U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat proudly represents New York’s Thirteenth Congressional District. He was sworn into office on January 3, 2017, during the 115th Congress.
Congressman Espaillat was born in the Dominican Republic in 1954 and came to the United States with his family when he was nine years old. He grew up in the Washington Heights neighborhood in New York City and is the first Dominican-American to serve in the United States Congress. Congressman Espaillat currently serves as a member of the influential U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the House Select Committee on Small Business. He is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and serves in a leadership role as CHC Freshman Representative to the Democratic Caucus. He also serves as Chairman of the CHC Task Force for Transportation, Infrastructure and Housing.
A steadfast champion for working- and middle-class New Yorkers, Congressman Espaillat is a staunch advocate of a fair living wage, immediate and effective investments in affordable housing, meaningful criminal justice reform, infrastructure improvements, expanded youth programs, and better educational opportunities.
Throughout the tenure of his career in public service, Congressman Espaillat has been a vocal advocate for protecting tenants, improving schools, and making serious, smart investments in economic development, job creation, and environmental protection. Prior to coming to Congress, he served as a New York State Senator during which he represented the neighborhoods of Marble Hill, Inwood, Washington Heights, Hamilton Heights, West Harlem, the Upper West Side, Hell’s Kitchen, Clinton, and Chelsea.
While in the New York State Senate, Congressman Espaillat served as the Ranking Member of the Senate Housing, Construction, and Community Development Committee; Chairman of the Senate Puerto Rican/Latino Caucus; and as a member of the Environmental Conservation, Economic Development, Codes, Insurance, and Judiciary committees. Prior to his tenure as a state senator, he served in the New York State Assembly, and in 1996 became the first Dominican-American elected to a state legislature. In 2002, Espaillat was elected chair of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus.
Prior to entering elected office, Congressman Espaillat served as the Manhattan Court Services Coordinator for the NYC Criminal Justice Agency, a non-profit organization that provides indigent legal services and works to reduce unnecessary pretrial detention and post-sentence incarceration costs. He later worked as Director of the Washington Heights Victims Services Community Office, an organization offering counseling and other services to families of victims of homicides and other crimes, and as the Director of Project Right Start, a national initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to combat substance abuse by educating the parents of pre-school children.
Congressman Espaillat is a proud father and grandfather.
