Steve Farkas

Steve "Shabbi" Farkas, age 64, of New York City, passed away on May 26, 2025, after nine years of living with prostate cancer.

Steve was born on November 27, 1960, in Rehovot, Israel. He arrived in Brooklyn at age nine and learned English by the sink-or-swim method, eventually skipping 8th grade. After earning a bachelor's degree at NYU (double major in political science and English "because that's where the girls were"), he served in the Golani Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces and then returned to New York for graduate school at Columbia University.

Steve was a nationally renowned public opinion analyst. He began his career in 1990 as a political consultant at Penn & Schoen; for 13 years he was the heart of the research department at the nonprofit Public Agenda; and in 2005 he co-founded the Farkas Duffett Research Group with his then friend and now wife, Ann Marie.

Nonetheless, Steve's favorite job by far was driving a NYC taxi.

Steve was special. He was generous to a fault. He loved to feed people and believed there was no such thing as too much food. He devoured sunflower seeds (Israeli) and pistachios (Turkish). He played the trumpet. He played craps. He played backgammon (shesh besh). For Steve, "no trespassing" was an invitation to explore, and his sense of adventure was infectious. Everything was better with Steve by your side.

In addition to Ann Marie, Steve is survived by his daughter Leor Melamedov and son-in-law Maxim; his grandchildren David and Adam; his mother Sara; his siblings Rikki, Tova, and Michael; his niece Sharyn and nephew Jordan; and many cousins, aunts, and uncles. He was predeceased by his father Mendel.

A private service was held for Steve shortly after his death; our family plans to celebrate his life with friends on a later date.

Zichrono L'vracha - May his memory be a blessing.