159th New York State Legislature explained

Number:	159th
Start:	January 1
End:	December 31, 1936
Vp:	Lt. Gov. M. William Bray (D)
Pro Tem:	John J. Dunnigan (D)
Speaker:	Irving M. Ives (R)
Senators:	51
Reps:	150
S-Majority:	Democratic (29–22)
H-Majority:	Republican (81–69)
Sessionnumber1:	1st
Sessionstart1:	January 1
Sessionend1:	May 13, 1936
Previous:	158th
Next:	160th

The 159th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 1 to May 13, 1936, during the fourth 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 Socialist Party and the Communist Party also nominated tickets. In New York City, a "City Fusion" and a "Jeffersonian" ticket were also nominated.

Elections

The New York state election, 1935, was held on November 5. No statewide elective offices were up for election.

Assemblywomen Doris I. Byrne (Dem.), a lawyer from the Bronx, and Jane H. Todd (Rep.), of Tarrytown, were re-elected.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 1, 1936; and adjourned on May 13.^[1]

Irving M. Ives (Rep.) was elected Speaker.

State Senate

Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Jacob H. Livingston and Harry F. Dunkel changed from the Assembly to the Senate.

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
3rd	Frank B. Hendel		Democrat
4th	Philip M. Kleinfeld		Democrat
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	elected to fill vacancy, in place of Henry L. O'Brien
10th	Jeremiah F. Twomey		Democrat	Chairman of Finance
11th	James J. Crawford		Democrat
12th	Elmer F. Quinn		Democrat
13th	Thomas F. Burchill		Democrat
14th	Samuel Mandelbaum		Democrat	on June 20, 1936, appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
15th	John L. Buckley		Democrat
16th	John J. McNaboe		Democrat
17th	Joseph Clark Baldwin		Republican
18th	John T. McCall		Democrat
19th	Duncan T. O'Brien		Democrat
20th	A. Spencer Feld		Democrat
21st	Lazarus Joseph		Democrat
22nd	Julius S. Berg		Democrat
23rd	John J. Dunnigan		Democrat	Temporary President
24th	Rae L. Egbert		Democrat
25th	Pliny W. Williamson		Republican
26th	James A. Garrity		Democrat
27th	Thomas C. Desmond		Republican
28th	Frederic H. Bontecou		Republican
29th	Arthur H. Wicks		Rep./Soc.
30th	William T. Byrne		Democrat
31st	Ogden J. Ross		Democrat
32nd	Edwin E. Miller		Republican
33rd	Benjamin F. Feinberg		Republican
34th	Rhoda Fox Graves		Republican
35th	Harry F. Dunkel		Republican	elected to fill vacancy, in place of Henry I. Patrie
36th	William H. Hampton		Republican
37th	Perley A. Pitcher		Republican
38th	George R. Fearon		Republican	Minority Leader
39th	Walter W. Stokes		Republican
40th	Martin W. Deyo		Republican
41st	C. Tracey Stagg		Republican
42nd	Charles J. Hewitt		Republican
43rd	Earle S. Warner		Republican
44th	Joe R. Hanley		Republican
45th	George B. Kelly		Democrat	on November 3, 1936, elected to the 75th U.S. Congress
46th	Norman A. O'Brien		Democrat
47th	William H. Lee		Republican
48th	David E. Doyle		Democrat
49th	Stephen J. Wojtkowiak		Democrat
50th	Nelson W. Cheney		Republican
51st	Leigh G. Kirkland		Republican

Employees

• Clerk: James J. Reilly

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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

District		Assemblymen	Party	Notes
Albany	1st	Erastus Corning 2nd		Democrat
	2nd	John P. Hayes		Democrat
	3rd	S. Earl McDermott		Democrat
Allegany		William H. MacKenzie		Republican
Bronx	1st	Matthew J. H. McLaughlin		Democrat
	2nd	Doris I. Byrne		Democrat
	3rd	Carl Pack		Democrat
	4th	Samuel Weisman		Democrat
	5th	Julius J. Gans		Democrat^[2]
	6th	Peter A. Quinn		Democrat
	7th	Bernard R. Fleisher		Democrat
	8th	John A. Devany Jr.		Democrat
Broome	1st	Edward F. Vincent		Republican
	2nd	James E. Hill		Republican
Cattaraugus		James W. Riley		Republican
Cayuga		Andrew D. Burgdorf		Republican
Chautauqua	1st	Lloyd J. Babcock		Republican
	2nd	Carl E. Darling		Republican
Chemung		Chauncey B. Hammond		Republican
Chenango		Irving M. Ives		Republican	elected Speaker; Chairman of Rules
Clinton		McKenzie B. Stewart		Republican
Columbia		Frederick A. Washburn		Republican
Cortland		Albert Haskell Jr.		Republican
Delaware		E. Ogden Bush		Republican	Chairman of Public Health
Dutchess	1st	Howard N. Allen		Republican	Chairman of Agriculture
	2nd	Emerson D. Fite		Republican
Erie	1st	Frank A. Gugino		Republican
	2nd	Harold B. Ehrlich		Republican
	3rd	Frank X. Bernhardt		Republican
	4th	Anthony J. Canney		Democrat
	5th	Edwin L. Kantowski		Democrat
	6th	Fred Koehler		Republican
	7th	Arthur L. Swartz		Republican	Chairman of Penal Institutions
	8th	R. Foster Piper		Republican	Chairman of Insurance
Essex		Thomas A. Leahy		Republican
Franklin		John H. Black		Republican
Fulton and Hamilton		Denton D. Lake		Republican
Genesee		Herbert A. Rapp		Republican	Chairman of Motor Vehicles
Greene		Paul Fromer		Republican
Herkimer		David C. Wightman		Republican
Jefferson		Russell Wright		Republican
Kings	1st	Crawford W. Hawkins		Democrat
	2nd	Albert D. Schanzer		Democrat
	3rd	Michael J. Gillen		Democrat
	4th	Bernard Austin		Democrat
	5th	Charles R. McConnell		Democrat
	6th	Robert J. Crews		Rep./City F.
	7th	William Kirnan		Dem./Jeff.
	8th	James V. Mangano		Democrat
	9th	Edgar F. Moran		Democrat
	10th	William C. McCreery		Dem./Jeff.
	11th	Bernard J. Moran		Democrat
	12th	Edward S. Moran Jr.		Democrat
	13th	Ralph Schwartz		Democrat
	14th	Aaron F. Goldstein		Democrat
	15th	Edward P. Doyle		Democrat
	16th	Carmine J. Marasco		Democrat
	17th	George W. Stewart		Democrat
	18th	Irwin Steingut		Democrat	Minority Leader
	19th	George Kaminsky		Democrat
	20th	Eugene J. Keogh		Democrat	on November 3, 1936, elected to the 75th U.S. Congress
	21st	Charles H. Breitbart		Democrat
	22nd	Clement A. Shelton		Democrat
	23rd	G. Thomas LoRe		Democrat
Lewis		Fred A. Young		Republican
Livingston		James J. Wadsworth		Republican	Chairman of Public Welfare and Relief
Madison		Wheeler Milmoe		Republican
Monroe	1st	Pritchard H. Strong		Republican
	2nd	Charles R. Haggerty		Republican
	3rd	Earl C. Langenbacher		Democrat
	4th	Harry J. Gaynor		Republican
	5th	Walter H. Wickins		Republican
Montgomery		L. James Shaver		Republican
Nassau	1st	Harold P. Herman		Republican	Chairman of Mortgage and Real Estate
	2nd	Leonard W. Hall		Republican	Chairman of Re-Apportionment
New York	1st	James J. Dooling		Democrat
	2nd	Nicholas A. Rossi		Democrat
	3rd	Eugene R. Duffy		Democrat
	4th	Leonard Farbstein		Democrat
	5th	John F. Killgrew		Democrat
	6th	Irving D. Neustein		Democrat
	7th	Saul S. Streit		Democrat
	8th	Stephen J. Jarema		Democrat
	9th	Ira H. Holley		Democrat
	10th	Herbert Brownell Jr.		Rep./City F.	Chairman of Affairs of the City of New York
	11th	Patrick H. Sullivan		Democrat
	12th	John A. Byrnes		Democrat
	13th	William J. Sheldrick		Democrat
	14th	Francis J. McCaffrey Jr.		Democrat
	15th	Abbot Low Moffat		Republican	Chairman of Ways and Means
	16th	William Schwartz		Democrat
	17th	Meyer Alterman		Democrat
	18th	Salvatore A. Farenga		Democrat
	19th	Robert W. Justice		Democrat
	20th	Michael J. Keenan		Democrat
	21st	William T. Andrews		Democrat
	22nd	Daniel Flynn		Democrat
	23rd	William J. A. Glancy		Democrat
Niagara	1st	Fayette E. Pease		Republican
	2nd	Harry D. Suitor		Republican
Oneida	1st	Paul B. Mercier		Democrat
	2nd	William R. Williams		Republican
	3rd	Fred L. Meiss		Republican
Onondaga	1st	Horace M. Stone		Republican	Chairman of Judiciary
	2nd	George B. Parsons		Republican
	3rd	Richard B. Smith		Republican	Chairman of Affairs of Cities
Ontario		Harry R. Marble		Republican
Orange	1st	Lee B. Mailler		Republican
	2nd	Rainey S. Taylor		Republican	Chairman of General Laws
Orleans		John S. Thompson		Republican	Chairman of Public Service
Oswego		Ernest J. Lonis		Republican
Otsego		Frank G. Sherman		Republican
Putnam		D. Mallory Stephens		Republican	Chairman of Banks
Queens	1st	Mario J. Cariello		Democrat
	2nd	George F. Torsney		Democrat
	3rd	Peter T. Farrell		Democrat
	4th	Daniel E. Fitzpatrick		Democrat
	5th	Maurice A. FitzGerald		Democrat
	6th	James L. Dixon		Democrat
Rensselaer	1st	Philip J. Casey		Ind. Dem.^[3]
	2nd	Maurice Whitney		Rep./Ind. C.	Chairman of Commerce and Navigation
Richmond	1st	Charles Bormann		Democrat
	2nd	Herman Methfessel		Democrat
Rockland		Laurens M. Hamilton		Republican	Chairman of Civil Service
St. Lawrence	1st	W. Allan Newell		Republican
	2nd	Warren O. Daniels		Republican
Saratoga		William E. Morris		Republican
Schenectady	1st	Oswald D. Heck		Republican	Majority Leader
	2nd	Harold Armstrong		Republican
Schoharie		William S. Dunn		Dem./Soc.
Schuyler		Floyd E. Meeks		Republican
Seneca		James D. Pollard		Republican
Steuben	1st	Wilson Messer		Republican
	2nd	J. Austin Otto		Republican
Suffolk	1st	John G. Downs		Republican
	2nd	Hamilton F. Potter		Republican
Sullivan		J. Maxwell Knapp		Republican
Tioga		Frank G. Miller		Republican	Chairman of Public Printing
Tompkins		James R. Robinson		Republican	Chairman of Codes
Ulster		J. Edward Conway		Rep./Soc.
Warren		Harry A. Reoux		Republican
Washington		Herbert A. Bartholomew		Republican	Chairman of Internal Affairs
Wayne		Harry L. Averill		Republican	Chairman of Public Education
Westchester	1st	Herbert R. Smith		Republican
	2nd	Ralph A. Gamble		Republican	Chairman of Taxation and Retrenchment
	3rd	Hugh A. Lavery		Democrat
	4th	Jane H. Todd		Republican	Chairwoman of Social Welfare
	5th	William T. Grieve		Republican
Wyoming		Harold C. Ostertag		Republican	Chairman of Affairs of Villages
Yates		Fred S. Hollowell		Republican	Chairman of Excise

Employees

• Clerk: Ansley B. Borkowski
• Secretary to the Speaker: Truman G. Searle

Notes

1. https://books.google.com/books?id=acUGAQAAIAAJ&q=one+hundred+fifty+ninth+session+corning+hayes+mcdermott New York Red Book
2. Benjamin Gladstone, the previous incumbent, won the election on November 5, 1935 but died unexpectedly the following month. Gans won the special election held on January 21, 1936 to replace him. (Assembly Seat Won by Bronx Democrat – Gans Is Victor in Special Vote — Communist Runs Second, Republican Fourth. New York Times, January 22, 1966, p. 2.)
3. Casey was a Democrat who was elected on the Republican and Independent Citizens tickets, defeating the incumbent Democrat Michael F. Breen who ran on the Democratic and Socialist tickets for re-election.

Sources

• Members of the New York Assembly (1930s) at Political Graveyard
• Members of Legislature—1936 in The State Employee (February 1936, Vol. 5, No. 2, pg. 10, 12 and 15)
• Moffat to Get Ways–Means Post in G.O.P. Harmony Move in the New York Post on January 6, 1936
• Moffat Heads Ways and Means Comm. in the Plattsburgh Daily Press, of Plattsburgh, on January 7, 1936
• Republican Bolters Suffer No Reprisals at Hands of Speaker in The Niagara Falls Gazette, of Niagara Falls, on January 19, 1937