Evan Thies for City Council


Evan ThiesEvan Thies is running for City Council in Brooklyn’s 33rd District, including the neighborhoods of Park Slope, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, DUMBO, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights and Boerum Hill.

As senior advisor to current Council Member David Yassky for nearly five years, Evan worked on a wide range of local issues in the Council, as well as many citywide initiatives at City Hall—becoming a leader on affordable housing, environment and government reform policy.

Evan has advanced policies that affect New Yorkers’ quality of life today by using his knowledge of government to create and pass laws that work:

  • Cleaning up government by co-founding and advising the Council’s first committee on reform
  • Transforming NYC taxis into hybrid vehicles
  • Protecting domestic violence victims at work by forcing employers to make accommodations
  • Lowering automobile insurance rates by cracking down on fraudulent claims
  • Holding irresponsible gun dealers accountable for putting guns in the hands of criminals
Since leaving Yassky's office, Evan has been working to expedite clean-up of the country's largest terrestrial oil spill in Greenpoint, and to prevent the use of parkland for a power plant on the North Brooklyn waterfront. Evan has also fought for street parking permits for residents of Park Slope and Boerum Hill, and against irresponsible development in Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, Greenpoint and Williamsburg.

Prior to his experience in the Council, Evan worked at the office of Sen. Hillary Clinton, where he worked to bring, among other things, fresh New York-grown fruits and vegetables to NYC schools.

Today, Evan serves as chairperson of the Environment and Sanitation Committee of Brooklyn’s Community Board 1. This past year, he proposed sweeping reforms for the departments of buildings and environmental protection, including efforts to improve the safety and monitoring of construction sites. Evan also chairs the Williamsburg Watchdog Project, and is on the boards of several civic and issue-based organizations in New York City, including Neighbors Allied for Good Growth and New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.

As a media and strategic planning aide to some of New York City’s largest non-profit advocacy organizations, Evan serves as a consultant to Housing Here and Now, the Pratt Center for Community Development and the Urban Justice Center. As part of his work with these groups and others, Evan has fought for better working conditions for blue-collar workers, pushed for wide-ranging improvements to state and local affordable housing policy, and worked to expose corruption inside the Federal Department of Justice.

Evan lives in Williamsburg.