Carl Heastie

Carl Heastie (pronounced Hasty, born September 25, 1967) 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.

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. 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.

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".