between two districts. [25]

In 2023, Kagan won the Republican primary but lost to Justin Brannan in the general election.[26][27]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Prince, Cathryn J. (February 10, 2017). "When it comes to supporting the US president, former Soviet Jews say Israel trumps all". The Times of Israel. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 "Кандидат Ари Каган: для Горсовета маленьких проблем не бывает". Golus Ameriki (Voice of America) (in Russian). Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Ungar-Sargon, Batya (August 16, 2013). "Who's Behind KGB Claims in Brooklyn City Council Race?". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "J5048". NY State Senate. October 2, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Biography". Ari Kagan. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Galak, Ilya (April 4, 2012). "Russian American journalist Ari Kagan: "Hard work pays everywhere"". Citizens Magazine. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  7. ↑ "NARA – AAD – Display Full Records – Application (SS-5) Files, 1936 – 2007 (Last Names K through L)". aad.archives.gov. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  8. 1 2 "Ари Каган". ilyagalak.livejournal.com. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Ari Kagan, 55, City Council member from Brooklyn". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. June 28, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Интервью с Ари Каганом". АЛЕФ (in Russian). Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  11. ↑ Sugar, Sara (August 12, 2013). "Sandy a Big Issue in Crowded Council Race". City Limits. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  12. ↑ Nathan-Kazis, Josh (June 13, 2012). "Black Firebrand Vies in Heavily Jewish District". The Forward. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  13. ↑ Feet in 2 Worlds (February 15, 2008). "Podcast: Doubts about Obama". A Better Life? Podcast. Retrieved December 12, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ Chilcote, Ryan (December 14, 2017). "To this Russian-American community, Russia has become a political scapegoat". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  15. ↑ Guedes-Reed, Caleb (June 28, 2022). "Ari Kagan, 55, City Council member from Brooklyn". Cleveland Jewish News. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  16. ↑ Berke, Ned (January 27, 2014). "Dem District Leader Ari Kagan Finally Gets His Club". Bklyner. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  17. ↑ Sommerfeldt, Chris (December 4, 2022). "EXCLUSIVE: Brooklyn Councilman Ari Kagan expected to switch parties from Democrat to GOP". New York Daily News. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  18. ↑ Stark-Miller, Ethan (December 5, 2022). "Brooklyn Council Member Ari Kagan switching to GOP, challenging Justin Brannan in 2023 general election". amNewYork. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  19. ↑ "2013 NYC Voter Guide: Ari Kagan". www.nyccfb.info. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  20. ↑ Adams, Rose (February 9, 2021). "Who's running for City Council in the 47th District". www.brooklynpaper.com. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  21. ↑ Calder, Rich (November 27, 2021). "Councilman Ari Kagan fights to save Coney Island's wooden boardwalk". New York Post. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  22. ↑ Adcroft, Patrick (November 17, 2021). "Ari Kagan eyes seats on multiple committees after City Council win". NY1. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  23. ↑ Gartland, Michael (December 8, 2022). "NYC Councilman Ari Kagan steps down as committee head after Dem-to-GOP flip". New York Daily News. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  24. ↑ Stark-Miller, Ethan (January 21, 2023). "City Council showdown: Kagan not deterred by early fundraising deficit in race against Brannan | amNewYork". www.amny.com. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  25. ↑ Honan, Katie (October 6, 2022). "Redistricting Commission Sends Contentious Draft Maps to City Council After Re-Do". The City. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  26. ↑ Camille, Jada (June 28, 2023). "Ari Kagan comes out on top in District 47 Republican primary, will face Democrat Justin Brannan in the 2023 general election". Brooklyn Paper. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  27. ↑ "Justin Brannan defeats Ari Kagan in heated southern Brooklyn Council race". City & State NY. November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
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