Former New York City Councilman Sal F. Albanese was born in Calabria, Italy, in 1949. At eight years old, he moved to Park Slope, Brooklyn, graduating from John Jay High School in 1967. He received his B.A. in Education from CUNY, York College, an M.A. in Health from New York University, and a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. He is also a member of the New York State Bar.

Sal was a New York public school teacher for eleven years before running for City Council in 1982. During his Council tenure, Sal was renowned as an expert on police and education issues, an early proponent of LGBT rights, a leader in the fight for a Living Wage, and a strong advocate for campaign finance reform and term limits.

For the past fifteen years, he has worked in the private sector in the legal and financial field. For the last nine years, he worked for Mesirow Financial and held the title of Managing Director. Sal lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, with his wife of 40 years, Lorraine. They have two daughters.