Exclusive | NYC pol accused of blocking critics from posting on her social media and dares naysayer to take her to court: Not democratic
A Brooklyn Assembly member is allegedly blocking locals from making posts she doesn’t like on her social media pages — and she even dared one critic to take her to court.Greenpoint’s Emily Gallagher, a Democratic socialist, has been stealthily deleting critical or uncomplimentary comments or has altogether restricted certain users from interacting with her political media pages for as long as she’s been in office, The Post has learned.That could be a First Amendment violation as a public official, according to experts.“The parallels between the way that she operates and the way theocracy operates or how fascism starts, it’s right on the money,” Shannon Phipps, the founder of the Berry Street Alliance, told The Post.Phipps said she has been blocked from Gallagher’s Instagram account since June 2024 after years of publicly blasting the city’s Open Streets program, which the Assembly member supports..Phipps said she had noticed that her replies in response to Gallagher’s tweets seemingly disappeared shortly after she posted them — possibly as part of an X feature that allows users to “hide” unwelcome interactions.Other neighbors have lodged similar allegations in recent months — with claims they are being punished for criticizing Gallagher’s policies or simply for asking her to take action on neighborhood issues.Gallagher’s public Instagram page on Thursday showed minimal negative comments.Various posts indicated that there were numerous comments that were not populating under pictures — an indication that she might have hidden them from the public.The Post also viewed various screenshots showing that Gallagher restricted several users from directly interacting with her on social media.“People are being blocked for having a political critique of her, or if you’re posting something about a political issue that you want her to pay attention to.
It’s that stuff.It’s not, ‘Emily, you’re fat and ugly.’ It’s the real stuff,...