She might not have any political experience but she does have community experience, that’s because Victoria Cambranes is a born and raised Brooklynite with a solid footing in the Greenpoint community.
The first time political candidate is looking to take on City Councilman Stephen Levin and the New York City political machine she feels is broken and needs to be challenged.
Cambranes will run against Levin in the general election on Nov. 7 for District 33, which covers Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Downtown Brooklyn, Dumbo, Fulton Ferry, Greenpoint, Vinegar Hill and Williamsburg.
Cambranes has an interesting background when it comes to politics, her father an electrical engineer, worked for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection for his entire career, and her grandfather was actually the Governor of a province in Guatemala.
Though politics wasn’t her chosen field, Cambranes seems to be embracing the idea of being the voice of her community and bringing government politics back to the local level.
“I think now more than ever, all of us have to do our part, whether it’s being a part of the community, whether it’s making our voices heard, or whether it’s actually having a seat at the table in order to take the reins of power and be a champion of the people,” said Cambranes.
Cambranes was initially pushed to get involved in community politics after the surprise election of Donald Trump last November. She moved back from London specifically to engage in community politics after seeing the shocking loss of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“When election day happened it was absolutely devastating for me. I decided that it was a sign for me to come home and see what I could do to improve my local community,” said Cambranes.
Her initial community activism, beginning with participation in the women’s march in the city and then with community meetings, then led Cambranes to take a public stand for her neighbors regarding unsafe truck traffic in the Greenpoint area. In July, Neftaly Ramirez, 27, was fatally struck by a garbage truck while riding his bike home after work. The truck driver struck Ramirez and then continued driving, leaving Ramirez to later be pronounced dead at the scene.
This event was a catalyst for Cambranes, who for months before Ramirez’s death was reaching out to local elected officials, including Levin, about the safety issues in the neighborhood with no response.
“I was incensed by that death because he [Ramirez] was so young and it was completely preventable, he was our neighbor” said Cambranes.
Cambranes only heard back from then-State Senator Daniel Squadron who personally took the time to listen to Cambranes’ grievances and support her push to file a formal complaint with the Department of Transportation (DOT).
After a disappointing public meeting with DOT regarding the truck safety issues, in which Levin briefly made remarks on the city’s Vision-Zero initiative, Cambranes had had enough and immediately went down to the Board of Elections (BOE). There, she was only able to sign up on the independent ballot, a label she embraces due to her deep seated belief in representing her local neighbors.
“Levin was completely uninterested in the community at the meeting, he spoke for 5 minutes and then left. That day I went to the Board of Elections, I said ‘I know it’s late in the game but I want to run’ and I wanted to see what I could do. They said it was too late to run as a democrat but I could run as an independent. I said ‘I think that’s great because I don’t want to be beholden to a political machine” said Cambranes.
If elected, Cambranes not only looks forward to championing the truck safety issues in her area but the affordable housing crisis facing all of Brooklyn.
“It’s going to take a lot of interdepartmental efforts on a lot of these issues. For me the biggest issue right now is that people can’t afford to live in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is the most attractive borough and district 33 is the most attractive place for people to live. It’s one of the most important pieces of real estate in the nation. However, the city has decided to respect the wishes of private developers over the community,” said Cambranes.
The District 33 candidate went on to note that the 2005 Zoning laws have not been very helpful in slowing down the rise in luxury development, citing the increasing living costs in the area.
“I think it has a lot more to do with class and income than with than it does with race. There are white, Polish people being displaced in Greenpoint, there are black and latino people being displaced in Williamsburg in the Broadway Triangle. There are so many different types of people being affected. Housing is the most important part and unfortunately affordable housing has been usurped by the De Blasio administration,” said Cambranes.
Cambranes also went on to note that problems with the affordable housing lottery, a system she believes is also broken that hurts more people than it helps.
“The lottery is sometimes 90,000 applications of one-hundred units, which is literally like winning the lottery,” added Cambranes.
Additionally, she wants to improve the infrastructure of the district specifically regarding transportation links, traffic and cycling routes as well as community policing regarding the growing Brooklyn population.
“We want immigration and people to come into our community. If we’re going to have an influx of tens of thousands of people what are we doing to reinforce infrastructure. What are we doing to build proper bike paths which are safe and preventing injuries, what are we doing so that people are aware of transport closures and transit link alternatives, what are we doing to ensure our water and air are clean, that there are enough seats in schools, and in senior centers and that are parks aren’t privatized,” said Cambranes.
“These are all things that need to be looked at in a bigger way. In a very holistic way. Unfortunately, the city is really lacking when it comes to good management skills, and good communication with community,” she continued.
She also hopes to give people a different kind of elected official, one with a higher value on communication and transparency. Cambranes also hopes to bring in new blood into a bureaucratic system she feels is lacking fresh perspective.
“We don’t have a champion in City Council that is willing to stand on our side and that’s just the truth of it,” said Cambranes.
