CityHallNews.com

Rising Stars: 35 under 40
The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York

Melissa Mark Viverito	Christopher DeCicco	Alaina Colon
Morgan Ortagus	Darren Bloch	Kevin Sheekey
Jessica Lappin	Rodney Capel	Hakeem Jeffries
Jefrey Pollock	Mike Gianaris	Dan Garodnick
Basil Smikle, Jr.	Michael Murphy	Eric Gioia
José M. Serrano	Jonathan Bing	John Liu
Peter Colavito	Kevin Wardally	Josh Isay
Rich Baum	Ed Skyler	Patrick Brennan
Brian Kavanagh	Patrick Gaspard	Jonathan Bowles
Jamie Van Bramer	Sean Maloney	Christine Quinn
Bill Lipton	Joel Rivera	Greg Atkins
Andrea Batista Schlesinger	Joe Henriquez McNearney

Look at the members of the City Council, the Assembly, and even the State Senate. Look at the citywide offices, look at the statewide offices. Though many longtime incumbents remain entrenched, change has certainly been in the air of late in New York politics. A new generation of leaders is developing in the Empire State, and as a new publication ourselves, City Hall has devoted its September issue to looking at 35 people under 40 we think will clearly be among it.

Working from nominations from readers and other careful political observers, we compiled the list, and asked the people on it to reflect on their past achievements, their present ones, and where they think they are headed by the end of 2008, the next big political year.

One of the things that we noticed in going through the nominations is that there are not enough women or members of racial minorities who are under 40 in positions of deep political power in this city. People like Brooklyn Council Members Yvette Clarke, 41, and Letitia James, 45, qualify in both categories and would definitely have made the list if the cutoff had been a little higher than our somewhat arbitrary one.

Yes, only 17 percent of this list is female, but looking at how many elected leaders are women–two in four citywide officials, two in six statewide officials, 24 percent of the Assembly, 14.5 percent of the State Senate and 33 percent of the City Council—this seems an accurate representation of how power is distributed in New York, especially when considering how few of the women who make up those percentages are 40 and under.

The list is by no means comprehensive—but here in random order, here are the important and the influential, the powerful and the prominent—whom we expect to be more important, influential, powerful and prominent very, very soon.

Melissa Mark Viverito,37
Council Member, Manhattan and Bronx
Melissa Mark Viverito was appointed to her local community board by then-Council Member Phil Reed (D-Manhattan/Bronx) in 2002. The next year, defying the wishes of 1199, where she worked as an organizer, she ran in a primary against Reed.
She lost then, but retooled for the 2005 race, pulling out a victory in a six-way primary that was by the smallest margin of any Council race in the city last year. Though she was one of five Latino candidates in a field that had one African-American candidate, Viverito impressed enough people to get the backing of the powerful Harlem political machine and Rev. Al Sharpton.
Without any general election opponent, she had an extra few months to be called Council-member-elect and prepare for a job which she says “totally exceeds expectations.”
“This is about an opportunity to mobilize people and empower people,” she said, talking about her growing efforts to fight back against overdevelopment and elimination of affordable housing in her district.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Being elected, the ability to serve in this way.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“To me, my focus has been on economic development and housing in my district—that’s really been what I’m working on.”
— By Edward-Isaac Dovere

Christopher DeCicco, 29
Legislative Director, Council Member James Oddo
A Staten Island native, Christopher DeCicco never had to venture that far from home to find his calling. As a student at New York Law School, he remembered going to classes in the shadow of City Hall and hoping to work there someday. After graduation, he began clerking for a judge in New Jersey, but soon an ad appeared in his hometown paper, the Staten Island Advance, to join Oddo’s staff. Since beginning his position, DeCicco has already advanced from the Staten Island offices to working inside the building he held in such high regard as a student, within Oddo’s minority leader office.
Already he has helped strengthen penalties against graffiti, encouraged soldier remembrance by requiring POW/MIA flags be flown outside of schools, and focused on several Department of Buildings related bills.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“A bill I wrote and helped pass that increased the penalties on illegal possession of fireworks.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“I haven’t even thought that far ahead yet. I enjoy what I am doing now and I’ll see what realities are at that time.”
— By Noah Fowle

Alaina Colon, 28
Chief of Staff, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer
When Atlanta native Alaina Colon interned for then-Lieutenant Governor Betsy McCaughey Ross (R) the summer after her sophomore year of college, she “got the bug,” and after a brief waylay doing paralegal work for two firms after graduating, she soon returned to politics.
Colon interviewed with then-Assembly Member Scott Stringer in 2002 and was taken on as a policy director, though she was only 24 at the time. After three years of working in policy and media relations and volunteering on Stringer’s successful run for borough president last year, Colon ran his transition team and was named his chief of staff. For her, the transition has been drastic: previously in a single room with a small handful of colleagues, Colon now oversees an office of sixty. The range of issues, along with the constituency, has also ballooned.
She hopes the degree she is working on from the Wagner School at NYU will further her goal of creating policy with substantial results, such as her longstanding project to reform HIV/AIDS prevention in public schools. Her work on this issue has brought together a wide coalition, mobilizing Schools Chancellor Joel Klein to modify the related curricula.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“We shaped the office to focus on policy change. With our current land use division, we are better in line with community needs.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“I think I have the job of a lifetime. I love every minute and that’s all I’m focused on.”
— By Lee Norsworthy

Morgan Ortagus, 24
Press Secretary, former republican Senate candidate KT McFarland
Although a Florida native, Morgan Ortagus seems tailor-made for New York City. Yet she has no plan to rest on her laurels here. Working with the Florida Department of Citrus, Ortagus began her public relations career helping promote her home state’s number one export: orange juice. Her first position took her through a three-city tour in China. When she returned, Ortagus joined Rep. Adam Putnam’s reelection campaign, and then on to several corporate public relations departments.
Several of her old bosses recommended her for KT McFarland’s Senate campaign. Since she was recruited north to take the position, even with McFarland’s primary loss, she has not looked back.
“I’ve only been here six months, and already I’m hooked,” she said.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“I’m really grateful for this opportunity with KT in New York City because I have proved to myself that I’m tough enough to survive here where it truly is the survival of the fittest.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“I see myself most likely working for a Republican presidential candidate.”
— By Noah Fowle

Darren Bloch, 32
Director of Intergovernmental & Community Relations, Public Advocate’s Office
Darren Bloch is still surprised when people stop him on the street to thank him for his 2005 City Council run, and to ask him what he is up to now. “To have a year later people still connecting with what you were saying – that’s been incredibly gratifying, and something I certainly didn’t expect,” he said. “You don’t realize that, win or lose, that reservoir of good will doesn’t go away.”
Born and raised in Manhattan, Bloch is a graduate of New York Law School. By age 18, he was helping on his first campaign. By 25, he had already held the position of chief of staff to the Nassau County Legislature, as well as executive director of the Nassau County Democratic Party. Bloch said he plans to stay in public service for the foreseeable future. People who held his job in the past—Gale Brewer and Guillermo Linares—have subsequently been elected to office, and he was talked about as a possible candidate for this year’s Assembly Democratic primary race between Sylvia Friedman and Brian Kavanagh, but he demured on any such speculation.
“I’m certainly not running in anything anytime soon,” he said. “But you always keep your options open.”
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Coordinating the landslide victories for Democrats in Nassau County in 1999, changing the political landscape in the region.” Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“I’d like to see the public advocate’s office gain a more institutional role in the oversight of the delivery of city services.” — By James Caldwell

Kevin Sheekey, 40
Deputy Mayor for Government Affairs
“You may actually expect less of me as we go forward, or see less of me,” said Kevin Sheekey.
That was how it was supposed to be after he left the office of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and after he failed to convince Michael Bloomberg to pass on running for mayor in 2001, and after he engineered Bloomberg’s narrow victory, after finishing as president of the 2004 Republican National Convention host committee, and after he worked on last year’s reelection.
Now he is remodeling the city’s legislative affairs offices in New York City, Albany and Washington, D.C. operationally and physically—within six months, all three offices will have been converted to the standard Bloomberg “bullpen” offices.
And he is still trying to convince Bloomberg to think about the White House.
“He tends not to amuse me as much as I want,” Sheekey admitted.
Sheekey says he cannot guess what his role would be if he ever wins Bloomberg over, though he insists he really does want to get out of government—the job he had as chief lobbyist at Bloomberg LP from 1997-2001 was his favorite job.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Convincing my wife to move to New York City.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“I want to have elected a new president.”
— By Edward-Isaac Dovere

Jessica Lappin, 31
City Council Member, Manhattan
Jessica Lappin arrived to her first stated meeting as a Council member waving to old friends and exchanging kisses on the cheek. She may have been newly elected, but she was anything but new.
After graduating Georgetown in 1997, Lappin spent about six months in public relations for Christian Dior. She was lured away by an opening as scheduler and constituent liaison for then-Council Member Gifford Miller (D-Manhattan), who had won a special election for the seat in 1996 at 26. “It was a real opportunity to work for an elected official who was of my generation,” she recalled.
She led Miller’s Council 2001 political action committee, and eventually became his district chief of staff while he became increasingly focused on his citywide duties as Council speaker and mayoral candidate.
Though she has not yet called Miller for job advice, she is considering following his example for a speaker run, especially if term limits stay in place.
“There’s going to be massive turnover in four more years and I’m going to be one of the more senior members,” she said coyly. “We’ll see what the future holds.”
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Bringing the green market to the Upper East Side and keeping the Tram in business.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“I want to see us break ground on the construction of Southpoint Park on Roosevelt Island.”
— Edward-Isaac Dovere

Rodney Capel, 34
Deputy Chief of Staff, City Council
Both have spent most of their lives in Harlem and have been political advisors. The elder Capel has served as Rep. Charles Rangel’s (D-Manhattan) chief of staff for decades.
Rodney Capel’s first taste of campaigns came in 1994, when H. Carl McCall (D) ran for state comptroller. Following McCall’s win, Capel went to work for Rangel on Capitol Hill. Capel has been involved in all of the recent Democratic presidential bids – Clinton/Gore, Gore/Lieberman, Kerry/Edwards, and spent some time in the federal Department of Education under Clinton. He returned to New York City in 1999 to work as Sen. Charles Schumer’s (D) deputy state director and then moved to the state Democratic Party.
After assisting Christine Quinn with her successful speaker’s race, Capel was tapped for a position in the City Council.
This year he flirted with a State Senate run (to replace David Paterson), but Capel says he has not ruled out his own political campaign in the future.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“It would have to be working to serve my community in whatever capacity I’ve taken on.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“Continue to remain healthy and make sure that the city continues to be a better place to live for young folks like me who are starting families.” — By Courtney McCleod

Andrea Batista Schlesinger, 29
Executive Director, the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy
Andrea Batista Schlesinger’s introduction to public policy came during high school, when the Brooklyn native served on the Board of Education. After receiving a degree in public policy from the University of Chicago, Batista Schlesinger returned to New York – the only place she says she can live – to run a campaign for Pew Charitable Trusts to get college students interested in the future of social security. From there she went to work on then-Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer’s (D) educational policy.
In January of 2002 Batista Schlesinger joined the Drum Major Institute. Since her arrival, Schlesinger has challenged the way think tanks do business. Her goal is turn the Drum Major Institute into a highly visible, progressive answer to Republican think tanks like the Manhattan Institute. The venerable Drum Major Institute now has a blog, hosts events with progressive leaders from around the country, and takes its cues from people in the vanguard of public policy.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Put the middle-class squeeze on the progressive agenda and reframed debates on important issues like immigration from the perspective of how it impacts the broad section of the population united by economic anxiety.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“Reach twice as many people.”
— By Courtney McCleod

Jefrey Pollock, 35
President, Global Strategy Group
Jefrey Pollock has been passionate about politics since the age of 12, when the Philadelphia native visited Capitol Hill and met his congressman (he still has the picture in his desk drawer). After attending the University of Pennsylvania, Pollock headed to Manhattan. At the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia (where he is now an adjunct professor), Pollock learned about polling from someone he calls an interesting foil: Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster. Pollock worked for Luntz (on his non-Republican candidates) and then briefly had his own firm.
At 23, Pollock moved to Global Strategy Group, a strategic research and communications firm, where he’s been for the past 12 years. The firm is known for its deep knowledge of New York issues and extensive polling. In 1998 Eliot Spitzer turned to Global Strategy for campaign advice, and when he pulled a come-from-behind victory, Global Strategy got a huge credibility lift.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Married my wife, had a great daughter and soon to have a beautiful son. Beats everything else.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“I hope, if he runs, to be standing in Washington at the inauguration of President John Edwards.”
— By Courtney McCleod

Mike Gianaris, 36
Assembly Member, Queens
Mike Gianaris was in college when Michael Dukakis ran for president in 1988 and he was drawn to his fellow Queens native’s grassroots mobilizing campaign. After graduating from Harvard Law, he returned home, serving as then-Governor Mario Cuomo’s (D) Queens County Regional Representative.
While working at Chadbourne & Parke, and then as associate counsel to the New York State Assembly, stayed involved in his local Community Board and other Queens civic associations, and when his district’s Assembly seat opened, he won easily.
During this summer’s blackout in Queens, Gianaris was a central player in standing up for the neighborhoods, and he believes the local representation made a real difference for the residents and business owners.
He is active in the state Democratic Party, and collected $2 million for an attorney general primary race he never ran. He says he is letting the interest grow for a future race. Until then, he plans to build his redistricting campaign, which he sees as a tool for achieving more vibrant democracy.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“The state’s first major anti-terrorism Energy Security Act.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“In 2009 and 2010, I will see what opportunities there are. Attorney General is something I will be interested in again.” — By Lee Norsworthy

Dan Garodnick, 34
City Council Member, Manhattan
Dan Garodnick has caught a lot of attention in his seven months on the job, and not just for his Bob Costas-like voice—a comparison he heard all the time during the Winter Olympics.
Recently, he got an almost unprecedented 12 other elected officials to join him for a press conference announcing a proposal tenat buyout of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. The complex is not just home to 25,000 of his constituents, but also where he grew up and lives.
Speaker Christine Quinn named him chair of the Planning Subcommittee and co-chair of the rules reform working group. His colleagues elected him co-chair of the Manhattan delegation.
Coming from outside government has necessitated extra work to build up relationships, but he says he has made major progress.
Some are already projecting him in the speaker’s office or Congress. Garodnick says, “It’s flattering, but it’s way too early to be thinking about things like that.”
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“My active involvement in the land use matters in my district.
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“If my constituents feel that I was incredibly responsive to their individual concerns on a daily basis and solving their problems I will consider it a successful two-year period.”
— By Edward-Isaac Dovere

Basil Smikle, Jr., 34
President, Basil Smikle Associates
Basil Smikle was born to Jamaican parents in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx, attending school in Morningside Heights. He found his political calling in Harlem.
Now Smikle is looking to branch out from his New York roots.
In 1996, Smikle received his master’s degree in Public Policy from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). Soon after, he became involved with David Dinkins and Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-Manhattan) in the Empowerment Zone of Harlem. Next he brought his focus and skills to Fernando Ferrer’s first mayoral campaign, then Sen. Joe Lieberman’s (D-Connecticut) 2004 presidential campaign operation in New York, and ultimately, as a top aide to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Today, Smikle heads his own consulting firm in New York and teaches a political campaigns and civil rights lecture at SIPA.
“The African-American community has changed,” Smikle said. “And the way people campaign in our community will have to change as well.”
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“That I have never been pigeonholed into a part kind of politics and policy and my ability to do cross cultural, cross ethnic cross, cross community work.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
I want to be able to work with the Democratic nominee to really bring people together around the country, to bring in new voters and make history.”
— By Carla Zanoni

Michael Murphy, 28
Press officer, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión Jr.
Michael Murphy’s first taste of politics came at an early age. He grew up in a large Irish family in Massachusetts (he is one of five children) with a father who impressed upon his children that one of the best ways to make a difference is through government.
After graduating from Fordham University in 2000, Murphy did some public relations work before signing on as Queens City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr.’s (D-Queens) communications director.
Recently, Murphy switched boroughs: he left Vallone’s team to join the press office of Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión Jr. (D)
Though he professes to have no political aspirations of his own, Murphy has aligned himself with one of the rising stars in city government. What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Just getting up every day and trying to do my best.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“Well I can tell you that I’m not running for president—but seriously, in 2008 I hope I’m doing exactly what I’m doing today.”
— By Courtney McCleod

Eric Gioia, 33
City Council Member, Queens
A few weeks ago, Eric Gioia was driving down the Long Island Expressway when a man started honking at them.
The man recognized Gioia from his work addressing the Queens blackout in July, and was shouting across the lane to ask for advice on getting reimbursed.
Still moving 35 miles per hour, Gioia shouted back, “Call my office!”
Gioia ran an independent candidacy against the Democratic establishment in 2001. He has quickly become known in his own right, the “mini-mayor,” as he says, of the 175,000 people in his district.
Though he has created and overseen many programs for those neighborhoods, he has also caught wider attention for citywide initiatives on issues like emergency contraception and child hunger. His Council colleagues seem just as likely to congratulate him on his newborn daughter as to tease him about his expected run for public advocate in 2009.
He plans on running for something then, and though he has thought about it, he has not made any final decisions.
“People mention that to me more than I actually think about it,” he said, while adding, “I think I could do a tremendous amount of good in that position.”
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“The work I’ve done to expand opportunities for the kids in my neighborhood.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“I want to do all I can to end child hunger in New York.”
— By Edward-Isaac Dovere

José M. Serrano, 34
State Senator, Manhattan & Bronx
José M. Serrano spent many childhood dinners listening to his father, José E. Serrano, then in the State Assembly, tell war stories of fights for this or that piece of legislation. Having earned his B.A. in Government from Manhattan College, the younger Serrano briefly strayed from the political realm when he took a job with the New York Shakespeare Festival to indulge his second greatest passion, theater and the arts.
He joined his local and took a job as chairman of the Board of the Institute for Urban Family Health, combining to add to the lessons in city politics he first had from his father.
These lessons gave him a jumpstart to defeat incumbent Pedro G. Espada in 2001 in the Bronx’s City Council District 17. Then in 2004, he defeated incumbent State Sen. Olga Mendez, who had moved to the Republican Party. In both races, Serrano believes that he helped to usher in a new model of politics where elected officials are schooled on issues, earn real respect, and bring about real change.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“It’s not the role of an elected official to hit a home run here or there. I want to be respected for my continuity in being right on the issues of most importance to the community.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“I think that this will always be my base, but I am looking forward to developing my message and bringing it forward to a larger audience.”
— By Lee Norsworthy

Jonathan Bing, 36
Assembly Member, Manhattan
When he turned 36, Jonathan Bing aged out of Young Lawyers, Young Democrats and Young Elected Officials. But he is still young by Albany standards—Dick Gottfried (D-Manhattan), the so-called dean of the chamber, was first elected the year he was born.
Bing has quickly become a fixture in his neighborhood, and a deputy to Rep. Carolyn Maloney.
A third of the Assembly’s members have arrived in the last four years, helping him gain seniority and start establishing himself as the chamber’s arts funding maven, taking up the mantle of former State Sen. Roy Goodman (R), who also hailed from the East Side.
As the Democratic Assembly member representing the highest concentration of Republicans in the city, he is thinking about higher office himself, but his immediate plans are to build on the foundation he has laid as he goes into his third term.
“I’m in a strong political position for the future in a neighborhood that hasn’t had this political stability for a long time,” he said.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Offering the 9-11 Worker’s Compensation Bill that the governor signed, that will extend the statute of limitations for workers at the clean-up.” Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“Begin construction of the Second Avenue Subway.
— By Edward-Isaac Dovere

John Liu, 39
City Council Member, Queens
John Liu, who represents Flushing, is the first Asian Pacific-American to be elected to the City Council. Since he got there in 2002, Liu, who chairs the Transportation Committee, has sponsored over 80 pieces of legislation, running the gamut from prohibitions on lead paint to a living wage for working families.
And he has also established himself as a political force, building and leading an Asian-American powerbase around the city – he passed on running for the Assembly seat being vacated by Jimmy Meng (D-Queens), but one of his protégées, Ellen Young, formerly his district manager, won the three-way primary race.
Aside from passing legislation and building coalitions, Liu doesn’t shy away from outright activism: last month he led a protest outside CBS headquarters after the announcement of a race-based “Survivor.”
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Forcing more accountability on the MTA. The most memorable day was Jan. 17, 2003, when the head of the MTA at my committee hearing admitted that the MTA were keeping different sets of financial books.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“My mother would like another grandchild. Perhaps that will happen, perhaps it won’t.”
— By Courtney McCleod

Peter Colavito, 35
Political Director, Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union
For Peter Colavito, organizing and progressive politics is not just his job – it is in his blood.
Colavito’s grandfather was involved in early iron-worker organizing in New York City. After graduating from Yale in 1993, Colavito went to work for Rep. Nita Lowey (D-Westchester). From there, he served as the political director of ACORN, a community organization that aims to empower low- and moderate-income families, before becoming chief of staff to City Council Member Bill de Blasio (D-Brooklyn).
Colavito went back to his labor roots in 2004 as the political director of 32BJ, a job he calls the best in New York politics. In a few short years, the building-service workers union has joined the city’s list of most powerful unions.
If Eliot Spitzer (D) is elected governor, it could be a new day for labor and a chance for 32BJ, which endorsed Spitzer, to increase its political might.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Forging an agreement with the Bloomberg administration and the City Council to protect the wages for 500 workers in the Greenpoint-Williamsburg development.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“It’s critical that the union address the health care crisis and be part of a multi-union and community-organization alliance to make sure that working people have guaranteed health care in the state.”
— By Courtney McCleod

Kevin Wardally,33
Director of Political & Governmental Operations, Bill Lynch Associates
When a tutor and friend decided to run for the Onondaga County Legislature in 1992, he asked a then-green Kevin Wardally to run the campaign. Wardally stayed on as an administrative aide, when he won.
His first job out of college was on Charlie Rangel’s successful 1994 primary race against Adam Clayton Powell IV.
Since then, Wardally has had his hands in races all over the city and nation – for Peter Vallone, for Hillary Clinton, Inez Dickens – and many more. A “base vote” director for the 1998 Democratic statewide ticket in 1998, Wardally designed the innovative “seven-touch” program (reaching out to each and every registered voter seven times) designed to boost voter turnout in heavily black districts. Wardally spent nine years at the City Council in various positions, rising to become deputy chief of staff to Speakers Gifford Miller and Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), though he took seven leaves of absence to work on various campaigns.
But when Bill Lynch Associates made Wardally an offer he could not refuse this spring, he packed his bags for good and headed over to the political consulting firm.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“I’m most proud of increasing the participation of people of color in the electoral process.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“I think this firm will be one of nation’s most recognized for helping good people make real change.”
— By Lee Norsworthy

Josh Isay, 36
Founder and president, Knickerbocker SKD
One of Josh Isay’s earliest political memories is of standing before his grade school class at age 10, debating the merits of John Anderson’s Independent run for president. The year was 1980. Anderson was running against Jimmy Carter.
“I remember being skewered over the issue of Israel—I mean I was a 10-year-old boy,” said Isay.
Isay lost the debate.
Approximately 25 years later, Isay says losing has always been the best way for him to learn lessons in life. His first job in politics was working for then— Attorney General Robert Abrams’ (D) unsuccessful 1992 Senate bid.
Isay learned three things: “First, you gotta fight back, second, when you make a mistake you have to correct it very quickly and, third, oftentimes in these races, you realize that the best campaign wins.”
He was chief of staff and eventually senate campaign arranger to Charles Schumer (D), and has since been on the campaign trail with Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R), Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau (D) and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer (D) have all been his clients. What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“A beautiful two-year-old child, Benjamin.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“Spend as much time with said Benjamin.”
— By Carla Zanoni

Joe Henriquez McNearney, 28
Legislative Director, Council Member Robert Jackson
Ever since his days in high school history, labor relations held the attention of Joe Henriquez-McNearney. Fostering that early interest, he interned for Robert Jackson when Jackson was at the Public Employees Federation. During college at Cornell, where he studied Industrial and Labor relations, McNearney did another internship with Jackson, helping at arbitration hearings and taking testimony as well. Once he graduated, he felt it was time for the real thing. Now McNearney’s scope has expanded. He is currently drafting legislation regarding cell phone issues and BID contracts.
Since Jackson now chairs the Education Committee and initiated the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit years ago, McNearney’s energy is spent largely staying abreast of education issues as they shift and change. But the most gratifying work, McNearney said, was following Jackson through the budgetary process, finding financial support fro smaller groups.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Working on the legislative healthcare security act was really important.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“I am still learning and growing here in this position. I hope to continue my work in public service and keep moving government forward in a positive way.”
— By Noah Fowle

Ed Skyler, 33
Deputy Mayor for Administration
For Ed Skyler, it is all about being in the right place at the right time. He entered city government in 1995, working in the Parks and Recreation Department. He served as deputy chief of staff and as the public information director before leaving in 1999 to work as the deputy press secretary for then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani. In 2000, Skyler decamped for the private sector, taking a job at Bloomberg LP.
Then in 2001, his new boss decided to run for mayor. Skyler joined Bloomberg’s campaign and then served as Bloomberg’s press secretary during his first term. Last year, Skyler was named communications director. Then in January, he was appointed deputy mayor for administration, overseeing numerous municipal bodies. With his wagon firmly hitched to Bloomberg’s star, the rumors of Bloomberg’s possible run for higher office can only mean good news.
Alternatively, with two sisters in the acting business, he says he has not ruled out a future in acting. But he did say a run for office himself is not in the cards.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Getting the city’s Solid Waste Management Plan passed by the City Council in July.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“I hope that we will have made substantial progress in our efforts to get illegal guns off our streets.”
— By Courtney McCleod

Patrick Brennan, 30
Commissioner, Community Assistance Unit
Patrick Brennan started his career as a public school teacher in Red Hook, but he didn’t last long: he was bitten by the political bug after spending a summer working on Chuck Schumer’s (D) 1998 Senate campaign.
Brennan went to work in the union world, first at District Council 37, the city’s largest municipal public employees union, and then SEIU 1199, one of the most powerful unions in the state.
Brennan joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s reelection campaign, helping to build one of the largest and most diverse coalitions ever. In June, he was named Commissioner of the Community Assistance Unit, a plum assignment at an early age that enables him to expand the mayor’s political base. If the mayor decides to make a run for higher office, Brennan will be behind him.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Being a part of the most successful mayoral campaign in New York City and giving Mayor Bloomberg a chance to carry out four more years of his agenda.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“I hope to accomplish my dream of playing shortstop for the NY Mets. Unfortunately for me, Jose Reyes is a pretty good ball player, so I guess I will just have to settle for working to elect the next president of the United States.”
— By Courtney McCleod

Brian Kavanagh, 39
Democratic Nominee for Assembly, Manhattan
Carolyn Maloney has backed a lot of local candidates since she won her East Side congressional seat in 1992. They all have one thing in common: they all won.
All of them, that is, until Assembly Member Sylvia Friedman.
She narrowly lost to Brian Kavanagh, a veteran of the Koch and Dinkins administrations and former chief of staff to City Council Member Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan).
Kavanagh, who placed second to Rosie Mendez in their 2005 Democratic City Council primary, explained that his determination to be in office never wavered.
“I’m somebody that when I was a kid I always imagined myself being in elected office,” he said. Working for various effective elected officials was rewarding, he added, but “obviously there is something very nice about stepping into the kind of leadership role you can play as an elected official.”
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“The work that I did at City Hall trying to make the City Council function better as a body through the work of the Fresh Democracy Council and also to pass legislation that really mattered to people.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“I want to make sure that I have established myself in Albany as someone who’s really committed to changing the way our state government works to make it more open and more responsive and more accountable to ordinary people, and particularly, to begin to address the housing crisis we have in this city.”
— By Edward-Isaac Dovere

Patrick Gaspard, 39
Vice President for Politics and Legislation, 1199SEIU
Patrick Gaspard says political activism is a Haitian birthright.
Gaspard’s involvement with 1199, regarded as one of the most powerful unions in the state, dates back to 1988 and Jesse Jackson’s presidential bid. The next year he worked closely with the union to elect David Dinkins, the first black mayor in the city’s history. More campaigns followed: in 1999, Gaspard was working as Council member Margarita Lopez’s chief of staff when Amadou Diallo was shot and killed by police officers in the Bronx. The union was one of the central organizers of the civil disobedience that followed, and 1199 President Dennis Rivera and then-Political Director Bill Lynch asked Gaspard to coordinate those efforts. A position in the political department followed.
Now he is concentrating on 1199’s national campaign to help the Democrats take the House and Senate. Gaspard sees the potential for change – but only if there is agitation. That, he says, is where he comes in.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Raising two children of color in America.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“That's the easiest question I've ever been asked – I want to begin to repair the imbalance in the Supreme Court by electing a Democratic President.”
— By Courtney McCleod

Jonathan Bowles, 34
Director, Center for an Urban Future
Jonathan Bowles did not last in newspapers. Instead, he took what he learned from an internship with longtime Village Voice reporter Wayne Barrett and headed for politics. Bowles became the research director for then-State Senator Franz Leichter (D), the maverick who represented the Upper West Side and the Bronx for decades.
Taking what he knew about New York and investigative research, Bowles then headed to the Center for an Urban Future, where he has been for eight years, first as research director and, for the last year, as director. When he arrived, the Center was the second of a two-man operation. Today, the independent, non-ideological think tank has a staff of five and has grown into an organization whose reports on issues from the impact of immigrant entrepreneurs to corporate welfare deals influence policy makers throughout the city.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
Influencing the changes in the city’s economic development strategy that have taken place over the past few years.
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“There is more work to be done identifying how the city will create enough new jobs to support our growing population and how we can prepare the next generation of New Yorkers for those opportunities.”
— By Courtney McCleod

Jamie Van Bramer, 40
Vice President, Yoswein New York
Jamie Van Bramer’s father, Glenn, worked for a congressman and was a Democratic county leader upstate. Then 19 years ago, when his father married Joni Yoswein, the former Assembly staffer and member turned lobbyist, it really sealed the deal.
He majored in filmmaking at Boston University, and after graduation, toured Europe with his band. He was the drummer.
After a stint in then-Council Speaker Peter Vallone’s (D-Queens) office, he was then-Assembly Member Roberto Ramirez’s chief of staff during the period when Ramirez became Democratic county leader in the Bronx.
In the meantime, his stepmother had started her own lobbying firm, and she asked him to join. His father, Glenn, was already on staff. There, he is helping craft a new approach to lobbying: convincing elected officials to support their clients in the traditional way, while simultaneously making grassroots appeals to the community, as the company did for the new Brooklyn Ikea.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“I’ve found a job that I’m proud of, I like getting up every day, and more importantly, I’m proud to tell my kids what I do for a living.” Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“Continued in this firm to show that government affairs professionals can make sure that clients, elected officials and communities can all work together.
— By Edward-Isaac Dovere

Sean Maloney, 40
Former Democratic candidate for attorney general
After his performance in the only NY1 debate, Sean Maloney shot up in the polls while his opponents’ positions remained basically static.
His platform was providing an alternative to Mark Green and Andrew Cuomo. His mailers were quirky, and his under-funded campaign relied on the “Maloney Minute” emailed commercials he got out to a database of voters he built by matching voter records to publicly available lists of commercial email addresses.
In the end, he had just under 10 percent of the vote to show for it, though he said his goal was to be substantive more than it was to win.
With his increased name recognition, many expect that as a telegenic, experienced gay candidate who stresses his family values (he has three adopted children with a longtime partner), Maloney will eventually glide to a seat in the Council or state legislature, and perhaps even Congress.
“I’m not saying never—I don’t want to run a race that my heart’s not in,” he said. “I’d much rather show up for a job and do it well.”
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Running a positive, substantive statewide campaign with vigor and integrity and seeing it through to the end.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“I’m just getting started. I want to make a substantive contribution, while reintroducing myself to my partner and kids.”
— By Edward-Isaac Dovere

Christine Quinn, 40
City Council Speaker and Manhattan Council Member
Until 1986, the Council would not even ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. Twenty years later, the leader of the chamber is a lesbian herself, able to pack the Council chamber in June for a celebration she hosted on the anniversary of passing Intro 2. But though the event was formally celebrating the civil rights law, it was very much a celebration of Quinn, complete with many projections from the podium that she would soon be moving across the hall to the mayor’s office.
Whether she does after 2009, if a modification of city term limits allows her to spend more time on the Council—remains to be seen. But with a strong base in the enthusiastic LGBT (and Irish, as she often points out) voters, a record of building political alliances to win her the speaker’s race and pass a budget the political audience is eager to watch.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“We are well on our way to making the City Council an institution that is even more relevant and responsive to the needs of average New Yorkers in all five boroughs, and that is increasingly an incubator of big ideas.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“To have made the Council a true resource for New Yorkers, an institution that continuously generates new and creative initiatives, and where everyday problems are met with innovative solutions.”
— By Edward-Isaac Dovere

Bill Lipton, 37
Political director and deputy director, Working Families Party
Bill Lipton says his mother taught him that every person has dignity and that it is the individual’s responsibility to make things better in the world.
Since 1996, he has been with the Working Families Party, helping a group of unions and community groups organize to what eventually became the party in 1998.
He has won political battles in Albany on social justice issues, including living wage, health care policy and lead paint.
The party has also made strides in promoting the idea of open ballot voting. In 2000, more than 100,000 New Yorkers voted for Hillary Clinton (D) on the group’s party line. Four years later, nearly 170,000 people did the same for Sen. Chuck Schumer (D).
“We’ve pulled off more than a dozen upset victories that I’d like to think have started to push the political landscape in a more positive direction,” he said.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Successfully electing David Soares to be Albany County DA. From the beginning, we had a strategy to change the draconian Rockefeller drug laws.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“To help a handful of candidates with real potential for leadership seize the electoral moment to mobilize their communities around issues that will make our city and state a more decent place to live—candidates and campaigns my mom would be proud of.”
— By Carla Zanoni

Joel Rivera, 27
City Council Majority Leader & Bronx Council Member
Joel Rivera says his “Rivera syndrome” is the tendency to give longwinded answers. But some might think the syndrome is the tendency to get elected in the Bronx and quickly rise in power.
His father is Assembly Member and Bronx Democratic Committee Chairman José Rivera, a man who is known never to lose. And he is the man who became the city’s youngest ever elected official, winning his Bronx Council seat in 2001. The next year, he was unanimously selected as the Majority Leader (another youngest record).
In between running for speaker last year, he has fought for fair housing and has participated in voter registration drives. Lately, he has taken on fast food, demanding that fast-food restaurants be zoned out in favor of healthier options.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Helping out CUNY Prep. They were slated to be closed down because they lost their federal funding, and I teamed up with the City Council and the mayor’s office to get the $1.4 million they needed to keep going.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“Focusing on and getting funding for how we can get our kids to have a healthier lifestyle.”
— By Courtney McCleod

Greg Atkins, 37
Chief of Staff, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz
Greg Atkins’ mother claims to have been Bobby Kennedy’s first volunteer in his race for the Senate in 1964. His father’s best friend in Vietnam later became campaign manager to Al Gore, Sr.’s losing bid for reelection to the Senate in 1970. Atkins traveled with the senator briefly. He was one year old.
His father even ran for mayor once and was the City Council president in Salem, MA, where Atkins was raised. “It’s genetics,” he said.
After his Capitol Hill aspirations were thwarted by the 1994 Republican Revolution, Atkins came to New York. Atkins then brought his attention to the 1996 Clinton-Gore political campaign before taking on the role of chief of staff for Assembly Member Joan Millman (D-Brooklyn), then with Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, where he has come back to his roots of economic development. He married Julie Hendricks, one-time campaign manager for Jessica Lappin and currently on staff for State Sen. David Paterson (D-Manhattan). The political bloodline seems set to continue.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“I know this sounds corny, but my most important accomplishment is convincing my wife to move to NYC from Oklahoma and marry me. Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“To help Marty oversee the successful development of Atlantic Yards and Brooklyn Bridge Park.”
— By Carla Zanoni

Hakeem Jeffries, 36
Democratic Nominee for Assembly, Brooklyn
“Perseverance is a useful trait to have in whatever professional endeavor,” explained Hakeem Jeffries. “In this business, perseverance is one of the most important traits to have to be successful.”
If he had had his way, this would have been his fourth term: he won 41 percent of the vote against Brooklyn Assembly Member Green in 2000, was subsequently drawn out of Green’s district by a block, and tried again anyway in 2002.
Jeffries said he drew inspiration from others who did not meet success at first: Michael Jordan, who did not make his high school basketball team, and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who lost a Congressional primary in Chicago just two years before getting two-thirds of the statewide vote. And then, of course, there is Bill Clinton, who lost a Congressional race himself at the outset of his career and a governor’s race in the midst of it. Jeffries’ losing days are beyond him, and his days addressing development in his community have just begun.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Being a good father to my two young sons.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“Change the 421-a law to make sure that if any developers are getting tax breaks or tax subsidies, that there is a requirement that at least 30 percent of any units built be made affordable to the people in the community.”
— By Edward-Isaac Dovere

Rich Baum, 37
Senior Adviser, Spitzer 2006
Rich Baum does not think much about his title beyond “he who is accountable.”
The scion of an old German Jewish dairy farming family from Orange County, Baum was 24 when he was elected to the Orange County legislature. He was up against the Republican majority leader, and he was not supposed to win.
But he won, and was then elected minority leader.
Baum lost a bid for Orange County executive in 1997. Not long after, he stopped by the fledgling attorney general campaign office of Eliot Spitzer, whom he had met some time before in the nascent stages of the campaign.
“He was looking for a little more help, I was looking to try something, so I moved down to the city, and that was it,” he said.
He ran that successful campaign and served as Spitzer’s chief of staff through two terms as attorney general.
Now, working with Spitzer’s campaign manager, Ryan Toohey, and his communications director, Christine Anderson, Baum says they have harnessed a fresh approach.
Though he says he does not know about the future, since he wandered into Spitzer’s office nine years ago, the sheriff of Wall Street has not yet let him wander far.
What is the most important thing you have accomplished so far?
“Marrying my wife and having two children.”
Two years from now, what do you want to have done?
“I want to see Eliot Spitzer transform the state government.”
— By Edward-Isaac Dovere