Who

Eric Gioia represents the Queens neighborhoods of Woodside, Sunnyside, Long Island City, Astoria, and Maspeth in the New York City Council.

Backstory

Gioia grew up working in his family's flower business in Queens. He went to NYU (he was Morgan Spurlock's roommate) followed by Georgetown Law and worked as a law clerk in the Clinton White House before heading into private practice with Milbank, Tweed. In 2000, he served as the New York campaign coordinator for Al Gore's presidential bid. The next year he put his campaign skills into service for his own career, running an insurgent City Council battle (even the Queens Democratic organization didn't support him) to represent his home district and winning, thanks in part to the clutch endorsement of the New York Times. He won reelection in 2005, and will be in office through 2009.

On the job

As head of the council's Committee on Oversight and Investigations, Gioia aims to expose "inefficiency, waste, and mismanagement." He's authored legislation to increase access to emergency contraception, cracked down on parents who don't pay child support, and focused on anti-poverty programs like food stamps. Notoriously press-hungry, in a May 2007 publicity stunt Gioia spent a week living on the $28 food stamp allotment given to single individuals, eating nothing but Ramen noodles, pasta, and canned tuna, washed down with tap water. But you'll likely be seeing even more of Gioia than usual on NY1 and in the Gotham Gazette, as he's all but certain to run for public advocate in 2009—he's already been fundraising like mad for the campaign.

Personal

Gioia lives in Queens with his wife, Lisa Hernandez Gioia, a fundraiser who's worked with ex-Council Speaker Gifford Miller and Eliot Spitzer. They have a daughter named Amelia and a dog named Charly.

True story

If you graduate from elementary school in Gioia's district, you'll get a present from him: a hardcover dictionary.

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