Inna Vernikov speaks during New York gubernatorial candidate party in Midtown Manhattan on November 8, 2022 in New York City, USA. Photo: John Lamparski/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

Walking up a brick pathway leading to a pre-war-era apartment building in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn in late summer of 1996, 12-year-old Inna Vernikov, newly arrived to the United States, did not think that she would one day become one of New York City’s most recognizable advocates of Jewish civil rights.

Vernikov was elected in 2021 to the New York City Council to fill a seat in the 48th District which covers the neighborhoods of Brighton Beach, Homecrest, Manhattan Beach, Sheepshead Bay, as well as her hometown of Midwood, and comprises nearly 160,000 residents. No Republican had won it in a century. 

In the years after her family emigrated from Ukraine, she had imagined a simpler life, one far away from the rough and tumble of local politics and public scrutiny. She loved country music, pranking her friends, and learning history at the Orthodox day school for girls she attended. At the time, the boundaries of her world did not extend far beyond the one bedroom apartment her parents and grandparents cramped into. 

“Never in a million years did I think about politics,” she told The Algemeiner on Monday during an interview. “I always wanted to be a lawyer. That was my dream. I never even paid much attention to politics, you know? I was a teenager.” 

For someone who never fathomed a career in politics, Vernikov’s rise to becoming a leading politician in New York City after just two years in office is reflective of an indomitable ambition.

In April, she authored a resolution establishing April 29 as “End Jew Hatred Day” in New York City, a measure that was passed with all but six votes. Not one to shy away from controversy, Vernikov has opposed mandatory covid vaccinations for police officers and firefighters, as well as a bill that would have barred landlords from requiring potential tenants to submit to criminal background checks. She has also pointedly criticized the City University of New York (CUNY) for poorly handling antisemitism discrimination on its campus. During a hearing on the issue, she subjected CUNY officials to hours of questioning. She has also pushed prosecutors to secure justice in the case of Blake Zavadksy, who was brutally beaten in an antisemitic hate crime that took place in Dec. 2021. 

Vernikov has also continuously criticized powerful New York Democrats and even some within the mainstream Jewish establishment. Last August, Vernikov accused the Museum of Jewish Heritage of favoring Democratic politicians over Republicans after it was reported that museum officials allegedly said it did not want Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to speak there.

“She was always someone who could get up and speak,” said former New York State Senator David Storobin (R), who now serves as Vernikov’s campaign manager. “And long before she was involved in politics, she was part of local Jewish organizations.”

Vernikov said that her ideas about politics were formed during the years she lived in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, an experience that she said left her highly suspicious of state power and the ideology of the far-left. By early adulthood, she realized her beliefs aligned more with the Republican Party. 

“I believe in America, and even though I wasn’t really into politics when I was young, I loved American values,” she said. “You know — free speech, capitalism, freedom of religion. You can really appreciate it coming from the former Soviet Union, where we were so restricted. To me, the whole promise of America was freedom, the idea that if you study hard and work hard, you could do anything you want, and I kind of felt like the Democratic Party was moving us backwards towards the place my family had run away from.”

Vernikov cited the 2012 Presidential Election of 2012, between incumbent Barack Obama (D) and challenger Mitt Romney (R) as sparking her interest in politics. Pundits and columnists framed the election as a contest between the proponents of a tightly regulated economy and advocates of chaotic, unfettered free markets. For Vernikov, choosing a side was easy. Another issue influenced her thinking. The Democrats she knew in New York City supported the politics of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, and she sensed that the relationship between President Obama and Israel was, if not openly hostile, frosty at best.

That year, she volunteered for Storobin who had been elected to office in a special election held after longtime incumbent Carl Kruger (D) resigned from office. Storobin lost his race, but before saying goodbye to Vernikov, predicted that her political career was only beginning.

Eight years later, her friends and neighbors began encouraging her to run for an open City Council seat vacated by, Chaim Deutsch (D) who was convicted of tax fraud.

“She was always a very persistent, persuasive, and charismatic person, even in high school,” Vernikov’s friend and former high school teacher, Mechal Srour, told The Algemeiner. “There was no stopping her, and she speaks her mind. She let’s you know what she’s thinking. She has her head on straight, good values, good perspective. She’ll advocate for what’s right.”

Not one for the spotlight, Vernikov remained ambivalent towards running for elected office. Then, in the summer of 2020, she was swarmed by a mob of far-left protestors who had decided to halt traffic to protest of the police killing of George Floyd. The experience left an indelible mark on her and pushed her into politics.

“That was really the straw that broke the camel’s back,” she said. “And then they started talking about defunding the police, I couldn’t believe it.”

Vernikov felt not only that a resurgent left was pushing the city into chaos, but that Jews — particularly identifiable Orthodox Jews — were bearing the brunt of the damage. 

While campaigning in 2021, New York City and the entire US saw the most antisemitic hate crimes ever recorded since the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) began tracking them in 1979. The rise in hatred and the city’s seeming inability to effectively address the spiraling problem left Vernikov livid.

“Rising antisemitism was one of the major reasons I decided to run for office,” Vernikov said. “I was just in shock. It was just very hard to believe that the thing we ran away from in the Soviet Union is happening in America, and I felt that it was my duty as an immigrant who loves this country to stand up for my people. I remember a time when literally about every two hours we would about some kind of an attack, whether it was a swastika, somebody punched in the face in Borough Park, somebody’s hat was thrown or they were called a ‘dirty Jew.’ It was not normal.”

Vernikov resolved to protect the Jewish community from criminals who, she said were emboldened by the atmosphere of permissiveness that came over the five boroughs during the Covid-19 pandemic and George Floyd protests and had who no compunctions about physically assaulting identifiable Jews in the streets.  

Beating her opponent, Steven Saperstein, that November by 23 points and nearly 5,000 votes, she proceeded to make rising antisemitism the central focus of her office, focusing on hate crimes as well as rising antisemitism at the City University of New York, where she attended Baruch College. In doing so, she has advocated for the victims of antisemitic hate crimes, including Blake Zavadsky and a yeshiva student who was pelted with eggs while being forced to say “free Palestine,” while cultivating a productive working relationship with New York City Mayor Eric Adams.  

As Jews have increasingly come under attack on the streets of New York, Vernikov has continuously called the public’s attention to antisemitic violence and warned lawmakers about the dangers of letting perpetrators of it to walk free.

Last November, after a young New York yeshiva student who was pelted with eggs while being forced to say “Free Palestine,” Vernikov helped police narrow down the list of possible suspects to several students from Edward R. Murrow High School (ERWHS), an institution of over 4,000 students close to the location of the attack. Vernikov went so far as demanding meetings with Murrow administrators to discuss previous conflicts between their students and Yeshiva students.

“Our communities should not have to live in a state of perpetual fear. The onus is on our criminal justice system, which is currently failing law abiding citizens,” she said after police arrested one of the attackers. “That is unacceptable.”

Running for reelection this fall, Vernikov said she hopes her constituents value her service and award her another two years in office.

Oksana Levi, a Long Island resident who has known her since the early 2000s, when they both attended Baruch College, thinks they will. 

“She’s very down to earth, she’s very humble. She’s remained that way, and that’s Inna for you,” Levi said. “And the fact that she’s not scared to say what she needs to say and she’s not scared about having to sugarcoat anything, to be politically correct — we don’t need that nonsense. I’m confident that she’ll have continued success.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.