Malcolm Smith (US politician)
Encyclopedia
Malcolm A. Smith is an American politician. He is a Democratic
member of the New York State Senate
, elected in the 14th district which is located in Southeast Queens
and includes Hollis
, St. Albans
, Cambria Heights
, Queens Village
, Rosedale
and the entirety of the Rockaway Peninsula. Smith was Temporary President of the New York State Senate
from 2009 to 2010, the first African-American to hold that position.
Prior to his public career, Smith had a distinguished career in real estate development. In 1985, he was named President of Neighborhood Housing Services of Jamaica. In 1991, he founded Smith Development Corporation, and subsequently built over 100 needed housing units in Southeastern Queens, Far Rockaway and Brooklyn, including several noteworthy commercial projects such as Pathmark Plaza-Springfield Gardens, the interior of the FAA building and the baseball fields at Roy Wilkins Park in Jamaica.
.
Malcolm Smith was first elected to the New York State Senate in 2000.
Smith was elected Minority Leader in January 2007
After the 2008 elections, under Smith’s leadership state senate Democrats after 40 years gained a majority of senate seats, positioning Smith to become New York's first African American Senate Majority Leader;
Smith was chosen Majority Leader and Temporary President in January 2009, but was removed from power on June 8, which triggered the 2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis. He returned to the temporary presidency on July 9 in an arrangement with Pedro Espada Jr. as Majority Leader, and John L. Sampson as Leader of the Democratic Caucus.
Senator Malcolm A. Smith currently serves as Secretary of the New York State Democratic Conference and Ranking Member of the Banking Committee. He also serves as Co-Chair of the High Speed Rail Committee for the National Conference of State Legislators and he is a member of the Labor, Transportation and Health Committees.
Prior to serving as Secretary of the Democratic Conference, he served as Immediate Past President Pro Tempore (2008-10). Upon election to his leadership post, Senator Smith immediately took action to change the culture of the State Senate by making it more open, transparent, and bipartisan. On the first day in his new leadership role, Smith began delivering on these goals by introducing and passing rules changes which fundamentally reformed the way the Senate operates and increased transparency to the public. He also established a bi-partisan Temporary Committee on Rules and Administration to examine and make recommendations for major changes in the operation and rules of the Senate.
Smith has represented the 14th Senatorial District in Queens since winning a Special Election in March of 2000. His unique skills and diverse background in both the private and public sector has helped to foster expansion of social and economic opportunities for constituents in his home district of Southeast Queens. In both 2003 & 2004, as part of the New York to Shanghai Trade Mission, Senator Smith led a delegation of local businesses to China to open up a robust reciprocal exchange between the two countries. The trip was so successful that Senator Smith expanded those relationships to include an economic, cultural and educational "Sister to Sister" relationship between New York State and India and continued to build ties between local businesses and international markets.
Senator Smith has become a national and international champion of High Speed Rail traveling across the United States and to notable international cities to make speeches advocating for increased high speed commuter rail.
At the local level, Smith brought millions of dollars into Queens to help build affordable housing, improve schools and create jobs. In his first year in the State Senate, Senator Smith collaborated with Assemblywoman Barbara Clarke to secure $1 million for the Jamaica Clinic, a first-of-its-kind health clinic in Hollis, New York. In 2002, Senator Smith collaborated with City and State officials to negotiate an agreement which provided $10 million to clean up a toxic site in Jamaica, Queens. Senator Smith has been and remains a proud supporter of public charter schools. He is the founder of Peninsula Preparatory Academy, the first public charter school in the Rockaways, and he has served on the Board of Trustees of the Merrick Academy-Queens Public Charter School in Jamaica, Queens.
For the past 11 years that Smith has been in office, he has been an outspoken champion for economic growth throughout the State, equal opportunity and government reform. In his first year as Democratic leader, Smith and his colleagues held hearings throughout the State to draw attention to the need for increased diversity in the State’s judiciary. In 2007, Senator Smith helped to launch "Operation Protect Your Home," a series of proactive foreclosure prevention forums held across the state, from Buffalo to Long Island. These collaborative seminars attracted thousands of families and offered them information, counseling, and mitigation services, and ultimately helped over 1500 families renegotiate the terms of their mortgages with lending institutions to avoid foreclosure.
Senator Smith also created and chaired the Tri-Level Legislative Task Force, which was formed in the immediate aftermath of the fatal shooting of Sean Bell in November 2006. In 2008, the Task Force released their findings in a compendium entitled, "A Report on Improving Public Confidence in Law Enforcement and our Criminal Justice System." The proposals and recommendations of the report were immediately introduced in the Legislature. Last June, legislation recommended by the Task Force was passed which established the Municipal Police Training Council in the State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
In the spring of 2008, Senator Smith initiated a statewide program, Operation SNUG, to address the growing problem of gun violence in cities throughout the State with the participation of community and media leaders. SNUG activities continue in Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and New York City.
Senator Smith has consistently fought to protect and preserve the rights of children who have been the victims of sexual assault. To this end, he introduced a three bill package in 2008 to combat child sex abuse. Last year, Governor Paterson signed Senator Smith’s bill which created a new crime of facilitating a sexual performance by a child with a controlled substance.
Smith has been a leader in the effort to bring economic activity to Upstate New York, creating a "One New York" campaign that has highlighted the critical importance of the Upstate economy to New York’s development and success.
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
member of the New York State Senate
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is one of two houses in the New York State Legislature and has members each elected to two-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve...
, elected in the 14th district which is located in Southeast Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
and includes Hollis
Hollis, Queens
Hollis is a neighborhood within the southeastern section of the New York City borough of Queens. A predominantly African American community, the boundaries are considered to be the Far Rockaway Branch of the Long Island Rail Road to the west, Hillside Avenue to the north, Francis Lewis Boulevard to...
, St. Albans
St. Albans, Queens
St. Albans is a middle class community in the New York City borough of Queens around the intersection of Linden Boulevard and Farmers Boulevard, about two miles north of JFK Airport. It is southeast of Jamaica, west of Cambria Heights and north of Springfield Gardens and Laurelton.The neighborhood...
, Cambria Heights
Cambria Heights, Queens
Cambria Heights is a middle-class neighborhood in the southeastern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Springfield Boulevard and Francis Lewis Boulevard to the west, the Elmont, Nassau County border on the east, Queens Village to the north, St. Albans to the west, and...
, Queens Village
Queens Village, Queens
Queens Village is mostly a residential neighborhood in the eastern part of the New York City borough of Queens.The Queens Village Post Office serves the ZIP codes of 11427 , 11428 , and 11429...
, Rosedale
Rosedale, Queens
Rosedale is a suburban neighborhood in Queens. The neighborhood is on the Nassau County, New York - Queens border and is part of Queens Community Board 13.- History :...
and the entirety of the Rockaway Peninsula. Smith was Temporary President of the New York State Senate
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is one of two houses in the New York State Legislature and has members each elected to two-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve...
from 2009 to 2010, the first African-American to hold that position.
Early life
Senator Smith is a graduate of Fordham University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Economics. Senator Smith received an MBA from Adelphi University with a concentration in Finance and Operations Management. Senator Smith also completed certificate programs at both Harvard Law and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, in Negotiations and "Strategies for Governing in an Economic Crisis," respectively. At Adelphi, Senator Smith's MBA was achieved with honors, inducting him into the prestigious International Honor Society in Business Administration-Delta Mu Delta. Delta Mu Delta was founded by the Dean of Harvard University and four professors from Yale and New York University in 1913.Prior to his public career, Smith had a distinguished career in real estate development. In 1985, he was named President of Neighborhood Housing Services of Jamaica. In 1991, he founded Smith Development Corporation, and subsequently built over 100 needed housing units in Southeastern Queens, Far Rockaway and Brooklyn, including several noteworthy commercial projects such as Pathmark Plaza-Springfield Gardens, the interior of the FAA building and the baseball fields at Roy Wilkins Park in Jamaica.
Political career
Smith began his career in public service as a senior aide to former Congressman Floyd H. Flake, from 1986-1991. Smith also served as a chief aide to former City Councilman Archie Spigner, was a City Hall assistant to former Mayor Edward I. Koch and was a member of the national advance staff for Vice-Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro..
Malcolm Smith was first elected to the New York State Senate in 2000.
Smith was elected Minority Leader in January 2007
After the 2008 elections, under Smith’s leadership state senate Democrats after 40 years gained a majority of senate seats, positioning Smith to become New York's first African American Senate Majority Leader;
Smith was chosen Majority Leader and Temporary President in January 2009, but was removed from power on June 8, which triggered the 2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis. He returned to the temporary presidency on July 9 in an arrangement with Pedro Espada Jr. as Majority Leader, and John L. Sampson as Leader of the Democratic Caucus.
Senator Malcolm A. Smith currently serves as Secretary of the New York State Democratic Conference and Ranking Member of the Banking Committee. He also serves as Co-Chair of the High Speed Rail Committee for the National Conference of State Legislators and he is a member of the Labor, Transportation and Health Committees.
Prior to serving as Secretary of the Democratic Conference, he served as Immediate Past President Pro Tempore (2008-10). Upon election to his leadership post, Senator Smith immediately took action to change the culture of the State Senate by making it more open, transparent, and bipartisan. On the first day in his new leadership role, Smith began delivering on these goals by introducing and passing rules changes which fundamentally reformed the way the Senate operates and increased transparency to the public. He also established a bi-partisan Temporary Committee on Rules and Administration to examine and make recommendations for major changes in the operation and rules of the Senate.
Smith has represented the 14th Senatorial District in Queens since winning a Special Election in March of 2000. His unique skills and diverse background in both the private and public sector has helped to foster expansion of social and economic opportunities for constituents in his home district of Southeast Queens. In both 2003 & 2004, as part of the New York to Shanghai Trade Mission, Senator Smith led a delegation of local businesses to China to open up a robust reciprocal exchange between the two countries. The trip was so successful that Senator Smith expanded those relationships to include an economic, cultural and educational "Sister to Sister" relationship between New York State and India and continued to build ties between local businesses and international markets.
Senator Smith has become a national and international champion of High Speed Rail traveling across the United States and to notable international cities to make speeches advocating for increased high speed commuter rail.
At the local level, Smith brought millions of dollars into Queens to help build affordable housing, improve schools and create jobs. In his first year in the State Senate, Senator Smith collaborated with Assemblywoman Barbara Clarke to secure $1 million for the Jamaica Clinic, a first-of-its-kind health clinic in Hollis, New York. In 2002, Senator Smith collaborated with City and State officials to negotiate an agreement which provided $10 million to clean up a toxic site in Jamaica, Queens. Senator Smith has been and remains a proud supporter of public charter schools. He is the founder of Peninsula Preparatory Academy, the first public charter school in the Rockaways, and he has served on the Board of Trustees of the Merrick Academy-Queens Public Charter School in Jamaica, Queens.
For the past 11 years that Smith has been in office, he has been an outspoken champion for economic growth throughout the State, equal opportunity and government reform. In his first year as Democratic leader, Smith and his colleagues held hearings throughout the State to draw attention to the need for increased diversity in the State’s judiciary. In 2007, Senator Smith helped to launch "Operation Protect Your Home," a series of proactive foreclosure prevention forums held across the state, from Buffalo to Long Island. These collaborative seminars attracted thousands of families and offered them information, counseling, and mitigation services, and ultimately helped over 1500 families renegotiate the terms of their mortgages with lending institutions to avoid foreclosure.
Senator Smith also created and chaired the Tri-Level Legislative Task Force, which was formed in the immediate aftermath of the fatal shooting of Sean Bell in November 2006. In 2008, the Task Force released their findings in a compendium entitled, "A Report on Improving Public Confidence in Law Enforcement and our Criminal Justice System." The proposals and recommendations of the report were immediately introduced in the Legislature. Last June, legislation recommended by the Task Force was passed which established the Municipal Police Training Council in the State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
In the spring of 2008, Senator Smith initiated a statewide program, Operation SNUG, to address the growing problem of gun violence in cities throughout the State with the participation of community and media leaders. SNUG activities continue in Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and New York City.
Senator Smith has consistently fought to protect and preserve the rights of children who have been the victims of sexual assault. To this end, he introduced a three bill package in 2008 to combat child sex abuse. Last year, Governor Paterson signed Senator Smith’s bill which created a new crime of facilitating a sexual performance by a child with a controlled substance.
Smith has been a leader in the effort to bring economic activity to Upstate New York, creating a "One New York" campaign that has highlighted the critical importance of the Upstate economy to New York’s development and success.