Gale A. Brewer

Gale A. Brewer represents the 6th Council District, located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Brewer chairs the Committee on Oversight and Investigations, which has a far-reaching mandate
to examine the mayoral administration, its policies, and its delivery of city services. Under
Council Member Brewer’s leadership, the committee assessed costs of the migrant crisis, studied
operational challenges in family court, examined responses to climate emergencies, and much
more.
Brewer is working towards solutions to city-wide issues from micromobility safety to unlicensed
cannabis shops to affordable housing. She recently passed legislation to establish composting
facilities in city parks, restrict the sale of e-bikes that fail to meet safety standards, and improve
reporting requirements for cannabis enforcement.
Prior to her current term in the Council, Brewer served as Manhattan Borough President from
2014-2021 and represented the 6th Council District from 2002-2013. Before elected office, she
served as Chief of Staff to Council Member Ruth Messinger, NYC Deputy Public Advocate,
Director of the city’s Federal Office, and Executive Director of the Mayor’s Commission on the
Status of Women.
Brewer has taught at CUNY and Barnard College for many years. She holds an MPA from
Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and did her undergraduate work at Columbia
University and Bennington College. She lives with her husband Cal Snyder and they have a
grown son. In the past, she had many foster children.