Haitian-born community leader, Gardy Brazela has joined the crowded field of candidates seeking election in the Democratic Party Primary in June to represent the 46th Council District in Brooklyn.
Gardy is the founder of Friends United Block Association (FUBA), the largest social services provider in Canarsie, Brooklyn.
The 46th Council District includes portions of or the entire neighborhoods of Bergen Beach, Canarsie, East Flatbush, Flatlands, Gerritsen Beach, Marine Park, Mill Basin and Sheepshead Bay.
Brazela graduated from New York City public schools, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and Masters in urban policy administration at Brooklyn College, City University of New York (CUNY).
“The job of an elected official is to serve the people,” Brazela, who is married and the father of three children, told Caribbean Life on Sunday. “My entire adult life has been a life of service to the community.”
Brazela was appointed a Community Board 18 member in 1997, and later named chair of its public safety committee. In 2019, he became board chair.
Brazela is the first Caribbean American and Black person to hold this important decision-making position.
Additionally, since 2015, he has served as 69th Precinct Community Council president.
“In our areas of Brooklyn, we want more police patrols, not less,” Brazela said. “We want more and better garbage collection, and clean streets, not less.
“We want better schools, and we want our neighbors to live together united as we strive to re-build after COVID,” he added.
“As a job creator, social service provider, manager of educational services and opportunities,” Brazela continued, “I know what must be done, and I am ready to make sure City Hall hears our voices.
“Following decades of community involvement, I know what our communities need and want,” he said. “Local residents say they want a city councilmember who’ll make sure we have clean streets and safe streets. Critically, they demand excellent schools, and the way to ensure excellence is through continued cooperation between the community and local school administrators. That’s my platform.”
If elected, Brazela said he will continue the Lew Fidler-Alan Maisel tradition of service.
“They served us well, and I would be proud to follow them as a member of the City Council,” he said.
“It is a crowded field, no question,” Brazela added. “I am working very hard. People in our neighborhoods want real experience, and they want a commitment of service. Everything in my life proves that I share those values and beliefs.”
