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Vito J. Lopez

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Vito J. Lopez
Member of the New York State Assembly
from the 53rd district
Assumed office
January 2008
Preceded byVictor Robles
Personal details
Born (1941-06-05) June 5, 1941 (age 83)[1]
Brooklyn[2]
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseJoan Lopez (divorced)[3] Angela Battaglia (girlfriend)[4]
ChildrenGina Marie Lopez Summa, Stacey Anne Lopez Breves[5]
Alma materYeshiva University (Master of social work)
Long Island University (BS, Business Administration)[1] James Madison High School (New York)
ProfessionSocial Worker, Non-profit Program Manager, Politician
WebsiteAssembly Website

Vito Joseph Lopez (born 1941) is an American politician, member of the New York State Assembly, and chairman of the Democratic Party of Kings County.

Personal Life

Born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn[3], Vito Lopez graduated from Brooklyn's James Madison High School, and received a BS in Business Administration from Long Island University (1964), and a Master of Social Work from Yeshiva University (1970).[1]

Lopez and his former wife, Joan, have two grown children. His long-time girlfriend, Angela Battaglia, is Director of Housing for Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, and a member of the New York City Planning Commission.

Lopez was born Vito Lopesino[citation needed] and is primarily of Italian descent, although he claims to have a grandfather from Spain. He does not speak Spanish. Critics claim that he changed his name to Lopez in order to curry favor and votes in the primarily Hispanic Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick.[citation needed]

Lopez was diagnosed with leukemia in 1993[3], and in 2010 was treated for a recurrence of cancer.[6]

Social Work and Community Organizing

Lopez began his career with the New York City Department of Social Services, at the Stanhope Street Senior Center in Bushwick, Brooklyn.[7][3] In 1973 Lopez founded Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizen Council (RBSCC), a non-profit organization to provide services to senior citizens in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Ridgewood, Queens, and surrounding neighborhoods.

Political Career

Lopez is a member of the New York State Assembly, representing the 53rd District (which primarily comprises the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bushwick and Williamsburg). First elected in 1984, he began his twelfth term as an Assembly member in January 2007.

Since 2006 Lopez has served as the Chairman of the Kings County Democratic Party, having replaced former chairman Clarence Norman who was convicted of fraud and is currently serving a prison sentence.

Fighting the Housing Issues and the Pfizer Land Deal

Lopez introduced a bill in the Assembly seeking to take the property from Pfizer through eminent domain. Pfizer strongly condemned Lopez's attempt to take its land. [1]. Others insist that Lopez is involved in a complex bargain with Bishop DiMarzio of the Brooklyn Archdiocese and Rabbi David Neiderman of United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg (UJO) in which they are supporting his efforts at seizing the Pfizer property in exchange for his attempts to block the Child Victims Act. [2].

Childhood Sexual Abuse Legislation Controversy

Lopez is facing harsh criticism for his efforts propose a competing bill to the Child Victims Act, a bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Margaret M. Markey [3] which would open a one year window to allow all victims of childhood sexual abuse the ability to file civil actions against their abusers.

While in previous years Lopez voted in favor of the bill, he has now taken the position that the bill is not to his liking and has sponsored a competing bill that offers no window but would change current law and allow lawsuits against public institutions without requiring a 90 day notice of claim. The New York Times reported 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.[4]

Stance on Gay Marriage

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 refused to recognize earlier that year. [5]

RBSSC

Lopez created the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, Inc. (RBSCC), which was founded in order to provide services to senior citizens within their respective neighborhoods. However, over the years RBSCC has grown into one of NYS largest not-for-profit organizations. It has been accused by an official City of New York investigation of political conflicts of interest and financial mismanagement. [6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Assembly Member Vito J. Lopez - Biography, Project Vote Smart, retrieved 2010-09-27
  2. ^ "Vito J. Lopez - Biography, New York State Assembly
  3. ^ a b c d Barnes, Julian E., 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
  4. ^ Goldstein, Joseph; Vincent, Isabel; Klein, Melissa, Vito Lopez's gal pal a baroness of Brooklyn housing, New York Post, retrieved 2010-09-27
  5. ^ WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Stacey Lopez, Sean Breves, New York Times, 2003-08-03
  6. ^ Seifman, David (2010-09-28), Vito boiling as city freezes $12M deals, New York Post
  7. ^ Life-long Community Organizer Remembers the Start of It All, Bushwick Observer, 2002-02, p. 4 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
New York State Assembly

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