Brad Gerstman gives his take on President Obama’s State of the Union address.

Brad Gerstman talks about the President’s State of the Union speech on WOR’s Rita Cosby Show

From Capital Tonight:

Redistricting has claimed its first victim: Brad Gerstman has disbanded his exploratory committee due to a lack of “compelling opportunities” available for him at this time.

Read more from Capital Tonight…

From New York Daily News:

Brad Gerstman, the Long Island political consultant and lobbyist who plunged $500,000 of his own into exploring a run for elected office, is disbanding his exploratory committee, The Daily Politics has learned.

I reported back in April that Gerstman — who never actually announced what office he would seek — had dumped $300K into his committee with plans to hike that up to $500K and spend as much as $1 million on an actual run.

Now, that’s all on hold. In short, Gerstman says there just wasn’t an obvious match between him and the offices at hand. He’d previously said he could run for an office as national as Congress or as local as councilman.

“Due to redistricting, my committee determined that there were not any compelling opportunities for me to run for office at this time,” he said. “More importantly, the growth and expansion of my firm, Gotham Government Relations & Communications, is exciting and I am completely focused on serving our clients at this point.”

As for the cash, said the former Bronx ADA, “I’ll be taking that money and putting it aside for the potential backing of future candidates around the state and county,” he said. “I’m also not ruling out using that, and more, money for a possible future run, if there’s an opportunity I feel would be a compelling match.”

So I guess we’ll just stay tuned…

Read more from New York Daily News…

2012: What does Cuomo’s revolution bring to New York State? Gotham’s Brad Gerstman breaks it down, line by line on Long Island’s News12:

News Channel NY-1, covering an Iran protest in Manhattan sought some insight from Gotham’s Brad Gerstman…

NYC Education System Fails to Assign 15,000 Incoming Kindergarteners with Specials Needs to a School

Brad Gerstman Calls for Legislative Investigation

Investigate New York City Department of Education

June 17, 2011; New York, NY – The Daily News’ Daily Politics Blogger, Celeste Katz, wrote earlier today that “the city is on the hook for millions of dollars in private school tuition after failing to find seats for thousands of kindergartners with special needs.” Special Needs Advocate Brad Gerstman, Partner at Gotham Government Relations & Communication, is outraged by the lack of leadership and accountability of New York City officials that are putting special education children last on their list of priorities.

“This is an absolute tragedy of the highest proportions that New York City would continue to pay give diminutive attention to Special-Ed kids and as a result, further cause pain and mistrust to those families that are suffering with a developmental disabled child their household,” Says Gerstman. “These families are going through enough turmoil in their life and when the education systems absolutely fails them, it brings us and the society to a very low point. This cannot happen, it should not happen, and no one in New York City should tolerate it!”

Gerstman is calling for a full review by New York City and New York City legislative investigative bodies to get to the bottom of this wrongdoing and to make certain that this never occurs again in the future.

The blog continues to stat that the city already spends millions to education the enrolled $4,000 students with special needs. The cost to enroll these reaming 15,000 kids will increase the cost dramatically.

ABOUT BRAD GERSTMAN

Brad Gerstman is a well-known advocate for individuals with disabilities and special needs. He is a member of the Nassau University Medical Center, Vice Chair of the Long Island Medical Foundation, Governor’s appointee to his Advisory Council on Interactive Media and Youth Violence, and Chairman of the Tom Suozzi Long Island Autism Coalition. He was recently honored by the Child Abuse Prevention Services. Brad also represents a number of special needs schools, charities, and other developmental disability entities through his work at Gotham.

PRESS CONTACT

Annie Scranton, Pace Public Relations

C: 732.642.7192; E: annie@pacepublicrelations.com

Autism Advocate Brad Gerstman Speaks Out on Last Year’s Veto and This Year’s Vote

June 17, 2011; New York, NY – Autism Advocate Brad Gerstman, Partner at Gotham Government Relations & Communications, would like to congratulate the NY State Legislature on finally passing of a ground-breaking new bill that will provide families of autistic children with much-needed insurance coverage. Families, advocates and stakeholders across the state of New York are joyful over this vote, and are excited by Governor Cuomo’s decision.

Last October, the same bill was vetoed by Governor Patterson, and families with members on the spectrum were discouraged and disheartened.

“I am hopeful, our current Governor realizes the importance of this legislation, and the fact that families of autistic children spend, on average, nearly $50,000 per household to pay for the medical expenses needed,” Gerstman said. “Now these families can rest a little easier knowing that help appears to be on the way.”

Twenty-three other states already have in place similar laws.

ABOUT BRAD GERSTMAN

Brad Gerstman is a well-known advocate for individuals with disabilities and special needs. He is a member of the Nassau University Medical Center, Vice Chair of the Long Island Medical Foundation, Governor’s appointee to his Advisory Council on Interactive Media and Youth Violence, and Chairman of the Tom Suozzi Long Island Autism Coalition. He was recently honored by the Child Abuse Prevention Services. Brad also represents a number of special needs schools, charities, and other developmental disabilty entities through his work at Gotham.

ABOUT GOTHAM GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

New York’s fastest-growing government relations firm, Gotham Government Relations, provides lobbying, advocacy and consulting to its clients. Gotham offers its clients forward-thinking strategies that tap into political trends and opportunities. The work of its partners has resulted in shaping public policy on a number of key matters, including business advocacy and strategy; land use; special education; and charitable causes. For more information, log onto www.gothamgr.com or call us at 516-880-8170.

PRESS CONTACT

Annie Scranton, Pace Public Relations

C: 732.642.7192; E: annie@pacepublicrelations.com

Brad Gerstman, who a month ago was publicly criticizing North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman, a fellow Democrat, said he has decided not to mount a challenge against the incumbent. Gerstman told Newsday he met recently with Kaiman and county Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs and “we agreed I wouldn’t run”.

Gerstman said he has put aside more than $500,000 in an exploratory fund and will keep it there in case he decides to run for another office. “My eyes are open for opportunities,” he said. “I want to do things that have real impact.”

Gerstman, an attorney, is a partner at lobbying firm Gotham Government Relations and Communications.

More at Newsday…

Brad Gerstman discusses autism and asperger syndrome with Adelphi President Dr. Robert A. Scott on the television series “Exploring Critical Issues. The purpose of the segment is to discuss the newest autism research and policies with the goal of bringing awareness to this fast growing disorder.

Exploring Critical Issues, the award-winning broadcast series conceived and hosted by Adelphi University President Dr. Robert A. Scott, and produced by Telecare Studios, examines the research and policies affecting those with autism and Asperger’s syndrome.