The 174th New York State Legislature, consisting of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

and the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

, met from January 9, 1963, to December 30, 1964, during the fifth and sixth years of

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...

governorship A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the

New York Constitution The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constitut ...

of 1938, re-apportioned in 1953, 58 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), Queens (five), Bronx (four), Erie (three), Nassau (three), Westchester (three), Monroe (two) and Onondaga (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 Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. The

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, the Socialist Workers Party and the

Socialist Labor Party The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...

also nominated tickets.

Elections

The 1962 New York state election, was held on November 6. Governor

and Lieutenant Governor Malcolm Wilson were re-elected, both Republicans. The other four statewide elective offices were carried by two Republicans; and two Democrats with Liberal endorsement. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, was: Republicans 3,082,000; Democrats 2,310,000; Liberals 243,000; Conservatives 142,000; Socialist Workers 20,000; and Socialist Labor 10,000. Two of the four women members of the previous legislature—Assemblywomen

Dorothy Bell Lawrence Dorothy Bell Lawrence (September 14, 1911 – May 1973) was an American politician from New York. Life She was born Dorothy Fleming Bell on September 14, 1911, in Augusta, Georgia, the daughter of Harry Rushton Bell. She graduated from Augusta Tra ...

(Rep.), a former school teacher of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

; and Aileen B. Ryan (Dem.), a former school teacher of

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

—were re-elected.

Constance E. Cook Constance E. Cook (August 17, 1919 – January 20, 2009) was an American Republican Party politician who served in the New York State Assembly, where she co-authored a bill signed into law that legalized abortion in New York three years be ...

(Rep.), a lawyer of

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

, was also elected to the Assembly. The New York state election, 1963, was held on November 5. The only statewide elective office up for election was a seat on the New York Court of Appeals. Democrat Francis Bergan was elected with Republican and Liberal endorsement. One vacancy in the State Senate, and two vacancies in the Assembly, were filled. On February 4, 1964,

Constance Baker Motley Constance Baker Motley (September 14, 1921 – September 28, 2005) was an American jurist and politician, who served as a Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. A key strategist of the civil rights mov ...

, a lawyer of

, was elected to the State Senate, to fill a vacancy.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the first regular session (the 186th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 9, 1963; and adjourned on April 6.

Joseph F. Carlino Joseph Francis Carlino (June 23, 1917 – August 13, 2006) was an American lawyer and politician. Life He was born on June 23, 1917, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His father Lorenzo Carlino became the Republican leader of Long Beach, New Y ...

(Rep.) was re-elected

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

. Walter J. Mahoney (Rep.) was re-elected Temporary President of the State Senate. The Legislature met for the second regular session (the 187th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 8, 1964; and adjourned on March 27. The Legislature met for a special session at the State Capitol in Albany on April 15, 1964; and adjourned on the next day. This session was called to revise the liquor laws. In 1964, the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

handed down several decisions establishing that State legislatures should follow the

One man, one vote "One man, one vote", or "one person, one vote", expresses the principle that individuals should have equal representation in voting. This slogan is used by advocates of political equality to refer to such electoral reforms as universal suffrage, ...

rule to apportion their election districts. A special Federal Statutory Court declared the New York apportionment formulae for both the State Senate and the State Assembly unconstitutional, and the State Legislature was ordered to re-apportion the seats by April 1, 1965. The court also ruled that the 1964 legislative election should be held under the 1954 apportionment, but those elected could serve only for one year (in 1965), and an election under the new apportionment should be held in November 1965. Senators John H. Hughes and

Lawrence M. Rulison Lawrence Mott Rulison (May 2, 1917 – July 23, 1966) was an American lawyer and politician from New York (state), New York. Life He was born on May 2, 1917, in Syracuse, New York, Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York, the son of Howard V. Rulison ...

(both Rep.) questioned the authority of the federal court to shorten the term of the 1964 electees, alleging excessive costs for the additional election in an off-year. At the New York state election, 1964, on November 3, Democratic majorities were elected to both the State Senate and the State Assembly for the session of 1965. The lame-duck Legislature met for another special session at the State Capitol in Albany on December 15, 1964; and adjourned on December 30. This session was called to re-apportion the legislative districts for the 1965 election,

gerrymander In representative democracies, gerrymandering (, originally ) is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The m ...

ing the districts according to the wishes of the Republican majority before the Democrats would take over the Legislature in January.''Reapportioning New York State''
in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' on December 3, 1964 The number of seats in the State Senate was increased to 65, and the number of seats in the Assembly to 165. County representation was abandoned in favor of population-proportional districts, and the new Assembly districts were numbered from 1 to 165.

State Senate

Districts

Senators

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Guy James Mangano, Edward S. Lentol and Jeremiah J. Moriarty changed from the Assembly to the Senate at the beginning of this Legislature. Assemblyman Irwin R. Brownstein was elected to fill a vacancy in the Senate. Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Employees

* Secretary: Albert J. Abrams * Deputy Secretary: Fred Forbes

State Assembly

Assemblymen

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)..."

Employees

* Clerk:

Ansley B. Borkowski Ansley Bernard Borkowski (January 15, 1898 – December 1, 1992) was an American lawyer and politician from New York (state), New York. Life He was born on January 15, 1898, in Buffalo, New York. He attended Canisius High School and Canisius Coll ...

* Sergeant-at-Arms: Raymond J. Roche * Deputy Journal Clerk: Maude E. Ten Eyck

Notes

Sources

''State Senate In a Nutshell''
in the ''Evening Recorder'', of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, on November 7, 1962 (pg. 2)
''New Lineup for New York State Assembly''
in the ''Evening Recorder'', of

, on November 7, 1962 (pg. 5)
''Capitol Hill Changes: New Faces for '65''
in ''The Knickerbocker News'', of Albany, on March 2, 1964
Members of the New York Senate (1960s)
at Political Graveyard

at Political Graveyard {{NYLegislatures

174 Year 174 ( CLXXIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gallus and Flaccus (or, less frequently, year 927 '' Ab urbe condi ...

1963 in New York (state) 1964 in New York (state) 1963 U.S. legislative sessions 1964 U.S. legislative sessions