Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer is currently serving out his last term in office but he has already began planning for the future.
Van Bramer, who represents Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside and parts of Astoria, announced that he has created an exploratory committee — Van Bramer 2020 — to begin his run for Queens borough president.
“I love public service and I love working for the people of Queens and I think we’ve had a very successful two terms as Council member,” Van Bramer said. “I’ve been able to achieve a lot of victories for my constituents and I definitely want to explore running for borough president because I would love to be able to fight for the entire borough.”
He’s filed his campaign with the Board of Elections and City Campaign Finance Board, he said, and has about $200,000 left over from his 2017 City Council account, which will be rolled over.
Van Bramer was born and raised in Queens and attended St. John’s University. He worked for the Queens Library for 11 years and served as the president of the Queens Council on the Arts. He added that because of his roles, he’s been able to explore “virtually every neighborhood” in the borough and said serving as the Queens borough president “would be a dream come true.”
“I just think Queens is the greatest place on earth with the greatest people and the greatest neighborhoods, and I feel like I’m a fighter,” he said. “I work incredibly hard when I’m passionate about something. I’m really passionate about the borough of Queens and every single one of its neighborhoods.”
