Jen Berkley is an experienced housing advocate and community organizer who is running for City Council in Brooklyn's District 40. Always.
A great granddaughter of immigrants from Eastern Europe who settled in New York City, Jen Berkley, a life-long progressive Democrat, knows the people of Brooklyn's City Council District 40 are all yearning for a strong leader who will:
Stand up for our community;
Fight to keep our housing affordable for working individuals and families;
Protect small businesses from rising commercial r
ents;
Bring much-needed resources from City Hall into the parts of our neighborhood that have been neglected for far too long, including the area's first youth/teen community center;
Demand better public transportation throughout the district and revitalize the components of our infrastructure;
Build bridges between residents, community groups, businesses, and government (local, state, and federal) while drawing upon significant experience and knowledge from more than 20 years working in both public and private sectors;
Protect the rights of all who live here, regardless of their age, immigration status, religious beliefs, race or ethnicity, or who they love. The strength of her character, her passion for helping others, and her unrelenting commitment to our community are what make Jen Berkley the best person to represent Brooklyn's City Council District 40, which comprises the neighborhoods of Ditmas Park, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Prospect Park South, Victorian Flatbush, and parts of Crown Heights and Kensington, on the New York City Council. For many years, Jen has been working hard to preserve our city's limited supply of affordable housing so that working families, who would otherwise not be able to afford to remain in New York City, have a place to call home. Every day, she fights to keep rent-regulated and federally subsidized housing affordable, and protects tenants from losing their homes through community-based tenant organizing and advocacy. Jen is not afraid to call out landlords for unscrupulous practices, such as she did in July of 2015 when the tenants at 60 Clarkson Avenue in Prospect Lefferts Gardens received unlawful eviction notices over the July 4th weekend. It was Jen who went directly to the building to find out what was happening and devise a plan of action. Today, those formerly-homeless families still call 60 Clarkson home. Prior to her housing advocacy and tenant organizing work, Jen worked on housing issues for the New York City Council in Brooklyn, and served as communications director for Queens State Assemblyman David Weprin. She also worked on a city-wide initiative to allocate one percent of the city's annual operating budget to arts and cultural programming. She worked in non-profit communications, education, and health care advocacy, and is a veteran of many local campaigns, including a New York State Senate campaign in the Bronx, a local New York State Assembly campaign, and Civil Rights Attorney Norman Siegel's campaign for Public Advocate in 2009. She was also a campaign surrogate for then-U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton’s first presidential campaign in 2007-08. Before her government and campaign work, Jen was a newspaper reporter and editor in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She received numerous awards in journalism for her work at a large chain of weekly community newspapers in the Greater Boston area. Her work in journalism allowed Jen to get to know a wide variety of people -- sometimes at their best, but also sometimes at their worst. She enjoyed interviewing an aspiring young chef who was about to hit the big time in New York City; she cried alongside a young mother whose son had been stabbed to death just days after he had been admitted to college. She covered the passage of the Massachusetts law to allow same sex couples to legally marry in the state in 2004. These experiences prepared Jen for a life that she knew would be devoted to helping others, something she has continued in her advocacy and organizing work in New York City. Jen attended public schools in her hometown of Brookline, Massachusetts, where she was raised primarily by her mother. She received her undergraduate degree in Politics and Journalism from Brandeis University. While in college, she interned for Democratic Congressman Joe Kennedy in Boston. She earned a Master of Science in Urban Affairs/Policy from Hunter College/CUNY in 2011, where she focused her studies on urban housing issues. Jen was first elected to public office in 2015 when she ran for the Brooklyn Democratic Party County Committee and won Kings County's only contested County Committee seat, representing her election district for one term. She is president of her building's tenant association. She is the former vice president of Democracy for New York City, an organization she was involved in for many years. In her local community, Jen loves to participate in activities in her local community – and she always looks forward to the annual Flatbush Frolic, the Prospect Lefferts Garden House Tour, and J'Ouvert block parties in East Flatbush. She participates in a Jewish social justice organization in Brooklyn and is a former member of the Flatbush CSA. She is a loyal and devoted customer of local businesses and restaurants, and is a member of the Prospect Park Alliance. She actively helps to raise money for the national Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation in honor of her mother, who succumbed to the disease in 2001. She is a former Big Sister volunteer for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC. She is a member of Local 107, AFSCME DC 1707. Jen proudly lives in a rent-stabilized apartment in Ditmas Park with her husband, Jamie Lampidis, a professor at Medgar Evers College/CUNY, and their two feisty cats, Liberty, who is named for the statue, of course, and Woodruff, who is named for the street near Prospect Park where he first lived after infamously stopping traffic on the Q train while playing dangerously close to the edge of the Church Avenue subway station roof with his littermates. Jen knows this year's race for City Council isn't just about politics as usual. It's about all of us who call these neighborhoods home, and deserve to have a fighter like Jen working hard for all of us in City Hall. No matter the task, Jen is a hard-worker and she gets things done. Jen works closely with tenants all over the city and teaches them about empowerment, standing up for what's right, and to not be afraid of the powers that be. Jen believes all lives matter and that by working together, we have strength in our numbers. Jen is not the status quo here in the 40th City Council District – her opponents only offer more of the same; we know it’s time for a change. Jen looks forward to working on behalf of this great community as your next City Council member.
01/07/2018
Friends, I invite you to a local fundraiser a friend is hosting for Andrew Gounardes, Democratic candidate for State Senate in SD 22, at his home in DP, tomorrow afternoon. I've known Andrew for many years and he is great on all the issues our community cares about; many of you had a chance to hear him speak at your meeting last month.
Andrew is incredibly hard working and dedicated to his community, which includes Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, and Marine Park. Let's stop a Trump Republican in his tracks and finally send Marty Golden packing. It's time for a progressive reformer. It's time for Andrew.
Details:
Sunday, January 7th, 2018
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Ditmas Park
(bring the kids!)
Please DM me for the specific address.
If you can't make it, please consider making a donation online to support his efforts. Taking on an entrenched incumbent will be a challenge and every bit helps to get Andrew's positive and progressive message out.
Andrew for New York
For far too long, politics in our state has valued big-money interests over working-class families. I'm running for State Senate to fight for fully funded schools, safe streets, and a transit system we can rely on.
01/01/2018
Friends near & far, Before you head out to celebrate and bring in the new year, please check out Liuba Grechen Shirley -- the best candidate to take back the NY's 2nd Congressional district from Peter King, a Trump Republican who is not only bad for Long Island, but for all of us who believe in democratic values and truly want the best for our country. You know if I'm supporting Liuba, she is a bright, hard-working woman who is dedicated to her community on Long Island. She must meet an important fundraising deadline tonight, so please contribute to her campaign before the ball drops. We will take back the House in 2018 ... Starting now! Happy New Year! 👠🍹🍸🎆🎉🇺🇸
Donate to Liuba For Congress
Together, we can strengthen Long Island and turn our country around. Can I count on your support?
11/20/2017
I talked about this issue a ton on the campaign trail and proposed similar solutions to those mentioned here. If our leaders won't lead, the people must lead.
Today, I joined the Public Advocate of New York City Letitia "Tish" James at 356 W. 145th St. in Harlem to call out the landlord of this building for terrible conditions in what is a federally-subsidized, privately owned building and one of the Top 10 Worst Landlords of 2017. GFB Management -- this is unacceptable.
Is your landlord one of the 100 worst in NYC? Full list for 2017 revealed
NEW YORK – These New York City landlords were the worst of the worst in 2017. They all made the list, released Tuesday by Public Advocate Letitia James, of the city’s worst landlords, whose tenants live in dangerous and indecent conditions. The worst landlord of 2017 was Jonathan Cohen, whose 19 bui...
10/13/2017
One month ago today, I voted for myself for City Council. It was an incredible day, and even though I didn't win, I got nearly 1,000 votes once absentee and other ballots were counted. Today, I am in Washington, D.C., strengthening and sharing my knowledge and experience in the fight for preserving real affordable housing in our city.
10/12/2017
I handed last night's mayoral debate to de Blasio since I don't hold grudges and we're both Red Sox fans. (I still can't believe I made it though my whole Council race without that coming out! Lol.)
Shouting match at Mayoral debate drowns out issues
Tuesday night's Mayoral debate was so contentious, the shouting by one candidate and the boos and catcalls from the audience of partisans often drowned out discussion of the issues. With Republican Nicole Malliotakis and Independent candidate Bo Dietl in a relentless attack mode, Mayor Bill de Blasi...
10/01/2017
For most New Yorkers, the city's primary election on September 12th is already a faded memory; but for me, it was a truly remarkable day, and while the results were disappointing, the experience of running for political office is one that I will cherish forever. Running for a seat on the New York City Council was one of the most rewarding and challenging endeavors of my life. It is with all my heart that I thank each and every one of you for helping to make my run for office possible in 2017.
I believe that being a part of the race in Brooklyn's 40th City Council District accomplished some very important goals. My significant work experience as a housing advocate and tenant organizer ensured that the central focus of much of the campaign was on housing and the issues surrounding the severe rate at which our neighborhoods are becoming unaffordable for far too many of us. Talking about the fact that we have lost more than 30 percent of our district's affordable housing stock in the last decade, mostly due to the unjustified evictions of rent stabilized tenants that correlate with the illegal deregulation of thousands of apartments, sparked a lot of interest in our campaign. The other candidates in the race could not afford to reduce this critical issue to a sound bite and the voters came to expect thoughtful discourse on how to address our district's affordability crisis.
Of the 51 seats on the New York City Council, a mere 12 will be held by women come this January. The fact that women are so disproportionately represented on the governing body of our city is one of the reasons I decided to run in 2017. We need more women on the New York City Council and more women in elective office in this country. I feel strongly that more women need to take this chance, and I will continue to encourage more women to run. Out of the 113 Democrats running in contested NYC Council districts, only 38 were women. I am so proud to have been one of them. We must continue to make our voices heard; I believe in my lifetime, that highest glass ceiling will shatter and I can't wait for that day to come.
Over the last few weeks, I have learned to not be totally disheartened by my loss. I have quipped that it its better to have run and lost, than never to have run at all. I got to meet so many new people throughout the entire community that I can no longer run out to Key Foods, the Caton Market, Parkside, the library or the subway without running into someone I met while campaigning, someone who voted for me, or a key supporter. It is truly an amazing feeling to be surrounded by so many new friends and familiar faces.
I would like to thank all my dedicated staff members and volunteers. I appreciate the great lengths you all went to help make my campaign something we can all be proud of at the end of the day. We had integrity and earned the respect of many important community leaders. Thank you also to my colleagues, both past and present, my friends and family, and my husband, Jamie. I appreciate you all sharing in my vision to build a stronger community in our neighborhoods in Ditmas Park, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Prospect Park South, and parts of Crown Heights and Kensington.
I have congratulated our incumbent Councilman Mathieu Eugene on his victory and have expressed my desire to work with him on all the issues, especially affordable housing preservation in our community, that I raised throughout the campaign: the plight of our small business owners, the need for affordable and accessible after school care and an intergenerational community center in the district, the dire need for infrastructure improvements, and ensuring that our community continues to be a welcoming place for everyone. I have also thanked Pia Raymond and Brian Cunningham for running such spirited campaigns and their contributions to our community. I look forward to working with them in the future.
Many of you have asked, "What's next, Jen?" I have returned to my work as a housing advocate and am so lucky to be resuming the fight for housing justice in our city and across our country full-time. I have no doubt that new opportunities will emerge and I am excited to start this journey.
As promised, you can count on me to continue fighting for all of us. I will always be your strongest advocate.
01/07/2018
01/01/2018
11/20/2017
11/15/2017
10/13/2017
10/12/2017
10/01/2017
09/11/2017