Assemblyman David S. Sidikman recently celebrated his 10th anniversary as a state assemblyman at a dinner, which was held by Friends of Sidikman with co-chairs Gerald Goldstein and Marsha Shulroff organizing the event.

Sidikman is a long time resident of Old Bethpage. He was born and raised in Brooklyn and attended and graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School. He then attended Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, where he was a Phi Beta Kappa, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. He earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1958 from New York University, which he attended on a full merit scholarship. He was admitted to the bar the same year. Since then he has maintained a private law practice.

Sidikman was first elected to the New York State Assembly in a special election in 1992 and subsequently re-elected in 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1998 for full terms.

Sidikman is a member of the Majority Leadership as Assistant Majority Whip; former chairman of the Election Law Committee; appointed to the Governor's Task Force on Election Modernization; chairman of the Subcommittee on Legal Issues for the Aging and a member of the following Assembly Committees: Aging, Election Law, Judiciary, Insurance, Local Governments and Tourism and Sports Development.

He is a leading participant in the victims rights movement, the anti-bias movement and is involved with many environmental concerns. He is pro-active in the fight against breast cancer on Long Island.

He has been involved in the Bethpage Jewish Community Center, the Cub Scouts and was Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 13 in Plainview. He has served as an adjunct professor at New York Technical College and has lectured in the law for the layman program of the Nassau County Bar Association. Sidikman is a member of the Nassau County Democratic Committee and Nassau County Bar Association.

Education, health care and the environment are what he feels are the biggest, and most important, issues in New York now. "As I gain more seniority, there is more that I can do," said Sidikman. "During the ten years, we have been successful in meeting our goals for school aid and education as education is very important to me. We increased the funds tremendously. I am also proud of what we have done for seniors and working families."

Sidikman is a full-time legislator, as he retired from his law practice in 1994, and maintains a district office at 146A Manetto Hill Road in Plainview.

"The best part of the job is what I do in my office for constituents who have real problems," said Sidikman. "That is the heart of the work we do. When people have problems that we can help them with, we cut thorough the red tape. That is a very important and fulfilling part of the job. A lot of it is listening. I never promise things I can't deliver, but I always promise to try. My job gives me a lot of energy and enthusiasm. I look forward to many, many more years serving my district."

Assemblyman Sidikman resides in Old Bethpage with his wife Diane, a special education teacher. They have two sons, Warren and Kenneth, and eight grandchildren.