163rd New York State Legislature


The 163rd New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 8, 1941, to April 24, 1942, during the ninth and tenth years of Herbert H. Lehman's governorship, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1894, re-apportioned in 1917, and amended in 1937, 51 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 New York, Kings, Bronx, Erie, Monroe, Queens and Westchester. 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 American Labor Party endorsed the whole Democratic ticket, which included one Republican judge of the Court of Appeals. The Prohibition Party also nominated a ticket.

Elections

The New York state election, 1940, was held on November 5. All six statewide elective offices were carried by the nominees on the Democratic-American Labor fusion ticket. The approximate party strength at this election, as gathered from the results, was: Democrats 2,843,000; Republicans 2,837,000; American Labor 365,000; and Prohibition 5,000.
All three women legislators—State Senator Rhoda Fox Graves, of Gouverneur; and Assemblywomen Jane H. Todd, of Tarrytown, and Edith C. Cheney, of Corning—were re-elected.
The New York state election, 1941, was held on November 4. Two vacancies in the State Senate and two vacancies in the State Assembly were filled.
On March 10, 1942, Mary A. Gillen, the widow of Assemblyman Michael J. Gillen, was elected to the seat previously held by her husband.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the first regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 8, 1941; and adjourned at 2.30 a.m. on April 4.
Oswald D. Heck was re-elected Speaker.
Joe R. Hanley was re-elected Temporary President of the State Senate.
On December 7, 1941, happened the Attack on Pearl Harbor, and the United States entered World War II. Subsequently, some legislators resigned their seats to join the armed forces, among them Robert F. Wagner, Jr., Phelps Phelps, Francis E. Dorn and Henry J. Latham.
The Legislature met for the second regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 7, 1942; and adjourned on April 24.

State Senate

Districts

Members

The asterisk denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Francis J. McCaffrey Jr and Charles O. Burney Jr changed from the Assembly to the Senate at the beginning of this Legislature. Assemblymen Carmine J. Marasco and William Kirnan were elected to fill vacancies in the Senate.
Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on..."
DistrictSenatorPartyNotes
1stGeorge L. Thompson*RepublicanChairman of Finance; died on September 1, 1941
1stPerry B. Duryea Sr.Republicanon November 4, 1941, elected to fill vacancy
2ndSeymour HalpernRepublican
3rdPeter T. Farrell*Democrat
4thPhilip M. Kleinfeld*Democraton January 13, 1941, appointed to the NY Supreme Court
4thCarmine J. MarascoDemocraton February 18, 1941, elected to fill vacancy
5thJohn J. Howard*Democratdied on January 24, 1941
5thWilliam KirnanDemocraton March 11, 1941, elected to fill vacancy
6thEdward J. Coughlin*Democrat
7thJacob J. Schwartzwald*Democraton September 9, 1942, appointed to the NYC City Court
8thJoseph A. Esquirol*Democrat
9thDaniel Gutman*Democrat
10thJeremiah F. Twomey*Democrat
11thJames J. Crawford*Democrat
12thElmer F. Quinn*Democrat
13thPhelps Phelps*Democraton February 16, 1942, gave notice of his
return to active duty in the U.S. Army
14thWilliam J. Murray*Democrat
15thJohn L. Buckley*Democrat
16thFrancis J. McCaffrey, Jr.*Democraton November 4, 1941, elected to the NYC Municipal Court
16thThomas G. BrennanDemocraton January 13, 1942, elected to fill vacancy;
and took his seat on January 26
17thFrederic R. Coudert, Jr.*Republican
18thCharles MuzzicatoRep./Am. LaborChairman of Public Health
19thCharles D. Perry*Democrat
20thAlexander A. FalkDemocrat
21stLazarus Joseph*Democrat
22ndCarl Pack*Democrat
23rdJohn J. Dunnigan*DemocratMinority Leader
24thRobert E. JohnsonRepublican
25thPliny W. Williamson*Republican
26thWilliam F. Condon*Republican
27thThomas C. Desmond*Republican
28thAllan A. Ryan, Jr.*Republican
29thArthur H. Wicks*RepublicanChairman of Civil Service;
Chairman of Finance, from September 17, 1941
30thErastus Corning 2nd*Democratresigned on August 1, 1941, to run for Mayor of Albany
30thJulian B. ErwayDemocraton November 4, 1941, elected to fill vacancy
31stClifford C. Hastings*RepublicanChairman of Civil Service, from January 7, 1942
32ndGilbert T. Seelye*Republican
33rdBenjamin F. Feinberg*Republican
34thRhoda Fox Graves*Republican
35thFred A. Young*Republican
36thWilliam H. Hampton*Republican
37thIsaac B. Mitchell*Republican
38thG. Frank WallaceRepublican
39thWalter W. Stokes*Rep./Am. Labor
40thRoy M. Page*Republican
41stChauncey B. Hammond*Republican
42ndHenry W. Griffith*Republican
43rdEarle S. Warner*Republican
44thJoe R. Hanley*Republicanre-elected Temporary President
45thRodney B. Janes*Republican
46thKarl K. Bechtold*Republicanresigned in April 1942, and joined the USNR
47thWilliam Bewley*RepublicanChairman of Taxation and Retrenchment
48thWalter J. Mahoney*Republican
49thStephen J. Wojtkowiak*Dem./Am. Labor
50thCharles O. Burney, Jr.*RepublicanChairman of Affairs of Villages
51stJames W. Riley*Republican

Employees

Assemblymen

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

Employees