165th New York State Legislature

The 165th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 3, 1945, to March 26, 1946, during the third and fourth years of Thomas E. Dewey's governorship, in Albany.

165th New York State Legislature
← 164th 166th →
New York State Capitol (2009)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1, 1945 – December 31, 1946
Senate
Members	56
President	Lt. Gov. Joe R. Hanley (R)
Temporary President	Benjamin F. Feinberg (R)
Party control	Republican 1945: (35–21) 1946: (36–19)
Assembly
Members	150
Speaker	Oswald D. Heck (R)
Party control	Republican 1945: (94–55–1) 1946: (94–54–1)
Sessions
1st January 3 – March 24, 1945 2nd January 2 – March 26, 1946

Background

In 1943, the Legislature re-apportioned the Senate and Assembly districts. The total number of state senators was increased to 56. Chautauqua, Dutchess, Monroe, Oneida, Rensselaer, St. Lawrence, Schenectady and Steuben counties lost one Assembly seat each; and New York County lost seven seats. Kings and Westchester counties gained one seat each; Nassau County gained two; Bronx County gained five; and Queens County gained six seats.

Thus, under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1938, re-apportioned in 1943, 56 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 counties which were divided into more than one senatorial district were Kings (nine districts), New York (six), Bronx (five), Queens (four), Erie (three), Westchester (three), Monroe (two) and Nassau (two). The Assembly districts consisted either of a single entire county (except Hamilton Co.), or of contiguous area within one county.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The American Labor Party, the newly organized Liberal Party and the Socialist Labor Party (running under the name of "Industrial Government Party") also nominated tickets.

Elections

The New York state election, 1944, was held on November 7. The two statewide elective offices up for election were carried by Democrats with American Labor and Liberal endorsement. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the average vote for U.S. Senator and Judge of the Court of Appeals, was: Republicans 2,913,000; Democrats 2,432,000; American Labor 476,000; Liberals 320,000; and Industrial Government 16,000.

Two of the four women members of the previous legislature—State Senator Rhoda Fox Graves (Rep.), of Gouverneur; and Assemblywoman Mary A. Gillen (Dem.), of Brooklyn—were re-elected. Gladys E. Banks (Rep.), of the Bronx; and Genesta M. Strong (Rep.), of Plandome Heights, were also elected to the Assembly.

The New York state election, 1945, was held on November 6. No statewide elective offices were up for election. Three vacancies in the State Senate and five vacancies in the Assembly were filled.^[1]

Sessions

The Legislature met for the first regular session (the 168th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 3, 1945; and adjourned on March 24.

Oswald D. Heck (Rep.) was re-elected Speaker.

Benjamin F. Feinberg (Rep.) was re-elected Temporary President of the State Senate.

The Legislature met for the second regular session (the 169th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 2, 1946; and adjourned on March 26.

State Senate

Districts

• 1st District: Suffolk County
• 2nd and 3rd District: Parts of Nassau County
• 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th District: Parts of Queens County, i.e. the Borough of Queens
• 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th District: Parts of Kings County, i.e. the Borough of Brooklyn
• 17th District: Richmond County, i.e. the Borough of Richmond (now the Borough of Staten Island)
• 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd District: Parts of New York County, i.e. the Borough of Manhattan
• 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th District: Parts of Bronx County, i.e. the Borough of the Bronx
• 29th, 30th and 31st District: Parts of Westchester County
• 32nd District: Orange and Rockland counties
• 33rd District: Columbia, Dutchess and Putnam counties
• 34th District: Delaware, Greene, Sullivan and Ulster counties
• 35th District: Albany County
• 36th District: Rensselaer and Saratoga counties
• 37th District: Montgomery and Schenectady counties
• 38th District: Clinton, Essex, Warren and Washington counties
• 39th District: St. Lawrence and Franklin counties
• 40th District: Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer and Lewis counties
• 41st District: Oneida County
• 42nd District: Jefferson and Oswego counties
• 43rd District: Onondaga County
• 44th District: Chenango, Cortland, Madison, Otsego and Schoharie counties
• 45th District: Broome County
• 46th District: Chemung, Schuyler, Tioga and Tompkins counties
• 47th District: Cayuga, Seneca and Wayne counties
• 48th District: Ontario, Steuben and Yates counties
• 49th District: Allegany, Genesee, Livingston and Wyoming counties
• 50th and 51st District: Parts of Monroe County
• 52nd District: Niagara and Orleans counties
• 53rd, 54th and 55th District: Parts of Erie County
• 56th District: Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties

Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. John D. Bennett, William S. Hults Jr, Roy H. Rudd, Fred G. Moritt, Louis L. Friedman, Isidore Dollinger and Mortimer A. Cullen changed from the Assembly to the Senate at the beginning of this Legislature. Assemblymen Arthur Wachtel and Fred S. Hollowell were elected to fill vacancies in the Senate.

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

District	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	Perry B. Duryea Sr.*	Republican	on April 11, 1945, appointed as Commissioner of Conservation.[2]
	W. Kingsland Macy	Republican	on November 6, 1945, elected to fill vacancy; on November 5, 1946, elected to the 80th U.S. Congress
2nd	John D. Bennett*	Republican
3rd	William S. Hults Jr.*	Republican
4th	Seymour Halpern*	Republican
5th	Frederic E. Hammer	Republican
6th	John V. Downey*	Dem./Am. Labor
7th	William N. Conrad	Democrat
8th	James J. Crawford*	Dem./Lib.
9th	Roy H. Rudd*	Democrat
10th	James A. Corcoran*	Democrat
11th	Fred G. Moritt*	Dem./Am. Labor
12th	Samuel L. Greenberg*	Dem./Am. Labor
13th	William Kirnan*	Democrat
14th	Joseph E. Parisi	Republican
15th	Louis L. Friedman*	Democrat
16th	William Rosenblatt	Democrat
17th	Robert S. Bainbridge*	Republican
18th	Elmer F. Quinn*	Democrat	Minority Leader[3]
19th	Francis J. Mahoney*	Democrat
20th	Frederic R. Coudert Jr.*	Republican	on November 5, 1946, elected to the 80th U.S. Congress
21st	Gordon I. Novod	Democrat
22nd	Richard A. DiCostanzo*	Rep./Am. Labor
23rd	Alexander A. Falk*	Dem./Am. Labor
24th	Lazarus Joseph*	Dem./Am. Labor	on November 6, 1945, elected New York City Comptroller
	The seat remained vacant throughout the session of 1946
25th	Carl Pack*	Dem./Am. Labor	died on August 7, 1945
	Arthur Wachtel*	Democrat	on November 6, 1945, elected to fill vacancy
26th	Isidore Dollinger*	Dem./Am. Labor
27th	Paul A. Fino	Republican
28th	Lowell H. Brown	Rep./Am. Labor
29th	William F. Condon*	Republican
30th	J. Raymond McGovern	Republican
31st	Pliny W. Williamson*	Republican
32nd	Thomas C. Desmond*	Republican
33rd	Frederic H. Bontecou*	Republican
34th	Arthur H. Wicks*	Republican	Chairman of Finance
35th	Mortimer A. Cullen*	Dem./Am. Labor
36th	Gilbert T. Seelye*	Republican
37th	Thomas F. Campbell	Republican
38th	Benjamin F. Feinberg*	Rep./Am. Labor	re-elected Temporary President
39th	Rhoda Fox Graves*	Republican
40th	Fred A. Young*	Rep./Dem.
41st	Vincent R. Corrou	Dem./Am. Labor
42nd	Isaac B. Mitchell*	Republican
43rd	Richard P. Byrne	Dem./Am. Labor
44th	Walter W. Stokes*	Republican
45th	Floyd E. Anderson*	Republican
46th	Chauncey B. Hammond*	Republican
47th	Henry W. Griffith*	Republican
48th	Earle S. Warner*	Republican	on January 22, 1945, appointed to the New York Supreme Court[4]
	Fred S. Hollowell*	Republican	on March 6, 1945, elected to fill vacancy.[5]
49th	Austin W. Erwin*	Republican
50th	Rodney B. Janes*	Republican
51st	Allen J. Oliver*	Republican
52nd	William Bewley*	Rep./Dem.
53rd	Walter J. Mahoney*	Republican
54th	Stephen J. Wojtkowiak*	Dem./Am. Labor	died on April 6, 1945
	Edmund P. Radwan	Republican	on November 6, 1945, elected to fill vacancy
55th	Charles O. Burney Jr.*	Republican
56th	George H. Pierce*	Rep./Am. Labor

Employees

• Clerk: William S. King
• Assistant Clerk: Pat E. Provenzano

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

District		Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	1st	Charles C. Wallace	Dem./Am. labor
	2nd	George W. Foy*	Dem./Am. Labor
	3rd	James F. Dillon	Dem./Am. Labor
Allegany		William H. MacKenzie*	Rep./Am. Labor
Bronx	1st	Patrick J. Fogarty*	Dem./Am. Labor
	2nd	Sidney A. Fine	Dem./Am. Labor
	3rd	Edward T. Galloway	Dem./Am. Labor
	4th	Matthew J. H. McLaughlin*	Democrat
	5th	Arthur Wachtel*	Dem./Am. Labor	resigned to run for the State Senate
		The seat remained vacant throughout the session of 1946
	6th	Julius J. Gans*	Dem./Am. Labor
	7th	Louis Peck	Democrat
	8th	Louis Bennett*	Dem./Am. Labor
	9th	Francis T. Murphy	Democrat
	10th	John J. DePasquale	Republican
	11th	Gladys E. Banks	Republican
	12th	Nathan A. Lashin	Dem./Am. Labor
	13th	Leo Isacson	Am. Labor/Rep.
Broome	1st	Richard H. Knauf*	Rep./Am. Labor
	2nd	Orlo M. Brees*	Republican
Cattaraugus		Leo P. Noonan*	Republican
Cayuga		James H. Chase*	Republican
Chautauqua		E. Herman Magnuson*	Rep./Am. Labor
Chemung		Harry J. Tifft*	Republican
Chenango		Irving M. Ives*	Rep./Dem./A.L.	Majority Leader; on November 5, 1946, elected to the U.S. Senate
Clinton		Leslie G. Ryan*	Rep./Am. Labor
Columbia		Frederick A. Washburn*	Republican
Cortland		Harold L. Creal*	Republican
Delaware		Elmer J. Kellam*	Republican
Dutchess		Ernest I. Hatfield*	Republican
Erie	1st	Frank A. Gugino*	Republican
	2nd	Justin C. Morgan*	Republican
	3rd	William J. Butler*	Republican
	4th	John P. Quinn*	Dem./Am. Labor
	5th	Philip V. Baczkowski*	Dem./Am. Labor
	6th	George F. Dannebrock	Republican
	7th	Julius Volker	Republican
	8th	John R. Pillion*	Republican
Essex		Sheldon F. Wickes*	Rep./Dem.	appointed as County Judge
		L. Judson Morhouse	Republican	on November 6, 1945, elected to fill vacancy
Franklin		William L. Doige*	Rep./Dem.
Fulton and Hamilton		Joseph R. Younglove*	Rep./Dem.
Genesee		Herbert A. Rapp*	Republican
Greene		William E. Brady*	Republican
Herkimer		Leo A. Lawrence*	Rep./Dem./A.L.
Jefferson		Orin S. Wilcox	Republican
Kings	1st	Max M. Turshen*	Dem./Am. Labor
	2nd	J. Sidney Levine	Dem./Lib.
	3rd	Mary A. Gillen*	Democrat
	4th	Bernard Austin*	Dem./Am. Labor
	5th	John R. Starkey*	Dem./Am. Labor
	6th	Robert J. Crews*	Rep./Am. Labor
	7th	John F. Furey*	Dem./Am. Labor
	8th	Arthur A. Low	Dem./Am. Labor
	9th	Frank J. McMullen	Republican
	10th	Lewis W. Olliffe*	Rep./Am. Labor
	11th	Eugene F. Bannigan*	Dem./Am. Labor
	12th	James W. Feely*	Dem./Am. Labor
	13th	Lawrence P. Murphy	Democrat
	14th	Harry Gittleson*	Dem./Am. Labor
	15th	John Smolenski*	Democrat
	16th	Frank J. Pino	Democrat
	17th	John J. Walsh	Democrat
	18th	Irwin Steingut*	Dem./Am. Labor	Minority Leader
	19th	Philip J. Schupler	Dem./Lib.
	20th	John E. Beck	Republican
	21st	Thomas A. Dwyer*	Dem./Am. Labor
	22nd	Anthony J. Travia*	Democrat
	23rd	Alfred A. Lama*	Dem./Am. Labor
	24th	Philip Blank	Democrat
Lewis		Benjamin H. Demo*	Rep./Dem.
Livingston		Joseph W. Ward*	Republican
Madison		Wheeler Milmoe*	Republican
Monroe	1st	Frank J. Sellmayer Jr.*	Republican
	2nd	Abraham Schulman*	Republican
	3rd	George T. Manning*	Republican
	4th	Thomas F. Riley*	Republican
Montgomery		John F. Bennison*	Republican
Nassau	1st	Frank J. Becker	Republican
	2nd	Joseph F. Carlino	Republican
	3rd	Genesta M. Strong	Republican
	4th	David S. Hill Jr.	Republican
New York	1st	MacNeil Mitchell*	Republican
	2nd	Louis DeSalvio*	Democrat
	3rd	Owen McGivern*	Democrat
	4th	Leonard Farbstein*	Democrat
	5th	Irwin D. Davidson*	Dem./Am. Labor
	6th	Francis X. McGowan*	Democrat
	7th	Patrick H. Sullivan*	Dem./Am. Labor
	8th	Archibald Douglas Jr.	Republican
	9th	John R. Brook*	Republican
	10th	John P. Morrissey*	Democrat
	11th	William E. Prince	Democrat
	12th	William T. Andrews*	Dem./Am. Labor
	13th	Daniel Flynn*	Democrat
	14th	Hulan E. Jack*	Dem./Am. Labor
	15th	William J. A. Glancy*	Democrat
	16th	Hamlet O. Catenaccio*	Rep./Am. Labor
Niagara	1st	Jacob E. Hollinger*	Rep./Dem.
	2nd	Harry D. Suitor*	Republican	died on March 25, 1945
		Ernest Curto	Rep./Am. Labor	on November 6, 1945, elected to fill vacancy
Oneida	1st	Harlow E. Bacon	Republican
	2nd	Frank A. Emma*	Dem./Am. Labor
Onondaga	1st	Leo W. Breed*	Republican
	2nd	Clellan S. Forsythe	Republican
	3rd	Frank J. Costello*	Republican	on November 6, 1945, elected Mayor of Syracuse
		Lawrence M. Rulison	Republican	on December 18, 1945, elected to fill vacancy
Ontario		Harry R. Marble*	Republican
Orange	1st	Lee B. Mailler*	Republican
	2nd	Wilson C. Van Duzer*	Republican
Orleans		John S. Thompson*	Republican
Oswego		Henry D. Coville*	Republican
Otsego		Paul L. Talbot	Republican
Putnam		D. Mallory Stephens*	Republican	Chairman of Ways and Means
Queens	1st	Alexander Del Giorno	Democrat
	2nd	William E. Clancy*	Dem./Am. Labor
	3rd	Joseph H. Brinster	Republican
	4th	Charles J. Dalzell*	Dem./Am. Labor
	5th	Thomas F. Hurley	Republican
	6th	William F. Bowe*	Dem./Am. Labor
	7th	George Archinal*	Republican
	8th	Samuel Rabin	Republican
	9th	Fred W. Preller	Republican
	10th	Angelo Graci	Republican
	11th	Thomas Fitzpatrick	Dem./Am. Labor
	12th	John H. Ferril*	Dem./Am. Labor	died on February 23, 1945
		James J. Crisona	Dem./Am. Labor	on November 6, 1945, elected to fill vacancy
Rensselaer		John S. Finch*	Republican
Richmond	1st	Arthur T. Berge	Republican
	2nd	Edmund P. Radigan	Republican
Rockland		Robert Walmsley*	Republican
St. Lawrence		Allan P. Sill*	Republican
Saratoga		Richard J. Sherman*	Republican	appointed as County Judge
		John L. Ostrander	Republican	on November 6, 1945, elected to fill vacancy
Schenectady		Oswald D. Heck*	Republican	re-elected Speaker
Schoharie		Arthur L. Parsons*	Republican
Schuyler		Jerry W. Black	Republican
Seneca		Lawrence W. Van Cleef*	Republican
Steuben		William M. Stuart*	Republican
Suffolk	1st	Edmund R. Lupton*	Republican
	2nd	Elisha T. Barrett*	Republican
Sullivan		James G. Lyons	Dem./Am. Labor
Tioga		Myron D. Albro*	Republican
Tompkins		Stanley C. Shaw*	Republican
Ulster		John F. Wadlin*	Republican
Warren		Harry A. Reoux*	Republican	Chairman of Judiciary
Washington		Henry Neddo*	Republican
Wayne		Henry V. Wilson*	Republican
Westchester	1st	Malcolm Wilson*	Republican
	2nd	Fred A. Graber	Republican
	3rd	P. Raymond Sirignano	Republican
	4th	Frank S. McCullough	Republican
	5th	Christopher H. Lawrence*	Republican
	6th	Theodore Hill Jr.*	Republican
Wyoming		Harold C. Ostertag*	Republican
Yates		Fred S. Hollowell*	Republican	resigned to run for the State Senate
		Vernon W. Blodgett	Republican	on November 6, 1945, elected to fill vacancy

Employees

• Clerk: Ansley B. Borkowski

Notes

1. Republicans Gain Single Seat in N. Y. State Senate in the Geneva Daily Times, of Geneva, on November 7, 1945
2. P. B. DURYEA IN NEW POST; Dewey Names State Senator to Be Conservation Commissioner in The New York Times on April 12, 1945 (subscription required)
3. QUINN NAMED LEADER TO SUCCEED DUNNIGAN in The New York Times on January 3, 1945 (subscription required)
4. WARNER CONFIRMED FOR SUPREME COURT in The New York Times on January 23, 1945 (subscription required)
5. Hollowell Goes to State Senate in The New York Times on March 8, 1945 (subscription required)

Sources

• Know Your Legislature in The State Employee (January 1945, Vol. 14, No. 1, pg. 20ff)
• Members of the New York Senate (1940s) at Political Graveyard
• Members of the New York Assembly (1940s) at Political Graveyard