NYC Primary Election 2020: Dan Quart Defends UES Assembly Seat

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Democrats living in parts of the Upper East Side and Midtown Manhattan will head to the polls on June 23 to cast their votes in the first contested primary for the State Assembly's 73rd District in more than 10 years.

Incumbent Dan Quart will face off against young challenger Cameron Koffman. Quart has represented the district since winning a 2011 special election to succeed former Assemblymember Jonathan Bing. The longtime lawmaker and legal aid lawyer is also running for Manhattan District Attorney in 2021.

Koffman, a descendant of the LeFrak real estate fortune, is 22 years old and fresh out of Yale University. The young challenger's undergraduate studies were the subject of a legal challenge filed by Quart's campaign to have Koffman kicked off the ballot. Quart's lawyers argued Koffman doesn't meet New York's residency requirements for elected officials because he registered to vote in Connecticut, but New York's highest court ruled in favor of Koffman.

The primary election, slated for June 23, is open to registered Democratic voters. All New York voters may request a mail-in ballot due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ballots must be postmarked by the date of the election for the vote to count.

For those who want to head to the polls, click here to find your poll site. Early voting is available from June 13 to June 21.

Patch reached out to all candidates in the primary election to create these profiles. Responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

Dan Quart

Age as of Election Day (Nov. 3)

48

NYC neighborhood of residence

Yorkville

Position Sought

State Assembly

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Family

• Miriam, wife
• Sam, son
• Gaby, daughter
• Irving, dad
• Madeline, mom

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No.

Education

• SUNY Binghamton, History
• St. John's School of Law

Occupation

Attorney in private practice since 1998.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

• Assemblymember for the 73rd District
• Community Board 8 Member, where I was co-chair of the Transportation Committee and Chair of the Board’s 2nd Avenue Subway Task Force

Campaign website

danquart.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

Representing my community in the NYS Assembly has been the honor of my life. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we need an experienced leader who gets things done.

Throughout this crisis, I have worked tirelessly to ensure my constituents have everything they need. I have helped dozens of East Siders secure their unemployment claims after the
Department of Labor failed them, I have helped organize free rides for seniors in need,
distributed face masks and hand sanitizer in the district, and worked with small businesses to ensure they can access city, state, and federal funding.

The single most pressing issue facing our nation/state/community is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Without a doubt, the coronavirus pandemic has changed our lives forever. The next several months will be crucial to ensuring that New York bounces back stronger than before. With a potential second wave on the horizon, we have to make sure we are prepared for that reality. That means ensuring hospitals in our community have the funding and the PPP they need. Our small businesses on the Upper East Side and Midtown East have suffered greatly. Small mom and pop shops bring so much character to our neighborhood and are an important fixture in our community. Whether it’s fighting for additional federal funding, expanding existing state and city programs, or providing tax abatements, we must take care of our small businesses.

I am also pushing for public hearings into the failure of our state’s unemployment system after hundreds of constituents reported problems filing their claim. While we worked with the Department of Labor and the Governor’s Office to address structural problems with the claims process, we helped dozens of people receive payment. While we were happy to help, it’s clear this was an unnecessarily difficult process and it shouldn’t be that way.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I am the only Democrat in this race. In 2016, when real Democrats were doing everything in their power to stop Donald Trump, my opponent was donating hundreds of dollars to anti-choice Republican and spoiler candidates. I am the only pro-choice candidate in this race and I have worked for years to protect reproductive rights, which is why I was endorsed by Planned Parenthood.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

In Albany, I am a leading advocate for police and criminal justice reform. My office received nearly 1,500 emails in support of repealing New York’s police secrecy law and I was proud to let each and every one of those people know that I have been a co-sponsor of legislation to repeal 50-a for years. This terrible law has allowed dozens of years of police misconduct to be swept under the rug but ensuring police accountability does not end there.

Early voting and vote-by-mail shouldn’t be limited to this pandemic. I firmly believe that we should take every chance we get to make voting easier. That is good for people and good for democracy. That’s why I’ll fight to expand early voting, bring automatic voter registration to a vote, and support a constitutional amendment to allow vote-by-mail.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I’m the son of a public school teacher and a social worker, and the parent of two public school students. I know how important it is to make sure East Side public schools remain some of the best in the city. I’ve worked to bring more Pre-K seats to the East Side, I’ve opened PS 527 and Yorkville East Middle School, I’ve helped fund our PTAs and I’ve worked closely with Hunter College to ensure that we have excellent education options from Pre-K through graduate school.

As a transit rider, I know that our transit system is the engine that powers New York City. When progress stalled on the Second Avenue subway, I helped secure $1 billion in funding to help reset construction and get the project done.

When I found out that the Upper East Side had some of the worst air quality in New York City, caused by old boilers burning dirty fuel and sending dangerous pollutants into the air, I set up a fund to help residential building owners upgrade to cleaner fuels.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

“If the thunder doesn’t get you, the lightning will.” – Jerry Garcia

I have interpreted this to mean there is no escaping difficult decisions, whether that’s in life or in politics. So you better speak up and hold firm for what you believe in.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

For 3 years running, I have received a 100% rating from the New York League of Conversation Voters for my commitment to environmental protection and climate action. This year, I also received an endorsement from the young people fighting to stop the climate crisis at the Sunrise Movement NYC.