New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has refused to respond to claims he is dating a 32-year-old lobbyist after they attended a football game together.
Heastie, 56, has been in a relationship with Rebecca Lamorte, a lobbyist for the union Greater New York Laborers-Employers Cooperation & Education Trust (LECET) since at least November, according to New York Focus.
But when he was asked about the romance on Monday, and asked if it was a conflict of interest, he shut down questions saying: ‘I am never, again let me make that clear, addressing my personal life.’
He added: ‘My life will never be in conflict with my job,’ reports the NY Post.
Lamorte and Heastie went to a Buffalo Bills v Dallas Cowboys game on December 17 and sat in New York’s special box alongside Governor Kathy Hochul.
Heastie refused to answer questions over his relationship with Rebecca Lamorte on Monday
Lamorte is a lobbyist for the union Greater New York Laborers-Employers Cooperation & Education Trust (LECET)
Lamorte was listed as a guest on the state’s register for the event, but she did not list LECET as her employer, instead saying she was ‘self-employed’.
Lamorte lobbies New York on behalf of building unions and their contractors.
She is also a disability campaigner, having suffered nerve damage after an assault on the subway in 2013, and has criticized MTA for a lack of accessibility on public transport.
She also ran for City Council in the Upper East Side 5th District seat in 2020 and lost.
LECET told New York Focus that Lamorte had made them ‘aware’ that she was ‘seeing the speaker’ within the last 30 to 45 days.
They said that when she informed them she was ‘instructed not to lobby the Assembly’ or Heastie and said they are ‘not aware of any lobbying that she’s engaged in with the Assembly since we put that policy in place.’
Likewise, Heastie told The New York Post on Monday: ‘I was very clear that protocols are in place, and that’s all y’all need to be comfortable with.’
There is no specific rule prohibiting a lobbyist from having a relationship with an elected official in the state.
She is also a disability campaigner after she sustained nerve damage in her leg in 2013
Heastie said ‘I was very clear that protocols are in place, and that’s all y’all need to be comfortable with’
According to a letter drafter by Heastie’s Assembly counsel and seen by the Post, Heastie has agreed not to have any in-person meetings with LECET.
The letter reads: ‘Senior staff will come to and advance a consensus decision to the Speaker for any matters specific or unique to such organizations.’
Lamorte is one of four lobbyists listed for LECET in January and February.
The organization campaigns for the use of unionized labor on New York construction projects.
Heastie has served in the New York State Assembly since 2001 and represents the 83rd District – he became Assembly Speaker in 2015.
DailyMail.com contacted Lamorte and Heastie for comment.