Two months after Democrat James Van Bramer defeated Republican Angelo Maragos by 46 percent in the City Council’s District 26 general election, the former Queens Library external affairs director was sworn in as a New York City Councilmember. Van Bramer, who handily won the Queens Democratic Party for the district that includes Long Island City, fills the seat vacated by City Councilmember Eric Gioia, who ran unsuccessfully for Public Advocate.
A day after the January 6 ceremony and his first charter meeting with the Council, Van Bramer told The Courier, “I’m just really grateful for the opportunity to serve and really anxious to get to work on behalf of the people of Long Island City on the issues that are of concern to Long Island City.”
He added that he was “tremendously excited by the experience” of his first official City Council charter meeting. He called the event “the culmination of so many different events that brought us to that point.” – Noah Rosenberg
