Gurfein attended Great Neck South High School in Long Island, New York.

[citation needed] Through the Marines' Delayed Entry Program, he attended Syracuse University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science.

[3] After fighting in the Gulf War, he left active-duty in the military to get an MBA from Harvard University but he remained in the reserves.

[citation needed] On March 21, 2003, Major Gurfein was photographed pulling down a poster of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in Safwan, Iraq.

[3] In 2016, Gurfein ran as the Republican candidate for New York's 4th congressional district against Democratic incumbent Kathleen Rice.