Vito J. Lopez
Vito J. Lopez | |
---|---|
Chair of theKings County Democratic Committee | |
In office 2006–2012 | |
Succeeded by | Frank Seddio |
Member of theNew York State Assemblyfrom the53rddistrict | |
In office January 1, 1985 – May 20, 2013 | |
Preceded by | Victor L. Robles |
Succeeded by | Maritza Davila |
Personal details | |
Born | Vito Joseph Lopez June 5, 1941 New York City,U.S. |
Died | November 9, 2015 New York City, U.S. | (aged 74)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Joan Lopez (divorced) |
Residence(s) | New York City, U.S. |
Alma mater | James Madison High School Yeshiva University(MSW) Long Island University(BS) |
Profession | Social worker, non-profit program manager, politician |
Vito Joseph Lopez(June 5, 1941 – November 9, 2015) was an American politician fromNew York.He was a member of theNew York State Assembly,and chairman of theDemocratic Party of Kings County.
Personal life
[edit]Vito Lopez was born on June 5, 1941, inBensonhurst, Brooklyn,[1]of anItalian Americanfamily; his last name Lopez derives from his grandfather, who was a native ofSpain.He graduated from Brooklyn'sJames Madison High School,and received aBSin Business Administration fromLong Island University(1964), and aMaster of Social WorkfromYeshiva University(1970),[2]where he was trained in the community organizing program.[3]Lopez had two children by his former wife, Joan.[1][4]
Lopez was diagnosed with leukemia in 1993,[1]and in 2010 was treated for a recurrence of cancer.[5]He died on November 9, 2015, at Sloan Kettering Memorial Hospital at the age of 74.[6]
Early career
[edit]Lopez began his career with the New York City Department of Social Services, at the Stanhope Street Senior Center inBushwick,Brooklyn.[1][7]Believing the neighborhood received little attention from City Hall and senior citizen programs there received even less in terms of program support, Lopez began organizing senior citizens there. His first attracted citywide attention by organizing in November 1981 an assembly of 100 senior citizens atBrooklyn Borough Hallto protest what they saw as the "serious neglect" shown to them in programs for decent housing, nursing homes and medical facilities.[8]
Lopez began researching the programs for senior citizens available from local, state and federal funding sources in order to supplement the relatively meager services offered at the Stanhope Street Senior Center. This led his to conceive the idea of creating a not-for-profit that would enter into government contracts to provide services for senior citizens, which he planned would focus on Bushwick and the neighboring Italian-American community ofRidgewood, located in the borough of Queens.[9]
In 1973, he foundedRidgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council(RBSCC), a non-profit organization to provide services to senior citizens in Bushwick and the adjoining (interborough) neighborhood ofRidgewood, Queensas well as surrounding areas. The first contract it won was to manage the Stanhope Street Senior Center.[10]The Council aggressively pursued government funds and promoted itself as the primary contact for citizens looking for government assistance, even assistance not within the purview of the Council's contracts.[11]
Over time as the Council increased in size and importance, Lopez used it to generate loyalty among constituents for which it provided services and to employ locals to create an administrative staff.[12]These two groups allowed Lopez to gain his political positions beginning with his Assembly seat in 1984. While he resigned as Executive Director of the Council on winning the seat, he remained closely associated with it and used his political clout on its behalf.[12]At the height of his political influence the Council "served as a de facto political machine for him and his allies..."[13]
According to theDaily News,by 2010 as Assemblyman Lopez had steered $430,000 in state grants to the Ridgewood-Bushwick Citizens Council.[14]At that time, the Council had $100 million in state and city contracts to build affordable homes, provide meals to seniors and run after-school programs. TheDaily Newsfound that for the period 2007-2010 firms doing businesses with the Council (and their subcontractors) contributed $51,000 to election campaigns of Lopez or to theKings County Democratic Committeeof which Lopez was chairman.[14]
Political career
[edit]Lopez was a member of theNew York State Assembly(53rd D.) from 1985 to 2013, sitting in the186th,187th,188th,189th,190th,191st,192nd,193rd,194th,195th,196th,197th,198th,199thand200th New York State Legislatures.His district comprised the Brooklyn neighborhoods ofBushwickandWilliamsburg.
From 2006-12, Lopez served as the chairman of theKings CountyDemocratic Party, having replaced former chairmanClarence Norman Jr.On August 28, 2012, Lopez announced that he would not seek re-election as Brooklyn Democratic leader due to allegations that he sexual harassed two of his staffers. Lopez was forced to step down after it was revealed that he settled a lawsuit by two of his female staffers who alleged that he hadsexually harassedthem.[15]On May 17, 2013, Lopez also resigned from then his assembly seat effective at the end of the legislative session June 20, 2013.[16]Several days later Lopez moved up his resignation date to May 20, 2013.[17][18]
Political stances
[edit]Lopez was among the sponsors of a bill to expand the original 1982 Loft Law,"...which gave rights to illegal tenants and made their lofts subject to rent stabilization."[19]The 2009 Loft Law Amendment,which went into effect June 2010, expanded these protections to lofts in manufacturing areas of Bushwick,Williamsburg,Greenpoint,andLong Island City.[19][20]
While Lopez previously sponsored similar legislation, he did not support a 2009 bill, the Child Victims Act,[21]sponsored by AssemblywomanMargaret Markey.This bill would have opened a one-year window to allow older victims of priorchildhood sexual abusethe ability to file civil actions against their abusers.
He has sponsored a competing bill that provides no window, but would change current law to allow lawsuits against public institutions without requiring a 90-day notice of claim. TheNew York Timesreported on June 9, 2009, that in an effort to reach a compromise with Lopez's bill, Markey amended her bill to specifically include all public institutions through the waiver of the current 90-day notice of claim requirement, and also limited the window to victims aged 53 or younger.[22]
During an October 13, 2006, meeting with the Lambda Independent Democrats, a political club of gay Democrats in New York City, Lopez publicly declared his support for extending the right of civil marriage to same-sex couples for the first time in his political career. He also intimated that he would help to enact legislation that would recognize same-sex marriages, which the highest court in New York State had refused to recognize earlier that year.[23]
Pork Barrel Politics
[edit]In 2018Dan Doctoroffsaid that Lopez refused to support the Bloomberg administrator's rezoning of the Brooklyn waterfront unless the administration allocated a million dollars for a daycare center that Doctoroff thought Lopez's girlfriend was connected to. By Doctoroff's account, this happened the day before the city council vote; time was limited, and after midnight Doctoroff called the head of the agency that oversaw daycare centers, woke him up, and secured the million dollars for the center to meet Lopez's demand and pass the rezoning.[24]
Investigations
[edit]According to multiple media accounts in September 2010, Lopez and the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council were the subject of several investigations, led by the US Attorney in Manhattan and in Brooklyn, and the New York City Department of Investigations.[25][26]
Censure
[edit]On August 24, 2012, the New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Ethics and Guidance concluded an investigation, made in response to allegations brought forth by two young female staffers, and unanimously found that Vito Lopez had violated the Assembly’s sexual harassment/retaliation policy.
Based on recommendations from the committee, Assembly SpeakerSheldon Silverremoved him as chair of the Committee on Housing, stripped him of all seniority, reduced his staff allotment and forbade him from employing any interns or persons under the age of 21. Silver also censured and admonished him on behalf of the Assembly.[27]He was reelected in November 2012 despite token opposition, but was stripped of his Democratic chairmanship and had his pay cut.[28]
In mid-May 2013 the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics issued a report which described in detail the behavior alleged by multiple women, which prompted prominent Democrats, including GovernorAndrew Cuomoand Speaker Silver, to call for his immediate resignation. In response Lopez, citing a report by special prosecutor Staten Island District AttorneyDaniel M. Donovan Jr.that he would not bring criminal charges. On May 17, 2013, he announced he would resign from the Assembly at the end of his term in June 2013 and in the fall run for a seat on theNew York City Council.
This announcement brought further calls from his immediate resignation, including by Assembly Minority leaderBrian M. Kolb,and brought a vow by City Council SpeakerChristine C. Quinn,a Democrat running for Mayor, that she would work to prevent his election.[13]That afternoon Speaker Silver released a draft resolution to expel Lopez from the Assembly that he said would be voted on when the Assembly returns on May 20, 2013.[29]
Resignation
[edit]Lopez resigned in May 2013 after a legislative ethics panel censured him. On June 11, 2013, Lopez was fined $330,000 who was accused of groping, intimidating and manipulating young female staffers in a 2012 scandal.[30]
2013 New York City Council election
[edit]Lopez ran in the2013 New York City Council electionsto succeedDiana Reynain the 34th district. He lost the Democratic primary toAntonio Reynoso.[31]Lopez won 37% of the vote and Reynoso 49%.[32]
References
[edit]- ^abcdBarnes, Julian E. (2000-02-27),"The Two Faces of Bushwick; A Troubled Brooklyn Neighborhood Is Mending. But Its Leaders Are Feuding Over the Size of the Gains and What to Do Next.",New York Times
- ^Vito J. LopezatProject Vote Smart
- ^Marwell, Nicole P.,Bargaining for Brooklyn: Community Organizations in the Entrepreneurial City(University of Chicago Press: 2007), pg. 102 ( "Marwell" ).
- ^"WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Stacey Lopez, Sean Breves",New York Times,2003-08-03
- ^Seifman, David (2010-09-28),Vito boiling as city freezes $12M deals,New York Post,archived fromthe originalon 2010-10-01,retrieved2010-09-29
- ^"NY pol who resigned amid scandal dies".
- ^Life-long Community Organizer Remembers the Start of It All,Bushwick Observer,February 2002, p. 4
- ^Johnson, Rudy (November 28, 1971)."' Forgotten' Senior Citizens Uniting To Improve Services in Brooklyn ".New York Times.
- ^Marwell, p. 103.
- ^Marwell, pg. 102.
- ^Marwell, pg. 105.
- ^abMarwell, pg. 109.
- ^abKaplan, Thomas; McKinley, Jesse (May 17, 2013)."Faulted for Sex Harassment, Legislator Will Quit Albany".New York Times.
- ^abGearty, Robert (September 29, 2010)."Developers, architects, accountants and security firms cash in after writing checks to Vito Lopez".New York Daily News.Accessed May 18, 2013
- ^"Lopez Won't Seek Re-election As Brooklyn Dem Chair".Capital Tonight (YNN).August 28, 2012.Accessed May 17, 2013
- ^"Vito Lopez announces resignation from New York Assembly".WABC TV. Archived fromthe originalon June 29, 2013.Retrieved17 May2013.
- ^"Post: Vito Lopez To Resign From Assembly By Monday Morning".NY1.Retrieved18 May2013.
- ^Kaplan, Thomas (May 18, 2013)."Lopez Says He Will Quit Assembly on Monday".New York Times.p. A21.RetrievedJune 19,2019.
- ^abBuckley, Cara (2010-07-25),"That Cheap, Roomy Loft Can Now Be a Legal One, Too",New York Times
- ^Expansion of the Loft Law,New York City Loft Board
- ^"Bills".Assembly.state.ny.us.Retrieved2011-01-04.
- ^New York Times,June 4, 2009
- ^"newyorkblade".newyorkblade.Retrieved2011-01-04.
- ^"How to Build a Smart City",Freakonomics,June 6, 2018. Retrieved on 8 Aug 2018.
- ^Robbins, Tom (2010-09-23),Vito Lopez Can't Catch a Break: Three Investigations for a Man Battling the Big C,Village Voice
- ^Mr. Untouchable: Brooklyn Democratic Boss Vito Lopez has city probers buffaloed,New York Daily News,September 17, 2010[1]
- ^Silver, Sheldon (August 24, 2012)."Letter From Assembly Speaker Silver Censuring Assemblyman Lopez".The New York Times.Retrieved27 August2012.
- ^Hakim, Danny."A Return to Albany After a Scandal".New York Times.RetrievedJan 14,2012.
- ^"Silver Releases Lopez Resolution".Capital Tonight (YNN).May 17, 2013.Accessed May 17, 2013
- ^"Vito Lopez fined $330,000 in sex harassment case".WABC TV. Archived fromthe originalon June 20, 2013.Retrieved12 June2013.
- ^Campanile, Carl; Goldenberg, Sally (September 11, 2013)."Antonio Reynoso knocks off Vito Lopez in council race".New York Post.
- ^Berger, Joseph (September 10, 2013)."Disgraced Assemblyman Loses Bid for Council Seat".p. A25.RetrievedJune 19,2019.
External links
[edit]- 'Vito's Brooklyn Comeback Party',The Politicker,The New York Observer
- 'Bill Aims to Spur Housing for New York’s Poor',The New York Times
- 'Clarence Norman Successor Faces Questions',The New York Sun
- 'Brooklyn Democrat Vito Lopez emerges Assembly's top hog in handing out pork dollars'The New York Daily News
- 'Pfizer Offering Williamsburg Plant Site for Affordable Housing-So, Why's a State Assemblyman Trying to Seize It?'The New York Observer
- 'Democrats in Brooklyn: Vito Lopez Continues the Corruption'The Daily Gotham citing The New York Times, The New York Post, The New York Daily News, etc.
- Julian E. Barnes, "The Two Faces of Bushwick; A Troubled Brooklyn Neighborhood Is Mending. But Its Leaders Are Feuding Over the Size of the Gains and What to Do Next"NY Times Online,The New York Times,February 27, 2000
- David Freedlander,The Lion in Winter: Vito Lopez And The End Of County,City Hall,March 1, 2010
- Marwell, Nicole P., Bargaining for Brooklyn: community organizations in the entrepreneurial city,University of Chicago Press,2007
- 2015 deaths
- 1941 births
- Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly
- American people of Italian descent
- American people of Spanish descent
- Long Island University alumni
- Yeshiva University alumni
- Politicians from Brooklyn
- 21st-century American legislators
- New York (state) politicians convicted of crimes
- James Madison High School (Brooklyn) alumni
- People from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
- 21st-century New York (state) politicians