About Ben

Ben is a Democrat with strong local roots and a deep understanding of the issues that are important to this district. Ben's grandparents settled in the Hudson Valley more than 35 years ago. His grandfather worked to help disabled citizens become more self-sufficient, while his grandmother ran a nursery school. Later, Ben's father worked to bring affordable housing to low-income Americans and his mother worked as a public school English teacher. While his father's work took him across the country and back, Ben has always called Crompond, NY his home.

Ben graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in History and Science. While pursuing a full undergraduate course-load, he also took graduate-level courses in education and received his teaching credentials. Meanwhile, Ben was selected to join the inaugural class of the AFL-CIO’s Union Summer, where he organized day care workers in urban Chicago, and he co-founded Harvard’s Progressive Student Labor Movement and fought for living wages for university employees.

After graduating from Harvard, Ben won the Stowe-Harvard Fellowship to begin his teaching career in England. He then returned to New York and earned his Master's degree in Education Administration from Baruch City College while teaching at Erasmus Hall, a troubled, inner-city high school. As a history teacher at Erasmus, Ben more than doubled the passing rate of his students on the History Regents Exam and was quickly promoted to Chair of the History Department. His experience at Erasmus solidified his belief that students deserved a better education than the public school system was providing.

In 2002, Ben received a grant to build a high school that better reflected his vision of a fair public education system. Ben's innovative ideas for public education became reality in the fall of 2003, when he opened the High School for Public Service in Brooklyn. The school provides rigorous academic training while cultivating citizenship through community service. When the school opened, Ben became the youngest public high school principal in the state of New York.

Ben's visionary leadership and impressive managerial skills have brought the school rapid success. The High School for Public Service boasts extraordinary passing rates on the Regents Exams and a 94% attendance rate – one of the highest in the region. Each and every one of Ben's students engages in the community: teaching kindergarteners to read, volunteering at soup kitchens, and organizing coat drives.

Ben has received national recognition for his public service achievements. In 2003, he was selected as the keynote speaker for the annual conference of the National Hemophilia Foundation, an organization he has worked with for many years. Even more recently, Ben was chosen from a nationwide pool as the recipient of the prestigious Jefferson Award, “Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under.”