Vanessa L. Gibson

Council Member Vanessa L. Gibson (@Vanessalgibson) proudly represents the 16th District of the Bronx, including the Claremont, Grand Concourse, High Bridge, and Morris Heights communities. A native New Yorker, Ms. Gibson has spent her career serving the people of the Bronx. Beginning as an intern in 2003 and rising rapidly to District Manager, Gibson worked tirelessly alongside then-Assemblywomen Aurelia Greene to, ensure the needs of the community was well represented in Albany and that their needs were met. Upon being elected to the New York State Assembly in 2009, Gibson undertook an ambitious agenda to improve the quality of life of her constituents in the 77th Assembly District and residents throughout Bronx County.

As a Council Member, Gibson has been a leader on public safety issues and an advocate for affordable housing, tenant protection, increased training for our police officers, and school climate change. She has passed legislation that will allow the City to better understand the realities of discipline in our public schools, helped to fund the first children’s museum facility for the Bronx, and revitalized the abandoned Fulton prison into a one-stop shop for holistic reentry assistance. Current policy projects include bringing greater transparency to NYPD surveillance programs, improving safety in NYCHA, and decreasing the violence in our city jails.

In addition to serving as Chair of the Council’s Committee on Public Safety, Gibson is a member of the Committee on Courts and Legal Services, the Committee on General Welfare, the Committee on Higher Education, and the Committee on Sanitation and Waste Management.  She holds a BA from SUNY Albany and an MPA from Baruch College.