Stanley Fink (February 6, 1936 – March 4, 1997) was an American lawyer and politician.

Life

Fink was born on February 6, 1936, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He attended

New Utrecht High School New Utrecht High School is a state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school located in Bensonhurst, a neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Educat ...

. He graduated from

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

in 1956, and from

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

in 1959. He then joined the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

, serving in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

as a second lieutenant with the Judge Advocate General's office. He was discharged in 1962 as a captain. He returned to Brooklyn, where he practiced law and entered politics as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. He married Judith, and they had two sons: Marcus Fink and Keith Fink. In 1968, Fink was appointed as chief counsel to the Assembly's Committee on Mental Hygiene. He was a member of 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 ...

from 1969 to 1986, sitting in the 178th, 179th, 180th, 181st, 182nd, 183rd, 184th, 185th and

186th New York State Legislature The 186th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 9, 1985, to December 31, 1986, during the third and fourth years of Mario Cuomo's governorship, in Albany. Backgrou ...

s. He was Majority Leader in 1977 and 1978; and

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 ...

from 1979 to 1986. In 1986, he decided not to seek re-election, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and earn more money in the private sector. He joined Bower & Gardner, a

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 ...

law firm, and was senior vice president for regulatory and Government affairs for

NYNEX NYNEX Corporation was an American telephone company that served five states of New England (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont) as well as most of the state of New York from January 1, 1984 to August 14, 1997. History ...

at the time of his death. He died on March 4, 1997, in

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, of heart failure. He had been in failing health since late January when he underwent surgery for a recurrence of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. He was buried at the Mt. Ararat Cemetery on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

Sources

''Stanley Fink, Assembly Speaker, 61, Is Dead''
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 d ...

'' on March 6, 1997 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fink, Stanley 1936 births 1997 deaths Speakers of the New York State Assembly Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Brooklyn College alumni New York University School of Law alumni Jewish American state legislators in New York (state) Politicians from Brooklyn United States Air Force officers 20th-century American politicians New Utrecht High School alumni 20th-century American Jews