One of the most closely watched congressional races in the city is on the ballot for Brooklyn Heights voters — and early voting is already underway. Here’s a guide to the June 23 primary election.

When & how

Early voting will run through Sunday, June 21. See below for early voting hours:

• June 17: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

• June 18: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• June 19 to June 21: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Election Day is Tuesday, June 23. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

To find your poll site and view a sample ballot, type in your address on the Board of Elections website. Note that early voting locations are often different from Primary Day polling sites.

New York holds closed primaries, meaning you can only vote in your own party’s primary. Independent or unaffiliated voters can’t participate in primaries.

Who is on the ballot?

Which races appear on your ballot depends on where you live — not every Brooklyn voter will see the same contests. Here are three key races Brooklyn Heights residents will find on their ballots. Depending on your address, you may also see additional races such as county committee seats.

House of Representatives, New York’s 10th District — Dan Goldman (incumbent) against Brad Lander

NY-10 encompasses Brooklyn Heights, Dumbo, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, Gowanus, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Sunset Park, parts of Borough Park and Bay Ridge, and Lower Manhattan.

The Goldman-Lander race has become one of the most closely watched primaries in the city. Both candidates are considered progressives. Goldman — a two-term representative, Levi Strauss heir and former federal prosecutor who helped lead President Trump’s first impeachment inquiry — is backed by Governor Kathy Hochul and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. He has put at least $1 million of his own money into his campaign. Lander, the former city comptroller who ran for mayor last year, is a close ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani. He’s challenging Goldman from the left.

The primary has been shaped by divisions over Israel, multiple outlets have reported. Goldman has been criticized for his support for Israel and ties to AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby. Lander has taken a harder line against the war, calling Israel’s conduct in Gaza a genocide.

Recent polls show Lander with a significant lead.

State Assembly, AD-52 — Jo Anne Simon (incumbent) against Lydia Green

AD-52 covers Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Dumbo, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus, Park Slope and Prospect Heights.

Jo Anne Simon, a disability civil rights lawyer, was first elected to represent AD-52 in 2014. She was also Democratic District Leader for AD-52 from 2004 to 2014. Simon has focused on repairs to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, gun violence prevention and campaign finance reform, among other issues.

Lydia Green, a Democratic District Leader and progressive organizer, is challenging Simon. Green has focused her campaign on housing affordability, taxing the wealthy, the climate crisis and divesting New York State from the war in Gaza.

State Comptroller — Thomas DiNapoli (incumbent), Drew Warshaw and Raj Goyle

The state comptroller is New York’s chief fiscal officer, responsible for managing the state pension fund, auditing state contracts, and uncovering waste, fraud and abuse in government spending.

Thomas DiNapoli, New York’s state comptroller since 2007, is facing his first primary challenge. DiNapoli has longstanding support from labor unions across the state. Despite nearly two decades in office, a recent Siena University poll found 65% of voters said they had never heard of him or didn’t know enough to have an opinion.

DiNapoli is being challenged by Drew Warshaw, a former affordable housing nonprofit executive, and Raj Goyle, a former Kansas state lawmaker and tech industry veteran. Both are running to DiNapoli’s left, with campaigns focused on how the state pension fund is invested.

For more information on how to vote, visit vote.nyc.

Heights Happenings

• U.K. bridal shop The Fall Bride has opened a store on Main Street in Dumbo. The London-based boutique will bring a slate of British designers, including Jessica Bennett, Harriette Gordon, Talc and Cassandra Graham, to the U.S.

• Warships and other tall ships are coming to Brooklyn Bridge Park. In celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary, Sail4th 250 will bring roughly 80 vessels to New York for a two-day event starting July 3. The ships will dock in Brooklyn Bridge Park and near the Intrepid Museum in Midtown, among other locations.

• The DOT is seeking public comment on its plan to turn Dean and Bergen streets into “Bike Boulevards.” Submit feedback here in the Feedback Map section.

• Overdye, an appointment-only, pre-owned menswear store, has opened at 81 Prospect Street in Dumbo.

• There will be an “It’s My Park” cleanup event at Harry Chapin Playground on Columbia Heights at Middagh Street on June 19 from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Giant bubbles to follow.

• Titán, a cantina from the owner of Los Burritos Juarez, opens today in the former Gran Electrica space at 5 Front Street, beneath the Brooklyn Bridge.

• Goose Barnacle on Atlantic Avenue will be hosting World Cup watch parties on June 17 from 4-6 p.m. and June 24 from 6-8 p.m.

• Bathhouse on Atlantic Avenue is hosting a literary reading in the sauna on June 20 from 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., featuring readings by Caroline Calloway, Tony Tulathimutte and others. RSVP required.

• The Urban Park Rangers are hosting a walking tour exploring the Abolitionist movement in Brooklyn on Friday, June 19 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The tour starts at the corner of Furman and Old Fulton streets in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

• The stretch of Pineapple Street from Hicks to Henry will be closed from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 20 and Sunday, June 21.

Other news

• The Carroll Street Bridge over the Gowanus Canal has reopened after five years. The bridge, opened in 1889, is one of just four retractile bridges left in the U.S. It’s now only open to pedestrians, cyclists and emergency vehicles. There will be a community block party to celebrate at 420 Carroll Street on June 20 from 4-8 p.m.

  

• The team behind Gertie is opening Trudie’s Tavern in Carroll Gardens on June 19.

• City Council leaders have proposed a plan to build affordable housing on top of three libraries, including one in Brooklyn.

• The NYPD is spending a lot on overtime. NYPD uniformed overtime is projected to reach $890 million in FY 2026 — more than double what the department budgeted, for the third year in a row, according to a new report from City Comptroller Mark Levine’s office. Much of the spending is not driven by emergencies: planned events like parades accounted for more than half of overtime spending in the most recent quarter analyzed.

A protected bike lane is coming to Adams Street.

At last week’s Brooklyn Community Board 2 meeting, the Department of Transportation presented a plan to redesign Adams Street/Boerum Place and add a 10-foot wide, two-way bike lane for cyclists coming off the Brooklyn Bridge.

The bike lane will run between Johnson and Bergen streets. For most of its length, the lane will run in the center of the street along the east side of the landscaped median. Near Atlantic Avenue, the lane will shift to the west side of the street before continuing south to Bergen Street.

Currently, cyclists heading to and from the Brooklyn Bridge have few good options. The existing painted bike lane on Adams Street is frequently blocked by illegally parked vehicles, and cyclists heading north on Jay Street have to cut across four lanes of traffic to reach the Tillary Street bridge connection.

“It’s confusing,” one cyclist told Pineapple Street. “When you’re coming off the bridge, there’s a very clear bike path, but then it becomes very unclear where to go as a cyclist.”

A 2025 study by Councilmember Lincoln Restler’s office documented the scale of the illegally parked car problem. On an average weekday, 63 vehicles park illegally on Adams Street alone — nearly 60% of them abusing official government parking placards. Across 60 blocks of Downtown Brooklyn, the study found 457 illegally parked vehicles on a typical day, with only 3% receiving a ticket.

The Adams Street bike lane is part of a decades-long effort to improve cyclist access to the Brooklyn Bridge. In 2017, the city completed a long-awaited reconstruction of the Brooklyn-side entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge, building a shared cycling and pedestrian path along the median between Johnson and Tillary streets — a project that had been in the works since at least 2009. Earlier this year, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a similar upgrade on the Manhattan side of the bridge.

The latest redesign comes as the Brooklyn Bridge has seen a sharp rise in cyclist traffic. From 2020 to 2025, ridership on the Brooklyn Bridge jumped by 194%, according to the DOT. On a typical weekday, nearly 1,300 cyclists travel along Adams Street during a 12-hour period, the agency said.

The project will be completed in two phases, with the redesign of the area north of Atlantic Avenue slated to begin this fall and the southern section expected in 2027.

Heights Happenings

• Lindsey Lohan’s upcoming Hulu limited series, “Count My Lies,” is filming in the neighborhood.

• The Brooklyn Heights Community Fridge has a new home outside of the Zion German Evangelical Lutheran Church and Christ the King Church at 125 Henry Street. Neighbors can support the fridge by subscribing to the Community Fridge newsletter, signing up for a cleanup slot or volunteering to make sandwiches.

• The Juneteenth 5K at Brooklyn Bridge Park will take place on June 20. Registration is open until June 19.

• The Metropolitan Opera will perform their summer recital on the Harbor View Lawn in Brooklyn Bridge Park on June 17 at 7:00pm.

• There’s a Whole Foods coming to Cobble Hill. The Amazon-owned grocery store has signed a lease to take over 182 Smith Street, the former Cobble Hill Rite Aid space, Crain’s New York Business reported.

• Darling is hosting another backyard sale with art, antiques and womenswear at their 149 Atlantic Avenue store on Saturday, June 13 from 3–6pm.

  

• New York Transit Museum is bringing back the HH Shuttle, otherwise known as the Court Street Shuttle, in celebration of its 50th anniversary. On July 4 and 5, the museum will run vintage trains along the shuttle's original Court Street to Hoyt–Schermerhorn route, which operated from 1936 to 1946.

• Adidas is hosting a World Cup fan zone in Brooklyn Bridge Park from June 13 through July 19, open noon to 10 p.m. daily. The space will feature live music, watch parties, a beer garden and other activities. Free tickets are required, and ticket info is coming soon.

• A sprawling mosaic has taken over the walls of a 110-foot passageway tucked away in the depths of the Borough Hall subway station. “May Your Road Be Light and Fun,” a permanent installation by Nigerian-born artist ruby onyinyechi amanze, spans the corridor between the 2/3 and 4/5 trains.

  

Other news

• The New York Legislature on Friday passed the Anti-Shackling Bill, which prohibits the unnecessary shackling of pregnant and postpartum individuals in custody, weeks after a woman gave birth in a Brooklyn courtroom. More than two dozen City Council members on Thursday issued a letter to Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch calling for an investigation into why the 33-year-old woman was forced to give birth in the courtroom.

• Construction debris, including sheet metal ducts and plastic buckets, has been falling from the jail site on Atlantic Avenue, per The City Reporter. One resident described a “rainfall of trash” on her building’s patio. The debris issue comes as the site has faced a series of serious worker safety incidents and unsafe conditions.

• Early voting for the New York primary will begin on June 13 and run through June 21. Election Day is Tuesday, June 23.

• Over in Bushwick, Ibiza-based club Pacha is set to open in the former Brooklyn Mirage space. The nightlife company will host pre-openers on June 13 and 14, with opening weekend kicking off June 20.

A New Jersey woman has been indicted for allegedly stealing more than $700,000 from the Brooklyn Heights co-op building at 130 Hicks Street where she served as board president.

The defendant, identified as Isabelle Gallier, 60, “allegedly turned a position of trust into a six-year scheme to steal from her neighbors, spending more than seven hundred thousand dollars meant to maintain a cooperative on luxury items and personal bills,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said his office “will prosecute anyone who exploits their authority to criminally enrich themselves.”

Gallier was arraigned before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun and charged with second-degree grand larceny.

Prosecutors allege Gallier used more than $218,000 to pay her personal mortgages and another $125,000 on luxury items — including $12,000 in furs, a $4,000 Rolex and $53,000 on 150 pairs of designer shoes, among them 28 pairs of Christian Louboutins and 16 pairs of Valentinos.

The alleged theft was discovered after Gallier lost her board seat and new leadership took over. A review of the building's financial records revealed the missing funds, according to prosecutors. Gallier then sold her three units in the building and moved out, prosecutors said.

Gallier was released without bail and ordered to return to court on August 12.

Note: An indictment is an accusation. Gallier has not been convicted of any crime.

A longstanding battle over a parking lot in Columbus Park is heating up.

Dozens of neighbors gathered for a rally over the weekend to push for the parking lot next to Borough Hall, used by judges based at the Brooklyn Supreme Courthouse, to be transformed into green space.

Judges using the space for parking is “purely selfish,” Councilmember Lincoln Restler told the crowd. “It is wrong for them to be using our park space as their parking lot, and so we are demanding they do the right thing.”

For over 60 years, State Supreme Court judges have parked in the concrete space at the corner of Joralemon and Adams streets. The judges have long argued that they need parking in close proximity to the courthouse for security reasons. Death threats “are not unusual things,” retired Brooklyn judge Abraham Gerges told The New York Times. (Years ago, Gerges was placed under the protection of an armed guard after an incarcerated person sought to place a “deadly voodoo hex” on him.)

Yet, as residents and neighborhood activists have contended, the lot sits on land that is technically mapped as city parkland. The redevelopment of Downtown Brooklyn and influx of residential buildings has only deepened the shortage of public green space.

In 2024, Councilmember Restler and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso partnered with the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership (DBP) to conduct a study of the eight-acre, city-owned space. In a public survey of 174 residents, 86% of respondents said yes when asked if the judges’ parking lot should be repurposed.

Last May, after a series of meetings and public feedback, Reynoso and Restler presented a new plan for the park, with potential design ideas such as a playground, dog run, skate park and lawn space. Under the proposal, the judges’ parking lot would become a lawn and pavilion with a kiosk and public restrooms below it. Restler has so far locked in $21 million in city funding for the redevelopment.

Restler and Reynoso have also suggested alternative parking options for the judges, including a nearby Marriott hotel and Brooklyn Law School. The judges can “relocate their cars to any variety of options around the neighborhood,” Restler told the crowd at the rally.

Whether the judges will budge on the decades-long conflict remains an open question, but there’s certainly community momentum. As one student at the rally put it, “We need more outside time, people!”

Heights Happenings & other news

• The Brooklyn Heights Association Dog Show will return on June 14. Proceeds will go to nonprofit Paws NY.

• Seven Wonders Collective is having an opening party for their new Atlantic Avenue location on June 13. Shoppers can get a live illustration with any $100 purchase.

• The Brooklyn Greek Festival is running now through June 7 on Schermerhorn Street.

• The residents of Dumbo are fed up.

• Last week’s big restaurant news: Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group is opening its first full-service restaurant in Brooklyn at the former Hotel Bossert on Montague Street. It’s set to open in 2028.

• You really can find anything at a Brooklyn Heights stoop sale

That’s it for now! See you next time.