NYS Assemblymember Erik Dilan Accosted by Residents at Brooklyn Community Board 4 for Years Long Absence in Closing Days of Election
Dilan made his first apperance in years at BK CB4 days before Tuesday's heated primary election.
New York State Assemblymember Erik Dilan faced intense criticism from a handful of residents and a city councilmember at Wednesday’s Community Board 4 meeting (acronymed as CB4) following a years-long absence. Dilan was seated at the front table alongside Board Chair Robert Camacho and spoke as the final speaker during the public comment section of the meeting. Dilan began by saying he was present for the meeting at the “strong insistence of this man,” referencing Camacho. He proceeded to say he has stayed away from CB4 due to “very very very strong differences of opinion that we have not been able to resolve until recently,” once again referencing Camacho, and saying it was out of respect to Camacho that he stayed away from CB4.
Dilan said the meeting would be kept “strictly governmental,” but proceeded to immediately reference the upcoming primary election on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2026 “I think everybody knows what’s going on in the neighborhood and we have two people, ya know, who are aspiring for things here, so we’ll keep it strictly governmental. And what I’ll do is give a brief report of… some of the things we have done this session in Albany.”
Dilan was referencing State Committee District 54 candidate Alan Gamboa and Christian Celeste Tate, a member of Community Board 4, running for the 54th Assembly District (Bushwick, East New York, Cypress Hills), both of whom were quietly in attendance for the meeting. Dilan did not mention that he, himself, is aspiring for another term in the state assembly.
After claiming credit for funding measures put in the budget such as a “robust” distressed hospital fund (Dilan did not give specific numbers or any other details on the fund), saying the state government addressed SNAP cuts from the federal government (no specific details were given on what was done in regards to SNAP or what Dilan’s role in it was), a $3 million capital grant to renovate the Hope Gardens Youth Center, and “$3 Million Dollars for Heckscher Park which will improve lighting and surfacing.” The New York State budget is crafted and passed by the Governor, 150 members of the state assembly, and 63 members of the state senate. Dilan did not say what his specific role in allegedly obtaining the funding for Hope Gardens or Heckscher Park was.
Following his presentation, four residents spoke to lodge various complaints about his absence from the board. Zachary Hendrickson, a CB4 member for the last three years and Bushwick resident for the last 7 years, stated he had not seen Dilan at the board in that time and wanted to “understand correctly, that a personal disagreement between yourself and our elected chairperson is the reason you’ve stayed away this entire time?”
Dilan responded by saying “that’s my reason,” but that he is required to stay in Albany for six months of the year legislating and that his staff has been present at meetings. He proceeded to say he wanted to be honest about his “deep and personal” disagreement with Camacho and that “in order for this board and this forum to be.. spared of that.. I chose to stay away.” Hendrickson cheekily offered to assist Dilan with using Zoom to attend the meetings virtually.
The next resident to speak was another CB4 member for the last two years, Gio Justinano, and said he felt it was inappropriate for Dilan to be at the meeting a week before an election, even if Camacho had asked him to come. Justinano claimed they have not always seen Dilan’s staff present during the annual role call for elected officials or their representatives and that every other elected official has a presence at each meeting. He said members of the board have disagreements with Camacho, but they still have to be civil to attend the meeting “We do sometimes disagree with Camacho, but we shake hands and have conversations,” Justinano said.
The next resident to speak was named Courtney Henley and she introduced herself by saying she had no idea who Dilan was “Yes, Courtney, Community Board 4, I have no idea who you are and I’ve been in this neighborhood for… 12, 13 years.” She asked if anything was done for the elderly in the most recent state budget and Dilan responded by saying there was an increase in SCRIE (Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption) and DRIE (Disability Rent Increase Exemption), but that it was “insufficient.” He said the real problem was the federal government walking away from the section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program and that he hoped there would be more federal investment in that going forward.
Pablo Rivera spoke next, identifying himself as formerly the Community Liaison from Erik Dilan’s office until last year and claimed to have always been present at the meetings. He went on to defend Dilan by listing some funding Dilan allegedly secured for various projects and said Dilan was “born and raised in Bushwick and didn’t come here 8 years, 9 years ago.”
Dilan responded to Rivera by bringing up the upcoming election his opponent, Christian Celeste Tate, and took some responsibility for his absence in previous years “I truly don’t want to make this about what’s happening next week. I had the chance to meet Christian [Celeste Tate], my first impression is that he’s a nice guy. But I’m really here at the insistence of this man (referencing Board Chair Camacho) and I’m here to repair the relationship. And I would say the criticism that comes my way is deserved and I’ll accept it and I’ll take that on the chin.”
The last in-person comment was from Board Chair Camacho himself who went on to defend Dilan’s lack of presence at the meetings and tout some of his contributions to the community.
Finally, New York City Councilmember Sandy Nurse was present on zoom and slammed Dilan’s remarks and presence with an impending election “While it’s great to see the assemblymember here, I’ve never seen it happen. I just want to express that what I just listened to sounded so clearly like campaigning. Like the board is creating a political moment here and I’m… a little disappointed. Because when it came to dealing with the flooding on Knickerbocker or dealing with other issues here…. Never seen you. Never seen you. And by the way, I’ve had multiple disagreements with board members and the chair before and we’ve had moments… and I still show up. Just because you don’t need an invitation to show up. If you’re in a beef with someone, that’s your personal beef with someone. I just have to say that seeing this makes me extremely disappointed, I’m a little disgusted at the way this is going down and…. You know, I just think there’s a big issue with this. I’m really disappointed because people want to show up at the last minute, a few days before an election? I think that’s really cynical. That’s all I have to say. Thank you so much.”
This article follows reporting from State of the Left on allegations of hostile behavior from Erik Dilan’s campaign staff and an alleged attempt to directly influence a voters ballot.
State of the Left has reached out to Assemblymember Dilan’s office for comment and will update this article if a response is received.