State Assembly Member - District 71
Al Taylor
Has represented the 71st Assembly District, covering Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood, since winning a 2017 special election.
Issues Al is raising
Housing and land use
Sponsors bills to repeal the state's 2008 development plan for Columbia University's mixed-use education project, require compliance with the city's uniform land use review procedure, and clarify how housing development fund companies dissolve and reincorporate while providing them tax exemptions and abatements.
Public safety and policing
Sponsored laws requiring state emergency-response training for lithium-ion battery incidents. Sponsors bills to create a special prosecutor for deaths of unarmed civilians caused by police officers, end officers' benefits for malfeasance or serious misconduct, and set up conviction integrity units. His Assembly biography credits him with legislation, signed into law, creating the Law Enforcement Misconduct Investigative Office.
Health care and end-of-life care
Co-sponsored the Medical Aid in Dying Act and voted for it when it passed the Assembly 81-67; it is now law. Voted for a 2026 law that bars professional liability insurers from denying coverage or raising rates solely because of the legal use or prescription of certain gender-affirming care drugs.
Abortion and reproductive rights
Voted against the Reproductive Health Act in 2019, one of seven Democrats in the Assembly to vote no.
Workers, business rules and the state budget
Sponsored a law extending provisions on fees and expenses in unemployment insurance proceedings to the end of 2026 and a bill extending them to the end of 2028 that both houses passed in 2026. Voted for the 2024-25 education, labor, housing and family assistance budget bill and a 2026 law amending limits on how close cannabis dispensaries may be to schools and houses of worship.
Background
Based in Northern Manhattan · Age 69
He is pastor of Infinity Mennonite Church in Harlem, was chief of staff to Assemblyman Herman "Denny" Farrell Jr. and a Democratic district leader, served in the Army Military Police Corps, and founded Man Up! in Harlem in 2008 to combat gun violence.
- Member of the New York State Assembly for District 71 since Nov. 16, 2017, after winning the Nov. 7, 2017 special election unopposed following Herman Farrell's resignation
- Member of the Assembly committees on Banks, Codes, Education, Election Law, Labor and Rules
- Member of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus, the Assembly's Black Task Force and the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force
- Won the June 23, 2026 Democratic primary with 54.7% of the vote over Julien Segura and Rolando Gomez; on the Democratic and Working Families lines for the Nov. 3, 2026 general election
- Re-elected Nov. 5, 2024 with 86.6% of the vote over Republican Joziel Andujar
- Ran in the June 2023 Democratic primary for New York City Council District 9, receiving 14.8% and eliminated in round four
- Pastor of Infinity Mennonite Church in Harlem
- Former chief of staff to Assemblyman Herman "Denny" Farrell Jr.
- Former Democratic district leader
- Served in the U.S. Army Military Police Corps
- Founded the Man Up! in Harlem program in 2008 to combat gun-related violence
- Walked 780 miles to Chicago in the "It's A Love Thing Always" event to encourage communities to work toward peace
- Doctor of Ministry, Northeastern Seminary; Master of Divinity, Nyack College Alliance Theological Seminary; B.A. in Public Communication, Lehman College
Support
New York Working Families Party
Also on your ballot on the Working Families Party line
Money
$61K
raised
Top donors: Adriano Espaillat for Congress, Eugene Orloff, Nyspt Political Action Committee