34 JANUARY 12 - JANUARY 18, 2018 BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP
An interview with Justin Brannan,
the 43rd District's new councilmember
BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK
MMCGOLDRICK@BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM
There’s a new elected official
in town.
Newly minted Democratic
Councilmember Justin Brannan became
the official representative of the
43rd City Council District on Monday,
January 1 after defeating Republican
hopeful John Quaglione and Reform
Party contender Bob Capano in one of
the city’s tightest races in November.
Prior to the election, Brannan beat
out four other Democratic hopefuls
in a heated primary that saw nine
vying for the seat.
During his campaign, Brannan – a
lifelong Ridgeite and small business
owner – focused heavily on issues
like education, transportation and
inclusivity in the district, which encompasses
the neighborhoods of Bay
Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst
and Bath Beach.
Just days after Brannan assumed
office, the former Department of Education
employee, founding member
of a pair of hardcore punk bands and
aide to his predecessor, Vincent Gentile,
spoke with us about his vision for
the district.
How does it feel finally to take
office?
It’s a little surreal. When I won, the
analogy I made was that I’ve never
won the lottery, but winning didn’t
feel like what I assumed winning the
lottery would feel like. It was certainly
gratifying and exhilarating but it
also came with this understanding
of what a tremendous responsibility
and honor it is to represent the
people of this district. It was very
humbling.
Does it feel any different after
your first few days?
I think my office fought off just
about every element last week
laughs, but I'd say it feels the same.
I think that one of the reasons people
chose to elect me was because I built a
reputation of being very responsive
and very accessible – that’s just who
I am – but I think one of the challenges
is going to be making sure that I
maintain that responsiveness and
that accessibility now that I’ve got a
job to do, so to speak.
But again, that's just how I am.
I’m an open door, always accessible,
basically working 24/7 and that’s
only going to get more so as we go
on. It’s also a matter of making sure
I have the right people around me
who can maintain that pace – whether
it’s showing up to a fire at 2 a.m.,
responding to a water main break
or helping a senior citizen back into
their home. It’s making sure you’re
always there and making sure you’re
in as many places at once as you can
be – and that’s certainly how I spent
my first week.
What are you working on now
that you’re here?
We’re working on a couple of
things. I just introduced my first bill
which would hold big businesses
accountable for snow removal and
really work to make sure that all
businesses in the district are good
neighbors. I also spent a lot of time
with the DOE and so, having been
behind the scenes there and able
to sort of look behind the curtain, I
certainly have some ideas of things
we can make a little bit stronger on
our end.
I think the beauty of the council –
and I saw this when I was working
for Councilmember Gentile – is that
a lot of legislation sees its start at this
level, which is very exciting because
if someone has an idea for a piece
of legislation, it’s probably the only
level of government where you can
really see that through from a basic
idea to a law for the city of New York
in a very real and fast way.
What that means is that constituents
who come into the office with
an issue or something that bothers
them, we can turn that into a piece of
legislation that then makes life a little
bit easier not only for the 150,000 people
of my district but also for the 8.5
million people of the city. That’s why I
was so attracted to local government.
It’s where the rubber meets the road
and we’ve already got some of that
legislation in the works.
What are your goals for the rest
of this year, and for your first term
as a whole?
I want to work on building a new
school. I had a couple of meetings
about that today, actually. I think we
need a new middle school, so that’s
something that I’ve been prioritizing.
Obviously the buses and the subways.
I campaigned on that. I take
the train to work just like everybody
else and I certainly am not looking
forward to taking the R train home
from City Hall tonight. I want to
really do what I can on that level to
fix the system.
Property taxes is something else
I ran on. The mayor is going to put
together some sort of commission to
look at fixing the property tax system
– it’s just completely lopsided. I
definitely plan on leading the charge
with that for this district.
Also safety net programs. I want
to work on ensuring stuff like Meals
on Wheels and senior centers and
Access-A-Ride. I want to make sure all
that stuff is solid and safe and secure
enough to survive the cuts that may
be coming down the line with the
looming budget gap.
I also want to work closely with the
new speaker Corey Johnson. He and
I have been discussing our dream of
creating a municipal single payer
system. So, really a lot of big dream
stuff like that as well as more tangible
goals.
How do you feel the response to
your induction has been thus far?
It’s been good. A lot of people have
been saying very nice stuff like, “It’s
cool to see you’re just as accessible”
and “you’re the same person you
were before you were elected.” That’s
really what it’s all about.
Anyone who knows me knows
that I don’t take myself too seriously
but I certainly take this job and the
responsibility it comes with very
seriously. At the end of the day, I’m a
working class kid who grew up in the
neighborhood and now I have this
tremendous honor of representing
the neighborhoods I grew up in.
I’m going to have some fun with it
while also taking very seriously the
issues of the people that I represent.
But hey, if you’re not having fun, you
might as well go home.
Photo courtesy of Councilmember Justin Brannan
Councilmember Justin Brannan.