Gale Brewer Seeks Re-Election in Council District 6 on UWS

1) Age, how long in the district and which neighborhood and civic/business and or/political background and employment

I am 72 years old and have lived in Manhattan on the Upper West Side since 1969.

I served as Manhattan Borough President for eight years (2014-2021) and as Council Member from 2002 to 2013. I’ve also worked for the NYC Nonprofits Project at CUNY Graduate Center and for an affordable housing developer Telesis.

My first job with the City of New York was with the Parks Department. I went on to work as an aide to Council Member Ruth Messinger, for Mayor David Dinkins (whom I served as director of his Federal Office and as chair of the NYC Commission on the Status of Women), and Public Advocate Mark Green.

I earned a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School and a BA from Columbia University. For over 25 years, I’ve been an Adjunct Professor at local colleges and universities including Barnard College and CUNY’s Hunter College, Brooklyn College, and Queens College, teaching politics and government to new generations of leaders.

I am a former Vice Chair of Community Board 7; and a former board member of the Veritas Therapeutic Community, Avenues for Justice, and the Encampment for Citizenship. I was Chair of the NYS National Women’s Political Caucus.

2) Why are you running?

I want government to be responsive to the people it serves, and often government operates in silos, does not meet the needs of people who need it the most, and is not transparent and accountable to citizens and residents. In this second opportunity to represent the 6th Council District, I chair the Council’s Oversight and Investigations Committee, my staff and I work hard to bring accountability to city government while protecting schools, public safety, and the social safety net. We have shined a light on the huge no-bid contracts for migrant services, the Adams Administration’s inadequate response to air quality and flooding emergencies, delayed payments to nonprofits, and city government staffing vacancies. In the 6th District, we’ve worked to halt the rapid spread of unlicensed cannabis stores; remove the resurgent wave of graffiti tags; and enhance the street tree canopy. I am able to serve my community and city in ways that others cannot because of my vast experience in government. That is why I am running.

3) What do you see as the major issues facing voters in your district and what do you hope to do about it?

Top 3 Issues:

1) School excellence–I am fighting to protect and increase public school budgets, provide universal 3-K and pre-K, improve the quality and cost of childcare, guaranteeing free after-school programs for all NYC’s students, increasing education equity between schools across the city, fully fund CUNY, and support CTE schools that can offer good jobs.

2) Preserve and build affordable housing–NYC needs at least 500,000 more units of housing; the majority of it must be affordable to the residents of the neighborhood. Average Median Income (AMI) needs to be set locally, not by the Federal government. In Manhattan, HPD must add subsidies to a building that is providing MIH units only.

3)Public safety for all–To reduce crime, NYPD needs to develop a more robust & proactive strategy for working with communities. Mental health is also an important factor. I want more social workers and peers with lived mental health experience responding to calls alongside cops such as in the B-HEARD program in Harlem. We need more mental health beds in hospitals.

4) Are you running on any other party line other than Dem.?

I’m running on the Democratic Party line.

5) What is your stance on COVID vaccines? And what about other vaccines for chickenpox, measles, mumps, rubella, etc. Do you think they are medically safe? And should vaccinations be required of all children in NYC schools?

I support the vaccines. Yes, students at NYC schools should be vaccinated against these diseases.

6) Anything else we should know about you?

Over my many years of service, I have given thousands of young New Yorkers the opportunity to learn about city government and gain essential job skills as interns in my office. I am known for having the most interns of any Council Member, and perhaps even any city official. With bilingual staff and many volunteers, we respond quickly to constituents and hold agencies responsible by writing letters on behalf of those with problems, questions and general concerns. We have an excellent on-line newsletter that goes to tens of thousands of people, many of whom respond to it with even more questions!

I’m honored to have received the endorsement of dozens of labor and activist groups (all endorsements: https://galebrewer.nyc/endorsements/) 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East; 32BJ SEIU; 504 Democrats; ACEC (Engineering Counsel); Auxiliary Police Benevolent Association; Communications Workers of America (CWA); Council of School Supervisors and Administrators (CSA); District Council 37; Downtown Women for Change; Eleanor’s Legacy; Hell’s Kitchen Democrats; Hotel Trades Council; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3; International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 891; NY Immigration Coalition Action; NY League of Conservation Voters; NYC District Council of Carpenters; NYS Ironworkers District Council; NYS Nurses Association; Planned Parenthood of Greater New York; Votes PAC; Professional Service Congress-CUNY; Resilience PAC; Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU); Stonewall Dems; Teamsters Joint Council 16; TenantsPAC; The New Majority NYC; Three Parks Democrats; Transit Workers Union Local 100; United Auto Workers, Region 9A; United Federation of Teachers; Unite Here Local 100; West Side Democrats