159th New York State Legislature

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.

159th New York State Legislature
← 158th 160th →
New York State Capitol (2009)
Overview
Legislative body	New York State Legislature
Jurisdiction	New York, United States
Term	January 1 – December 31, 1936
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	Irving M. Ives (R)
Party control	Republican (81–69)
Sessions
1st January 1 – May 13, 1936

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

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. 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	on November 3, 1936, elected to the 75th U.S. Congress
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. New York Red Book (1939; pg. 252)
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
• 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