A Brooklyn councilwoman is accusing the owner of a Russian-speaking radio station of trying to strong-arm her into shelling out $30,000 for political ads — and bankrolling her challenger in next month’s Republican primary because she refused.
Councilwoman Inna Vernikov told The Post that reps for Russian media mogul Gregory Davidzon approached her camp during her first political campaign in 2021 to demand she “hire someone from his team” — and also spend $30,000 for commercial airtime on his station WSNR 620-AM.
She said the station, in exchange, promised its undying support.
Vernikov said she refused to be “bullied” and went on to win her race to represent Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach and other parts of southern Brooklyn – delivering what she called a “big blow” to Davidzon’s reputation as a longtime “kingmaker” in heavily Russian-speaking parts of her district.
“I don’t take well to extortion,” fumed Vernikov, who records show spent just $3,385 on WSNR ads.
The Ukraine native is currently facing a primary challenge from one of Davidzon’s staffers at WSNR, Igor Kazatsker. The race has become enmeshed with allegations of dirty politics.
Vernikov showed a reporter complaints she filed with the city’s Campaign Finance Board accusing Kazatsker of illegally relying on “straw donors” to help qualify for public matching funds and also scoring many free ads on WSNR that he didn’t document as donations in campaign filings.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office and city’s Department of Investigation were separately asked by Vernikov to investigate the allegations of straw donors as a criminal matter.
The CFB, DOI and Brooklyn DA were provided sworn affidavits from three people who are documented in Kazatsker’s campaign filings as each giving a $10 cash donation. However, the trio said under oath that they never gave a cent to the campaign.
“Straw donors” would help Kazatsker meet a threshold to qualify for a lucrative program that pays candidates a 8:1 taxpayer-funded match on all small donations up to $175.
Vernikov alleges Kazatsker only decided to run this year after she angered Davidzon by not supporting his wish to co-name a Brighton Beach street in honor of conservative radio host Vicktor Topaller, Davidzon’s late pal.
Kazatsker latest campaign filing on March 11 documented only $266.44 in expenses — and none were for ads, records show. However, more than a month earlier, his campaign began airing multiple ads daily on WSNR attacking Vernikov for being “disconnected” from constituents, according to an affidavit Vernikov’s camp submitted to the CFB.
Thirty-second weekday ads on WSNR typically run from $80 to $150, according to a document listing the station’s rates.
Aaron Foldenauer, a lawyer for Kazatsker’s campaign, called Vernikov’s claims “false and defamatory,” adding “the reason [she’s] pursuing these last-minute attacks is because she knows Igor Kazatsker can win this race.”
Regarding the ads, he said the campaign “only recently” received a bill from the radio station for them and will be reporting the expense in its next campaign disclosure filings later this month.
Davidzon did not return messages. The CFB didn’t return messages. A spokesman for Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez said it would investigate the complaint. DOI declined comment.