Uptown State Rep. Herman Farrell To Retire In September: Reports

HARLEM, NY — Longtime State Assemblyman Herman Farrell will retire this year, vacating his seat before it his term ends in 2018, according to multiple reports.

Farrell told the Daily News that his last day representing New York's 71st State Assembly District will be Sept. 5, the 51st anniversary of his first government job. Farrell had previously announced that he would not seek reelection for his seat — which spans parts of Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood — in 2018.

The state assemblyman, a Democrat, was first elected to his seat in the State Assembly in 1974 and held on to the powerful Uptown position for more than 40 years. In 1994, Farrell was appointed to chair the assembly's influential ways and means committee, making him one of the more prominent member of the legislative body.

Representatives from Farrell's office did not immediately return Patch's request for comment.

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Farrell, 85, is deciding to retire before 2018 due to his advanced age and the demands of chairing the ways and means committee, he told the Daily News.

"The Ways and Means Committee is a lot of work and it’s important,” Farrell told the Daily News. “I don't want to embarrass myself by putting the ice cream in my ear. I want to leave the day before that, not the day after."

The Democratic and Republican county committees will nominate candidates to fill Farrell's seat.

Read the full Daily News report here.

Photo by Hans Pennink/Associated Press