Having grown up waiting on two hour bread long lines in a country where people changed their names in order to hide their Jewish identities, City Councilmember Inna Vernikov is passionate about freedom.
Now running for her second city council term, Vernikov came to the United States from the Former Soviet Union as a 12 year old. While it is common for little kids to aspire to become firemen, teachers or doctors, Vernikov set her sights on becoming an attorney at a young age, wanting to do her part to make sure that justice prevailed in the world. In time, she found herself living the American dream, opening up her own law office, specializing in immigration and matrimonial law. Vernikov only began contemplating getting formally involved in politics when it became clear that winds of change were blowing, with socialist, anti-Israel and anti-police rhetoric becoming commonplace.
“I saw what was happening in our city and country, I decided that I couldn’t sit back anymore,” Vernikov told The Jewish Press. “As someone who immigrated from a place that wasn’t free, I wanted to be a voice for Jewish people, New Yorkers and Americans.”
A Republican who espoused conservative views even when she had been previously registered as a Democrat, Vernikov pulled off a seemingly impossible victory in 2021. Not only did she win the honors of representing the 48th District in the City Council in 2021, she flipped a seat that had been by Democrats for decades as she beat out Steven Saperstein by a significant margin. Since that time, she has thrown herself headfirst into fulfilling the pledges she made while knocking on doors and standing outside supermarkets during her campaign – advocating for her constituents.
“People were fed up with crime, anti-Semitism and the government encroaching on their rights during the Covid vaccine mandates,” said Vernikov.
Over the past two years in the City Council, Vernikov hasn’t shied away from speaking up about matters that others have tiptoed around. In addition to pushing her fellow City Council members to work closely with Mayor Eric Adams to repeal the vaccine mandates, she is proud of her efforts to oppose the Fair Chance for Housing Act, which would have banned private landlords from doing background checks on potential tenants and could have resulted in law abiding citizens living next door to convicted criminals. While the bill was initially supported by the majority of the City Council, Vernikov had heard from city residents hailing from virtually every segment of society who were strongly opposed to its passage, and she emerged as a passionate opponent who was eminently capable of swaying votes. Ultimately, the bill failed to pass, and while Vernikov admits that it could be resurrected in another form in the future, she contends that it shook up the City Council.
“Sometimes as a Republican, it can be hard to pass legislation in a Democrat-controlled body but you can find other ways to work around that,” noted Vernikov. “Killing a bad bill is just as effective as passing a good one.”
Vernikov has also been a strong voice when it comes to advocating for her constituents. She proudly touts her office’s track record, saying that as of last spring, was rated number one in constituent services in Brooklyn and number two in the city, because of the high volume of cases handled.
“That is number one – dealing with local issues,” said Vernikov. “My other priority is to be a voice for my community and to represent the people.”
Working with her constituents, who hail from the Jewish, Russian, Asian, Muslim and Pakistani communities, among others, is a responsibility that Vernikov takes seriously. When the war broke out in Israel, Vernikov dashed off a social media post advising those who needed help finding flights back to America to reach out her office. With the State Department slow to clarify its plans to help American citizens who were unable to get back from Israel, Vernikov’s office was inundated with requests for assistance and she worked closely with Governor Kathy Hochul, Senator Chuck Schumer, the State Department and others to help travelers.
Having witnessed religious discrimination herself, Vernikov is passionate about striking back against anti-Semitism, and has partnered with fellow Councilman Kalman Yeger to combat hate and bias directed at Jews. As she looks confidently ahead at a second term in City Council, Vernikov plans to continue advocating for the Jewish community’s civil rights.
“We need more voices because anti-Semitism is on the streets, in academia and in corporate American,” explained Vernikov. “I’m going to continue speaking out whenever I see that it is necessary and I am not afraid to work across the aisle.”
Local issues are another area that Vernikov intends to monitor closely in the coming months.
“I’m not the mayor and there are things I cannot do,” said Vernikov. “My real job is to be a liaison between people and city agencies but I’m going to keep on fighting red tape and bureaucracy and make sure we think of different ways to keep our community safe.”
