179th New York State Legislature

The 179th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6, 1971, to May 12, 1972, during the thirteenth and fourteenth years of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, in Albany.

179th New York State Legislature
← 178th 180th →
New York State Capitol (2009)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1, 1971 – December 31, 1972
Senate
Members	57
President	Lt. Gov. Malcolm Wilson (R)
Temporary President	Earl W. Brydges (R)
Party control	Republican (32–25)
Assembly
Members	150
Speaker	Perry B. Duryea Jr. (R)
Party control	Republican (77–71–2)
Sessions
1st January 6 – June 9, 1971 2nd December 14 – 18, 1971 3rd December 27, 1971 – January 4, 1972 4th January 5 – May 12, 1972

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1938, and the U.S. Supreme Court decision to follow the One man, one vote rule, re-apportioned in 1966 by order of the New York Court of Appeals, 57 Senators and 150 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts for two-year terms. Senate and Assembly districts consisted of approximately the same number of inhabitants, the area being apportioned without restrictions regarding county boundaries.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The Conservative Party, the Liberal Party, the Communist Party, the Socialist Workers Party, the Socialist Labor Party, a "Civil Service Independent Party" and an "Independent Alliance" also nominated tickets.

Elections

The New York state election, 1970, was held on November 3. Governor Nelson Rockefeller and Lieutenant Governor Malcolm Wilson were re-elected, both Republicans. The elections to the other three statewide elective offices resulted in a Republican Attorney General with Liberal endorsement; a Democratic State Comptroller with Liberal endorsement; and a Conservative U.S. Senator with Independent Alliance endorsement. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor, was: Republicans/C.S.I.P. 3,151,000; Democrats/Liberals 2,421,000; Conservatives 423,000; Communists 8,000; Socialist Workers 6,000; and Socialist Labor 4,000. However, Conservative James L. Buckley polled almost 2.3 million votes and was elected to the U.S. Senate.

Three of the four women members of the previous legislature—Assemblywomen Constance E. Cook (Rep.), a lawyer of Ithaca; Rosemary R. Gunning (Cons.), a lawyer of Ridgewood, Queens; and Mary Anne Krupsak (Dem.), a lawyer of Amsterdam—were re-elected.

The New York state election, 1971, was held on November 2. No statewide elective offices were up for election. Two vacancies in the State Senate and four vacancies in the Assembly were filled.^[1]

Sessions

The Legislature met for the first regular session (the 194th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 6, 1971;^[2] and adjourned sine die on June 9.

Perry B. Duryea Jr. (Rep.) was re-elected Speaker.

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

The Legislature met for a special session at the State Capitol in Albany on December 14, 1971;^[3] and adjourned sine die on December 18. This session was called to enact a new apportionment of the state's legislative districts.

The Legislature met for another special session at the State Capitol in Albany on December 27, 1971;^[4] and adjourned sine die on January 4, 1972. This session was called to consider measures to balance the state's finances, and ended with the enactment of tax increases.^[5]

The Legislature met for the second regular session (the 195th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 5, 1972;^[6] and adjourned sine die on May 12.^[7]

On May 9, the Assembly passed a bill to repeal the permissive 1970 abortion law.^[8] The bill also passed the Senate, but was vetoed by Governor Rockefeller.

State Senate

Senators

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Assemblymen William J. Giordano and Emanuel R. Gold were elected to fill a vacancies 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	Ralph J. Marino*	Republican
4th	Edward J. Speno*	Republican	died on February 17, 1971
	George A. Murphy	Republican	on November 2, 1971, elected to fill vacancy
5th	John D. Caemmerer*	Rep./Cons.
6th	John R. Dunne*	Republican
7th	Norman J. Levy	Rep./Cons.
8th	Murray Schwartz*	Dem./Lib.
9th	Jack E. Bronston*	Dem./Lib.
10th	Seymour R. Thaler*	Dem./Lib.	resigned to run for the New York Supreme Court
	Emanuel R. Gold*	Dem./Lib.	on November 2, 1971, elected to fill vacancy
11th	John J. Santucci*	Democrat
12th	Martin J. Knorr*	Rep./Cons.
13th	Nicholas Ferraro*	Democrat
14th	Edward S. Lentol*	Democrat	on November 7, 1972, elected to the New York Supreme Court
15th	A. Frederick Meyerson*	Dem./Lib.
16th	Donald Halperin	Democrat
17th	Jeremiah B. Bloom*	Democrat
18th	Waldaba Stewart*	Dem./Lib.
19th	Samuel L. Greenberg*	Dem./Lib.
20th	Albert B. Lewis*	Democrat
21st	William T. Conklin*	Rep./Cons.
22nd	vacant		Senator-elect William J. Ferrall (D) died on December 13, 1970
	William J. Giordano*	Democrat	on February 9, 1971, elected to fill vacancy[9]
23rd	John J. Marchi*	Rep./Cons.
24th	Paul P. E. Bookson*	Democrat
25th	Manfred Ohrenstein*	Dem./Lib.
26th	Roy M. Goodman*	Rep./Lib.
27th	Sidney A. von Luther	Democrat
28th	Joseph Zaretzki*	Dem./Lib.	Minority Leader
29th	Robert García*	Dem./Rep./Lib.
30th	Harrison J. Goldin*	Dem./Lib.
31st	Joseph L. Galiber*	Dem./Rep./Lib.
32nd	Abraham Bernstein*	Dem./Lib.
33rd	John D. Calandra*	Rep./Cons.
34th	John E. Flynn*	Republican
35th	Anthony B. Gioffre*	Rep./Cons.
36th	Bernard G. Gordon*	Rep./Cons.
37th	Richard E. Schermerhorn	Rep./Cons.
38th	Jay P. Rolison Jr.*	Rep./Cons.
39th	Douglas Hudson*	Rep./Cons.
40th	Walter B. Langley*	Republican
41st	Dalwin J. Niles*	Rep./Cons.
42nd	Ronald B. Stafford*	Rep./Dem./Cons./Lib.
43rd	Hugh Douglas Barclay*	Rep./Cons.
44th	James H. Donovan*	Rep./Cons.
45th	John H. Hughes*	Republican	Chairman of Judiciary; died on October 13, 1972
46th	Tarky Lombardi Jr.*	Rep./Cons.
47th	Warren M. Anderson*	Republican	Chairman of Finance
48th	William T. Smith*	Rep./Cons.
49th	Theodore D. Day*	Rep./Cons.	on July 1, appointed as Asst. NYS Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets[10]
50th	Thomas Laverne*	Rep./Lib.
51st	James E. Powers*	Democrat
52nd	Earl W. Brydges*	Republican	re-elected Temporary President
53rd	John J. LaFalce	Dem./Lib.
54th	Thomas F. McGowan*	Rep./Lib.
55th	Frank J. Glinski*	Dem./Lib.
56th	James D. Griffin*	Democrat
57th	Jess J. Present*	Republican

Employees

• Secretary: Albert J. Abrams

State Assembly

Assembly members

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	Assembly member	Party	Notes
1st	Perry B. Duryea Jr.*	Republican	re-elected Speaker
2nd	Peter J. Costigan*	Rep./Cons.
3rd	Charles A. Jerabek*	Cons./Rep.
4th	Robert C. Wertz	Republican
5th	William L. Burns*	Republican
6th	John G. McCarthy*	Republican
7th	Joseph M. Reilly*	Republican
8th	Martin Ginsberg*	Republican
9th	Philip B. Healey	Rep./Cons.
10th	Milton Jonas*	Republican
11th	Stanley Harwood*	Dem./Lib.
12th	Joseph M. Margiotta*	Republican
13th	John S. Thorp Jr.*	Dem./Lib.
14th	Arthur J. Kremer*	Dem./Lib.
15th	Eli Wager*	Dem./Lib.
16th	George J. Farrell Jr.*	Rep./Cons.
17th	John E. Kingston*	Republican	Majority Leader
18th	Irwin J. Landes	Dem./Lib.
19th	Herbert A. Posner*	Democrat
20th	Joseph J. Kunzeman*	Rep./Cons.	resigned to run for the New York Supreme Court
	John A. Esposito	Rep./Cons.	on November 2, 1971, elected to fill vacancy
21st	Martin Rodell*	Dem./Lib.	resigned to run for the New York City Civil Court
	Saul Weprin	Dem./Lib.	on November 2, 1971, elected to fill vacancy
22nd	John T. Gallagher*	Rep./Cons.
23rd	Leonard P. Stavisky*	Dem./Lib.
24th	Arthur J. Cooperman*	Dem./Lib.
25th	Emanuel R. Gold*	Dem./Lib.	resigned to run for the State Senate
	Alan G. Hevesi	Dem./Lib.	on November 2, 1971, elected to fill vacancy
26th	Guy R. Brewer*	Democrat
27th	Herbert J. Miller*	Democrat
28th	Alfred D. Lerner*	Rep./Cons.	resigned to run for the New York Supreme Court
	Alfred A. DelliBovi	Republican	on November 2, 1971, elected to fill vacancy
29th	Frederick D. Schmidt*	Democrat
30th	John T. Flack*	Rep./Cons.
31st	Joseph F. Lisa*	Democrat
32nd	John G. Lopresto	Rep./Cons.
33rd	Joseph S. Calabretta*	Democrat
34th	Rosemary R. Gunning*	Cons./Rep.
35th	Chester J. Straub*	Democrat
36th	Peter G. Mirto*	Democrat
37th	Samuel D. Wright*	Democrat
38th	Vito P. Battista*	Rep./Cons.
39th	Stanley Fink*	Democrat
40th	Alfred A. Lama*	Dem./Lib.
41st	Stanley Steingut*	Democrat	Minority Leader
42nd	Brian Sharoff	Democrat
43rd	George A. Cincotta*	Democrat
44th	Mel Miller	Democrat
45th	Stephen J. Solarz*	Democrat
46th	Leonard M. Simon*	Dem./Lib.
47th	Salvatore J. Grieco*	Democrat
48th	Leonard Silverman*	Democrat
49th	Dominick L. DiCarlo*	Rep./Cons.
50th	Robert F. Kelly*	Rep./Cons.
51st	Vincent A. Riccio*	Rep./Cons.
52nd	Joseph M. Martuscello	Democrat
53rd	(William J. Giordano)*	Democrat	resigned on January 6, 1971, to run for the State Senate[11]
	Frank J. Verderame	Democrat	on February 9, 1971, elected to fill vacancy[12]
54th	Vander L. Beatty	Democrat
55th	Thomas R. Fortune*	Democrat
56th	Calvin Williams	Democrat
57th	Harvey L. Strelzin*	Democrat
58th	Lucio F. Russo*	Rep./Cons.
59th	Edward J. Amann Jr.*	Rep./Cons.
60th	Louis DeSalvio*	Democrat
61st	Anthony G. DiFalco*	Dem./Lib.
62nd	Andrew J. Stein	Dem./Lib.
63rd	William F. Passannante*	Dem./Lib.
64th	Peter A. A. Berle*	Dem./Lib.
65th	Richard N. Gottfried	Democrat
66th	Antonio G. Olivieri	Dem./Lib.
67th	Albert H. Blumenthal*	Dem./Lib.
68th	Frank G. Rossetti*	Dem./Lib.
69th	Franz S. Leichter*	Dem./Lib.
70th	Hulan E. Jack*	Democrat	on April 24, 1972, convicted of conspiracy[13]
71st	Stephen S. Gottlieb*	Democrat
72nd	George W. Miller	Democrat
73rd	John J. Walsh*	Ind. Dem.[14]
74th	Mark T. Southall*	Democrat
75th	Harry Kraf*	Democrat	on November 7, 1972, elected to the New York City Civil Court
76th	Seymour Posner*	Dem./Lib.
77th	Armando Montano*	Dem./Lib.
78th	Louis Niñé	Democrat
79th	Manuel Ramos*	Democrat
80th	Ferdinand J. Mondello*	Democrat	on October 12, 1972, appointed to the NYS Commission of Investigation[15]
81st	Alan Hochberg*	Dem./Lib.
82nd	Alexander Chananau*	Dem./Lib.
83rd	Burton Hecht*	Dem./Lib.
84th	G. Oliver Koppell*	Dem./Lib.
85th	Anthony J. Mercorella*	Dem./Lib.
86th	Anthony J. Stella*	Dem./Lib.
87th	Thomas J. McInerney*	Democrat
88th	George E. Van Cott*	Rep./Cons.
89th	Alvin M. Suchin*	Rep./Cons.
90th	Gordon W. Burrows*	Republican
91st	Joseph R. Pisani*	Republican
92nd	J. Edward Meyer	Republican
93rd	Peter R. Biondo*	Republican
94th	Eugene Levy*	Rep./Cons.
95th	Benjamin A. Gilman*	Rep./Cons.	on November 7, 1972, elected to the 93rd U.S. Congress
96th	Lawrence Herbst	Rep./Cons.
97th	Willis H. Stephens*	Rep./Cons.	Chairman of Ways and Means
98th	Emeel S. Betros*	Rep./Cons.
99th	H. Clark Bell*	Rep./Cons.
100th	Clarence D. Lane*	Republican
101st	Neil W. Kelleher*	Rep./Cons.
102nd	Thomas W. Brown	Democrat
103rd	Fred G. Field Jr.*	Republican
104th	Mary Anne Krupsak*	Dem./Lib.
105th	Clark C. Wemple*	Rep./Cons.
106th	Fred W. Droms Jr.*	Rep./Cons.
107th	Lawrence E. Corbett Jr.*	Republican
108th	Andrew W. Ryan Jr.*	Rep./Cons.
109th	Glenn H. Harris*	Rep./Cons.
110th	K. Daniel Haley	Dem./Lib.
111th	Donald L. Taylor*	Republican
112th	Donald J. Mitchell*	Republican	on November 7, 1972, elected to the 93rd U.S. Congress
113th	Edwyn E. Mason*	Rep./Cons.
114th	Richard A. Brown*	Republican
115th	William R. Sears*	Rep./Cons.
116th	John T. Buckley*	Rep./Lib.
117th	Edward F. Crawford*	Rep./Cons.	Chairman of Judiciary
118th	Leonard F. Bersani*	Rep./Cons.
119th	Hyman M. Miller	Republican
120th	Edward M. Kinsella	Rep./Cons.
121st	Thomas J. Murphy	Republican
122nd	Lloyd Stephen Riford Jr.	Republican
123rd	Kenneth S. Leasure*	Republican
124th	Francis J. Boland Jr.*	Rep./Cons.
125th	Constance E. Cook*	Republican
126th	L. Richard Marshall*	Rep./Cons.
127th	Charles D. Henderson*	Rep./Cons.
128th	Frederick L. Warder*	Republican
129th	Joseph C. Finley*	Rep./Cons.
130th	Donald C. Shoemaker*	Republican
131st	Raymond J. Lill*	Dem./Lib.
132nd	S. William Rosenberg*	Republican
133rd	Frank A. Carroll*	Rep./Cons.
134th	William M. Steinfeldt*	Republican
135th	Don W. Cook*	Republican
136th	James L. Emery*	Republican
137th	V. Sumner Carroll*	Rep./Cons.
138th	Richard J. Hogan	Republican
139th	Michael L. McCarthy	Democrat
140th	James T. McFarland*	Rep./Cons.
141st	Chester R. Hardt*	Rep./Cons.
142nd	Stephen R. Greco*	Dem./Lib.
143rd	Arthur O. Eve*	Dem./Lib.
144th	Albert J. Hausbeck*	Rep./Cons.[16]
145th	John B. Lis*	Dem./Lib.
146th	Francis J. Griffin*	Democrat
147th	Ronald H. Tills*	Rep./Cons.
148th	Frank Walkley*	Republican	on July 1, took office as NYS Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets[17]
149th	Lloyd A. Russell*	Rep./Cons.
150th	John W. Beckman*	Rep./Cons.

Employees

• Clerk: Donald A. Campbell

Notes

1. VOTERS HERE FILL 6 SEATS IN ALBANY in The New York Times on November 3, 1971 (subscription required)
2. Swirl of Superlatives Opens 194th Session in The New York Times on January 7, 1971 (subscription required)
3. Remapping of State Will Start At a Special Session Tomorrow in The New York Times on December 13, 1971 (subscription required)
4. LEGISLATORS OPEN SESSION IN ALBANY ON BUDGET CRISIS in The New York Times on December 28, 1971 (subscription required)
5. COMPROMISE PLAN; Total of $407-Million Approved With Aid of Democrats in The New York Times on January 5, 1972 (subscription required)
6. Duryea Emerges Second Only to Governor by Independence and Aid to G.O.P. in The New York Times on January 6, 1972 (subscription required)
7. CITY FALLS SHORT OF STATE-AID GOAL in The New York Times on May 13, 1972 (subscription required)
8. Assembly Votes to Repeal Liberalized Abortion Law; Measure Passes 79 to 68 in The New York Times on May 10, 1972 (subscription required)
9. EX-ASSEMBLYMAN WINS SENATE SEAT in The New York Times on February 10, 1971 (subscription required)
10. A NEW FARM AIDE TAKES STATE POST in The New York Times on July 2, 1972 (subscription required)
11. Assemblyman Resigns To Run for Senate Seat in The New York Times on January 7, 1971 (subscription required)
12. EX-ASSEMBLYMAN WINS SENATE SEAT in The New York Times on February 10, 1971 (subscription required)
13. JACK AND 4 OTHERS ARE FOUND GUILTY in The New York Times on April 25, 1972 (subscription required)
14. John J. Walsh, a registered Democrat, ran for re-election on the ticket of an "Upper Manhattan Apartment Building Party", and defeated the regular Democratic candidate Edward H. Lehner; see Recanvass Names Walsh Victor By 99 Votes in Assembly Race in The New York Times on November 10, 1970 (subscription required).
15. Annual Report of the Temporary Commission of Investigation of the State of New York (1972; pg. 20)
16. Hausbeck had been a Democrat, but changed parties in 1970.
17. A NEW FARM AIDE TAKES STATE POST in The New York Times on July 2, 1972 (subscription required)

Sources

• YOUR HELP NEEDED NOW ON ABORTION LEGISLATION! campaign pamphlet issued by NYALR (a member of COFAR [i.e. the Coalition of Organizations for Abortion Rights])