 Previously, she represented District 23 in the New York State Assembly from 1987–2011, which comprised Rockaway Beach, Howard Beach and Ozone Park, among other neighborhoods found within the New York City borough of Queens.Pheffer worked from 1973 to 1977 at the Rockaway Occupational Training Center and agency of the Queens Association of ARC, where she worked with the developmentally disabled.In 1977, she was a member of the New York City Commission of Human Rights.