In the “Her Team” series, the Bronx
Times sat down with key leaders on
Bronx Borough President Vanessa
Gibson’s team, to learn the story behind
the faces who will help guide her
administration.
“The staff that we have here and the
new staff we will bring on will be some
of the most creative and boldest minds
in the Bronx, and the City of New
York,” Gibson told the Bronx Times.
“We’re going to make sure the staff is
refl ective of the diversity of the Bronx.”
BY ALIYA SCHNEIDER
Chief of Staff Justin Cortes, a
31-year-old lover of fashion outfi tted
in a stylish blazer, is no stranger to
Gibson.
The Puerto Rican oversaw 4-7 people
as chief of staff for Gibson’s City
Council team, and now he oversees
almost 60 staffers, including 51 holdovers
from former Borough President
Ruben Diaz. Jr.’s administration.
But his path wasn’t linear.
Cortes, who is from the west Bronx
and attended the High School of Art
and Design in Manhattan, used to be
ashamed of his borough, telling people
he was from “uptown” because of
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stigmas surrounding the Bronx.
“My mom didn’t let me do a lot
of things, so I wasn’t exposed to the
beauties of the borough,” he said of
his upbringing. “I was always exposed
to the neighborhood, the block,
the corner, the same four walls in my
apartment.”
But his eyed opened to the nuances
of the borough as he became more
independent and started attending
Community Board 5 and 46th Precinct
meetings after high school.
A self-proclaimed extrovert, the
high school and college student government
afi cionado saw a trajectory
for himself in art therapy at the Borough
of Manhattan Community College
and City College of New York, yet
he was also engrossed in political science
classes.
“I had this image in my head that
it (politics) was so tainted and government
wasn’t for me,” said Cortes, who
is gay and grew up living paycheck
to paycheck with a single mother. “I
didn’t see anyone that looked like me;
I didn’t see anyone that came from the
walk of life that I did and I wanted to
change that.”
Wanting to engage locally and internationally
BRONX TIMES R 14 REPORTER, FEB. 4-10, 2022 BTR
—
with the arts and
politics — pulled
Cortes, who now
lives in Concourse
Village, in different
directions.
In between getting
his associate
of science degree
from BMCC and his
bachelor’s degree
from CCNY, Cortes
took off to the Mediterranean
Sea,
where he lived on a
Norwegian Cruise
Line ship, overseeing
a staff that
ranged from 10 to
upwards of 40 people,
as the director
of operations for entertainment.
After
almost two years
overseas, Cortes returned
to New York
and worked as a Citibank
fi nancial analyst.
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson’s Chief of Staff Justin
Cortes. Photo | Finalis Valdez
He watched the political rise of
U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres with awe, seeing
himself in the young gay Latino of
color who grew up in public housing
with a single mom.
“You can’t be who you don’t see,”
Cortes said.
And now, others can see themselves
in Cortes.
In 2015, Cortes began volunteering
for Gibson’s council team before
joining her staff in January 2017,
where he started as a community liaison.
Ready for more responsibility,
he took on scheduling duties as an administrative
assistant before becoming
Gibson’s deputy chief of staff and
budget director. In that position, he
met with art, therapy and domestic
violence groups to advocate for causes
that were important to him. When he
was promoted to chief of staff in September
2019, he took his budget responsibilities
with him.
Cortes fostered relationships with
corporations that can bring resources
to the Bronx, which recently resulted
in AT&T donating tablets to families
impacted by the deadly Jan. 9 Twin
Parks North West fi re.
With a budget that can grow Gibson’s
team to almost 80, Cortes wants
to hire people from all walks of life,
giving them a seat at the table, just as
Gibson did for him.
But he is also integrating what he
calls a “well-oiled machine” of institutional
knowledge from Diaz’s team
with Gibson’s “fl avor and fl are.”
“The borough president is a very
different leader,” he said of Gibson.
“She is a 24-7, seven days a week politician.”
Cortes anticipates more of Diaz’s
former staffers will stay than leave,
while some may change roles.
Gibson said it was an easy choice
to bring Cortes with her to the borough
president’s offi ce, calling him a
gem.
“He is an asset, he is my right hand
and he will certainly do well in this
role,” she said.
Her Team: Gibson’s chief of staff is bringing
the fl are to borough president’s offi ce
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