Carl Heastie

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Carl Heastie
120th Speaker of the New York State Assembly
Assumed office
February 3, 2015
Preceded by Joseph D. Morelle (acting)
Member of the New York State Assembly
from the 83rd district
Assumed office
January 1, 2001
Preceded by Samuel Bea
Personal details
Born (1967-09-25) September 25, 1967 (age 56)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Alma mater State University of New York,
Stony Brook

City University of New York,
Baruch
Website Assembly website

Carl Heastie (pronounced Hasty, born September 25, 1967) is a Democratic politician from New York. Heastie was elected Speaker of the New York State Assembly on February 3, 2015.

Personal Life

Heastie earned a BS in applied mathematics and statistics from Stony Brook University of the State University of New York, and an MBA in finance from Baruch College of the City University of New York. Before his election to the Assembly, Heastie worked as a budget analyst for the New York City Comptroller. He has a young daughter and has never married.[1]

Speaker of New York State Assembly

In January 2015, Heastie's Assembly colleagues considered him a frontrunner to be elected Speaker, following the arrest of Sheldon Silver on federal corruption charges led by US Attorney Preet Bharara.[2][3] On February 2, Assembly Democrats voted unanimously for Heastie to become the new Speaker, which was formally approved by the full Assembly on February 3.[4][1]

Heastie is the first African American elected to the post. One of his first New York City appearances after assuming the powerful post was at Al Sharpton's rally in Harlem where he told the crowd "This is a tremendous opportunity for our community, for the first time, to have one of us sit at the table," and added "All of you are going to be sitting at that table with me for the first time".[5][6]

Member of New York State Assembly

Heastie was first elected as an Assembly Member in 2000 and represents the 83rd District, which covers the Williamsbridge, Wakefield, Edenwald, Eastchester, and Baychester sections of the Northeast Bronx.

Since joining the Assembly, Heastie became one of the lead negotiators for the construction of a new K-8 school in his district. He has also sponsored legislation to require mandatory reporting of alleged child abuse of students in New York City. He became Chair of the Assembly Labor Committee in 2013.

Heastie became Chair of the Bronx Democratic Party in 2008, a post that he relinquished after becoming Assembly Speaker in 2015.[7][8]

Controversy

In April, 2015 it was revealed that, contrary to a judge's instructions, Heastie had neglected to sell a home that his mother, Helene Heastie, bought with money embezzled from a nonprofit charity. After his mother's death, Carl Heastie ceased attempts to sell the home, having been advised by his lawyer that he was no longer obligated to do so, and later sold it for a profit of $200,000.[9] An independent forfeiture law expert consulted by the New York Times newspaper agreed, explaining that the judge's order was "probably legally unenforceable without a formal forfeiture agreement," which prosecutors had not obtained. In addition, prosecutors did not follow the judge's instructions to file a civil judgement against Heasie's mother. When asked in 2015 why no civil judgement was sought, the District Attorney's office was unable to explain why this routine filing had not occurred. In 2015, Heastie's office issued a statement about the incident, saying that “the lessons imparted to the speaker [Heastie]... included owning up to mistakes and taking responsibility.” [10][11]

See also

References

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External links

New York Assembly
Preceded by Member of the New York State Assembly
from the 83rd district

2001–present
Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Speaker of the New York State Assembly
2015–present
Incumbent