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A Whitestone political institution: 90-year-old Al Cahn


Like others who donate their time to the candidates, Cahn is convinced that the…

By Alexander Dworkowitz

During election season, Whitestone residents often spot 90-year-old Al Cahn walking the streets with a clipboard, collecting signatures to put candidates on the ballot.

Like others who donate their time to the candidates, Cahn is convinced that the candidates he supports are the right people for the job.

But in contrast to many volunteers, Cahn is not a newcomer to politics. He got his start in government 73 years ago, working with the U.S. Census Bureau.

“It’s part of my life to be active,” said Cahn, who often works side by side with his wife, Lena. “I want to help my neighbors, my community and all people. My wife is the same way.”

Over the last few decades, Cahn has developed a reputation as one of the most dedicated activists in northeast Queens.

“Al Cahn has been an institution in Whitestone for decades,” said Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside). “The guy is amazing.”

Born in Toronto, Cahn and his family moved to New York City’s Lower East Side when he was 4 years old. The son of a tailor, Cahn graduated from the High School of Commerce in 1928.

In 1930, two friends in politics secured a short-term job for him in the Census Bureau, his introduction to government.

In the years before World War II, Cahn worked at the U.S. Electrical Supply Co. and served in the National Guard, where he played baseball, basketball, track and wrestling for his regiment’s team.

“I was an outstanding athlete,” he said.

In 1943, shortly after his wife had given birth to their first child, Cahn was drafted into the Air Force, where he trained cadets during World War II.

After the war, Cahn returned to his job at U.S. Electrical, where he worked until 1988.

The Cahns and their three children, Michael, David and Cheryl, moved to Whitestone in 1955, and the couple has been active in the neighborhood ever since.

Cahn became president of Whitestone’s DePhillips Athletic Club, which he encouraged his children to join.

“I had to get them well-rounded,” he said. “I wanted them trained in sports to teach them about sportsmanship and to build up their bodies.”

Cahn and his wife also were leading members of Whitestone’s Temple Hillel, a reconstructionist synagogue.

But it was gunshots that caused Cahn to return to government.

In the early 1960s, Cahn’s son Michael was refereeing a football game at fields amid College Point’s marshlands in what is now the College Point Corporate Park, when the game was suddenly interrupted.

“My son heard something buzzing by his ears,” Cahn said. “It was bullets.”

Two men had been firing at cans off in the distance, and the bullets whizzed onto the field, Cahn said. Three children were injured, but no one was killed, Cahn said.

In 1965, Cahn told the story to Leonard Stavisky, a candidate for the state Assembly who was running on a platform of gun control. Stavisky used the story in his campaign and upset the incumbent. Cahn joined Stavisky’s North Shore Democratic Association, and Cahn eventually became Stavisky’s community liaison.

Today, Cahn holds the same position, working for state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Flushing), who won her husband’s seat after he died in 1999.

In recent years, both Al and Lena Cahn have volunteered at Coler-Goldwater Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility on Roosevelt Island. Their son Michael, who died earlier this month at the age of 60, lived in the hospital for 29 years, after being injured in a road accident.

The Cahns have campaigned for government financing for stem cell research, which they believe will benefit the patients at Coler-Goldwater.

“We want to improve their quality of life,” Lena Cahn said. “There are many patients who don’t have relatives. We speak for them.”

Despite the loss of his son, Al Cahn has managed to continue to work, reporting to Stavisky’s office on Mondays and Tuesdays.

“It’s a difficult time, but we’ll be strong,” he said.

Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300 Ext. 141.