Clyde Vanel


Clyde Vanel is the Assembly member for the 33rd District of the New York State Assembly. He is a Democrat. He is the Chair of the Subcommittee on Internet & New Technologies. The district includes Cambria Heights, St. Albans, Hollis, Queens Village, Bellerose and parts of Floral Park in Queens.

Life and career

Vanel was born in Queens and raised in Cambria Heights, Queens along with nine siblings. He attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi. He went on to earn an Associates in Aerospace Technology and a bachelor's degree in Aviation Administration from Farmingdale State College. He served as the student government President at Farmingdale State College. He later earned his law degree from Boston University where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Science & Technology Law.
Vanel subsequently worked as an intellectual property attorney for the-then largest intellectual property law firm in the country, Fish & Neave, which was acquired by Ropes & Gray, LLP. He currently practices business law, intellectual property and trademark law at The Vanel Law Firm.
Vanel is also an entrepreneur and small business owner. Vanel was the owner of Vanel's on First, a restaurant and bar in Lower Manhattan from 2005–2011. Vanel is an inventor business owner. He founded a company that manufactures and sells Clean Bee shirt collar protectors online and on Amazon. He is also a technology and internet entrepreneur; he owns and operates the trademark service website- TrademarkReady.com.
Vanel was featured in Money Magazine, Black Enterprise Magazine and New York Times.
He is an aircraft owner, private pilot and the founder of the New York Metro chapter of the Black Pilots of America.
Prior to running for office himself, Vanel served as the Chief of Staff for New York State Senator James Sanders Jr.

New York State Assembly

Vanel's first run for public office was in 2009, when he ran for the New York City Council against incumbent Councilmember Leroy Comrie in the Democratic primary. He would lose, 62% to 38%.
He then ran for New York State Assembly twice. He ran for the New York Assembly in 2010 against Barbara M. Clark, again in the Democratic primary. He again lost, 63% to 37%. He lost to Clark again in 2012, 64% to 36%. In 2013, he again ran for the City Council, this time in an open seat to succeed Comrie. He lost the Democratic primary to Daneek Miller, coming in a close second in a six-way race.
In 2016, incumbent Assemblywoman Barbara M. Clark died. Vanel entered the race to succeed her and won a five-way Democratic primary with 32% of the vote, and would easily go on to win the general election. He was seated to finish the remainder of Clark's term on December 8, 2016.
Vanel is the Chair of the Subcommittee on Internet & New Technology. He introduced and sponsored a number of bills and laws relating to blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, Internet sales tax, online data, artificial intelligence, space exploration, sports betting, online poker and aviation.
Assemblymember Vanel serves on the following committees: Banking; Children and Families; Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry; Corporations and Authorities; Racing and Wagering and Small Business.

Clyde's Corner YouTube Series

Vanel produces a YouTube video series Clyde's Corner that highlights policy, business, technology and other matters- Buying Pizza with Bitcoin, Bitcoin ATM in the Neighborhood, Where the Cashiers At, The Blind Working Manufacturing Jobs], Use Ideas to Build Wealth, Floyd Mayweather on Business, Artificial Intelligence Regulation, Blockchain Technology Explained Through Game of Thrones and Political Titans.