Lincoln P. Restler (born March 19, 1984) is an American politician and civil servant from New York City, who is a member of the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

for the 33rd district which covers Greenpoint, parts of Vinegar Hill,

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

Boerum Hill Boerum Hill (pronounced ) is a small neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bounded by Schermerhorn Street to the north and Fourth Avenue to the east. The western border is variously given as either Sm ...

, Brooklyn Heights, Dumbo, and other

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

neighborhoods in northern Brooklyn. Restler co-founded reform political club, New Kings Democrats, and was a New York State Democratic District Leader. He held several positions in municipal government before running for City Council.

Early life and education

Restler grew up in Brooklyn Heights on Pierrepoint Street with an older sister. Restler is Jewish and attended the Reform Brooklyn Heights Synagogue in his youth. He attended the Packer Collegiate Institute and graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 2006. He was schoolmates with future political adversary and eventual Council predecessor, Stephen Levin.

Career

Restler became involved in politics while in undergrad with the Providence, Rhode Island City Council re-election campaign of David Segal, and in the 2008 presidential primary supporting Barack Obama. He worked for the City of New York as an employee at the Department of Small Business Services and Department of Consumer Protection. Restler co-founded reform club New Kings Democrats in 2008, and worked in the

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...

administration. He worked on the de Blasio campaign and as senior policy advisor to the mayor. In 2020, Restler resigned from the de Blasio administration and joined the St. Nicks Alliance.

Elected office

Restler was elected District Leader in the 50th Assembly District in 2010 when he was 26. His run was largely a rebuke of former Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Vito Lopez's attempt to shut reformers out and hold onto power while facing

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...

allegations. He was supported by U.S. Representative Nydia Velasquez and then-City Councilmember

Tish James Letitia Ann James (born October 18, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician. She is a member of the Democratic Party and the current Attorney General of New York, having won the 2018 election to succeed appointed Attorney General Barbara Und ...

. Restler lost the seat in 2012 to Chris Olechowski, a community organizer backed by Lopez, by 19 votes. In 2021, Restler defeated seven other candidates to win the Democratic nomination, and ran in the November general unopposed. He received endorsements from State Senators Julia Salazar and Jabari Brisport, the Working Families Party,

Public Advocate An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

Jumaane Williams, and Velasquez. In the 7th round of ranked choice voting, he prevailed over closest candidate Elizabeth Adams 63%-37%.

Election history

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Restler, Lincoln 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American politicians Brown University alumni Jewish American people in New York (state) politics Living people New York (state) Democrats New York City Council members People from Greenpoint, Brooklyn Politicians from Brooklyn 1984 births