A socialist pol who is a shoo-in to represent part of Queens in the state Assembly whipped out his tin cup to beg the public to help pay his personal bills while he waits out the November elections, The Post has learned.
Brian Romero — a former legislative aide hoping to succeed his ex-boss Jessica González-Rojas, who is headed to the State Senate — is already confronting his first self-inflicted budget crisis. The problem isn’t that the rent is too damn high — it’s that he doesn’t have a job to pay it.
He set up a GoFundMe campaign to help pay the bills.
Romero said he had to give up his most recent post as a senior advisor to state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez (D-Queens) in March due to state ethics guidance he received during the campaign.
He won 66% of the vote and easily defeated local activist Rosa Sanchez in June’s Democratic primary.
The Republican Party didn’t field a candidate, giving him a clear path to Albany, where he’ll represent the deep blue 34th District, which includes parts of Jackson Heights and Elmhurst.
But a politician who will have a say in how Albany spends billions in taxpayer money publicly pleading poverty is not a good look, critics said.
Romero said he saved for “months” but is now broke and can’t make the rent.
Just last year, he was pulling down $106,469 as a legislative aide.
He lives in a $2,600 a month apartment in Jackson Heights with his partner.
His LinkedIn page, which declared Romero “Open to Work,” spelled out his current predicament – and linked to a GoFundMe page that went up Thursday and was titled “Help Brian Cover Rent After State Assembly Run.”
“As many of you know, I had to leave my full time job in the legislature when I got on the ballot for our Assembly race,” he pleaded in the since-deleted post. “I’m excited that we won and I saved for months to get by but I’ve now depleted my savings as I’m close to closing down some consulting gigs.”
His GoFundMe site said early Friday he had raised $1,095 out of $2,000 being sought. The first $50 donation was anonymous, which wouldn’t be allowed for campaign contributions. The largest anonymous contribution was for $200.
He said the online solicitation was “to help navigate this next chapter” and will be used to “cover the rest of rent and groceries.”
“The support from friends, colleagues, and community members so far has been overwhelming, and we are deeply grateful,” the pol added.
But he abruptly closed down the online fundraiser Friday afternoon, after The Post started making inquiries.
“I decided to take it down. It was kind of done pretty quickly in consultation with some friends,” he told the newspaper.
He called it a “mistake” and said he didn’t keep any of the money.
Romero said he tried but failed to navigate an unemployment insurance system he calls “broken” and says it makes him “very passionate” about addressing that issue.
“I’m trying to find sort of some gigs, but I don’t know how other folks do it,” he said.
It wouldn’t have been the first time he’s gotten housing assistance.
“I’ve always been a renter. I lived in NYCHA [public housing] for about almost 15 years, actually” before moving to a private apartment building,” he told EpicCenterNYC in June.
“I can’t remember seeing something like this happen before,” said Jordan Libowitz, vice president for communications of Citizens for Ethics in Washington.
Once sworn in, Romero will pull down a handsome $142,000 annual salary, along with a $203 daily per diem when the Assembly is in session.
And he’s not likely to be homeless any time soon – thanks to the kindness of people he actually knows.
“I have friends I just reached out to directly who said, ‘We’ll take care of it.’ They’re just dear friends who know me, they know politics. They know sometimes these long breaks are really tough,” he said.
