176th New York State Legislature

The 176th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5 to July 6, 1966, during the eighth year of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, in Albany.

176th New York State Legislature
← 175th 177th →
New York State Capitol (2009)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1966
Senate
Members	65
President	Lt. Gov. Malcolm Wilson (R)
Temporary President	Earl W. Brydges (R)
Party control	Republican (37–28)
Assembly
Members	165
Speaker	Anthony J. Travia (D)
Party control	Democratic (90–75)
Sessions
1st January 5 – July 6, 1966

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1938, re-apportioned in 1953, 58 Senators and 150 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts for two-year terms. The senatorial districts consisted either of one or more entire counties; or a contiguous area within a single county. The Assembly districts consisted either of a single entire county (except Hamilton Co.), or of contiguous area within one county.

In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down several decisions establishing that State legislatures should follow the One man, one vote rule to apportion their election districts. A special Federal Statutory Court declared the New York apportionment formulae for both the State Senate and the State Assembly unconstitutional, and the State Legislature was ordered to re-apportion the seats by April 1, 1965. The court also ruled that the 1964 legislative election should be held under the 1954 apportionment, but those elected could serve only for one year (in 1965), and an election under the new apportionment should be held in November 1965. Senators John H. Hughes and Lawrence M. Rulison (both Rep.) questioned the authority of the federal court to shorten the term of the 1964 electees,[1] alleging excessive costs for the additional election in an off-year.[2]

The lame-duck Legislature of 1964 met for a special session at the State Capitol in Albany from December 15 to 31, 1964, to re-apportion the legislative districts for the election in November 1965, gerrymandering the districts according to the wishes of the Republican majority before the Democrats would take over the Legislature in January.[3][4] The number of seats in the State Senate was increased to 65, and the number of seats in the Assembly to 165. County representation was abandoned in favor of population-proportional districts, and the new Assembly districts were numbered from 1 to 165.

On February 1, 1965, the United States Supreme Court confirmed the Federal Statutory Court's order to elect a new New York Legislature in November 1965.[5]

On April 14, 1965, the New York Court of Appeals declared the apportionment of December 1964 as unconstitutional, citing that the New York Constitution provides expressly that the Assembly shall have 150 seats, not 165 as were apportioned. The court also held that, although the constitutional State Senate apportionment formula provides for additional seats, the increase from 58 to 65 was unwarranted.[6]

On May 10, the Federal Statutory Court ordered that the election on November 2, 1965, be held under the December 1964 apportionment, and that the Legislature thus elected re-apportion the seats again by February 1, 1966.[7]

On August 24, it was clarified that, if the Governor and Legislature should not have enacted a new apportionment by February 1, 1966, then the courts should draft a new apportionment for the next election.[8]

On October 11, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed four appeals against the ruling of the Federal Statutory Court, and upheld the election of a new New York Legislature on November 2.[9]

At this time there were two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The Liberal Party and the Conservative Party also nominated tickets.

Elections

The 1965 New York state election, was held on November 2. The only statewide elective office up for election was a seat on the New York Court of Appeals. Republican Kenneth B. Keating defeated Democrat/Liberal Owen McGivern and Conservative Henry S. Middendorf, Jr. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Judge of the Court of Appeals, was: Republicans 3,106,000; Democrats 1,824,000; Liberals 208,000; and Conservatives 207,000.

Three of the five women members of the previous legislature—Assemblywomen Shirley Chisholm (Dem.), a preschool teacher of Brooklyn; Constance E. Cook (Rep.), a lawyer of Ithaca; and Dorothy H. Rose (Dem.), a high-school teacher and librarian of Angola—were re-elected. Gail Hellenbrand (Dem.), of Brooklyn, was also elected to the Assembly.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session (the 189th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 5, 1966;[10] and adjourned on July 6.[11]

Anthony J. Travia (Dem.) was re-elected Speaker.

Earl W. Brydges (Rep.) was elected Temporary President of the State Senate.

On January 14, the New York Court of Appeals moved the deadline for the new legislative apportionment from February 1 to February 15.[12]

On February 23, the Court of Appeal appointed a commission of five members to map out new districts because the Republican-majority Senate and the Democratic-majority Assembly could not agree on a new apportionment. The commission was chaired by President-elect of the American Bar Association Orison S. Marden, of Scarsdale, who was not affiliated with any party and was deemed politically independent. The other members were Ex-Judges of the Court of Appeals Bruce Bromley (Rep.), of Manhattan, and Charles W. Froessel (Dem.), of Queens; Ex-Republican State Chairman Edwin F. Jaeckle, of Buffalo; and Robert B. Brady (Dem.), the Counsel to the Joint Legislative Committee on Re-Apportionment.[13]

On March 14, the apportionment draft was submitted to the Court of Appeals.[14]

On March 22, the Court of Appeals accepted the apportionment as drafted,[15] thus becoming the law, without the need of legislative approval. The number of seats in the State Senate was reduced to 57, and the number of seats in the Assembly to 150.[16]

State Senate

Senators

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Jerome Schutzer, Anthony B. Gioffre, Theodore D. Day and James F. Hastings changed from the Assembly to the Senate at the beginning of the session. Assemblyman William J. Ferrall was elected to fill a vacancy in the Senate.

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

District	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	Leon E. Giuffreda	Republican
2nd	Bernard C. Smith	Republican
3rd	Elisha T. Barrett*	Republican	died on May 8, 1966
4th	Henry M. Curran*	Republican
5th	Edward J. Speno*	Republican
6th	Norman F. Lent*	Republican
7th	John R. Dunne	Republican
8th	John D. Caemmerer	Republican
9th	Murray Schwartz	Democrat
10th	Irving Mosberg*	Democrat
11th	Jack E. Bronston*	Democrat
12th	Nicholas Ferraro	Democrat
13th	Seymour R. Thaler*	Democrat
14th	Thomas J. Mackell*	Democrat	on November 8, 1966, elected D.A. of Queens Co.
15th	Martin J. Knorr	Republican
16th	William Rosenblatt*	Democrat
17th	James H. Shaw, Jr.	Dem./Lib.
18th	Simon J. Liebowitz*	Democrat
19th	William C. Thompson*	Democrat
20th	Edward S. Lentol*	Democrat
21st	Jeremiah B. Bloom*	Democrat
22nd	Samuel L. Greenberg*	Democrat
23rd	Irwin Brownstein*	Democrat	on November 8, 1966, elected to the New York City Civil Court
24th	vacant	Senator-elect Guy James Mangano (D) was appointed to the Family Court in December 1965
	William J. Ferrall*	Democrat	on February 8, 1966, elected to fill vacancy[17]
25th	William T. Conklin*	Republican
26th	John J. Marchi*	Republican
27th	Paul P. E. Bookson*	Democrat
28th	Whitney North Seymour, Jr.	Republican
29th	Manfred Ohrenstein*	Democrat
30th	Jerome L. Wilson*	Democrat
31st	Basil A. Paterson	Democrat
32nd	Joseph Zaretzki*	Democrat	Minority Leader
33rd	Jerome Schutzer*	Democrat
34th	Harrison J. Goldin	Dem./Lib.
35th	Dennis R. Coleman	Democrat
36th	Abraham Bernstein*	Dem./Lib.
37th	Archie A. Gorfinkel	Democrat
38th	John D. Calandra	Rep./Cons.
39th	Anthony B. Gioffre*	Republican
40th	Christian H. Armbruster	Republican
41st	Bernard G. Gordon*	Republican
42nd	D. Clinton Dominick III*	Republican
43rd	Lloyd A. Newcombe	Republican
44th	Robert Watson Pomeroy*	Republican
45th	Julian B. Erway*	Democrat
46th	Robert E. Lynch	Republican
47th	Nathan Proller*	Republican
48th	Ronald B. Stafford	Republican
49th	Dalwin J. Niles*	Republican
50th	Hugh Douglas Barclay*	Republican
51st	James H. Donovan	Republican
52nd	Tarky Lombardi, Jr.	Republican
53rd	John H. Hughes*	Republican	Chairman of Judiciary
54th	Theodore D. Day*	Republican
55th	Warren M. Anderson*	Republican	Chairman of Finance
56th	William T. Smith*	Republican
57th	Thomas Laverne*	Republican
58th	Frank E. Van Lare*	Republican
59th	Kenneth R. Willard*	Republican
60th	Earl W. Brydges*	Republican	elected Temporary President
61st	William E. Adams	Republican
62nd	Thomas F. McGowan	Republican
63rd	Frank J. Glinski*	Democrat
64th	Bertrand H. Hoak*	Democrat
65th	James F. Hastings*	Republican

Employees

• Secretary: Albert J. Abrams

State Assembly

Assemblymen

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature.

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

District	Assemblymen	Party	Notes
1st	Perry B. Duryea, Jr.*	Republican	Minority Leader
2nd	Peter J. Costigan	Republican
3rd	Charles J. Melton	Democrat
4th	Prescott B. Huntington*	Rep./Cons.
5th	Richard DiNapoli	Republican
6th	John G. McCarthy*	Republican
7th	William L. Burns	Republican
8th	Francis P. McCloskey	Republican
9th	Martin Ginsberg	Rep./Lib.
10th	Stanley Harwood	Dem./Lib.
11th	Joseph M. Reilly	Republican
12th	Milton Jonas	Republican
13th	Arthur J. Kremer	Dem./Lib.
14th	John S. Thorp Jr.*	Dem./Lib.
15th	Joseph M. Margiotta	Republican
16th	John E. Kingston*	Republican
17th	Abe Seldin	Republican
18th	George J. Farrell, Jr.	Republican
19th	Robert M. Blakeman	Republican
20th	Eli Wager	Democrat
21st	J. Lewis Fox*	Dem./Lib.	Chairman of Public Service
22nd	Kenneth N. Browne*	Dem./Lib.
23rd	Robert J. Hall	Rep./Cons.
24th	Moses M. Weinstein*	Dem./Lib.	Majority Leader
25th	Frederick D. Schmidt*	Democrat
26th	Leonard P. Stavisky	Dem./Lib.
27th	John T. Gallagher	Republican
28th	Martin Rodell*	Dem./Lib.
29th	Joseph J. Kunzeman	Republican
30th	Herbert J. Miller	Democrat
31st	Alfred D. Lerner	Rep./Cons.
32nd	Stanley J. Pryor	Dem./Lib.
33rd	Jules G. Sabbatino*	Democrat	Chairman of Commerce and Navigation
34th	Thomas V. LaFauci*	Dem./Lib.	Chairman of Civil Service
35th	Sidney Lebowitz	Dem./Lib.
36th	Thomas P. Cullen*	Dem./Lib.
37th	Joel R. Birnhak	Democrat
38th	Anthony J. Travia*	Dem./Lib.	re-elected Speaker
39th	Samuel D. Wright	Democrat
40th	Alfred A. Lama*	Dem./Lib.	Chairman of Banks
41st	Leonard E. Yoswein*	Dem./Lib.	Chairman of Charitable and Religious Institutions
42nd	Lawrence P. Murphy*	Dem./Lib.	Chairman of Mortgage and Real Estate
43rd	Max M. Turshen*	Dem./Lib.	Chairman of Judiciary
44th	Stanley Steingut*	Democrat	Chairman of General Laws
45th	Shirley Chisholm*	Dem./Lib.
46th	Bertram L. Baker*	Dem./Lib.	Majority Whip; Chairman of Education
47th	Joseph R. Corso*	Dem./Lib.	Chairman of Codes
48th	Edward A. Kurmel*	Democrat
49th	Harold W. Cohn*	Dem./Lib.	Chairman of Internal Affairs
50th	Gilbert Ramirez	Democrat
51st	Gail Hellenbrand	Democrat
52nd	George A. Cincotta*	Dem./Lib.	Chairman of Excise
53rd	Bertram L. Podell*	Democrat	Chairman of Local Finance
54th	Noah Goldstein*	Democrat	Chairman of Canals and Waterways
55th	Herbert H. Marker	Democrat
56th	Salvatore J. Grieco*	Democrat
57th	Louis Kalish*	Democrat	Chairman of Insurance
58th	Joseph Kottler*	Democrat	Chairman of Penal Institutions
59th	Dominick L. DiCarlo*	Republican
60th	Robert F. Kelly*	Republican
61st	James H. Tully, Jr.	Democrat
62nd	William J. Ferrall*	Democrat	resigned on January 6, 1966, to run for the State Senate
	William J. Giordano	Democrat	on February 8, 1966, elected to fill vacancy;[18] result certified on February 21[19]
63rd	Joseph J. Dowd*	Democrat	Chairman of Printed and Engrossed Bills
64th	Lucio F. Russo*	Republican
65th	Edward J. Amann Jr.*	Republican
66th	Louis DeSalvio*	Democrat	Chairman of Military Affairs
67th	Jerome W. Marks*	Democrat
68th	Jerome Kretchmer*	Democrat
69th	William F. Passannante*	Democrat	Chairman of Claims
70th	Paul J. Curran*	Republican	on December 23, 1966, appointed as NYC Legislative Representative
71st	John M. Burns*	Republican
72nd	S. William Green*	Republican
73rd	Albert H. Blumenthal*	Democrat	Chairman of Health
74th	Daniel M. Kelly*	Democrat	Chairman of Taxation
75th	Jose Ramos-Lopez*	Democrat	Chairman of Aviation
76th	Frank G. Rossetti*	Democrat	Chairman of Labor and Industries
77th	Percy E. Sutton*	Democrat	on September 13, 1966, elected Borough President of Manhattan
78th	David Dinkins	Democrat
79th	Mark T. Southall*	Democrat
80th	Orest V. Maresca*	Democrat	Chairman of Affairs of the City of New York
81st	John J. Walsh*	Democrat	Chairman of Public Institutions
82nd	Kenneth J. Lyman	Democrat	died on July 28, 1966[20]
83rd	Robert García	Democrat
84th	Herbert J. Feuer	Democrat
85th	Seymour Posner*	Dem./Lib.
86th	Edward A. Stevenson, Sr.	Democrat
87th	Salvatore R. Almeida	Democrat
88th	Alexander Chananau*	Dem./Lib.	Chairman of Cities
89th	Robert Abrams	Dem./Lib.
90th	Melville E. Abrams*	Democrat	Chairman of Social Welfare; died on October 10, 1966
91st	Burton Hecht*	Dem./Lib.
92nd	Anthony J. Stella	Dem./Lib.
93rd	Anthony J. Mercorella	Dem./Lib.
94th	Ferdinand J. Mondello*	Democrat	Chairman of Revision
95th	Benjamin Altman	Dem./Lib.
96th	Alvin M. Suchin	Republican
97th	Gordon W. Burrows	Republican
98th	Thomas J. McInerney*	Democrat
99th	George E. Van Cott*	Republican
100th	Joseph R. Pisani	Republican
101st	Warren J. Sinsheimer	Republican
102nd	Richard A. Cerosky*	Republican
103rd	Peter R. Biondo	Republican
104th	Stephen G. Doig, Jr.	Democrat
105th	Joseph T. St. Lawrence*	Democrat
106th	Daniel Becker*	Republican
107th	Willis H. Stephens*	Republican
108th	Victor C. Waryas*	Democrat
109th	Kenneth L. Wilson*	Republican
110th	John S. McBride	Republican
111th	Clarence D. Lane*	Republican
112th	Harvey M. Lifset*	Democrat	Chairman of Ways and Means
113th	Frank P. Cox*	Democrat	Chairman of Public Printing
114th	Douglas Hudson	Republican
115th	Lawrence E. Corbett Jr.*	Republican
116th	John F. Kirvin*	Democrat
117th	Clark C. Wemple	Republican
118th	Stanley L. Van Rensselaer*	Republican
119th	Richard J. Bartlett*	Republican	Minority Whip
120th	Louis Wolfe*	Democrat
121st	Verner M. Ingram*	Republican
122nd	Donald J. Mitchell*	Republican
123rd	Donald A. Campbell*	Republican
124th	Edwyn E. Mason*	Republican
125th	George L. Ingalls*	Republican
126th	Francis J. Boland, Jr.	Republican
127th	Louis H. Folmer*	Republican
128th	Harold I. Tyler*	Republican
129th	William R. Sears	Republican
130th	Edward A. Hanna	Democrat
131st	Donald L. Taylor	Republican
132nd	Edward F. Crawford*	Republican
133rd	James J. Barry*	Democrat
134th	John H. Terry*	Republican
135th	Mortimer P. Gallivan	Democrat
136th	Philip R. Chase*	Republican
137th	George M. Michaels*	Democrat	Chairman of Agriculture
138th	Constance E. Cook*	Republican
139th	L. Richard Marshall*	Republican
140th	Charles D. Henderson*	Republican
141st	Frederick L. Warder*	Republican
142nd	Joseph C. Finley*	Republican
143rd	Donald C. Shoemaker	Republican
144th	Hastings S. Morse, Jr.	Republican
145th	S. William Rosenberg*	Republican
146th	James M. White	Republican
147th	James E. Powers	Democrat
148th	Charles F. Stockmeister*	Democrat	Chairman of Conservation
149th	James L. Emery*	Republican
150th	Frank Walkley*	Republican
151st	V. Sumner Carroll	Republican
152nd	Gregory J. Pope*	Democrat
153rd	Lloyd J. Long	Republican
154th	James T. McFarland	Republican
155th	Chester R. Hardt	Republican
156th	Francis J. Griffin*	Democrat
157th	Arthur Hardwick, Jr.*	Democrat
158th	Stephen R. Greco*	Democrat	Chairman of Pensions
159th	Charles E. Hogg	Republican
160th	Albert J. Hausbeck*	Democrat	Chairman of Affairs of Villages
161st	John B. Lis*	Democrat	Chairman of Motor Vehicles
162nd	Julius Volker*	Republican
163rd	Dorothy H. Rose*	Democrat
164th	Jess J. Present	Republican
165th	A. Bruce Manley*	Republican

Employees

• Clerk: John T. McKennan

Notes

1. 2 STATE SENATORS FIGHT TERM RULING in The New York Times on August 2, 1964
2. Two State Senators Fight Redisricting in The New York Times on August 25, 1964
3. ROCKEFELLER CALLS SESSION FOR DEC. 15; Legislature Told to Draw Redistricting Formula in The New York Times on December 2, 1964 (subscription required)
4. Reapportioning New York State in The New York Times on December 3, 1964
5. HIGH COURT BACKS DISTRICTING EDICT in The New York Times on February 2, 1965 (subscription required)
6. G.O.P. PLAN VOIDED; Constitution Is Cited as Requiring 150 Seats in Assembly State's Legislative Reapportionment in The New York Times on April 15, 1965 (subscription required)
7. DECISION IS 2 TO 1; ...that a legislative election be held Nov. 2 under a Republican reapportionment plan that had been invalidated by the State Court of Appeals in The New York Times on May 11, 1965 (subscription required)
8. Justice Gives Rockefeller a Deadline to Submit Formula, With Judicial Proposal as the Alternative in The New York Times on August 25, 1965 (subscription required)
9. SUPREME COURT CLEARS ELECTION FOR LEGISLATURE in The New York Times on October 12, 1965 (subscription required)
10. POMP AND LEVITY MARK THE OPENING in The New York Times on January 6, 1966 (subscription required)
11. WINDUP IN ALBANY LEAVES 300 BILLS in The New York Times on July 7, 1966 (subscription required)
12. TOP STATE COURT EXTENDS DEADLINE ON REDISTRICTING in The New York Times on January 15, 1966 (subscription required)
13. Court Picks 5 to Draft Remapping in the Utica Observer–Dispatch, of Utica, on February 23, 1966
14. COMMISSION ENDS REDISTRICTING JOB in The New York Times on March 15, 1966 (subscription required)
15. Charter Revision in the Empire State: The Politics of New York's 1967 Constitutional Convention by Henrik N. Dullea (Rockefeller Institute Press, Albany NY, 1997; pg. 79; ISBN 0-914341-49-9)
16. MATTER JEROME T. ORANS at FindACase
17. Vote Is Officially Certified In 3 Special City Elections in The New York Times on February 22, 1966 (subscription required)
18. Legislative Lineup Remains Unchanged in the Post–Journal, of Jamestown, on February 11, 1966
19. Vote Is Officially Certified In 3 Special City Elections in The New York Times on February 22, 1966 (subscription required)
20. KENNETH J. LYMAN, ASSEMBLYMAN, 31 in The New York Times on July 29, 1966

Sources

• Speaker Of Assembly Names Lower House Committees in The Times Record, of Troy, on January 11, 1966
• Members of the New York Senate (1960s) at Political Graveyard
• Members of the New York Assembly (1960s) at Political Graveyard