Joe Borelli is the Minority Whip of the New York City Council, proudly representing the South Shore of Staten Island since 2015. In January of this year, he was selected to be the Chairman of the Committee on Fire and Emergency Management; the highest ranking committee a Republican or Staten Islander has ever chaired in the modern-day New York City Council. Prior to this, he was a Member of the New York State Assembly, representing the 62nd District between 2013 and 2015.
As Chairman of the Committee on Fire and Emergency Management, Joe has oversight over the FDNY, the largest fire department in the U.S., and the city’s office of Emergency Management. Additionally, FDNY EMS along with the city’s voluntary ambulance corps are the largest pre-hospital health care provider in the world. Collectively, these agencies have an annual operating budget of over $2 billion, and receive funds from city, state and federal sources. He is also a member of the following committees: Education, which oversees the largest public school system in the U.S.; Parks and Recreation; For-Hire Vehicles; and, Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Relations.
Joe is a Lindsay Fellow at the City University of New York Institute of State and Local Governance, and an adjunct professor of political science at CUNY – College of Staten Island. He is a Contributor to The Hill, and regularly appears as a Republican commentator on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CNNI, HLN, BBC, OANN, Newsmax, AM970, and WABC. He has also been published in the New York Daily News, Washington Times, Staten Island Advance, Gotham Gazette, and NYSlant.
As a Council Member, Joe has proven himself to be a leader in the fight to keep Staten Island affordable and to keep taxes low. He has been an outspoken supporter of law enforcement, a leader in the fight to reform property taxes, and has been unafraid to take on the de Blasio and Cuomo administrations. His legislation has improved the city’s Autism programming, made our parks safer and more accessible, and lessened the likelihood of deaths in apartment building fires.
Additionally, since 2015 Joe has allocated over $7.5 million to improve our parks and playgrounds, and over $5 million to improve South Shore public schools. He has also secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding to support opioid treatment organizations, mental health organizations, senior centers, after school programs, veterans organizations, and PTAs. Most notably, he was able to deliver $50 million towards the construction of a new building for special needs students at PS37/Great Kills High School, and helped spearhead the remediation of the former Brookfield Landfill to a clean 287-acre park.
Prior to his career as an elected official, Joe served as Chief of Staff to then-Council Member Vincent Ignizio. He has also been a member of the M.T.A. Capital Review Board, the NYC Voter Assistance Commission, the Staten Island Growth Management Task Force, the West Shore Light Rail Task Force, the Brookfield Landfill Citizens Advisory Committee, and the Friends of the College of Staten Island. He was also instrumental in the formation of the South Shore Business Improvement District, which he serves as an ex-officio board member.
In the state legislature, he served as the Assembly’s ranking member of the Committee on Cities, and a member of the committees on: Banks; Energy; Transportation; Housing; and Health.
Joe is a native of Staten Island and lives in Annadale with his wife Rachel, their son Joseph, and their English Bulldog Luna. He holds a B.A. in from Marist College, and an M.A. from the College of Staten Island.
