William Colton (born March 6, 1946) is an American politician who represents District 47 in 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 ...

, which comprises

Bath Beach Bath Beach is a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. It is located at the southwestern edge of the borough on Gravesend Bay. The neighborhood borders Bensonhurst and New Utrecht to the northeast across 86th Street; Dyker Beach ...

, Bensonhurst,

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Ro ...

Dyker Heights Dyker Heights is a predominantly residential neighborhood in the southwest corner of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. It is on a hill between Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Borough Park, and Gravesend Bay. The neighborhood is bounded by 7th and ...

and

Midwood Midwood is a neighborhood in the south-central part of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded on the north by the Bay Ridge Branch tracks just above Avenue I and by the Brooklyn College campus of the City ...

. First elected to the Assembly in 1996, Colton currently serves as Majority Whip. He sits on the Correction, Environmental Conservation, Governmental Employees, Labor, Rules, and Ways and Means committees and is a member of the Asian Pacific American Task Force. He has previously served as chair and Vice Chair of the Majority Conference and as Chair of the Legislative Commission on Solid Waste Management. According to his self-published biography, Colton is a lifelong resident of the district. Prior to entering the Assembly, Colton worked as a teacher within the New York City public school system, serving as a UFT Chapter Chairperson for six of his eleven years in that occupation, and as a licensed attorney since 1979. Colton is the co-founder and organizer of the Bensonhurst Tenants Council, founder of the Bensonhurst

Straphanger In urban public transport, provision is made for standing passengers, often called straphangers or standees, to rationalize operation and to provide extra capacity during rush hour. Occurrence On crowded rapid transit urban lines, while most tr ...

s Committee, and served as an attorney in the lawsuit that successfully prevented the re-opening of the Southwest Brooklyn Incinerator. He holds a B.A. in degree in Urban Education from

St. John's University St John's University may refer to: *St. John's University (New York City) **St. John's University School of Law **St. John's University (Italy) - Overseas Campus *College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, St. Joseph, Minnesota and Col ...

, an M.S. in Urban Education 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 ...

and a J.D. from St. John's School of Law.

Legislation

In the 2019-2020 and the 2021-2022 legislative terms, Colton was the primary sponsor of legislation to make the National Day of the People's Republic of China a public holiday in New York State. In the 2021–2022 term, one bill that Colton was the lead sponsor of was enacted, A03964, which increased fines for leaving the scene of an accident without reporting it.

Controversy

Colton received criticism for a Facebook post he posted on August 9, 2020, calling

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

hate group A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race (human classification), race, Ethnic group, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any o ...

, comparing it to the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

. Colton later clarified that he did not think Black Lives Matter was a hate group, but that there were some bad actors within the movement who seek to spread hate, which he said was similar to how the Ku Klux Klan was started by "well intentioned" people until they later turned towards hate. The Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus of New York released a statement saying they were "shocked and offended" by Colton's post.

Elections

Colton has won 14 terms since 1996, and has never been primaried. His closest election occurred in 2022, when he beat Republican Dmitriy Kugel with 54.73% to Kugel's 45.15%.

References

External links

New York State Assembly Member Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colton, William Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly 1946 births Living people 21st-century American legislators Brooklyn College alumni St. John's University School of Law alumni People from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn