Robert D. "Bob" Zuckerman (born December 19, 1960) is an American politician, community activist, progressive reformer and a small business advocate and owner. From 2007 to 2009 he served as Executive Director of the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation and Gowanus Canal Conservancy.LinkedIn Profile
/ref> From 2010 to 2013 he served as Executive Director of the Lower East Side Business Improvement District in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. From 2013 to 2019 he served as Executive Director of the South Orange Village Center Alliance In

South Orange, New Jersey South Orange, officially the Township of South Orange Village, is a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the village's population was 16,198, reflecting a decline of 766 (4.5%) fro ...

. From 2016 to 2019 he served as a member of the South Orange Performing Arts Center Board of Governors. Since 2019 he has served as an elected member of the South Orange Board of Trustees, the town's governing body, where he was the top vote-getter in a field of nine candidates. Since January 2020 he has also served as President o
Downtown New Jersey
a non-profit organization and currently serves as Executive Director of th
Downtown Westfield Corporation
in Westfield, New Jersey. In September 2009, Zuckerman ran as a

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 ...

candidate for the 39th

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 ...

District, covering Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Windsor Terrace,

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, and Borough Park. He placed fourth out of a field of five and received 934 votes, or 7% of the vote total. He was vying to become the first openly gay legislator representing Brooklyn. On September 8, Zuckerman's campaign released the first ever political animation used in a New York City Council race.

Career

Zuckerman served as the executive director of the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation (GCCDC) and the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, and took leave to run full-time for City Council. Prior to running the GCCDC and GCC, Bob served for two years as the Executive Director of the Greenwich Village-Chelsea Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Zuckerman has served as the Executive Director of the New York Nightlife Association, a trade association representing the hospitality industry. In 1999, he founded eShow, the first public consumer exposition showcasing technology and the Internet, which attracted 7,000 attendees and dozens of sponsors and exhibitors.

Advocacy

While at the GCCDC, a non-profit dedicated to the preservation and revitalization of the Gowanus Canal area in Brooklyn, Zuckerman encouraged smart development along the Gowanus Canal corridor and helped area residents to access affordable housing. The

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

approved $300,000 in federal money for the development of a “Sponge Park” esplanade along the Gowanus Canal, a project Zuckerman spearheaded while at the Gowanus Canal Conservancy. He has also been a critic of the proposed Atlantic Yards project. Zuckerman has been a strong proponent of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

issues. He is a former board member of Lambda Independent Democrats and a member of Stonewall Democrats. He led the organization of Brooklyn's marriage equality rally in 2013 and is a committee member of the

Brooklyn Community Pride Center Brooklyn Community Pride Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit LGBTQ+ community center in Brooklyn, New York. Incorporated in 2008, it was the first LGBTQ+ center in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. History Brooklyn Community Pride Center was the first ...

. As Director of the Greenvich Village-Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, he formed a committee that organized a job fair called “Out to Work: the LGBT Career Fair.”

Civic engagement

Zuckerman served as chair of the Environmental Protection Committee of

Brooklyn Community Board 6 Brooklyn Community Board 6 is a community boards of New York City, New York City community board that encompasses the List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, Brooklyn neighborhoods of Red Hook, Brooklyn, Red Hook, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, Carroll Garde ...

. He served as President of the Independent Neighborhood Democrats (IND), a Democratic club based in Carroll Gardens. From 2000 to 2003, he served as the President of the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York (SDCNY). He has co-chaired its board of governors since 2005 and served on the board of directors of the National Stonewall Democrats since 2007.

Education

He holds a Juris Doctor from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

Family

He lives in South Orange, NJ with his husband Grant Neumann.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuckerman, Bob Living people 1960 births Washington College of Law alumni Emory University alumni New York (state) Democrats Politicians from Brooklyn People from South Orange, New Jersey American LGBT rights activists New Jersey Democrats