BREAKING: Shaun King Backs Jimmy Van Bramer for Queens Borough President

King joins Jumaane Williams, Zephyr Teachout, Cynthia Nixon, Cecilia Gentili + Kal Penn in growing progressive coalition for #QueensValues

QUEENS, NY (01/09/2020) (readMedia)-- Today civil rights activist Shaun King endorsed Jimmy Van Bramer for Queens Borough President. King joins a growing coalition of progressives backing Van Bramer, including Zephyr Teachout, Cynthia Nixon, Jumaane Williams, Cecilia Gentili, and Kal Penn.

"Queens can't achieve justice by maintaining the status quo, and Jimmy Van Bramer has never been afraid to fight for what's right. He voted against the city's jails plan because he knows that we can't address the issues that lead to mass incarceration by building more mega-jails. He's stood up against stop question and frisk and opposed over-policing in the subways, and as Borough President I trust him to protect each and everyone of us. Jimmy Van Bramer is the bold, progressive Borough President Queens needs," said Shaun King.

Shaun King is a civil rights activist and member of the Black Lives Matter movement. He also contributes to The Intercept and previously for the New York Daily News.

"Shaun King is a champion for civil rights and I'm honored to have his support. Shaun has been a leader in the fight to end modern day Jim Crow and mass incarceration. Together we can build a Queens that works for everyone regardless of the color of your skin," said Jimmy Van Bramer.

Van Bramer is a life-long progressive activist who's been fighting machine politics for over three decades. He is the son of union workers and a lifelong Queens resident. Before being elected to the City Council, he organized for LGBTQ rights, public financing of elections, and for the Queens Public Library.

Background on Van Bramer

Jimmy Van Bramer, born and raised in Astoria, Queens, is the Deputy Leader of the New York City Council. He was first elected to the New York City Council on November 3, 2009, and re-elected in both 2013 and 2017. Van Bramer is a founding member of the progressive caucus of the New York City Council.

He works tirelessly to fight for working people, equality for all, and the importance of improving quality of life in our community- values instilled by his parents. His father, William Van Bramer, was a lifelong member of Printers' and Pressman's Union Local 2, and his mother Elizabeth Van Bramer helped support the family- even through bouts of homelessness and food insecurity- by working as a meat wrapper and cashier at local supermarkets, and was a member of Local 1893 of the International Brotherhood of Painters.

His first foray into organizing was when he was a St. John's University student in 1993, leading a queer group of students who fought to be officially recognized by the largest catholic university in the country. Later, he organized for Ed Sedarbaum's 1998 State Senate race, gravitating towards the nascent movement to elect queer people in Queens and starting his personal decades long fight with the Queens County Democratic Party machine.

In 1998, he was an organizer with Citizen Action of New York to create what-is-now today's current New York City campaign finance system with matching funds. At the same time, he lead civil disobedience actions with Irish LGBTQ folks trying to march in the city's St. Patrick's Day parades, which previously banned openly queer groups from marching.

In 2001, he stepped forward as the insurgent candidate against the Queens machine for City Council, coming in second. In the ensuing years, he worked as an organizer for the Queens Public Library and joined the board of the Queens Council on the Arts. In 2009, Van Bramer won his City Council election against Queens County machine pick Deirdre Feerick. He similarly bucked the machine to back Melissa Mark-Viverito for Speaker.

Recently he was a leader in the opposition to $3 billion of tax subsidies for Amazon HQ2 and was the first Queens elected official to endorse Tiffany Cabán for Queens District Attorney.

He currently lives in Sunnyside Gardens with his husband Dan Hendrick. Jimmy married Dan on July 28th, 2012, becoming the first openly-gay elected official to get married in the borough of Queens.