Brad Lander

Brad Lander
Lander in 2010.
Member of the New York City Council from the 39th District
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2010
Preceded by Bill de Blasio
Personal details
Nationality American
Political party Democratic, Working Families
Spouse(s) Meg Barnette; 2 children
Residence Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation Politician, educator, academic
Religion Jewish
Website http://bradlander.com

Brad Lander is a member of the New York City Council, representing the 39th Council District in Brooklyn, which covers Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Windsor Terrace, Kensington, and Borough Park.[1] He came to public notice as an affordable housing advocate that has negotiated important affordable housing concessions from the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg in major development projects.[2] He directed the Pratt Center for Community Development (formerly PICCED) and the Fifth Avenue Committee.

Career

Lander is the former Director of the Pratt Center for Community Development.[3] He stepped down after six years as head of the organization to seek a seat in the New York City Council.[4] He still teaches community planning, housing, and urban policy at Brooklyn Law School.[5]

Brad served for a decade as executive director of the Fifth Avenue Committee,[6] a not-for-profit community-based organization in Brooklyn that develops and manages affordable housing, runs economic development and job training programs, and organizes tenants and workers. As a director, Lander won local and national recognition for his work at FAC including the 2000 New York Magazine Civics Award,[7] and the 2002 Leadership for a Changing World award, sponsored by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Sustainable Communities.[6] In 1999 Rolling Stone Magazine awarded Lander the "Do Something Brick Award" for his community work in affordable housing. Other awards from the Ford Foundation, the Fannie Mae Foundation and the University of Chicago were granted throughout his tenure as a director.

He served as the Housing Chair of Brooklyn Community Board 6, serves on the board of directors of the Jewish Funds for Justice, and is a little league coach in the 78th Precinct Youth Council. As the director of the Pratt Center,[8] Lander has been a critic of the Bloomberg administration's development policies.[9] He has also been a critic of the Atlantic Yards project,[10] directing a Pratt Center study in 2005 that questioned the project's subsidies, neighborhood impacts, and lack of community involvement in the original plan.[11] Lander's work in 2003–2005 on the Greenpoint-Williamsburg rezoning led to the first New York City inclusionary housing program to create affordable housing in new development outside Manhattan[12] Lander was a key leader in forming a coalition that repealed the 421-a tax break for luxury housing and required that new development in many parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens include affordable housing to qualify.[13] He co-led the completion of the One City One Future platform,[14] a progressive vision for economic development in New York City.[15]

City Council

Lander was first elected to office on the Democratic Party and Working Families Party lines on November 4, 2009, with 70% of the vote. Lander won a hotly contested Democratic Primary on September 15, 2009 with 41% of the vote in a field of five.[16]

Lander was reelected on the Democratic Party and Working Families Party lines on November 5, 2013 to serve for a second term. His current term runs from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2017. He holds the title of Deputy Leader for Policy in the Democratic Conference and chairs the Committee on Rules, Privileges and Elections.

Lander is a co-founder of the Progressive Caucus in the New York City Council, a group that was described by the New York Times as "the City Council’s most liberal members." For his first term, Brad shared the title of Co-Chair of this caucus with his Manhattan colleague Melissa Mark-Viverito, who was unanimously elected Speaker of the City Council in early 2014.[17]

Personal

Brad is a graduate of the University of Chicago where he received the Harry S. Truman Scholarship and he attended the University College London on a Marshall Scholarship, and Pratt Institute.

A Brooklyn resident of nearly two decades, he lives in Park Slope with his wife, Meg Barnette, the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Planned Parenthood NYC, and their children.

References

  1. ↑ "Housing Advocate Brad Lander to Run for DeBlasio's Council Spot – Daily Intel". Nymag.com. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ "About Brad Lander – Rooflines – National Housing Institute". Rooflines. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  4. ↑ Pratt Center official website
  5. ↑ Lander profile at Brooklyn Law School website
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Award Recipients". leadershipforchange.org. August 12, 2001. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  7. ↑ "The New York Awards 2000". Nymag.com. December 18, 2000. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Pratt Institute". Pratt.edu. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Bloomberg reshapes city, despite high profile setbacks". Newsday. New York. April 10, 2008. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  10. ↑ Bernstein, Andrea (September 13, 2005). "Developer Has Mixed Record in Brooklyn". WNYC. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn". Dddb.net. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  12. ↑ Cardwell, Diane (December 27, 2004). "City Sees Way to Get Mix of Homes on Brooklyn Waterfront". New York Times. New York City. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  13. ↑ Adam Lisberg (February 8, 2009). "Real estate board is hammerin' for old tax breaks". Daily News. New York. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Travel and Car Rentals". Onecityonefuture.org. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  15. ↑ "The Brian Lehrer Show: One City/One Future". WNYC. May 12, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  16. ↑ "In the 39th District: Lander crushes four rivals • The Brooklyn Paper". Brooklynpaper.com. September 16, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  17. ↑ Chen, David W. (March 23, 2010). "12 New York City Council Members Form Liberal Bloc". New York Times. Retrieved October 20, 2011.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Bill de Blasio		 New York City Council, 39th District
2010–present 		Incumbent