# 155th New York State Legislature

The 155th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6 to December 14, 1932, during the fourth year of Franklin D. Roosevelt's governorship, in Albany.

## 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.

## Elections

The 1931 New York state election was held on November 3. No statewide elective offices were up for election.
Assemblywoman Rhoda Fox Graves (Rep.), of Gouverneur, a former school teacher who after her marriage became active in women's organisations and politics, was re-elected, and remained the only woman legislator.

## Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 6, 1932; and adjourned on March 11.
Joseph A. McGinnies (Rep.) was re-elected Speaker.
The Legislature met for a special session at the State Capitol in Albany on December 9, 1932; and adjourned on December 14. This session was called to enact legislation to avoid the financial breakdown of New York City which threatened to occur on December 17.

## 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. Joe R. Hanley 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 | Chairman of Conservation |
| 2nd | Joseph D. Nunan Jr.* | Democrat | |
| 3rd | Frank B. Hendel* | Democrat | |
| 4th | Philip M. Kleinfeld* | Democrat | |
| 5th | John J. Howard* | Democrat | |
| 6th | Marcellus H. Evans* | Democrat | |
| 7th | John A. Hastings* | Democrat | |
| 8th | William L. Love* | Democrat | |
| 9th | Henry L. O'Brien* | Democrat | |
| 10th | Jeremiah F. Twomey* | Democrat | |
| 11th | James J. Crawford* | Democrat | |
| 12th | Elmer F. Quinn* | Democrat | |
| 13th | Thomas F. Burchill* | Democrat | |
| 14th | Edward J. Ahearn | Democrat | elected to fill vacancy, in place of Bernard Downing |
| 15th | John L. Buckley* | Democrat | |
| 16th | John J. McNaboe* | Democrat | |
| 17th | Samuel H. Hofstadter* | Republican | Chairman of General Laws |
| 18th | John T. McCall* | Democrat | |
| 19th | Duncan T. O'Brien* | Democrat | |
| 20th | A. Spencer Feld* | Democrat | |
| 21st | Henry G. Schackno* | Democrat | |
| 22nd | Julius S. Berg* | Democrat | |
| 23rd | John J. Dunnigan* | Democrat | Minority Leader |
| 24th | Harry J. Palmer* | Democrat | |
| 25th | Walter W. Westall* | Republican | Chairman of Internal Affairs |
| 26th | Seabury C. Mastick* | Republican | Chairman of Taxation and Retrenchment |
| 27th | Thomas C. Desmond* | Republican | Chairman of Military Affairs |
| 28th | J. Griswold Webb* | Republican | Chairman of Public Education |
| 29th | Arthur H. Wicks* | Republican | Chairman of Public Health |
| 30th | William T. Byrne* | Democrat | |
| 31st | John F. Williams* | Republican | Chairman of Affairs of Villages |
| 32nd | Alexander G. Baxter* | Republican | Chairman of Revision |
| 33rd | Henry E. H. Brereton* | Republican | Chairman of Civil Service |
| 34th | Warren T. Thayer* | Republican | Chairman of Public Service |
| 35th | Henry I. Patrie* | Republican | Chairman of Privileges and Elections |
| 36th | Charles B. Horton* | Republican | Chairman of Printed and Engrossed Bills |
| 37th | Perley A. Pitcher* | Republican | Chairman of Judiciary |
| 38th | George R. Fearon* | Republican | Temporary President; Chairman of Rules |
| 39th | John W. Gates* | Republican | Chairman of Labor and Industry |
| 40th | Bert Lord* | Republican | Chairman of Pensions |
| 41st | Frank A. Frost* | Republican | Chairman of Commerce and Navigation |
| 42nd | Charles J. Hewitt* | Republican | Chairman of Finance |
| 43rd | Leon F. Wheatley* | Republican | Chairman of Insurance |
| 44th | Joe R. Hanley* | Republican | elected to fill vacancy, in place of John Knight; Chairman of Public Printing |
| 45th | Cosmo A. Cilano* | Republican | Chairman of Codes |
| 46th | Fred J. Slater* | Republican | Chairman of Penal Institutions |
| 47th | William W. Campbell* | Republican | Chairman of Banks; Chairman of Re-Apportionment |
| 48th | William J. Hickey* | Republican | Chairman of Cities |
| 49th | Stephen J. Wojtkowiak* | Democrat | |
| 50th | Nelson W. Cheney* | Republican | Chairman of Canals |
| 51st | Leigh G. Kirkland* | Republican | Chairman of Agriculture |

### Employees

* Clerk: A. Miner Wellman

## State Assembly
### Assemblymen

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."
| District | District | Assemblymen | Party | Notes |
| Albany | 1st | John H. Cahill* | Democrat | |
| Albany | 2nd | John P. Hayes* | Democrat | |
| Albany | 3rd | Rudolph I. Roulier* | Democrat | |
| Allegany | Allegany | Harry E. Goodrich* | Republican | |
| Bronx | 1st | Nicholas J. Eberhard* | Democrat | |
| Bronx | 2nd | William F. Smith* | Democrat | |
| Bronx | 3rd | Carl Pack* | Democrat | |
| Bronx | 4th | Herman M. Albert* | Democrat | |
| Bronx | 5th | Harry A. Samberg* | Democrat | |
| Bronx | 6th | Christopher C. McGrath* | Democrat | |
| Bronx | 7th | John F. Reidy* | Democrat | |
| Bronx | 8th | John A. Devany Jr.* | Democrat | |
| Broome | 1st | Edmund B. Jenks* | Republican | Chairman of Judiciary |
| Broome | 2nd | Forman E. Whitcomb* | Republican | Chairman of Affairs of Cities |
| Cattaraugus | Cattaraugus | James W. Riley* | Rep./Soc. | |
| Cayuga | Cayuga | Fred Lewis Palmer* | Rep./Soc. | |
| Chautauqua | 1st | Hubert E. V. Porter* | Republican | |
| Chautauqua | 2nd | Joseph A. McGinnies* | Republican | re-elected Speaker |
| Chemung | Chemung | G. Archie Turner* | Republican | |
| Chenango | Chenango | Irving M. Ives* | Republican | |
| Clinton | Clinton | Leo E. Trombly | Democrat | |
| Columbia | Columbia | Frederick A. Washburn | Republican | |
| Cortland | Cortland | Irving F. Rice* | Republican | |
| Delaware | Delaware | James R. Stevenson* | Republican | |
| Dutchess | 1st | Howard N. Allen* | Republican | |
| Dutchess | 2nd | Charles F. Close* | Republican | |
| Erie | 1st | Charles J. Gimbrone* | Republican | |
| Erie | 2nd | William L. Marcy Jr.* | Republican | |
| Erie | 3rd | Frank X. Bernhardt* | Republican | |
| Erie | 4th | Anthony J. Canney* | Democrat | |
| Erie | 5th | Edwin L. Kantowski* | Democrat | |
| Erie | 6th | Howard W. Dickey* | Republican | |
| Erie | 7th | Arthur L. Swartz* | Republican | |
| Erie | 8th | R. Foster Piper* | Republican | |
| Essex | Essex | Fred L. Porter* | Republican | Chairman of Ways and Means |
| Franklin | Franklin | James A. Latour* | Republican | |
| Fulton and Hamilton | Fulton and Hamilton | Harry F. Dunkel | Republican | |
| Genesee | Genesee | Herbert A. Rapp | Republican | |
| Greene | Greene | Ellis W. Bentley* | Republican | |
| Herkimer | Herkimer | Edward O. Davies | Republican | |
| Jefferson | Jefferson | Jasper W. Cornaire* | Republican | |
| Kings | 1st | Crawford W. Hawkins* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 2nd | Albert D. Schanzer* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 3rd | Michael J. Gillen* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 4th | George E. Dennen* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 5th | John J. Cooney* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 6th | Jacob J. Schwartzwald* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 7th | William Kirnan* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 8th | Luke O'Reilly* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 9th | Daniel McNamara Jr.* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 10th | William C. McCreery* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 11th | Edward J. Coughlin* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 12th | Edward S. Moran Jr.* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 13th | William Breitenbach* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 14th | Jacob P. Nathanson* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 15th | Edward P. Doyle* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 16th | Maurice Z. Bungard* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 17th | George W. Stewart | Democrat | |
| Kings | 18th | Irwin Steingut* | Democrat | Minority Leader |
| Kings | 19th | Jerome G. Ambro* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 20th | Joseph J. Monahan | Democrat | |
| Kings | 21st | Joseph A. Esquirol* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 22nd | Jacob H. Livingston* | Democrat | |
| Kings | 23rd | Albert M. Cohen* | Democrat | |
| Lewis | Lewis | Edward M. Sheldon* | Republican | |
| Livingston | Livingston | James J. Wadsworth | Republican | |
| Madison | Madison | Arthur A. Hartshorn* | Republican | |
| Monroe | 1st | Daniel J. O'Mara | Republican | |
| Monroe | 2nd | Harry J. McKay* | Republican | |
| Monroe | 3rd | Haskell H. Marks* | Republican | |
| Monroe | 4th | Richard L. Saunders* | Republican | |
| Monroe | 5th | W. Ray Austin* | Republican | |
| Montgomery | Montgomery | Rufus Richtmyer* | Republican | |
| Nassau | 1st | Edwin W. Wallace* | Republican | |
| Nassau | 2nd | Edwin R. Lynde* | Republican | |
| New York | 1st | James J. Dooling* | Democrat | |
| New York | 2nd | Millard E. Theodore* | Democrat | |
| New York | 3rd | Sylvester A. Dineen* | Democrat | |
| New York | 4th | Samuel Mandelbaum* | Democrat | |
| New York | 5th | John F. Killgrew* | Democrat | |
| New York | 6th | Irving D. Neustein* | Democrat | |
| New York | 7th | Saul S. Streit* | Democrat | |
| New York | 8th | Henry O. Kahan* | Democrat | died on February 6, 1932 |
| New York | 9th | Ira H. Holley* | Democrat | |
| New York | 10th | Langdon W. Post* | Democrat | |
| New York | 11th | Patrick H. Sullivan* | Democrat | |
| New York | 12th | John A. Byrnes* | Democrat | |
| New York | 13th | William J. Sheldrick* | Democrat | |
| New York | 14th | Joseph T. Higgins* | Democrat | |
| New York | 15th | Abbot Low Moffat* | Republican | |
| New York | 16th | William Schwartz* | Democrat | |
| New York | 17th | Meyer Alterman* | Democrat | |
| New York | 18th | Sol A. Hyman* | Democrat | |
| New York | 19th | James E. Stephens* | Democrat | |
| New York | 20th | Louis A. Cuvillier* | Democrat | |
| New York | 21st | David Paris* | Democrat | |
| New York | 22nd | Benjamin B. Mittler* | Democrat | |
| New York | 23rd | Alexander A. Falk* | Democrat | |
| Niagara | 1st | Fayette E. Pease* | Republican | |
| Niagara | 2nd | Roy Hewitt* | Republican | |
| Oneida | 1st | Charles J. Peters | Republican | |
| Oneida | 2nd | Russell G. Dunmore* | Republican | Majority Leader |
| Oneida | 3rd | Walter W. Abbott* | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 1st | Horace M. Stone* | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 2nd | Willis H. Sargent* | Republican | |
| Onondaga | 3rd | Richard B. Smith* | Republican | |
| Ontario | Ontario | Robert A. Catchpole* | Republican | |
| Orange | 1st | William J. Lamont* | Republican | |
| Orange | 2nd | Rainey S. Taylor* | Republican | |
| Orleans | Orleans | John S. Thompson* | Republican | |
| Oswego | Oswego | Victor C. Lewis* | Republican | |
| Otsego | Otsego | Frank M. Smith* | Republican | Chairman of Agriculture |
| Putnam | Putnam | D. Mallory Stephens* | Republican | Chairman of Military Affairs |
| Queens | 1st | John O'Rourke* | Democrat | |
| Queens | 2nd | Joseph C. Mulligan* | Democrat | |
| Queens | 3rd | Peter T. Farrell* | Democrat | |
| Queens | 4th | James A. Burke* | Democrat | |
| Queens | 5th | Maurice A. FitzGerald* | Democrat | |
| Queens | 6th | Frederick L. Zimmerman* | Democrat | |
| Rensselaer | 1st | Michael F. Breen* | Democrat | |
| Rensselaer | 2nd | Maurice Whitney* | Republican | |
| Richmond | 1st | Francis P. Heffernan* | Democrat | |
| Richmond | 2nd | William L. Vaughan* | Democrat | |
| Rockland | Rockland | Fred R. Horn Jr.* | Democrat | |
| St. Lawrence | 1st | Rhoda Fox Graves* | Republican | |
| St. Lawrence | 2nd | Walter L. Pratt* | Republican | |
| Saratoga | Saratoga | Burton D. Esmond* | Republican | |
| Schenectady | 1st | Oswald D. Heck | Republican | |
| Schenectady | 2nd | John H. Buhrmaster | Republican | |
| Schoharie | Schoharie | Kenneth H. Fake* | Republican | |
| Schuyler | Schuyler | Frank Crowe | Democrat | |
| Seneca | Seneca | James D. Pollard* | Republican | |
| Steuben | 1st | Wilson Messer* | Republican | |
| Steuben | 2nd | J. Austin Otto | Republican | |
| Suffolk | 1st | John G. Downs* | Republican | |
| Suffolk | 2nd | Hamilton F. Potter* | Republican | |
| Sullivan | Sullivan | John T. Curtis | Republican | |
| Tioga | Tioga | Frank G. Miller* | Republican | |
| Tompkins | Tompkins | James R. Robinson* | Republican | |
| Ulster | Ulster | Millard Davis* | Republican | |
| Warren | Warren | Harry A. Reoux* | Republican | |
| Washington | Washington | Herbert A. Bartholomew* | Republican | |
| Wayne | Wayne | Harry L. Averill | Republican | |
| Westchester | 1st | Charles H. Hathaway* | Republican | |
| Westchester | 2nd | Ralph A. Gamble* | Republican | |
| Westchester | 3rd | Hickson F. Hart | Republican | |
| Westchester | 4th | Alexander H. Garnjost* | Republican | |
| Westchester | 5th | William F. Condon* | Republican | |
| Wyoming | Wyoming | Harold C. Ostertag | Republican | |
| Yates | Yates | Fred S. Hollowell | Republican | |

### Employees

* Clerk: Fred W. Hammond