Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Oh, poor Jimmy!


From the Commercial Observer:

City councilman Jimmy Van Bramer presides over one of New York City’s hottest real estate markets: western Queens. And one of its submarkets, Long Island City, is on track to get 6,200 new residential units by next year and sits at the heart of crucial zoning, infrastructure, transportation and urban planning issues that affect much of the city.

The 49-year-old councilman, who represents LIC, part of Astoria, Sunnyside and Woodside, was raised in his district by a printer father and painter mother, both union members. Since taking office in 2009, he has found himself facing down developers and community activists alike, while trying to stay true to both his core principles and his working-class neighborhood roots.

Over the past few years, he’s netted some victories for his district, like a new modern library for Hunters Point South in LIC and protected bike and bus lanes along Queens Boulevard. He’s also run into controversy over development and transit issues, like when he refused to greenlight a 2016 rezoning for a 200-unit affordable apartment building developed by Phipps Houses in Sunnyside. And last year he clashed with neighbors and businesses along Skillman Avenue in Sunnyside for proposing protected bike lanes there and along 43rd Avenue after two cyclists were killed by motorists. (After getting pushback from local merchants and the community board over bike lanes replacing parking spots, he abandoned the plan. Congressman Joe Crowley—recently unseated in a surprise victory by democratic socialist candidate Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez—even weighed in on Twitter to oppose the bike lanes.)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This friggan bum made a landlord take his WWII memorabilia and tributes down because some foreigners & America hating liberals who don't even live in the building were complaining.
Why do people vote for him at all, are so many voters retarded or just pinko a bunch of pinkos and communists?

Anonymous said...

Jimmy is a weakling who can't make a decision.

One minute he's for protected bicycle lanes on 43rd Avenue and Skillman Avenues, the next minute he is not, then he is for them again.

One minute he is for Crowley, the next he is all over Ocasio-Cortez.

One minute he is for Tish James, the next for Zephyr Teachout.

Now he is claiming credit for Hunters Point Library. What a disaster that project is.

He claims to be progressive yet his campaign funds are stuffed with real estate dollars.

Anonymous said...

Jimmy move to the next neighborhood where an attack on a politician or a developer (is there a difference?) is regarded as an attack on the community!

Anonymous said...

>He claims to be progressive yet his campaign funds are stuffed with real estate dollars.

Sounds like the mayor. Let's hope we don't get two of those in a row.

Bozak said...

Well it seems Jimmy Van Bramer is the only one with the balls to comes out against Sunnyside Yards Project.
His footbridge between Manhattan and LIC is also a great idea, maybe it can even be a cable tram like Roosevelt Island has. Remember, since you can use Belmont Island as a center support it be cheaper then building a bridge.

I think the Steinway tunnel has a stop and under water stairwell up to Belmont island 1/2 way into the tunnel.

Anonymous said...

He's an unapproachable snob. He doesnt care what his constituents think.