A resident of Jackson Heights, Dromm began his first career as a public school teacher in 1984 at P.S. 199 in Sunnyside. As an educator, he promoted teaching acceptance of LGBT individuals through the Rainbow Curriculum and publicly came out in 1992.[3][4] Heavily involved in the Queens County Democratic Party, he served as Democratic District Leader in the 39th assembly district.
He is one of the first two openly gay City Council members from outside Manhattan.
As a Democrat, Dromm was elected to the City Council in 2009, representing the 25th district in Queens. He defeated Councilwoman Helen Sears by 10 points, 49% to 39%, in the Democratic primary.[6] Dromm was reelected in 2013 and served as Chairperson of the Council's influential Committee on Education from 2014 to 2017.[7]
In 2014, Dromm co-sponsored New York City Council bill Intro 253 to create the city's first government-issued photo identification card, later named "IDNYC." The bill was passed overwhelmingly by the Council and signed into law by Mayor Bill de Blasio.[8] IDNYC aides the homeless, youth, the elderly, undocumented immigrants, the formerly incarcerated and others who may have difficulty obtaining other government-issued ID.[9] IDNYC is recognized ID for interacting with NYPD and allows cardholders to gain access to all City buildings that provide public services.[10] It is an accepted form of identification for accessing numerous City programs and services such as the Brooklyn Public Library, the Queens Library, and the New York City Public Library, the three library systems serving the City of New York. Several NYC cultural institutions grant cardholders free one-year memberships; these include museums, zoos, concert halls, and botanical gardens.[11]
In 2015, Dromm said he opposed a bill sponsored by New York City Council Member David Greenfield to allow non-public schools (including religious and charter schools) to request that safety agents from the New York Police Department be posted inside the schools and be funded by the Board of Education. Dromm argued that more NYPD officers or safety agents in the schools would not solve the problem of increasing hate crimes citywide and would be counterproductive.[12]
On December 19, 2017, the New York City Council unanimously passed Dromm's resolution establishing January 30 annually as Fred T. Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution in honor of the late civil rights activist who objected to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.[13]
In January 2018, Dromm was unanimously elected to serve as the chairperson of the NYC Council Committee on Finance.[14]
^Bernstein, Andrea "Fegeddaboutit, Mr. Chips" New York Magazine November 6, 1992
^Fernandez, Joseph Chancellor. Letter to Daniel Dromm. 6 October 1993. LGBTQ Collection. Box 29. LaGuardia and Wagner Archives, LaGuardia Community College/CUNY, Long Island City, NY.
