Paul Gootenberg, a history professor at Stony Brook University, brought his 11-year-old daughter Lea-Sainz to feel the Bern. “We haven’t seen anything like this in a long time,” says Gootenberg, who compares Sanders’ leftwing insurgency to the populist candidacies of Eugene McCarthy and socialist Eugene Debs. Of course, neither won, but Gootenberg believes “Bernie might, and he’s having a big impact that’s pushing the political system in a new way.”
“Let us on April 19 have the biggest turnout in the history of this state for a Democratic Party. Let’s win here in New York, and let the world know that in this great state...New York is part of the political revolution.”
Kaydin Sanchez of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, came with his two sons Jaden, 10, and Tyler, 8. “Honestly, I believe he’s the only man for the job,” says Sanchez. "I’ve never seen a politician like this in my lifetime, and my dad says he’s never seen someone like Bernie in his lifetime, either.”
Emmet McGowan and his wife Naomi Morse of Kensington, Brooklyn, braved the blustery weather with a Bernie button on Morse’s pregnant belly. “I grew up in Vermont, so I’ve known Bernie for a long time,” says Morse. "It’s exciting to see someone who’d come to our small town of one thousand to hold a town hall meeting — to have somebody like that on the national stage. The fact that he’s doing it without a super PAC and gotten this far is very inspiring. He’s what America needs.” McGowan says he has no question about picking Sanders over Clinton: “It’s very clear looking around at the number of empty condos in Brooklyn that have not sold, that there’s clearly another crash right around the bend. If that happens, and Bernie is elected, there won’t be another automatic bank bailout. If anyone else gets in, they’ll do it because they are all beholden to wealthy donors.”
Sienna Berritt, 22, who lives in Greenpoint, feels the Bern: “He’s going for the root of equality and not for selfish political gain.” With Berritt was another Sanders supporter sporting a custom designed t-shirt.
Dani Black, 16, was all aglow after shaking Sanders hand at the rally. “Bernie has the softest hands,” says Black. “They’re not big, but he has a gentle and comforting grip.”
In a sign of how heated the New York primary has become, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders held two rallies in Brooklyn on Friday, April 8. A crowd of several thousand gathered in front of Sanders’ childhood home at 1525 East 26th Street in the the Midwood section of Brooklyn, on the border of Flatbush. Sanders, who was born in 1941, lived in a 3.5-room apartment there with his parents and older brother, Larry. “We checked, and it’s still rent-controlled,” Sanders says of his old Apartment 2C, drawing a big cheer from the crowd.
“Bernie Sanders is a great idea. But in reality, we have to change the system,” says Judy Joseph, a “50-plus” educator from Marine Park, Brooklyn. “Hillary is old-school. She’s an opportunist who’s been running for a long time. She’s a very conventional corporatist. Been there, done that.”
A group of seniors from Sanders’ alma mater, James Madison High School in Midwood, Brooklyn. “He’s trying to bring positivity to our society. He’s fought for women and black people’s rights,” says Debbie Villalba, center, who left school early on Friday so she could see Sanders speak.
A new pro-Sanders mural on Greenpoint Avenue in Brooklyn.
Actress Susan Sarandon praised Sanders for having the “courage” and foresight to vote against the Iraq War at a time when being antiwar was politically unpopular.
Dennis Hargett, a retired fireman from Canarsie, Brooklyn, says there are so many reasons he supports Sanders: "I have a daughter in North Carolina who can’t get healthcare because the governor there is against Obamacare. I believe in single payer [healthcare]. Once it becomes federal, no rogue governors can stand in the way.”
About 5,000 people packed the WNYC Transmitter Park braving a biting wind to catch "the Bern" along the waterfront in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Actress Susan Sarandon introduced Sanders at the Greenpoint rally.
“I wanted to feel the Bern in person,” says Priya Nagrani, an undecided voter, who came from the Upper East Side with her daughter Radha. “You can definitely feel the energy, but I’m not sure Sanders can achieve what he actually says.”
Bernie Sanders addresses the packed crowd along the Greenpoint waterfront, with his wife Jane looking on.
Mike Hassell, a systems engineer from Prospect Heights, has been canvassing in Brooklyn for Sanders. "Never in my life have I done anything like this,” says Hassell. “I’ve voted before, but I’ve never come to a campaign speech or gone door to door for someone. Bernie is somebody I can actually believe in.”
Radha Nagrani, 6, says she’s an undecided voter.
Sanders spoke to an enthusiastic crowd in Brooklyn, while his wife, Jane, took a photo of the Manhattan skyline.
Javier Enriquez, a lifelong resident of Williamsburg, believes Sanders can pull a narrow upset in New York: “The Spanish speaking population used to be more for Hillary, but younger people are convincing them that Sanders is the one.”
Kirk Wilcox, who spent four months homeless in Brooklyn, made a sign listing the many reason he supports Sanders over Clinton.
"Our working class communities, our artists, our immigrants are being pushed out of our neighborhood by developers that only make apartments for the 1 percent,” says Brooklyn Councilman Rafael Espinal, who represents the 37th District.
As Sanders entered the crowd to greet audience members, the crowd rushed in to snap photos.