Problem Solver

When Mayor Bill de Blasio closed the parks earlier this year and refused to reopen it even with strict social distancing, nobody stood up for the hundreds of mothers who needed an open space for their children to enjoy themselves. Weeks passed, the number of COVID-19 cases dwindled, and the parks still had those ugly chains wrapped around the gates.

Finally, I went there and cut the locks. I went to parks around the city — 19 in all — and opened them for those what it belongs to — the people. Children now have a place where they could safely play, adults have a place to relax and everyone can enjoy the open spaces.

But Heshy has been there for the community for decades. As a receiver for the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, he helps anyone with housing problems. He helps tenants stay in their apartments when landlords try to push them out and helps landlords evict bad tenants. As an expeditor and a certified building inspector he has helped remove illegal fines from buildings.

“People ask me what I do,” Heshy says. “I like to say that I am a problem-solver. People started coming to me for solutions to their problems. When they realized that I was able to get stuff done they started coming even more. Shuls, yeshivas, businesses and centers that need help with government bureaucracy come to me and I take care of it.”