Hakeem Jeffries

Biography

Hakeem Jeffries was born in Brooklyn Hospital, and raised by his parents in Crown Heights along with his younger brother. He is a product of the New York City public school system, graduating from Midwood High School in 1988. He is also an active member of the Cornerstone Baptist Church, and lives in Prospect Heights with his wife, Kennisandra, and their two young boys.

Hakeem was sworn in as a newly elected member of the New York State Legislature in January 2007. During his first term in the legislature, Assemblymember Jeffries emerged as a champion of working families, the middle class and senior citizens. Assemblymember Jeffries has introduced over 60 bills during the most recent legislative session, including measures designed to assist residents in foreclosure, protect tenants from landlord harassment and facilitate the successful re-entry of formerly incarcerated individuals.

In January 2009, Assemblymember Jeffries launched Project Reclaim, an initiative designed to transform vacant luxury apartments into affordable homes for working and middle class families. He also co-sponsored the groundbreaking 421-a law that requires developers who receive tax breaks to build affordable housing in the Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Crown Heights and Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhoods that he represents. At least fifty percent of the affordable housing must go to people who live in the community.

Along with his colleagues in the legislature, Assemblymember Jeffries recently enacted a state budget that provides substantial funding for public schools, progressive income tax reform, and repeal of the draconian Rockefeller drug laws. During the most recent legislative session, fifteen bills introduced by Assemblymember Jeffries passed the Assembly, including several that have already been signed into law.

Assemblymember Jeffries regularly conducts town hall meetings on issues such as mass transportation, public safety and education. Throughout the summer, he takes his office to street corners across the district on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, setting up a desk outside and meeting with his constituents as they return home from work. Assemblymember Jeffries also founded Operation Preserve, a free housing clinic that provides legal representation and advice for residents confronting displacement, eviction or harassment.

Hakeem obtained his bachelor’s degree in political science from the State University of New York at Binghamton, where he graduated with honors for outstanding academic achievement. He then received his master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University. Hakeem attended New York University School of Law, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1997, served on the law review, finished in the top 10 percent of his class and delivered the commencement speech at graduation.

Following the completion of law school, he clerked for the Honorable Harold Baer Jr. of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Prior to his election to the Assembly, Hakeem practiced law for several years at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, an internationally renowned law firm, and then in the litigation department of a Fortune 100 company.