Krishnan worked as an associate for law firms Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler. From 2014 to 2019, he was also an attorney at Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, directing the organization’s fair housing and tenant advocacy divisions.
In 2019, he cofounded and served as chief program officer for Communities Resist, a legal services organization that represents low-income tenants and neighborhood coalitions in fair housing litigation and anti-displacement advocacy in gentrified neighborhoods.
In the mid-2010s, Krishnan was the president of the New Visions Democratic Club, which had been founded by local Councilmember Daniel Dromm.
Krishnan centered his campaign on immigrant rights, the taxi medallion crisis, affordable housing, and climate justice. He supported the movement to "defund the police" and advocated "significantly reducing the NYPD's budget" to "redirect those divested funds to communities of color that have been overpoliced and denied countless city resources for years". He also advocated preserving the open street (closed to cars, open to pedestrians and cyclists) that had begun on 34th Avenue in spring 2020, and turning it into a "linear park".
In March 2021, Krishnan faced accusations that he had engaged in union-busting during his time working at Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A. Legal Services Staff Association 2320 President Sonja Shield and Association of Legal Aid Attorneys 2325 President Lisa Ohta circulated a statement saying that Krishnan had "played a leading role in quashing the Brooklyn A staff unionization drive" in 2018 and "urge[d] other unions not to endorse Krishnan, or to withdraw existing endorsements". But on April 9, Shield said she was not asking other unions to rescind their endorsements. As of late April, Krishnan was endorsed by several labor organizations such as United Federation of Teachers, Hotel Trades Council, NYC Central Labor Council, DC 37 AFSCME, 32BJ SEIU and 1199 SEIU.
The 2021 primary election was among New York City's first to use instant-runoff voting. Although opponent Yi Andy Chen had more first-choice votes (4,014) than Krishnan (3,915), Krishnan came from behind to win the primary with transfer votes in the seventh round of counting and eliminations, with 53.4% of all votes cast. He won the general election, against three opponents, with 60% of the vote. Along with Shahana Hanif, Krishnan is one of the first South Asians to serve in the New York City Council. Days after being elected, Krishnan was arrested along with Hanif and Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani for protesting alongside taxi drivers.
2023 City Council campaign
Due to redistricting, Councilmembers elected in 2021 only served for two years, rather than four, then had the opportunity to run again in 2023 to retain their seats for another two-year term. Krishnan successfully ran to retain his seat in 2023, earning 62% of the vote and defeating Ricardo Pacheco and Fatima Baryab in the primary election, and defeating Zhile Cao and (again) Fatima Baryab in the general election. Krishnan had the endorsement of the Working Families Party.
2025 City Council campaign
Krishnan successfully ran to retain his seat in 2025, defeating one opponent in the primary election and three opponents in the general election.
On City Council
Krishnan speaks at a Channukah event in December 2025.
In his first (2021-2025) term, Krishnan chaired the Parks committee, and advocated increasing the city's parks budget. He said he aimed for Jackson Heights to have a "superblock" of public green space, as the area has "some of the least amount of open space in all of New York City".
In October 2022, protesters criticizing Krishnan's support of local Drag Story Hour programs vandalized his district office with graffiti. Anti-Drag Story Hour protesters then protested at his home in January 2023, writing on the nearby sidewalk and shouting "groomer" accusations at Krishnan while his children and wife were inside.
Krishnan introduced a bill to decriminalize street vending without a license. The City Council overrode a mayoral veto to approve the bill in September 2025.
Krishnan endorsed Zohran Mamdani in the 2025 New York City mayoral election. He was then a leading supporter of Julie Menin's successful bid to become Speaker of the City Council for the 2026-2029 legislative session, one of the first progressive Councilmembers to do so. Menin appointed Krishnan to chair the Investigations and Oversight committee, widely considered a powerful and prominent post. He stated that the committee's subpoena power was "a critical and underutilized tool in our arsenal" to fight corruption and "hold predatory corporations accountable", and that he aimed to "revive the subpoena power" to use it more than the Council had in recent years.
In early 2026, Krishnan voted for a bill regulating protest near religious institutions and placing responsibility for those restrictions under the NYPD's purview, but against a related bill (Intro 175-B) that would create a "buffer zone" limiting protest near educational institutions. The City Council passed 175-B, but Mayor Mamdani vetoed it.
1234Pascus, Brian (September 12, 2022). "Queens Councilman Shekar Krishnan believes real power lies with the people". Crain's New York Business– via Business Source Premier.
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