A Brooklyn politician, originally from the USSR, recently stirred controversy by suggesting that immigrants like himself who relocated to the United States possess a higher level of culture compared to those born in America.
State Assemblyman Michael Novakhov, who once supported Sen. Bernie Sanders as a Democrat before switching to the GOP to represent his predominantly conservative district in southern Brooklyn, expressed these views in a Facebook post dated February 18. The post addressed local acts of vandalism targeting lights his office had installed with taxpayer funds on a bridge linking Sheepshead Bay to Manhattan Beach.
According to a translation from Russian on his Facebook page, Novakhov stated, “We, the descendants of the USSR, consider ourselves somewhat more cultured than the residents of the country we came to.”
He elaborated, “We attend theaters and classical music concerts. We prioritize the humanitarian education of our children, yet we also find ourselves removing traffic lights from the bridge.”
Novakhov continued, “We must recognize that our area lacks a certain level of household culture, although each person views themselves as intelligent and cultured.”
However, on Friday, Novakhov clarified that the translation from his Facebook post was inaccurate, asserting that he does not, in any way, believe immigrants from the USSR are more cultured than other Americans.
But Joey Cohen-Saben, a moderate Democrat running to unseat Novakhov in the 45th Assembly District that also includes portions of Gravesend and Brighton Beach, said he’s not buying it and believes the remarks show Novakhov doesn’t have the pulse of the neighborhoods he reps.
“When common sense left the building, Novakhov held the door,” said Cohen-Saben, who narrowly lost the 2024 race to Novakhov by a percentage point.
“And just when you think it can’t get worse, he demeans and degrades his own constituents as inferior and uncultured if they’re not from the former USSR. It’s a disgrace to the office he holds.”
Novakhov called Cohen-Saben “desperate,” claiming his opponent is trying to “spread lies” to win over voters.
Novakhov was a loyal Democrat and frequent lefty campaign donor — whose contributions include $170 in 2016 to socialist Sen. Sanders of Vermont — before crossing party lines and successfully running to unseat then-Democratic incumbent Steven Cymbrowitz in 2022.
Novakhov has a history of palling around with prominent NYC socialists like Brooklyn Councilman Chi Ossé and has often liked and reposted social media remarks from ex-comptroller Brad Lander, another socialist, and Manhattan’s soft-on-crime District Attorney Alvin Bragg, The Post reported in 2023.
And Novakhov’s own personal Instagram page features him prominently wearing a tongue-in-cheek Communist “party” sweater featuring images of Karl Marx, Mao Zedong, Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin holding balloons.
