He went on to earn an Associates in Aerospace Technology and a bachelor's degree in Aviation Administration from Farmingdale State College.

He founded a company that manufactures and sells Clean Bee shirt collar protectors online and on Amazon.

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 lost the Democratic primary to Daneek Miller, coming in a close second in a six-way race.

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 introduced and sponsored a number of bills and laws relating to blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, Internet sales tax, online data,[6] artificial intelligence,[7] space exploration,[8] sports betting,[9] online poker[10] and aviation.

Vanel serves on the following committees: Banks; Codes, Rules, Science and Technology, Corporations and Authorities; and Racing and Wagering.