Gus Christensen is a proud progressive, a successful businessman and a job creator running to represent the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island in the New York State Assembly.
Gus was born on the Upper East Side in 1972, grew up in Brooklyn and moved back to the Upper East Side after graduating from college in 1994. He lived through the great challenges that our city faced in those years, and knows how critical it is that we keep crime in check and keep the city’s fiscal situation strong. But Gus also knows that the challenges faced by working and middle class New Yorkers are as tough as they have ever been: finding affordable housing, good jobs and high quality schools can be extremely difficult for working people and seniors in this city.
After graduating from Yale and the University of Pennsylvania, Gus built his career helping businesses grow and create jobs. For twenty years, Gus has worked tirelessly at firms such as Evercore Partners to help expand the economy and the workforce here in New York and around the country.
In these roles, Gus has honed his ability to do one thing above all else: identify core problems and find workable solutions that make sense. That’s exactly why he’s running for State Assembly today, because we all know that Albany is broken – mired in scandal, rife with corruption and fundamentally unable to do its job. Gus understands that fixing this means electing strong progressive leadership that will fight for tougher ethics laws, pass the Women’s Equality Act and GENDA, increase the availability of affordable housing, protect and expand quality public schools, and finally improve public transit on the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island.
Gus’ understanding of finance and his advocacy on these issues has earned him a reputation within our community as a thoughtful and forceful voice for the values progressives hold most dear. Earlier this year, Gus was elected President of the Lenox Hill Democratic Club, and also serves on the Board of Directors for both the New York Landmarks Conservancy and the historic Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.
Gus is a native Upper East Sider and currently resides there along with his wife, Courtney. He received his B.A. with Distinction from Yale University, and his MBA with Honors as a Palmer Scholar from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Gus was until recently a Managing Director at Evercore Partners but is now working full time on behalf of his community. He hopes to have the opportunity to meet as many of his neighbors as possible in the coming months, and urges interested voters to reach out to him to set up a meeting and talk about the issues affecting our area.
Gus Christensen for New York 