Weisenberg named ‘winner’ of the week

Posted

Former New York State Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg was named a winner by website City & State New York on March 31.

“There were plenty of advocates behind the BFair2DirectCare campaign,” the website posted, citing the effort to include $55 million in the state budget to increase wages for workers who care for the developmentally disabled ­— which was supported by both the New York State Senate and Assembly.

“We’re recognizing Weisenberg, a former state lawmaker whose son is disabled and joined forces with groups from all across the state to get the message across.”


According to a poll conducted by the website that asked the public who they thought was the biggest winner of the week, Weisenberg came in first by a landslide with a vote of 63.8 percent while Gov. Andrew Cuomo — the second place winner — earned 16.2 percent.

Weisenberg and Cuomo earned the highest amounts of votes, weighing in before New York State Medicaid Director Jason Helgerson, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Neal, co-chairman of Akoustis, a North Carolina tech firm.

“It was an honor to be acknowledged in my efforts in leading the BFair2DirectCare state-wide campaign,” Weisenberg said. “It pleases me that people voted for the issue, they didn’t vote for me — they voted for the issue that I was representing.”

He said he traveled around the state from Buffalo to eastern Long Island running the campaign and spreading awareness about the low wages that direct care workers earn.

“It was really a mission that God gave me,” Weisenberg said, “to do what I can do to help people who are helping other people.”