Zellnor Myrie (born 1986) is an American politician. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, he has served in the New York State Senate since 2019, representing the 20th state senate district, which includes parts of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Early life and education

Myrie was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to Costa Rican-born immigrant parents and raised in the

Prospect Lefferts Gardens Prospect Lefferts Gardens is a residential neighborhood in the Flatbush area of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The community is bounded by Empire Boulevard (formerly Malbone Street) to the north, Clarkson Avenue to the south, New Yor ...

neighborhood. He graduated from

Brooklyn Technical High School Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech and administratively designated High School 430, is an elite public high school in New York City that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is one of t ...

and attended Fordham University, earning his undergraduate and

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s in

urban studies Urban studies is based on the study of the urban development of cities. This includes studying the history of city development from an architectural point of view, to the impact of urban design on community development efforts. The core theoretica ...

. After graduate school, he earned his Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School where he served as student government president, prison law instructor, and pro bono scholar.

Early career

Before law school, Myrie worked for the New York City Council as a legislative director where he helped draft the Tenant Bill of Rights. After law school, he joined

Davis Polk & Wardwell Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, better known as Davis Polk is a white-shoe, international law firm headquartered in New York City with 980 attorneys worldwide and offices in Washington, D.C., Northern California, London, Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Be ...

where he worked pro bono to fight police brutality, help

special education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

students get services owed them by the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, aid victims of domestic violence, and assist

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and m ...

Political career

In the

2018 elections The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. Africa *2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018 * 2018 Sierra Leonean general ele ...

, Myrie ran for New York State Senate in the 20th district. He challenged Jesse Hamilton, a former member of the

Independent Democratic Conference The Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) was a group of members of the New York State Senate from the Democratic Party who were elected as Democrats but formed a coalition to give the Republicans the majority in the chamber, and attempted to ...

, in the

primary election. Myrie defeated Hamilton in the September primary, earning 54% of the vote. Hamilton remained on the ballot in the November general election under the

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

and Women's Equality ballot lines, where Myrie defeated him again, earning over 92% of the vote. Myrie is chairperson of the Elections Committee in the state senate. He is also a member of the Senate's consumer protection committee. Myrie supported the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019. He also sponsored legislation to ban most evictions during New York's COVID-19 state of emergency. On May 30, 2020, Myrie was

pepper-sprayed Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, or capsicum spray is a lachrymatory agent (a compound that irritates the eyes to cause a burning sensation, pain, and temporary blindness) used in policing, riot control, c ...

and handcuffed while taking part in protests following the murder of George Floyd. On October 29, 2021, six New York City firefighters were suspended for threatening the staff of Myrie in regards to his support of firing certain city employees who were unwilling to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Myrie supports financial institutions having the right to deny lending capital to ammunition and gun industries. Myrie has advocated for requiring food regulators to target corporations that advertise unhealthy foods. In 2021, Myrie was one of two members of the New York State Senate to vote against a bill designating

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

as the official state sport of New York. In 2021, Myrie authored the Community Violence Intervention Act, which declared gun violence a public health crisis and which provides millions of dollars to local hospital- and community-based violence intervention programs. Myrie also authored a first-in-the-nation law that classifies illegal gun sales as a nuisance, which could open gun manufacturers to liability.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myrie, Zellnor 1986 births Living people American politicians of Costa Rican descent Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New York (state) Politicians from Brooklyn American people of Costa Rican descent Fordham University School of Law alumni Cornell Law School alumni Democratic Party New York (state) state senators 21st-century American politicians