New York’s longest-serving Assembly member on how to really get things done in Albany

INTERVIEW BY RAINA LIPSITZ

Retired Assemblyman Richard Gottfried of Manhattan first decided to pursue a career in public service at the tender age of 13. He was a 23-year-old student at Columbia Law School when he was first elected to the Assembly.

Swept into office on a wave of post-Watergate progressive fervor, Gottfried witnessed enormous changes in state government during his half-century tenure in the Assembly. He was an early champion of many once-fringe policies that have since become law, such as marijuana decriminalization and the legalization of same-sex marriage, as well as ones that have yet to pass both houses of the Legislature, such as single-payer health care.

Gottfried spoke with Crain’s about the value of public service and what he learned about building power in Albany.

What made you want to serve in the Assembly and want to stay for so long?

When I was 13 years old in 1960, John Kennedy was running for president. Like millions of others, I was very captivated with him and decided that I wanted to make public office my career. A year later, when I got into high school, I joined the debating team and found a group of friends who felt the same way, including my congressman, Jerry Nadler. And, lo and behold, nine years later, when I was 23, I was elected to the Legislature. And, particularly once the Democrats captured a majority in the Assembly in 1974, I found I was living out my childhood dream of being able to have the thoughts in my head turn into laws and lines in the state budget.

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Adaptability and diplomacy were hallmarks of Gottfried’s career. A Democrat, he served with nine different governors, three of them Republicans, and three of whom did not complete their term; seven Assembly speakers; and an ever-changing cast of colleagues.

What are the biggest changes you saw in Albany during your career?

The makeup of the Legislature has changed dramatically, and for the better. When I arrived, most legislators saw it as a step in a political career, either on their way to higher office or to someday becoming a judge. And there was a relatively small handful who seemed to be there because they really cared about shaping public policy. It was overwhelmingly white, male and middleaged or older.

Since then, I think the overwhelming majority of legislators in New York state are there because they really care about shaping public policy, and the membership is overwhelmingly younger and more diverse in terms of racial and ethnic makeup and gender mix. Also, the role of individual legislators in legislative decision-making is much greater.

How did Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation affect the balance of power?

The relationship between the Legislature and the governor has changed and improved under Governor Hochul. From the start, she and her administration were a lot more approachable and cooperative with the Legislature and individual members, almost more than I’ve ever seen and certainly much more than with Governor Cuomo.

I think it is largely a question of how Kathy Hochul as a human being deals with people. Under Governor Cuomo, particularly in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, we heard constant complaints from local health departments across the state about being ignored and trampled on by the state.

What power do legislators have to move forward on issues when they’re unable to pass legislation?

Passing legislation is obviously a central part of the job, but not the only part. Legislators can influence public actions by advocating both to their colleagues in the Legislature and to state and local government. Legislators at all levels are constantly writing letters and making phone calls and holding press conferences and meetings to try to shape state and local executive branch policies and actions. For example, if a developer is trying to put up an oversize building in a legislator’s community and the community is fighting against it, the people expect their state legislators to be involved in that fight, even though it is technically in the hands of the city planning commission and the city council.

What have you found most effective in trying to change a colleague’s mind?

Two things. One is organizing allies outside the Legislature, particularly likeminded organizations and interest groups. Another is working with them to lobby legislators, whether it’s through the news media or meetings or other avenues, plus direct communicating, talking with colleagues.

When we were working to pass the marriage equality bill in New York, I sponsored that bill for several years and devoted a lot of my effort to recruiting organizations outside the Legislature to endorse marriage equality, as well as communicating with individual legislators. Assembly member Danny O’Donnell, who is openly gay, became the sponsor of the bill. And he spent a lot of time in one-on-one conversations with Assembly members, persuading them on the issue. And that one-on-one campaign by him helped turn that issue around in the Assembly and get it to the floor.

When the main obstacle to progress on a specific issue or bill is fellow Democrats, how do you work around that?

When you’ve got a grouping among Democratic legislators opposing the bill, you have to both build up a passion for it on your side of the issue while also trying to change minds on the other side. Very often, if there are a dozen or so Assembly Democrats who strongly oppose the bill,

Power Marks

ON HIS RÉSUMÉ State Assembly member (1971 to 2022); member of the New York Academy of Medicine, the National Academy for State Health Policy, the Public Health Association of NYC and the New York Civil Liberties Union

BORN Chelsea

GREW UP Flushing

RESIDES Upper West Side

EDUCATION Cornell University (1968) and Columbia Law School (1973) that can stand in the way of the 80 or 90 Assembly Democrats who favor it. And that’s partly because any Assembly speaker has to do their best to make everyone in the majority as satisfied as can be. I’ve had bills of my own that had very strong support within the Assembly majority but were held up because a minority of Assembly Democrats either adamantly opposed it on the merits or felt strongly that it would hurt them politically in their district if we passed the bill. Sometimes you can turn that around, and sometimes you can’t.

BREAKING THE MOLD When Gottfried retired last year, he was the longest-serving state legislator in New York history.

What do you make of the new caucus of legislators who identify as socialists?

It’s certainly new, if you don’t count the socialists who were elected around the time of World War I and who were famously and disgracefully expelled by the Assembly in the early 1920s as part of the so-called Red Scare. I don’t know whether there will be an increase in the number of legislators who call themselves socialists. But certainly the very progressive makeup of the Democratic majorities in both houses has grown, and I expect will continue to grow.

What are the most and least effective ways for an outside group to change a lawmaker’s mind?

It varies, and it can depend a lot on the nature of the outside group. Some of them have influence because they can be strong forces in legislators’ re-election campaigns on one side or the other, whether it’s through campaign contributions or providing large numbers of campaign volunteers. Some are influential because their positions or the organization’s reputation carries weight with public opinion in the legislator’s district. And a lot of lobbying influence, much more so than is often given credit, is simply persuasion on the merits. ■