161st New York State Legislature

161st New York State Legislature
161st New York State Legislature
	New York State Capitol (2009)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1938
Senate
Members	51
President	Lt. Gov. M. William Bray (D)
Temporary President	John J. Dunnigan (D)
Party control	Democratic (29–22)
Assembly
Members	150
Speaker	Oswald D. Heck (R)
Party control	Republican (84–61–5)
Sessions
1st
1st	January 5 – March 19, 1938

The 161st New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 5 to March 19, 1938, during the sixth year of Herbert H. Lehman's governorship, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1894, re-apportioned in 1917, 51 Senators and 150 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts; senators for a two-year term, assemblymen for a one-year term. 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 New York (nine districts), Kings (eight), Bronx (three), Erie (three), Monroe (two), Queens (two) and Westchester (two). The Assembly districts were made up of contiguous area, all within the same county.

At this time there were two major political parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The American Labor Party and the Socialist Party also nominated tickets. In New York City, a "Trades Union", an "Anti-Communist", and a "City Fusion" ticket were also nominated.

Elections

The New York state election, 1937, was held on November 2. The only statewide elective office up for election was a judgeship on the New York Court of Appeals. The Democratic incumbent, Gov. Herbert H. Lehman's brother Irving Lehman, was re-elected with Republican and American Labor endorsement.

At the same time, an amendment to the State Constitution to increase of the term in office of the members of the New York State Assembly to two years, and of the statewide elected state officers (Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Comptroller, Attorney General) to four years, was accepted. Also, delegates for a Constitutional Convention, to be held later that year after the legislative session, were elected.

Assemblywoman Jane H. Todd (Rep.), of Tarrytown, was re-elected.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 5, 1938; and adjourned in the evening of March 19.^[2]

Oswald D. Heck (Rep.) was re-elected Speaker, with 83 votes against 55 for Irwin Steingut (Dem.) and 4 for Nathaniel M. Minkoff (Am. Labor).^[3]

The Constitutional Convention met at the State Capitol in Albany on April 5;^[4] and adjourned on August 26.^[5]

State Senate

Districts

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

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	Senator	Party	Notes
1st	George L. Thompson*	Republican
2nd	Joseph D. Nunan Jr.*	Democrat	also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
3rd	Peter T. Farrell*	Democrat
4th	Philip M. Kleinfeld*	Democrat	also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
5th	John J. Howard*	Democrat
6th	Edward J. Coughlin*	Democrat
7th	Jacob J. Schwartzwald*	Democrat
8th	Joseph A. Esquirol*	Democrat
9th	Jacob H. Livingston*	Democrat	also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention; on November 8, 1938, elected to the City Court (Brooklyn)
10th	Jeremiah F. Twomey*	Democrat	Chairman of Finance
11th	James J. Crawford*	Democrat
12th	Elmer F. Quinn*	Democrat
13th	Thomas F. Burchill*	Democrat
14th	William J. Murray*	Democrat
15th	John L. Buckley*	Democrat
16th	John J. McNaboe*	Democrat
17th	Leon A. Fischel*	Democrat
18th	John T. McCall*	Democrat	also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
19th	Duncan T. O'Brien*	Democrat	died on September 14, 1938
20th	A. Spencer Feld*	Democrat	Chairman of Public Education
21st	Lazarus Joseph*	Democrat
22nd	Julius S. Berg*	Democrat	committed suicide on July 20, 1938
23rd	John J. Dunnigan*	Democrat	Temporary President; also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
24th	Rae L. Egbert*	Democrat
25th	Pliny W. Williamson*	Republican
26th	James A. Garrity*	Dem./Am. L.
27th	Thomas C. Desmond*	Republican
28th	Frederic H. Bontecou*	Republican	also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
29th	Arthur H. Wicks*	Republican
30th	Erastus Corning 2nd*	Democrat
31st	Clifford C. Hastings*	Republican
32nd	Edwin E. Miller*	Republican
33rd	Benjamin F. Feinberg*	Republican	also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
34th	Rhoda Fox Graves*	Republican
35th	Harry F. Dunkel*	Republican
36th	William H. Hampton*	Republican
37th	Perley A. Pitcher*	Republican	Minority Leader; also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
38th	Francis L. McElroy*	Dem./Am. L.
39th	Walter W. Stokes*	Republican
40th	Roy M. Page*	Republican
41st	C. Tracey Stagg*	Republican
42nd	Charles J. Hewitt*	Republican
43rd	Earle S. Warner*	Republican
44th	Joe R. Hanley*	Republican
45th	Emmett L. Doyle*	Dem./Am. L.
46th	George F. Rogers*	Dem./Am. L.
47th	William H. Lee*	Republican
48th	Walter J. Mahoney*	Republican
49th	Stephen J. Wojtkowiak*	Dem./Am. L.
50th	Nelson W. Cheney*	Republican
51st	Leigh G. Kirkland*	Republican

Employees

Clerk: James J. Reilly
Sergeant-at-Arms: William F. Egloff Jr.
Stenographer: Robert Murray

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

District		Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	1st	George W. Foy*	Democrat
	2nd	John P. Hayes*	Democrat
	3rd	James J. Carroll	Dem./Am. L.
Allegany		William H. MacKenzie*	Republican
Bronx	1st	Matthew J. H. McLaughlin*	Dem./T.U./A.-C.
	2nd	Patrick J. Fogarty	Dem./T.U./A.-C.
	3rd	Carl Pack*	Dem./T.U./A.-C.
	4th	Isidore Dollinger*	Dem./T.U./A.-C.
	5th	Nathaniel M. Minkoff	Am. L./Soc.	American Labor Leader
	6th	Peter A. Quinn*	Dem./T.U./A.-C.
	7th	Gerard J. Muccigrosso	Am. L./Soc./C.F.
	8th	John A. Devany Jr.*	Dem./T.U./A.-C.
Broome	1st	Edward F. Vincent*	Republican	Chairman of Public Institutions
Broome	2nd	James E. Hill*	Republican
Cattaraugus		James W. Riley*	Rep./Soc.	Chairman of Military Affairs
Cayuga		Andrew D. Burgdorf*	Republican	Chairman of Public Health
Chautauqua	1st	Lloyd J. Babcock*	Republican	Chairman of Pensions
Chautauqua	2nd	Carl E. Darling*	Republican	Chairman of Revision
Chemung		Chauncey B. Hammond*	Republican	Chairman of Penal Institutions
Chenango		Irving M. Ives*	Republican	Majority Leader
Clinton		Emmett J. Roach*	Democrat
Columbia		Frederick A. Washburn*	Republican	Chairman of Labor and Industries
Cortland		John B. Briggs*	Republican
Delaware		William T. A. Webb	Republican
Dutchess	1st	Howard N. Allen*	Republican	Chairman of Agriculture
Dutchess	2nd	Emerson D. Fite*	Republican	Chairman of Charitable and Religious Societies
Erie	1st	Frank A. Gugino*	Republican
	2nd	Harold B. Ehrlich*	Rep./Am. L.	Chairman of Claims
	3rd	William J. Butler	Rep./Am. L.
	4th	Anthony J. Canney*	Democrat	also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
	5th	Frank Kwiatkowski	Dem./Am. L.
	6th	Jerome C. Kreinheder*	Republican
	7th	Charles O. Burney Jr.*	Republican
	8th	R. Foster Piper*	Rep./Soc.	Chairman of Insurance; also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
Essex		Thomas A. Leahy*	Republican
Franklin		John H. Black*	Republican
Fulton and Hamilton		Denton D. Lake*	Republican	Chairman of Aviation
Genesee		Herbert A. Rapp*	Republican	Chairman of Motor Vehicles
Greene		Paul Fromer*	Republican
Herkimer		Leo A. Lawrence*	Republican
Jefferson		Russell Wright*	Republican
Kings	1st	Crawford W. Hawkins*	Dem./T.U./A.-C.
	2nd	Benjamin Brenner	Am. L./City F.
	3rd	Michael J. Gillen*	Dem./T.U./A.-C.
	4th	Bernard Austin*	Democrat
	5th	Charles R. McConnell*	Democrat
	6th	Robert J. Crews	Rep./City F.	Chairman of Affairs of the City of New York
	7th	William Kirnan*	Democrat
	8th	Charles J. Beckinella	Democrat
	9th	Edgar F. Moran*	Democrat
	10th	William C. McCreery*	Democrat
	11th	Bernard J. Moran*	Democrat
	12th	Edward S. Moran Jr.*	Democrat	on June 24, arrested and accused of taking bribes^[6]
	13th	Ralph Schwartz*	Democrat
	14th	Harry Gittleson	Democrat
	15th	John Smolenski	Democrat
	16th	Salvatore T. DeMatteo	Am. Labor
	17th	Fred G. Moritt	Democrat
	18th	Irwin Steingut*	Democrat	Minority Leader; also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
	19th	Max M. Turshen*	Democrat
	20th	Roy H. Rudd*	Democrat
	21st	Charles H. Breitbart*	Democrat
	22nd	Peter H. Ruvolo	Democrat
	23rd	Frank Monaco	Am. L./Rep.
Lewis		Fred A. Young*	Republican
Livingston		James J. Wadsworth*	Republican	Chairman of Public Relief and Welfare
Madison		Wheeler Milmoe*	Republican	Chairman of Public Printing
Monroe	1st	Frank J. Sellmayer Jr.	Republican
	2nd	Abraham Schulman	Republican
	3rd	Earl C. Langenbacher*	Democrat
	4th	Pat E. Provenzano	Republican
	5th	Walter H. Wickins*	Republican	Chairman of Commerce and Navigation
Montgomery		L. James Shaver*	Republican	Chairman of Canals
Nassau	1st	John D. Bennett	Republican
Nassau	2nd	Leonard W. Hall*	Republican	Chairman of Re-Apportionment; on November 8, 1938, elected to the 76th U.S. Congress
New York	1st	James J. Dooling*	Democrat
	2nd	Nicholas A. Rossi*	Democrat	also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
	3rd	Phelps Phelps*	Democrat
	4th	Leonard Farbstein*	Democrat
	5th	John F. Killgrew*	Democrat
	6th	Meyer Goldberg	Republican
	7th	William T. Middleton	Republican
	8th	Stephen J. Jarema*	Democrat
	9th	Ira H. Holley*	Democrat
	10th	MacNeil Mitchell	Rep./City F.
	11th	Patrick H. Sullivan*	Democrat
	12th	Edmund J. Delany*	Democrat	also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
	13th	William J. Sheldrick*	Democrat
	14th	Francis J. McCaffrey Jr.*	Democrat
	15th	Abbot Low Moffat*	Republican	Chairman of Ways and Means: also a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
	16th	Robert F. Wagner Jr.	Democrat
	17th	Oscar Garcia Rivera	Rep./Am. L.
	18th	Salvatore A. Farenga*	Democrat
	19th	Robert W. Justice*	Democrat
	20th	Walter V. Fitzgerald	Rep./Am. L.
	21st	William T. Andrews*	Democrat
	22nd	Daniel Flynn*	Democrat
	23rd	William J. A. Glancy*	Democrat
Niagara	1st	Fayette E. Pease*	Republican	Chairman of Conservation
Niagara	2nd	Harry D. Suitor*	Republican	Chairman of Codes
Oneida	1st	John J. Walsh	Democrat
	2nd	William R. Williams*	Republican
	3rd	C. Dean Williams	Republican
Onondaga	1st	Leo W. Breed*	Republican
	2nd	George B. Parsons*	Republican
	3rd	Frank J. Costello*	Republican
Ontario		Harry R. Marble*	Republican	Chairman of Printed and Engrossed Bills
Orange	1st	Lee B. Mailler*	Republican	Chairman of Mortgage and Real Estate
Orange	2nd	Charles N. Hammond	Republican
Orleans		John S. Thompson*	Republican	Chairman of Public Service
Oswego		Ernest J. Lonis*	Republican
Otsego		Chester T. Backus*	Republican
Putnam		D. Mallory Stephens*	Republican	Chairman of Banks
Queens	1st	Mario J. Cariello*	Democrat
	2nd	Timothy P. Kirwan	Democrat
	3rd	John V. Downey*	Democrat
	4th	Daniel E. Fitzpatrick*	Democrat
	5th	William F. Dailey	Democrat
	6th	Joseph P. Teagle	Democrat
Rensselaer	1st	Philip J. Casey*	Democrat
Rensselaer	2nd	Maurice Whitney*	Republican	Chairman of Taxation and Retrenchment
Richmond	1st	Charles Bormann*	Democrat
Richmond	2nd	Herman Methfessel*	Democrat
Rockland		Lawrence J. Murray Jr.	Democrat
St. Lawrence	1st	W. Allan Newell*	Republican	Chairman of Civil Service
St. Lawrence	2nd	Warren O. Daniels*	Republican
Saratoga		Richard J. Sherman	Republican
Schenectady	1st	Oswald D. Heck*	Republican	re-elected Speaker
Schenectady	2nd	Harold Armstrong*	Republican	Chairman of Affairs of Cities
Schoharie		Arthur L. Parsons*	Republican
Schuyler		Dutton S. Peterson*	Republican
Seneca		Lawrence W. Van Cleef*	Republican
Steuben	1st	Guy W. Cheney*	Republican
Steuben	2nd	William M. Stuart*	Republican
Suffolk	1st	Edmund R. Lupton*	Republican
Suffolk	2nd	Elisha T. Barrett*	Republican
Sullivan		William A. Chandler	Republican
Tioga		Myron D. Albro	Republican
Tompkins		Stanley C. Shaw*	Republican
Ulster		J. Edward Conway*	Republican	Chairman of General Laws
Warren		Harry A. Reoux*	Republican	Chairman of Judiciary
Washington		Herbert A. Bartholomew*	Republican	Chairman of Internal Affairs
Wayne		Harry L. Averill*	Republican	Chairman of Public Education
Westchester	1st	Christopher H. Lawrence	Republican
	2nd	Theodore Hill Jr.	Republican
	3rd	James E. Owens	Republican
	4th	Jane H. Todd*	Republican	Chairwoman of Social Welfare
	5th	Arthur J. Doran*	Democrat
Wyoming		Harold C. Ostertag*	Republican	Chairman of Affairs of Villages
Yates		Fred S. Hollowell*	Republican	Chairman of Excise

Employees

Clerk: Ansley B. Borkowski

Notes

^ Note that the last legislative day of the regular session was March 18, and the New York Red Book gives March 18 as the end of this session. In fact, the adjournment sine die occurred at 6.16 o'clock in the evening of March 19 after a session of 32 hours and 16 minutes, until then the longest session in New York legislative history.
^ LEGISLATURE ENDS IN A RUSH OF BILLS in The New York Times on March 20, 1938 (subscription required)
^ SPEAKER HECK IS RE-ELECTED in The Evening News, of North Tonawanda, on January 5, 1938
^ Crane Pledges Convention To Renewing of Democracy in The New York Times on April 6, 1938 (subscription required)
^ SUBMISSION IN NINE ITEMS VOTED FOR STATE CHARTER; CONVENTION IS ADJOURNED in The New York Times on August 27, 1938 (subscription required)
^ E. S. Moran Jr. of 12th A. D., Brooklyn, Accused of Getting $36,000 From Taxi Concerns in The New York Times on June 25, 1938 (subscription required)

Sources

Members of Assembly—1938 in The State Employee (December 1937, Vol. 6, No. 9, pg. 16ff)
Members of the New York Senate (1930s) at Political Graveyard
Members of the New York Assembly (1930s) at Political Graveyard
RULES GROUP OF ASSEMBLY ADDS MEMBER in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, of Rochester, on January 11, 1938

[1] Note that the last legislative day of the regular session was March 18, and the New York Red Book gives March 18 as the end of this session. In fact, the adjournment sine die occurred at 6.16 o'clock in the evening of March 19 after a session of 32 hours and 16 minutes, until then the longest session in New York legislative history.

[2] LEGISLATURE ENDS IN A RUSH OF BILLS in The New York Times on March 20, 1938 (subscription required)

[3] SPEAKER HECK IS RE-ELECTED in The Evening News, of North Tonawanda, on January 5, 1938

[4] Crane Pledges Convention To Renewing of Democracy in The New York Times on April 6, 1938 (subscription required)

[5] SUBMISSION IN NINE ITEMS VOTED FOR STATE CHARTER; CONVENTION IS ADJOURNED in The New York Times on August 27, 1938 (subscription required)

[6] E. S. Moran Jr. of 12th A. D., Brooklyn, Accused of Getting $36,000 From Taxi Concerns in The New York Times on June 25, 1938 (subscription required)

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