Carl Heastie

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 the next day.^[1][4]

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

• List of members of the New York State Assembly

References

1. 1 2 Kaplan, Thomas (February 3, 2015). "New Speaker in Albany: A Skilled Operator, Embracing Change". New York Times. Retrieved February 14, 2015. 
2. ↑ Fink, Zack (January 30, 2015). "Upstate Assemblyman Drops Out of Race to Replace Silver". NY1 News. Retrieved January 30, 2015. 
3. ↑ Gonzalez, Juan (January 30, 2015). "Carl Heastie on the verge of capturing Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's post". New York Daily News. Retrieved January 30, 2015. 
4. ↑ Randolph, Eleanor (February 2, 2015). "Meet Carl Heastie, the Flawed Politician Who Might Lead the N.Y. Assembly". New York Times. Retrieved February 2, 2015. 
5. ↑ Chayes, Matthew (February 5, 2015). "At meeting with Al Sharpton, new Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie says a person of color will now 'sit at the table'". Newsday. Retrieved 1 March 2015. 
6. ↑ "Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie Joins Sharpton's Saturday Morning NAN Rally". CBS. February 7, 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015. 
7. ↑ Spector, Joseph; Campbell, Jon (February 2, 2015). "Bronx Democrat to be N.Y. speaker as Silver resigns". USA Today. Retrieved February 14, 2015. 
8. ↑ Klepper, David (February 3, 2015). "Heastie becomes first African-American Assembly speaker". Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 15, 2015. Retrieved February 15, 2015. 
9. ↑ Buettner, Russ (April 20, 2015). "Carl Heastie, New York Assembly Speaker, Benefited From Mother's Embezzling". New York Times. 
10. ↑ Smith, Greg (February 3, 2015). "Heastie addresses mom's felony embezzling conviction: 'a sad chapter'". New York Daily News. Retrieved February 9, 2015. 
11. ↑ Buettner, Russ (April 20, 2015). "Carl Heastie, New York Assembly Speaker, Benefited From Mother's Embezzling". New York Times. 

External links

• New York State Assembly Member Website

Current elected and appointed statewide political officials of New York
U.S. Senate	Chuck Schumer Kirsten Gillibrand
State government	Andrew Cuomo, Governor Kathy Hochul, Lieutenant Governor Eric Schneiderman, Attorney General Thomas DiNapoli, Comptroller
Senate	John Flanagan, Temporary President/Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Minority Leader
Assembly	Carl Heastie, Speaker Joseph Morelle, Majority Leader Brian Kolb, Minority Leader
Court of Appeals (appointed)	Janet DiFiore, Chief Judge Eugene Pigott Jr. Jenny Rivera Sheila Abdus-Salaam Leslie Stein Eugene Fahey Michael J. Garcia