Andrew Hevesi

104-60 Queens Blvd

Forest Hills, NY 11375

Honorable Lewis Bart Stone March 24, 2011

New York County Supreme Court
100 Centre Street
New York, NY 10013

Dear Judge Stone,

 
        I am Alan Hevesi’s youngest son who has modeled my entire life after my father, from
profession to family.   I have chosen to spend my life emulating my Dad because he is simply the
type of man I aspire to be.  He is principled, strong willed, loyal (sometimes even to a fault),
tough, smart, caring, a fighter for people in need, a fighter for his family, and a fighter for what is
right.  I have always seen him this way ever since I was a small boy.    
 
        I no longer have the luxury of seeing him through the eyes of a boy, but now as a man who
knows Alan Hevesi better than anyone, with the possible exception of my brother, sister and
mother.  Despite his failures and mistakes, I will not now or ever stop believing in him.  Not just
because I love him as the man who, with my mom, raised, protected and loved me, but because
these transgressions will never define my father.    
        
        I know that you will be receiving other letters about my Dad that outline in great detail one
of the most distinguished records of accomplishment of any elected official in the history of the
State of New York.  However, it is not the totality of his record that is important, but the
principles embedded within that define him as a man.  
 
        I believe my father, writing the law that stopped emergency rooms from turning away
patients, has saved lives. I believe the law he wrote requiring informed consent for medical
experiments protected vulnerable people and residents of poor communities from being preyed
upon.  I believe my father writing the first hospice care law in the United States, modeled on
Europe, has allowed thousand of New Yorkers to have care, comfort and dignity at the end of
their lives.  I believe the omnibus nursing home reform law he wrote protected senior citizens
from the abuse and mistreatment that was rampant in nursing homes the 1970’s.  I believe the
law he wrote creating the first heart and hypertension institute in New York has saved lives.  
        
        I believe he was on the right side of history and was fighting against discrimination when he
became the first statewide elected official in New York to support marriage equality.  I believe
my father, who enforced the MacBride Principles that discouraged investment in any company
that has discriminated against Catholics in Ireland, and who established the Ireland Peace Bond
Program, played a positive role in the Northern Ireland peace process.  I believe my father’s
decision to invest in firms who set goals of having 25% of their boards of directors be black
South Africans according to standards set by the black empowerment program in post-aparthied
South Africa helped that country and its people.
        
        I believe my father fought for dignity and equality when he used his influence as a
shareholder to end discriminatory practices against members of the LGBT community by the
Cracker Barrel company and against members of the African American community by the
Texaco Company.  I believe he was protecting the citizens of New York City when he blocked
the sale of the NYC watershed to the State, which would have given away control of one of the
City’s most precious assets.  I believe my father was standing on principal when he led the
debates against the death penalty and to protect a woman’s right to choose in the New York State
Legislature.
 
        I believe my father was protecting the pensions of New York State’s close to 1 million
retirees when he helped the New York State Common Retirement Fund to grow from $95 billion
to $154 billion.  I believe my father was fighting for what he believed as a Zionist and acted on
principal when he chose to direct New York State to become one of the largest investors in the
Israeli economy.   I believe organizing a coalition of 900 financial officers throughout the United
States to fight for and ultimately recover over $10 billion for Holocaust survivors was one of the
proudest moments of his life that was driven by the memory of the 55 members of our family
that were murdered.  
 
        With all of these accomplishments, and with all of the time and work spent away from
home, I believe his greatest accomplishment is what he has meant to my family.  He wasn’t just a
provider and protector and caregiver who loved and encouraged us.  We wanted to make him
proud. We wanted to make him laugh. We wanted to spend time with him and travel where he
traveled and learn his values and ideals, not just because he was imparting them to us but
because they felt right.  It feels right to be undyingly loyal.  It feels right to not spend our lives
concerned about making money.  It feels right to fight for people who need help.  It feels right to
take care of our family members and, for me, it feels right to love him and aspire to be like him.  
 
       I ask you to send my father home to my family… my brother, my sister, my mom, my wife
and daughter and his grandchildren to live out the rest of his life amongst those who love him.    I
respectfully suggest that his incredible and indelible contributions on behalf of people throughout
the world, our country, our state, the neighborhoods he has represented and his family warrant
him a place to be loved and cared for the rest of his life.
 
        In short, Your Honor, Alan Hevesi has earned the right to spend the rest of his life
surrounded by those who appreciate and love him for who he is, a great and flawed man.  Please
send him home to our family.
 
Sincerely,
 
 
Andrew Hevesi