Jimmy Van Bramer takes Democratic primary for District 26 City Council seat

“Unfortunately” Gioia did not fare as well? I know I didn’t vote for him. Good riddance… he always seemed like he was running for another office the whole time he was in council. Enough with the press conferences and mock outrage.

Here, Here! I’m sure he’ll have no problem with the 20-something GOP candidate. I, too, am glad to see Gioia go.

It will be very refreshing to have a Councilman who is interested in the job. I think he will bring a heap of common sense as well as an ability to take in many sides of any contentious issues and forge workable solutions.

The MTA needs to fix the subway. Weekends and late nights are the best time to do this. Price of a 24-hour system is they’ll need to shut down periodically to do work– it is a 100-year-old system. I’m not sure what else everyone wants. They provide shuttle buses.

Congrats to Van Bramer. One less lawyer on the council.

I felt bad for Maragos the morning after the primary when he was out at Vernon Jackson handing out flyers and shaking hands. Literally zero chance of getting elected in this district…

That’s the first priority?

They do take the 4,5 and 6 lines out of commission, but they have multiple tracks so it’s not as bad as when they take the #7 line out.

Additionally, the 7 train goes under water so it’s harder to get to.

Because the 7 train doesn’t have an local and express track in the tunnel you moron!
Did you really not realize that?

Why don’t you walk the extra 5 blocks to the E and V station

So you shut down one track to work on it and have the other track handle the traffic in both directions. You are welcome. I just split the atom for you.

So, if the track work is done one side at a time, wouldn’t that just double the time needed for the project, and ultimately double the outrage here?

Let me tell you something about this “kid”. I spoke with him for a minute yesterday morning in Sunnyside and he really has some fresh ideas on shaping up this community. Do we really want someone who is going to sit idle like we’ve always had? Or do we want someone young with the energy to really try and make a difference?

One thing he said that stood out was that a seat on the City Council membership is a job, and like any job, it requires that you produce results – not empty promises.

Van Bramer is good, but I’m gonna have to go with Angelo. We need a change of leadership.

Good question that I think Jimmy should answer. For those that don’t know ACORN is the group that was the subject of investigation recently. Journalist pretending to be operators of a prostitution ring that involved underage girls from El Salvador went to ACORN offices in New York asking for help hiding their illicit income from federal tax authorities. In all the videos, ACORN employees offered their help, knowing full well what the couple’s intentions were.

Your point about Republican ties with Haliburton and Blackwater are certainly of concern, but not in this City Council race. I don’t see how Maragos would have ties with those organizations, but Van Bramer clearly has associations with ACORN and WFP.

Aren’t we looking for someone who will represent our (the people’s) interests?

From http://www.cityhallnews.com/news/128/ARTICLE/2053/2009-08-09.html:

“According to city campaign finance disclosures, though, the Van Bramer campaign has yet to make any payment or contribution to the WFP or to Kenton. However, the WFP’s state Board of Elections campaign finance disclosure shows a check for $4,700—the precise amount of the DFS contract—cashed and logged on July 7. Since Van Bramer shows a $4,700 expenditure to DFS, and WFP shows a payment from Van Bramer for $4,700, it appears that Van Bramer wrote a check to DFS that the WFP cashed.”