Meet the New Chairman of the Board

It was a hell of a week to start a new job.

Daniel Kummer became the chairperson for as the New Year began, in a district still trying (literally) to dig itself out from the dregs of the .

While that first week was hectic, Kummer said, he’s now gearing up for the more commonplace, yet equally important, operations of the community board. Kummer steps into big shoes — former Chairperson Richard Bashner served the board’s maximum of four consecutive terms, through some of the district's most tumultous times.

Kummer has been an active member of CB6 since 2007, when he was tapped by then-councilman David Yassky to join the organization.

“Quite honestly, it was not something that had really been on my radar screen in a major way,” said Kummer.

Yet he found the experience rewarding and decided to stick with it.

“I’ve just enjoyed it as a way to be involved in the community, as a way to really stay tapped in and knowledgeable about what’s happening in our community.”

Kummer, who serves as Vice President of Litigation and Content Protection at NBC Universal, was born in upper Manhattan and raised in Boston. He returned to New York for law school at NYU, and spent two years clerking for US district court judge Whitman Knapp, whose Knapp Commission investigated police corruption in the 1970s.

After a year spent working in refugee camps in Thailand, Kummer and his wife, Lisa Landau, returned once again to New York and have lived in Park Slope since 1995.

In 2009, Kummer volunteered to head the community board’s new Permits and Licenses Committee. These matters had formerly been a part of the Land Use and Landmarks Committee, but the process for reviewing liquor license applications needed to be overhauled. Over the course of several months of research and negotiations, Kummer drew up a new set of protocols, which district manager Craig Hammerman describes as “an effort to balance the interests of the growing nightlife in our neighborhood along with quality of life concerns of neighbors.”

Kummer also played a major role in drafting the community board’s Responsible Development Policy.

Yet for the father of two, one of the most meaningful battles CB6 has engaged in was its response last year to the city’s proposal to close 15 publicly-funded daycare sites. Four of the 15 proposed closures were in this district, and the move would have left only five centers remaining here. Since the daycare centers served largely low-income families who relied on the services to keep their own jobs, the closures would have been a serious blow to the community.

The board drew up a resolution opposing the closures and three of the centers remain open for now.

Kummer was proud of the board’s response, and stressed the need to maintain vigilance in serving the more vulnerable areas of the community.

“I think that we have a district that is incredibly diverse,” he said. “Between Park Slope and Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens and Gowanus and Red Hook, you have some of the wealthiest people in the city, and you have some of the poorest people in the city."

For Kummer, it's important to ensure all residents within CB6 are served.

"My view is the community board, to the extent that it is prioritizing its time and its attention, should be focusing on ways to make the lives of those [underserved] residents of our district better and less burdensome than maybe focusing on some of the more affluent areas," he said.

Craig Hammerman, who has been the board’s district manager since 1993, calls Kummer "an all-around good guy" and praised the new chairperson's even temper and decisiveness.

“Daniel is a big-picture thinker," he said.