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Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie Wants Daughter's Name Changed to Include His

By James Fanelli | February 26, 2015 7:32am
 State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie went to court earlier this month to have his 6-year-old daughter's name changed to include his last name. The girl's mother is Heastie's ex-girlfriend, Alvita Robertson (right).
State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie went to court earlier this month to have his 6-year-old daughter's name changed to include his last name. The girl's mother is Heastie's ex-girlfriend, Alvita Robertson (right).
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Twitter/Carl Heastie; Twitter/Tokyo Diamond

WILLIAMSBRIDGE — State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie wants the 6-year-old daughter he had with an aspiring model to have his last name, court records show.

A week after being elected to the top post in the Assembly, Heastie quietly filed a petition in Bronx Supreme Court requesting that his daughter's name be changed to include his last name.

The girl's mother is Heastie's ex-girlfriend, Alvita Robertson, the owner of a web design firm and a wannabe model who lives in Baltimore. She and Heastie have fought over custody of the girl and child support payments in Bronx Family Court as recently as last year, according to a source.

In Heastie's Feb. 13, 2015, petition, he cites a Sept. 11, 2013, stipulation in family court in which Robertson consented to the name change. His daughter's last name is currently Robertson. The petition asks that it be changed to Robertson-Heastie.

Robertson told DNAinfo New York she didn't know why Heastie waited more than a year after the stipulation to ask for the name change.

"Ask him," she said. She declined to discuss her daughter's family court case.

Kerri Biche, a spokeswoman for the speaker, wouldn't say why Heastie waited until after he became speaker to have his daughter's name changed.

"We don't comment on his personal life," she said.

Heastie's lawyer, Stanley Schlein, declined to comment on the name change.

"The documents speak for themselves," he said.

Last Month, the New York Post reported that Heastie's campaign paid Robertson $2,500 to design his web site. The Post reported that she subcontracted the work out but still collected a check.

Heastie was elected to replace Sheldon Silver as speaker on Feb. 3 after Manhattan federal prosecutors indicted Silver on corruption charges connected to a bribery and kickback scheme.