Gale force winds!
Days before Beep’s inauguration, Brewer scans office space
MANHATTAN'S borough president is in a Harlem state of mind.
Form er City Council- woman Gale Brewer, who will celebrate her inauguration Sunday as Manhattan’s 27th Beep, is searching for Upper Manhattan digs for her northernmost constituents, she told the Daily News last week.
Her lengthy list of to-dos includes finding a storefront office on 125th St. in Harlem. Brewer’s predecessors, including new city Controller Scott Stringer, had an office inside the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office building.
“We're working on it,” Brewer, 62, told The News. “I'm very constituent oriented.”
Mayor de Blasio and Sen. Chuck Schumer will attend Brewer’s inauguration, where she’s expected to lay out her vision for Manhattan, which will include addressing hot-button issues like affordable housing.
“The No. 1 issue, not just for me, but for the mayor and City Council is trying to figure out how to provide affordable housing,” said Brewer, who worked with a private firm that builds affordable housing. “Ask someone if they can find an apartment and the answer is no.”
Brewer, who has a working relationship with new City Council Speaker Melissa MarkViverito, says she would like to explore the possibility of crafting a program similar to Mitchell-Lama, which provides affordable rental and cooperative housing to moderate- and middle-income families.
As a councilwoman, she sponsored an Open Data Law and intends to have community boards follow suit.
She has solicited the help of tech groups to team up with Manhattan community boards in an effort to make crime and school stats and pothole information accessible online.
Brewer came out on top in a crowded primary last year that included Julie Menin, former Community Board 1 chairwoman, former upper East Side Councilwoman Jessica Lappin and former Harlem Councilman Robert Jackson.
The inauguration of Gale Brewer as Manhattan Borough President at Hammerstein Ballroom on 311 W. 34th St. between Eighth and Ninth Aves., Jan. 12 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.