“New York needs this money,” said Sidibe Ibrahima, a business owner and Democrat from Harlem. “The fact that [AOC] had her own community impacted by the floods, how are you going to go against an infrastructure bill? She should think about the people who voted for her.”

Much of New York City — including AOC’s Queesn/Bronx district — found itself underwater during severe weather events this year. At least 18 New Yorkers died in September as a result of flash floods caused by Hurricane Ida.

Cash to upgrade the city’s sewers and drainage systems to prevent similar catastrophes is included in the infrastructure bill.

Michael Goodman, a retired college professor living in Midtown groused, “I don’t know why she voted against it. For decades New York has given more money than they’ve gotten back. Politics is the art of compromise. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”