By Howard Koplowitz
Sylvia Weprin, mother of state Assemblyman Mark Weprin (D−Little Neck) and City Councilman David Weprin (D−Hollis), was given an award by a state group that drafts legislative initiatives to help Hispanics, Mark Weprin said Monday.
A native of Havana, Cuba, Sylvia Weprin moved to Brooklyn at age 8. She attended Brooklyn College, where she met her husband, late Assembly Speaker Saul Weprin.
After graduating from Brooklyn College, she taught biology in both English and Spanish in public schools for 30 years.
Sylvia Weprin became involved with the group that honored her, Somos El Futuro, while her husband was in office and attended every meeting the group held, according to her son.
Somos El Futuro, formed in 1987, is the largest gathering of Puerto Rican and Hispanic civic and political leaders in the state, according to a news release from Mark Weprin’s office.
“It is with great pride that I have seen Somos grow into the amazing conference that it has become,” Sylvia Weprin said in a statement.
Mark Weprin is a Somos member and said he was proud of his mother.
The group holds a conference in Puerto Rico every summer that draws high−level state leaders, even those who are not Hispanic. Gov. David Paterson and former Gov. Eliot Spitzer were past conference attendees.
Mark Weprin said Somos “allows for important policy and legislative issues to be discussed and addressed at the state level. With its mission to provide a forum for the development of legislative and budgetary initiatives of concern throughout the state, the conference also serves as a stage to acknowledge the significant contributions of Hispanics living across New York state.”
Sylvia Weprin was given the award during the group’s spring conference in Albany over the weekend.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e−mail at hkoplowitz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 173.
