For scheduling inquiries, please email: mmalloy@council.nyc.gov
For press inquiries, please email: aliao@council.nyc.gov and mlamia@council.nyc.gov
For general inquiries, please email district39@council.nyc.gov, and we’ll connect you with the relevant staffer.
Matthew Malloy (he/him), Chief of Staff
Matthew Malloy oversees the office’s daily operations across all staff portfolios – don’t hesitate to contact him directly! You can also reach out to Matt with any scheduling requests for the Council Member. Before becoming the office’s Chief of Staff, he served as Council Member Hanif’s Constituent Services Director. He is a lifelong Brooklynite and a graduate of CUNY Hunter College. Matt has roots in public housing and has utilized his experience as a tenant to identify solutions to hard-to-solve problems. In addition to his experience as a staff member at the office, Matt has served as a Bargaining Committee and Executive Board Member with the Association of Legislative Employees, which just secured a historic first union contract for City Council staff.
Email Matt at mmalloy@council.nyc.gov
Alex Liao (he/him), Senior Advisor & Deputy Chief of Staff
Alex Liao oversees the office’s legislative, communications, and citywide budget portfolios. He has led the passage of ten bills, including Local Law 85 of 2023, which established the largest citywide residential composting program in the country, and Local Laws 75 and 76 of 2022, which strengthened the City’s abortion protections following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. As a Filipino and Taiwanese New Yorker, he is proud to spearhead the Council Member’s immigrant justice work, including helping to launch Promise NYC, the City’s childcare program for previously excluded immigrant families. Prior to joining the office, he served as Senior Policy and Legislative Associate at the Office of the Public Advocate and has a deep background in electoral and labor organizing. He lives in Gowanus, and on the weekends, you can find him digging through the crates at one of District 39’s record stores or running through Prospect Park.
Email Alex at aliao@council.nyc.gov
Hannah Henderson-Charnow (she/her), Budget & Organizing Director
Hannah Henderson-Charnow manages Participatory Budgeting and the Council Member’s Discretionary Funding Budget. She has proudly implemented three cycles and increased the decision-making power of community members in the allocation of $4.5 million dollars of government funding towards local school, park, library, and cultural programming projects. Hannah has a Master’s Degree in Public and Urban Policy from The New School and is deeply interested in democracy reform, food insecurity, urban agriculture, and environmental resiliency. Hannah was born and still lives in Windsor Terrace, where she tends to her tomato plants and fig trees. She is energized to serve her home and neighbors!
Email Hannah at
hhenderson-charnow@council.nyc.gov
Mia Perez (she/her), Education & Land Use Director
Mia Perez serves as Council Member Hanif’s Education and Land Use Director, where she advocates on behalf of the school community to City agencies and covers land use and housing matters. This includes working with the Gowanus Oversight Task Force to ensure the City is held accountable for the $450 million in commitments to invest in housing, infrastructure, and the broader Gowanus community as part of the Gowanus Rezoning. Mia has a Master’s from the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs, where she seeded her interest in urban and social policy and electoral politics. From digging into the weeds of land use and housing policy to working alongside the school community for equitable, fully funded schools, Mia feels incredibly lucky to work in local government, where the impact of her daily work is tangible and energizing!
Email Mia at mperez@council.nyc.gov
Bryan Gross (he/him), Constituent Services Director
Bryan Gross is the Constituent Services Director for Council Member Shahana Hanif. He has three years of experience working in constituent services and brings a wide range of community outreach work to this role. He previously served as a Community Advocate in the neighboring district, Council Member Alexa Avilés’ office. Bryan is fluent in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. He enjoys hiking, reading, and traveling.
Email Bryan at bgross@council.nyc.gov
Sabine A. (she/her), Constituent Services Liaison
Sabine is a Park Slope resident with deep Brooklyn roots. Her paternal family immigrated from Lithuania and Poland, settling in the Lower East Side, Midwood, and the Rockaways. Her French Moroccan Catholic mother moved to Park Slope at 19. Sabine’s extensive experience supporting communities affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy has fueled her commitment to building a more resilient and equitable city. She is proudly raising her daughter in the 39th Council district, instilling in her the values of civic engagement and appreciation for Brooklyn’s public spaces.
Email Sabine at saronowsky@council.nyc.gov
Musarrat (Mus) Lamia (she/they), Communications Associate
Musarrat (Mus, pronounced Moose) Lamia serves as the Communications Associate at the Office of Council Member Shahana Hanif. Mus is a native Brooklynite and first-generation Bangladeshi Muslim American who grew up frequenting Kensington’s halal grocers and mosques. She assists with the office’s social media operations, newsletters, mailers, and press operations. She previously served as the Community Liaison and Scheduler at the Council Member’s Office. Mus is a graduate of CUNY John Jay College. She believes strongly in the power of municipalities to establish creative solutions and protections that promote a more just city and world. When she’s not at the office, she’s likely at a yoga class, playing soccer, biking, or spending time with her two cats, Rocky and Chai.
Email Mus at mlamia@council.nyc.gov
Ali Boivab (he/him), Kensington Liaison
Ali Boivab serves as the Kensington Liaison for Council Member Shahana Hanif, helping to uplift and empower the immigrant and working-class community in Kensington. In this capacity, Ali organizes a monthly food distribution program in partnership with CHiPS and serves hundreds of families in need. He assists constituents with complex issues, partners with local grassroots organizations, and manages the weekly CUNY Citizenship Now! Immigration Clinic in Kensington. Ali started as an intern for Council Member Shahana Hanif in 2022 as part of the city’s Ladders for Leaders youth program and later joined the team to further the Office’s mission of social justice and progress. Before working for the Council, Ali worked for NYC Test and Trace at the height of the pandemic, where he conducted direct outreach and supported communities most impacted by COVID-19. Ali is a first-generation immigrant and college student studying political science with a research interest in migration studies. In his free time, Ali enjoys listening to Bengali and Nepali music with his two cats, Simba and Tygr.
Email Ali at aboivab@council.nyc.gov
Nishat Chowdhury (she/her), Legislative Fellow
Nishat Chowdhury is an Albert Vann Legislative Fellow at the Office of Council Member Shahana Hanif. She assists with various tasks, including attending and taking notes on Council hearings, conducting policy research, preparing memos, assisting with the office’s Participatory Budgeting initiative, and more. Nishat holds a B.A. in Public Policy and Management from SUNY at Albany and a MIA in International Nongovernmental Organizations from CUNY Baruch College. She is interested in understanding the causes and effects of human rights violations. During her time at the Office of Council Member Hanif, she hopes to learn more about the inner workings of government and take on challenges she previously had not had the opportunity to take. Nishat enjoys reading comic books and watching documentaries.
Email Nishat at nchowdhury@council.nyc.gov
