Greetings From PoliticsNY
We at Schneps Media
want to welcome
you to PoliticsNY,
which launched
earlier this month to pull back
the curtain on the people, politics,
policies and issues that govern
our lives.
You will fi nd on our site, PoliticsNY.
com, the hyperlocal political
coverage that Kings County Politics,
Queens County Politics and
New York County Politics provided
as a well-spring of information.
But now with Schneps Media’s
➤ VAN BRAMER, from p.14
and still believe in the movement
that says very clearly that
we should reallocate resources
from the NYPD to programs and
services and organizations, particularly
in communities of color,
that will make everyone safer and
healthier.”
He added, “We did not reduce
the budget by a billion dollars, and
so I had to vote against it. The work
is still unfi nished, so as we go into
a new budget season, everything
has changed.”
It will be the fi nal budget vote
for Van Bramer, whose immediate
political future will be determined
by the outcome of this race. More
than a decade after he and Daniel
Dromm became the borough’s
fi rst out LGBTQ city lawmakers,
Van Bramer believes it would be
an important leap forward for voters
to elect an out LGBTQ borough
president.
“I’m interested in making that
history,” he said. “It’s never been
done before.”
The signifi cance of that historic
possibility is not lost on Van
Bramer in light of his experience
witnessing homophobia in action
dating back his childhood in 1970s
Astoria. He still remembers watching
his babysitter, Donnie, walk
down the street with his friend and
get called anti-gay slurs.
“He was the fi rst gay person I
ever met or knew,” Van Bramer.
“Even though I didn’t really know
resources of more than 70 publications,
plus their award-winning
community coverage of all fi ve boroughs,
we’ve expanded into a river
of political coverage.
And when we say hyperlocal politics,
we mean hyper and we mean
local. We are drilling down to the
street level.
Over the past month, we have
painstakingly been busy building
out pages on PoliticsNY for every
candidate running in every district
and every city seat, which you can
fi nd here on our Meet the Candidate
that much, I knew it was bad.”
Van Bramer later came out in
1989 at the age 19 at a time when
he said “AIDS was ravaging our
community and we were still being
ostracized just about every place.”
“I literally said to myself, if you’re
gay and you’re going to come out,
then you have to fi ght,” he said,
recalling his time attending ACT
UP meetings and demonstrations.
Van Bramer also went on to write
for Lesbian and Gay New York
(LGNY), the predecessor title to
Gay City News.
Fast-forward to 2021, Van
Bramer is a fi rm supporter of arguably
the most prominent queer
issue in the city — the decriminalization
of sex work. And, if elected,
he hopes to move the needle on issues
impacting populations such
as LGBTQ seniors. Van Bramer
pointed to LGBTQ-friendly affordable
housing developments such
as Stonewall House in Brooklyn
as he made the case that Queens
should also aspire to bring dedicated
spaces to queer older adults
in the borough.
“I would like to be a part of making
that happen in Queens and
supporting that funding and working
with providers,” Van Bramer
said. “SAGE does some great work
but there are others as well.”
In his second bid for borough
president, Van Bramer still has
Nixon, Duane, and other LGBTQ
supporters behind his candidacy
— including District Leader Emilia
Decaudin of Queens and City
Election Primer.
Viewers visiting PoliticsNY will
fi nd that our intrepid staff of reporters
has also questioned candidates
in every race this year.
So if you live in Queens and want
to fi nd out who is running in the
24th City Council district you can
fi nd it on our website.
Interested in seeing what the
candidates in City Council races
think about charter schools? Visit
our website.
For those who prefer YouTube videos,
we have PoliticsNY with Skye,
Council candidate Elisa Crespo of
the Bronx — but whether he can
unseat an incumbent is a separate
question that will be answered in
three months. According to the
most recent data provided to
the New York City Campaign
Finance Board, Van Bramer
whose ongoing three questions in
three minutes videos are both informative
and entertaining. One of
my favorites is a video with Comptroller
candidate Brian Benjamin.
We have already broken a number
of stories, published thoughtprovoking
editorials, and are on
the ground with the issues that
matter the most to you and others
in New York.
So strap yourself in and welcome
aboard.
– Stephen Witt, Schneps Media
Political Editor-in-Chief
has an estimated balance of
$394,015, while Richards has
$459,318 on hand.
The candidates, along with other
hopefuls including Danniel Maio
and Diana Sanchez, will square
off in the Democratic Primary on
June 22.
GayCityNews.com | MARCH 25 - APRIL 7 , 2021 15
/GayCityNews.com
