Brooklyn’s longest-serving Assembly Member will retire at the end of this year — and a local Council Member is planning to run for her seat.
Assembly Member Helene E. Weinstein, a Democrat who represents District 41, will step down at the end of her current term after nearly 44 years in office, she announced Monday.
“I want to thank all of my constituents throughout the years for placing their confidence in me,” Weinstein said in a statement. “I also wish to thank all of my current and past staff members both in Albany and Brooklyn who have assisted me and our community throughout my years in office.”
Weinstein was first elected to represent District 41 — which comprises parts of East Flatbush, Sheepshead Bay, Flatlands, Midwood, and Canarsie — in 1980. The Democrat chairs the Assembly’s Committee on Ways and Means, and is a member of the Committee on Rules, the Task Force on Women’s Issues, and the Legislative Women’s Caucus.
She won an easy re-election over Conservative Party challenger Ramona Johnson in 2022, earning nearly 18,000 votes to Johnson’s 5,164.
As Weinstein steps away, Council Member Kalman Yeger of District 44 will enter the race to replace her in the Assembly, he confirmed to Brooklyn Paper on Monday. Politico’s New York Playbook first reported Yeger was considering a run.
Yeger, a conservative Democrat who represents parts of Bensonhurst, Gravesend, Sunset Park, Borough Park, and Midwood, said he would run in part because “in the state legislature you have the ability to affect broad changes that are altering the entirety of the state.”
The pol has served in the Council since 2018, and served in the local Community Board for years before he was elected, he said.
“This is where I’ve been, and this is where I am,” Yeger said.
The neighborhoods he would represent in the Assembly are “almost the same,” he said, adding that he prioritizes constituent services and looked forward to being able to assist his community on a larger scale.
Yeger declined to speak further about his candidacy, and said Monday was “all about Helene.”
“She has a 44 year record of service, she has given her entire life to public service,” he said. “Today’s about Helene, tomorrow’s about everything else.”
