Jeremy H. Warneke's Biography

Photo by Todd Heisler/The New York Times

At the age of 17, Jeremy Hussein Warneke joined the Army National Guard and was assigned to the 333rd Military Police Company, with which he deployed to Chicago O'Hare Airport following September 11 and Iraq in 2003.

Though always civically involved—the President of his junior college's Environmental Awareness Group for example—Jeremy said, "Iraq was the prime mover. It—among other things—put a fire under me. Life, I realized, could be over in a flash."

Two days after his release from active duty, he came to New York for the first time ever. After completing his undergraduate degree at Sarah Lawrence College, he left the city briefly to assist U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton with her first bid for President.

In 2008, Jeremy applied for a position with 13th Council District Member James Vacca. It was at the Council Member’s Office that Jeremy found his niche. He had always enjoyed helping people, but now, he got to do so on a full-time basis. He earned enough recognition there that when the position of District Manager opened up at Community Board 11 less than three years later, he leapt at the opportunity. In late 2010, he was unanimously selected by the Board to be its fourth District Manager. Jeremy's predecessor unknowingly set the agenda when he told the Daily News that Jeremy's "going to bring the board into the 21st Century."

In 2012, with the help of board members, staff and volunteers, Jeremy launched the Board's first NYC.gov website. Also that year, he was allowed to preliminarily select the next round of staff members, who were hired for their language as well as technical skills. Even before Jeremy started working for the Board, he heavily promoted the use of its then-Facebook page, which was created in 2010 but formally adopted by the Board in 2012 before being discarded in 2023 for a more traditional page Jeremy created.

A lifetime member of the American Legion, Jeremy is or was also a member of the Liberty Democratic Association...and U.S. Chess Federation. In 2012, the same year he graduated from the NYPD Citizens Police Academy, he was inducted into the New York State Senate Veterans' Hall of Fame.

In 2015, he was the facilitator of the “Standing Down” reading discussion series at the Morris Park Library, which evolved into "The Craft of War Writing," a free, open-to-the-public, high-level reading and writing workshop based upon the themes of conflict and war. From 2016 until 2023, Jeremy led the workshop with support from Voices From War and the New York Public Library. Jeremy's publication credits include Why We Write: Craft Essays on Writing War, The Poetry of Modern Conflict, Fiction Southeast, NYC Veterans Alliance, Daily Kos, Task & Purpose...and Scintilla.

He is the recipient of honors and awards by the United States Army, Throggs Neck Girls Softball League, White Plains Road BID, Jewish Community Council of Pelham Parkway...East Bronx History Forum, Community Education Council District 11, Marshall Chess Club, Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors, Bronx Council on the Arts, Allerton International Merchants Association, the Bronx Chamber of Commerce and Line of Advance. In 2017, he was a War Horse Writing Seminar fellow.