About Former Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick's

State Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick represents the 38th State Senate district, which includes the towns of Clarkstown, Orangetown, and Ramapo in Rockland County and the town of Ossining in Westchester County. He was elected in November, 2020 and is currently serving his first term. He chairs the Senate Committee on Contracts & Procurement. 

Senator Reichlin-Melnick is a graduate of Nyack High School, Cornell University (B.A. double major in history and government) and Rutgers University (Master’s Degree in City & Regional Planning). Prior to his election to the State Senate he was twice elected as a village trustee in the Village of Nyack and also served on the staff of several elected officials including State Senator James Skoufis (39th District), former Members of Congress Eliot Engel & Nita Lowey, and former Orangetown Town Supervisor Andy Stewart. 

After receiving his Master’s Degree, Senator Reichlin-Melnick spent three years as a Senior Research Planner at Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, a Newburgh-based non-profit focused on regional planning and local government issues throughout the Hudson Valley. He began his career as an elementary school teacher at an inner city public school in New Haven, CT where he became committed to ensuring that all students can get a great education, no matter where they live. 

Senator Reichlin-Melnick’s priorities are to make life a little easier in the Hudson Valley, and ensure that New York state government works for middle class and working families. He believes government exists to protect our quality of life - ensuring safe neighborhoods, affordable healthcare, clean air and water, good roads and mass transit, and a well-funded education for our kids. 

In 2021, Senator Reichlin-Melnick hit the ground running in Albany, and became the most productive freshman State Senator - introducing and passing more bills than any other freshman Senator. In his short time in the State Senate, he has helped to make New York more fair by cutting taxes for middle class and working class families, while asking multi-millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share. He has helped to make New York smarter by delivering a historic $1.37 billion increase in school funding, a major expansion of early childhood education, and more funding for the college Tuition Assistance Program to help working families improve their position in life. He led the fight to get effective state oversight of the troubled East Ramapo School District. He has helped make New York safer by restricting access to untraceable “ghost guns,” holding gun manufacturers responsible for their products, and creating a state-wide gun violence research fund. He has helped make New York Healthier by passing “Safe Staffing” ratios in healthcare facilities, requiring the Department of Health to monitor emerging contaminants in drinking water, and equipping parents to protect their children from the hazards of lead. 

In 2022, he will be focused on addressing the economic struggles of Hudson Valley families by fighting for a state budget that gives tax breaks to the middle class and will champion creative solutions to addressing the nursing shortage that threatens to create a looming healthcare crisis, and aggressively fighting to combat climate change, gun violence, and high property taxes.

Outside of work, Senator Reichlin-Melnick has been an active member of the Nyack Chapter of the NAACP for the past decade. He formerly served as Chair of the Nyack Democratic Committee and Vice-President of Rockland County Young Democrats. He is an avid hiker and environmentalist who enjoys taking pictures of the beautiful places in the 38th District and throughout the Hudson Valley. Born and raised in Rockland County, he has lived in the 38th District for nearly his whole life and currently resides in Nyack with his wife Shelley.