Shaun Abreu (born January 8, 1991) is a Dominican American politician and tenants' rights attorney from New York City. He is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

serving as the city councilman for the 7th district of the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

Early life and education

Abreu was born in Washington Heights, Manhattan, the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic. His mother was a clerk at Zabar's, and his father was a union member and a janitor at Port Authority Bus Terminal. At nine years old, his family was evicted from their home, forcing them to stay with neighbors. Abreu graduated from George Washington High School in Washington Heights, and went on to receive a degree in political science and government from Columbia University and a J.D. degree from Tulane University Law School. After graduating law school in 2018, he became a tenants' rights attorney with the New York Legal Assistance Group.

Career

While still a student at Columbia, Abreu worked as Mark Levine's deputy campaign manager during Levine's successful 2013 campaign for the

. He also served as a member of Manhattan Community Board 9.

2021 City Council campaign

In November 2020, Abreu announced his 2021 campaign to succeed the term-limited Levine in the City Council's 7th district, which covers

Morningside Heights Morningside Heights is a neighborhood on the West Side of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Morningside Drive to the east, 125th Street to the north, 110th Street to the south, and Riverside Drive to the west. Morningside ...

Manhattan Valley Manhattan Valley (also known as Bloomingdale ) is a neighborhood in the northern part of Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded by West 110th Street to the north, Central Park West to the east, West 96th Street to the south, ...

, Hamilton Heights, and parts of Harlem and Washington Heights. Garnering endorsements from Levine, U.S. Congressman

Adriano Espaillat Adriano de Jesús Espaillat Rodríguez (; born September 27, 1954) is a Dominican-American politician. He is the U.S. representative for and the first Dominican American and first formerly undocumented immigrant to ever serve in Congress. He pre ...

, and most of the city's major unions, Abreu was regarded as the frontrunner in the race. Five of Abreu's eleven opponents – Maria Ordoñez, Stacy Lynch, Marti Allen-Cummings, Dan Cohen, and Corey Ortega – sought to counter this advantage through ranked-choice voting and formed a coalition, wherein each of the five candidates advised their own voters to rank the other four coalition members on their ballot. On election night on June 22, Abreu led the field with 27 percent of the vote, with four members of the opposing coalition coming in second through fifth. When ranked-choice votes and absentee ballots were taken into account two weeks later, Abreu maintained his lead, with 63 percent of the vote to Ordoñez's 37 percent; Abreu formally declared victory on July 2, and his opponents conceded in the succeeding days. In the November general election, Abreu won with over 88% of the vote.

Personal life

Abreu lives in

. He is a member of UAW Local 3235, an association for legal aid attorneys.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abreu, Shaun Living people 1991 births People from Washington Heights, Manhattan Politicians from Manhattan Columbia College (New York) alumni Tulane University Law School alumni American politicians of Dominican Republic descent Lawyers from New York City New York (state) Democrats