Elijah Reichlin-Melnick Candidate Profile

Elijah Reichlin-Melnick is the Democratic candidate running for State Senate in New York’s 38th District. If elected, Reichlin-Melnick would be serving his second non-consecutive term, having previously served as Rockland’s State Senator from 2021-2023. 

Nyack born and raised, Reichlin-Melnick graduated from Nyack High School before obtaining his Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University. Soon after, he began working as an elementary school teacher at an inner city public school in New Haven, Connecticut. Reichlin-Melnick has also served on the Nyack Village Planning Board and has served as a constituent service specialist and district representative. Following these roles, Reichlin-Melnick went on to graduate with a Master’s degree from Rutgers and work for the Orangetown Supervisor and New York State Senator James Skoufis. 

Reichlin-Melnick’s work as an elementary school teacher has heavily informed his stance on education and the needs for educational funds in Rockland County schools. Reichlin-Melnick mentioned East Ramapo in particular and their urgent need for further state funding to accurately address the large and varied population. 

“(I) favor the state taking a robust action to change the Foundation Aid Formula to provide additional funding for the district so they’re not faced with these impossible choices of whether to fund the public schools or provide state mandated services for private schools”, stated Reichlin-Melnick.“…We need the state to provide the support that’s needed for this district”. 

Reichlin-Melnick also discussed his beliefs around gun safety and regulation, specifically around assault rifles. “It’s one thing if you’re a hunter and you want to shoot deer…or if you’re a law abiding gun owner and you’ve been through the permit process and you have a handgun in your home for self defense, but we have these weapons that can kill dozens of people in a matter of seconds and it’s simply too easy to get them”. stated Reichlin-Melnick in an interview with RCT. 

Reichlin-Melnick continued, stating how he is in favor of expanding gun control laws and ensuring that “…our red flag laws are as tough as they can be”, as well as cracking down on military grade body armor and assault weapons. “We have to make it harder for civilians to get these weapons of war and body armor that allows them to outshoot and out-survive even direct confrontations with law enforcement”, stated Reichlin-Melnick. The former Senator mentioned that during his tenure, he voted to pass laws that raised the age to purchase an assault weapon from 18 up to 21 years old, making it more difficult for teenagers to access weapons. 

With almost 340,000 people living in Rockland alone, Reichlin-Melnick acknowledged the challenges of representing such a diverse population, stating “….whatever your race, your religion, your creed, your nationality – whether you’re a Democrat, you’re a Republican or Independent – I want [constituents] to feel that I am their senator and that I can work for them and deliver results that are going to make their lives better”. One of the methods that Reichlin-Melnick uses to connect with the diverse population of Rockland is running his ads in a variety of languages to reach the widest audience. He also mentioned his attendance at multiple cultural events around the area to connect with the constituents. 

With many Rocklanders feeling the day-to-day strain on their pocketbooks, taxes are at the forefront of every voter’s minds. Reichlin-Melnick stated that he believes the state needs to be taking the brunt of financial efforts to support education in order to lessen the load on local taxpayers. Reichlin-Melnick referenced the $110 million increase for Rockland schools during his Senate term, stating “Had the state not done that, that $110 million might have come out of the pockets of Rocklanders”. 

While the state does not set the property taxes, Reichlin-Melnick emphasized the importance of the state working with what it can control to keep taxes low. This looks like “…$10 million worth of grant funded projects for the district, pickleball courts for seniors, newly paved roads, funding for police equipment, for fire department equipment and for ambulances”, said Reichlin-Melnick, referencing projects completed during his prior term. “This is money [that] those communities were planning to spend. And instead of getting that money from local taxpayers, they got it from New York State”. 

“I believe that we can ask people that are making millions of dollars to pay more so that we can cut taxes for the middle class and working families”, stated Reichlin-Melnick. This came in reference to the raised tax-rate of 2% on multimillionaires in New York and how the state used that raised tax rate “…to give an income tax-cut for middle class families, to give a property tax credit for middle class families, [and] to increase funding for roads and schools and local governments”, stated Reichlin-Melnick. This kind of middle class focus is at the heart of Reichlin-Melnick’s campaign.

“We’ve continued to make progress as a country over the last 250 years, and I want to be a part of that story of continuing to make progress”, stated Reichlin-Melnick.