Former Assemblyman Barry Grodenchik, who served one term representing Flushing in the State Assembly, has been appointed Deputy Borough President by Borough President Helen Marshall.

“Barry is a seasoned public servant with experience at the state and county level,” said Marshall. “He has been involved in the planning and fruition of many projects in Queens and has the experience and knowledge to serve our county well.”

“I’m very excited to be back at Borough Hall,” said Grodenchik, who worked at Borough Hall during the administration of former Borough President Claire Shulman as her Chief of Administration from 1991 until 2002. “I’m very thankful to Helen Marshall for giving me this opportunity.”

Grodenchik replaces Karen Koslowitz, who was elected last November to the New York City Council seat representing Forest Hills, which had been vacated by Melinda Katz. In addition to serving as deputy to Marshall, a position mandated by the City Charter, Grodenchik will serve as Director of Community Boards and be responsible for parks-related and numerous other issues.

Before his tenure in the Shulman administration, Grodenchik was the Queens Regional Representative at the State Department of State and served as ombudsman for Queens County for then-Gov. Mario Cuomo. Grodenchik made his first run for political office in 2001 when he ran for a New York City Council seat in Flushing, but was defeated in the Democratic Primary by Jim Gennaro. He remained on the general election ballot on the Working Families Party line, but only received 10 percent of the vote in the general election.

In 2002, Grodenchik narrowly defeated Jimmy Meng in a four way Democratic primary for the 22nd Assembly District seat, which is based in Downtown Flushing. Grodenchik served one term before being defeated by Meng in the 2004 Democratic primary, Meng’s daughter, Grace, currently holds the seat.

Since he left the Assembly in 2005, Grodenchik has worked as Vice President of the Parkside Group, a Manhattan-based public relations firm known for its connections to Queens Democratic politics. His brother, Max Grodenchik, is an actor and played supporting roles on Star Trek: The Next Generation and more prominently Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Reach Reporter Domenick Rafter at drafter@queenstribune.com or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 125.