Meet Lester Chang

Member of the New York State Assembly (District 49)

Lester Chang was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2022, defeating a 30-year incumbent. He represents the 49th Assembly District, serving the communities of Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, Sunset Park, and Borough Park.

Lester was born in public housing on the Lower East Side of New York City to immigrant Chinese parents who were determined to provide a better life for their three children. At the age of 8, Lester's father, a cook at a Chinese restaurant, passed away after a battle with cancer. The family briefly moved back to Hong Kong to live with relatives before returning to New York City a few years later, settling in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn.

A product of New York’s public education system, Lester graduated from Midwood High School and earned a BS in Accounting from Brooklyn College (CUNY) as well as a Master’s in International Transportation from the State University of New York Maritime College (SUNY). He initially worked in banking and finance before transitioning to a career in global logistics, which allowed him to travel extensively throughout Asia. Over the course of his career, Lester held senior management roles overseeing company offices in India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand.

Lester’s career began with positions at Bank of America and a local Chinatown stock brokerage before he focused on the shipping industry. He quickly advanced to management roles at Wen-Parker Logistics and later Seagate Logistics, where he managed operations in India and various other Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, and China.

In addition to his successful career in the private sector, Lester served nearly 24 years as a Navy reservist. Following the events of 9/11, he was assigned to support Homeland Security in Washington, D.C. In 2009-2010, he was deployed as a military analyst to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, where he held the rank of Chief Warrant Officer (CWO3).

Lester is a current member of the New York State Naval Militia and has volunteered for State active duty in support of Operation COVID-19 since March 2020. He played a key role in converting the Jacob Javits Convention Center into a field hospital that treated over 1,000 COVID-19 patients and later transitioning it into a vaccination center that served more than 500,000 patients.

A proud New Yorker, Lester resides in Brooklyn and serves on the executive committee of his local Chinatown American Legion Post 1291, which has over 400 members. As an Afghan War veteran, he is uniquely positioned to represent and advocate for the needs of combat veterans.