District 12

Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Edgemont, Hartsdale, Hastings-on-Hudson, Irvington

MaryJane Shimsky, a Hastings-on-Hudson resident since 1995, was elected in February 2011 to the Westchester County Board of Legislators.  She represents the County’s 12th Legislative District, which includes the villages of Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings-on-Hudson and Irvington, as well as parts of unincorporated Greenburgh, including Edgemont and most of Hartsdale.

First elected in a special election, MaryJane is now serving her first full term as a Legislator. She chairs the Committee on Appointments, and has recently been elected Majority Whip of the Board’s Democratic caucus.

In the short time she has served on the Board, MaryJane has already distinguished herself by her work on infrastructure and the environment. She chairs the Saw Mill Watershed Advisory Board (SWAB) and has spearheaded efforts to clear debris blocking the river. She also serves as an ex-officio member of the Westchester County Stormwater Advisory Board and participates in the recently-formed BRAB for the Bronx River basin.  Her long term goal is to control flooding and its worsening effects on our highways and neighborhoods. Click here for SWAB meeting videos [scroll down to Saw Mill Watershed Advisory Board]

MaryJane has worked to ensure the continued safety of the Ashford Avenue Bridge, which links the villages of Ardsley and Dobbs Ferry, and crosses the New York State Thruway and Saw Mill River Parkway.  She has advocated proactive measures to keep debris from falling onto the highways and paths below, and is working to expedite the major construction work that the bridge—currently the worst County-owned bridge in Westchester, according to the State Department of Transportation—desperately needs.  MaryJane is also working with New York State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins and   Assemblyman Tom Abinanti to expedite work on the State-owned Ravensdale Bridge in Hastings-on-Hudson. 

A lifelong environmentalist, MaryJane is developing a legislative agenda designed to simultaneously reduce pollution and the cost of government.  Accordingly, she is introducing her first such initiative, a local law and an act designed to increase the use of mulching-in-place techniques on our properties.  This legislation will reduce solid waste disposal costs for the County and municipal governments while decreasing production of greenhouse gases by garbage trucks.  It will also save homeowners money by reducing the need for commercial fertilizers and soil amendments.

As Community Relations Director for Assemblyman Richard Brodsky from 2007-10, MaryJane represented the Assemblyman, assisted constituents and acted as liaison to local governments.

MaryJane is a former Vice Chair of the Westchester County Democratic Committee, and served as Chair of the Hastings-on-Hudson Democratic Committee for six years and Vice Chair for two. She was a Democratic District Leader for 12 years and is a former member of the Executive Committee of the Greenburgh Democratic Party. MaryJane has spent thousands of hours since 2004 volunteering on Town committees set up in response to the Ridge Hill development, and was instrumental in securing a $5 million settlement to be used for traffic improvements in the area.

A 1982 graduate of Yale University, MaryJane earned a law degree from New York University School of Law in 1985. She worked for four years as an Assistant District Attorney in the Appeal Bureau of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.  MaryJane also taught history and geography at Marymount College in Tarrytown before earning a Ph.D. in History from the City University of New York in 2007.

MaryJane grew up in Scranton, PA.  She and husband David Agosto have two children, Isaac who is attending his first year of college, and Miranda, who attends Hastings-on-Hudson public schools.

MaryJane's Newsletters:

Fall 2012 Newsletter

Summer 2011 Newsletter