Robert F. Holden is an American professor,

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

, and 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 ...

member for the 30th district, representing the neighborhoods of

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

Maspeth Maspeth is a residential and commercial community in the borough of Queens in New York City. It was founded in the early 17th century by Dutch and English settlers. Neighborhoods sharing borders with Maspeth are Woodside to the north; Sunnyside t ...

, Middle Village, Ridgewood, and parts of Woodside and Woodhaven in the borough of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

Early life and education

Holden was raised in

Maspeth, Queens Maspeth is a residential and commercial community in the borough of Queens in New York City. It was founded in the early 17th century by Dutch and English settlers. Neighborhoods sharing borders with Maspeth are Woodside to the north; Sunnyside ...

. He earned an AAS from the

New York City College of Technology The New York City College of Technology (City Tech) is a public college in New York City. Founded in 1946, it is the City University of New York's college of technology. History City Tech was founded in 1946 as The New York State Institute of ...

, a BA from

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...

, and an MFA from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

, all

CUNY , mottoeng = The education of free people is the hope of Mankind , budget = $3.6 billion , established = , type = Public university system , chancellor = Fél ...

schools.

Career

Holden is a professional

and a professor of the same at the

. Holden has also worked as an editor and art director for ''Juniper Berry'' magazine, and as a photojournalist published in newspapers and magazines in the United States and Europe. He has had his work exhibited at

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP), at 79 Essex Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City, consists of a museum for photography and visual culture and a school offering an array of educational courses and programming. ...

, and other galleries. Holden has been a member of

Queens Community Board 5 The Queens Community Board 5 is a local government in the New York City borough of Queens, encompassing the neighborhoods of Ridgewood, Glendale, Middle Village, Maspeth, Fresh Pond, and Liberty Park. In October 2022, Holden endorsed

George Santos George Anthony Devolder Santos (; ; born July 22, 1988) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative for , serving since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Santos was elected to Congress in 2022, after running unsuccessful ...

's candidacy for

New York's 3rd congressional district New York's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in the State of New York. It is represented by Democrat Tom Suozzi, who has been in office since 2017. In the 2022 election, Republ ...

in the U.S. House elections.

New York City Council

2017 election

Holden, a long-registered Democrat, ran in the 2017 Democratic primary for New York City Council against incumbent Democrat Elizabeth Crowley, but lost 63.6% to 36.1%. In the general election, Holden ran on the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

, Reform Party lines, as well as the independent "Dump de Blasio" line. Despite not being a registered member of the Republican party, he was able to receive the county's nomination by obtaining a

Wilson Pakula A Wilson Pakula is an authorization given by a political party to a candidate for public office in the State of New York that allows the candidate not registered with that party to run as its candidate in a given election. The name refers to the ...

authorization. Holden won a tight race, garnering 10,653 votes to Crowley’s 10,426.

2018

Holden was the prime sponsor in introducing and passing resolutions 420, 421, and 422. The resolutions declared November 11 as Polish Independence Day, October 15 as Tadeusz Kosciuszko Day, and October 11 as Casimir Pulaski Day in New York City, respectively. The bills all passed unanimously on October 31, 2018.

2020

In early April 2020, he and New York City Councilman Republican

Eric Ulrich Eric Ulrich (born February 13, 1985) is a former member of the New York City Council representing the 32nd district. His constituency includes the neighborhoods of Belle Harbor, Breezy Point, Broad Channel, Hamilton Beach, Howard Beach, L ...

wrote to Mayor de Blasio asking him to relieve Commissioner of Health of the City of New York

Oxiris Barbot Oxiris Barbot (, born ) is an American pediatrician who served as the Commissioner of Health of the City of New York from 2018 to 2020. She was then appointed to public health positions with Columbia University and the Jeffry Picower, JPB Foundat ...

of her position "before it’s too late," saying her guidance on

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

had been disastrous.

Election history

2017

2021

# Holden is a registered Democrat but received the Republican party's nomination after losing the Democratic primary.

Personal life

As of 2017, Holden had been married to his wife, Amy, for 44 years. They have three children and three grandchildren.

References

External links

Campaign websiteNew York City Council: District 30 - Robert Holden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holden, Robert 1951 births Living people 21st-century American politicians People from Maspeth, Queens Queens College, City University of New York alumni Hunter College alumni American graphic designers New York City Council members New York (state) Democrats