For the first time in his 17 years in the State Assembly, Andrew Hevesi (D – Forest Hills, Queens) is facing a primary challenger. His primary opponent is Forest Hills resident Ethan Felder, 34, a Democratic district leader in Assembly District 28. Felder edged out former Assemblyman Michael Cohen in 2020 for the top spot with some influence among the party faithful.
Hevesi, tied up on official business passing legislation in Albany, has not had significant time to campaign, while Felder has been conducting a shoe-leather campaign walking the district to meet as many potential voters as possible.
“I don’t go for the headline-grabbing legislation as some others do,” Hevesi, 48, told The Jewish Press. “I go into the weeds to actually solve the problems that are manifesting for all of our constituents. All of these bills focus on the people who don’t have the ability to fight for themselves, whether they are domestic violence survivors or to help victims of human trafficking by building culturally-competent safe houses for them. I’m the guy who does the hard work, the complicated legislating. I believe the constituents have liked that record and that’s the one I’m going to be taking to them to beat back this primary opponent.”
Hevesi, who is the chairman of the Assembly Children and Families Committee, sponsored 63 bills. Two bills were already signed into law in February, while four bills passed in the Assembly and the Senate and are awaiting the governor’s decision whether or not to sign them later this year. Hevesi left 57 bills bottled up in 12 committees, six in his own committee. Twenty-one bills had no Senate sponsor so those were never going anywhere. He called it “a very successful session” for him.
“Everything I’m working on is related to preventing future societal problems by helping children and families in the beginning [by] trying to prevent childhood trauma,” said Hevesi.
Then there is the power of incumbency, which Hevesi uses adroitly. One mechanism is to stand for a photo op with an oversized check as the elected official talks about how he secured money to various groups within the Assembly district. These funds approved within the budget are known as legislative initiatives, formerly known as member items.
“We had some capital resources we were able to give out to some food pantries in the district working through Rabbi [Avrohom] Hecht, working through Tomchei Shabbos of Queens,” Hevesi said. “I have been delivering food with them on Wednesday nights when I’m able to not be in Albany. We gave a little bit to Chazaq. We’ve been able to secure some money this year and help our communities as they’re trying to deal with a lot of difficult problems with people who are food insecure.”
While Hevesi was boasting about giving “a little bit to Chazaq,” Assembly records show the organization received two legislative initiatives totaling $55,000. Chazaq officials verified one donation of $25,000 came at the behest of Assemblyman Dan Rosenthal (D – Kew Gardens Hills) and $30,000 from Assemblyman David Weprin (D – Hollis, Queens). Chazaq officials told The Jewish Press Hevesi has submitted a request for a $125,000 capital grant for this upcoming year. As the legislative session ended the money was not yet forthcoming.
Other Jewish organizations in the district receiving money from the budget were the Forest Hills Jewish Center, with $15,000, and the Queens Jewish Community Council, Inc., with $20,000. Obviously, non-Jewish organizations in the district received funds as well.
After two fundraisers in May, Hevesi is armed with a formidable war chest approaching six figures. The Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee is not helping Hevesi with his race because they don’t see it as being a competitive match-up. Felder said he has $45,000 in the bank. He acknowledges the uphill battle he is facing.
“It’s always challenging taking on an incumbent,” Felder told The Jewish Press. “There are advantages to incumbency but people are ready for freshness, for new ideas and energy when there is a whole lot of complacency that they see right now. I feel that our message is gaining traction. I’ve been door-knocking across the district for the last few months and people are very receptive to change. We’re doing mail, peer-to-peer texting, and we’re doing the old-fashioned door-knocking that people respect and certainly respond to. We’re not doing web ads based on zip codes but that could change. We’re doing poster signs in shops in Rego Park, Forest Hills, along Austin Street, Metropolitan Avenue, Lefferts Boulevard – [they] are all saturated with Felder signs and there’s not a single Hevesi sign in the district.”
The district lines have shifted a bit. The district includes different parts of Middle Village and all of Kew Gardens. The district lost part of Forest Hills south, Glendale, and parts of Richmond Hill. Kew Gardens is the real battleground part of the district this year.
“Kew Gardens is one neighborhood that has a real anti-incumbency sentiment right now,” Felder said. “There are a lot of new residents in the new district who are not tied to the Hevesi name or dynasty. When people hear that he’s been in office for 18 years, the response uniformly is that’s a long time in Albany.”
When asked about Kew Gardens, Hevesi said, “I’ll be doing a lot more [there] because that’s the one part of the district that is new to me.”
The Bukharian Jewish community, which Hevesi has embraced, attracted a Bukharian Republican challenger in 2010. Hevesi defeated him by a two-to-one margin. Even though that race was 12 years ago, Felder promotes driving a wedge with mudslinging between the incumbent and the Russian Jewish sect.
“In speaking to the Bukharian community leaders, they haven’t had any working relationship with [Hevesi],” Felder said. “An Orthodox leader told me the other candidate [Hevesi] does not like the Bukharian community because the Bukharian community ran a challenger against him in 2010. This is the sort of narrow petty politics that I’m looking to change to bring in a new spirit of reform – engaging proactive leadership to the district.”
Hevesi downplayed that negative characterization. “We’re working well with the Bukharian community,” he said. “There are a couple of leaders there that are supportive. I’ve been talking to the Bukharian community for the last couple of months about an issue regarding cemeteries and how their plots of land are being treated and that will result in legislation for this upcoming session. We’re looking into the not-for-profit cemeteries law to make some changes as to how things are done because that has been a problem for that community. More needs to be done as it relates to regulation. I’ll be introducing the bill within the next two to three weeks.”
While Felder is currently a district leader, he also spent six years as a borough president-appointed volunteer member of Community Board 6, which encompasses the areas of Forest Hills and Rego Park. Community Boards have an important advisory role in land use and zoning issues, the city budget, municipal service delivery, and any other matters relating to the welfare of their communities. During the first half of 2021, Felder stopped going to board meetings because, he said, he experienced “vile and vicious defamation” verbal assaults. He said he “was singled out and ostracized by senior members of the community board after a report in a local Jewish newspaper reported on the formation of CQUID (pronounced squid), a DSA [Democrats Socialists of America] group.”
Felder, who is single, had his bar mitzvah at the Forest Hills Jewish Center. “I grew up in a conservative Jewish household,” he said. “The last two years I attended services at Young Israel in Forest Hills, at the Havurah, a reform temple, in addition to the Queens Jewish Centers. I find my way into the various shuls in the area. I would still consider myself as an egalitarian, conservative Jew. I’m not an official member of any temple right now. I formed a relationship with the Chabad in Rego Park, Rabbi Eliyahu Block. Over the last year, I’ve gotten to know and attend services at the Modern Orthodox shuls in Forest Hills. It’s been an eclectic, beautiful experience seeing the different denominations.”
Hevesi’s mother is Catholic and his father, the former state comptroller, is Jewish. Hevesi confirmed he “was raised without religious instruction.” In 2007, he married Rachel Ross, whom he describes as “a non-practicing Jew.” The couple has one daughter.
Meanwhile, Felder’s education and professional background are as varied as his religious affiliation. “I attended the Solomon Schechter School from kindergarten through eighth grade, which [was] a formative experience, inculcating my Jewish identity and values,” Felder said. “I graduated from Townsend Harris High School. I attended Cornell University where I studied government. I did my law degree and business degree at Washington University in St. Louis. My first job was on Wall Street, and after two years I decided this was not my professional calling. My calling was to be a union-side labor lawyer.”
He continues, “My first job in that field was in Albany in April 2016 representing firefighters and police officers all across New York state. I fell in love with the work and decided I was going to come back home to Queens where I still had an apartment. I worked for several firms representing labor unions and various industries. Most recently I worked at the SEIU [Service Employees’ International Union] Local 32BJ the last three years representing our essential workers in buildings – doormen, porters, superintendents, security guards, school safety agents. I’m supportive of gay rights. I’m pro-choice on abortion. I’m pro-gun control. I would consider myself a traditional democrat fighting for the working people. The power of the Democratic Party, party of the working people – Ethan Felder, the union-side labor lawyer.”
The incumbent, Hevesi, is imaging himself as a get-it-done elected official. During the waning hours of the legislative session, he supported a package of ten bills to control gun crimes in the state and possibly prevent deaths. “Obviously, the biggest societal problem is gun crime,” he said. “These pieces of legislation are all going to be a deterrent to kids getting traumatized and therefore being less likely to pick up guns when they are older. That and in addition, the 400,000 children who are going to be eligible for child-care as a result of the budget actions this year, and then a lot of money for other programs for kids, like home visiting and a program called YouthBuild, which is specifically for 16- and 17-year-old kids who are caught up in gangs and have been picking up guns. This is a program we invested $2.5 million in this year’s budget for the first time to take those kids off the street.”
Hevesi also voted for a constitutional amendment to protect abortion access in New York state. If the measure passes during the next legislative session, it will be on the ballot in November 2023 for voters to decide. “It will guarantee abortion rights under the New York state Constitution, which we have not had,” Hevesi added. He also voted in favor of another bill to set up a fund for out-of-state residents who come to New York seeking abortion services. “I am in the business of preventing societal problems. I will continue to do so,” he said.
The primary election is Tuesday, June 26. Early voting begins Saturday, June 18 and runs for eight days.
