Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried 64th Assembly District
Richard N. Gottfried represents the 64th Assembly District, covering Chelsea, Clinton, Murray Hill, Midtown and part of the Lincoln Center area in Manhattan. He is chairman of the Assembly Health Committee. His priorities include universal health coverage, maternal and child health, primary care, AIDS prevention and services, reproductive freedom, longterm care, etc. Dick Gottfried is a member of the Assembly Democratic Steering Committee; the committees on Rules, Higher Education, Insurance, Judiciary, and Social Services, as well as Health; and the subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments. He is head of the Manhattan Assembly Democratic Delegation.
In addition to his extensive work in the health field, Mr. Gottfried was the author of legislation to protect the Hudson River waterfront in Manhattan and promote a waterfront park, provide legal services for the disabled, reform milk dealer licensing, strengthen the criminal laws against hazardous waste violators, provide health insurance coverage for midwife services, strengthen Small Claims Court, prevent illegal evictions, reform the J51 tax exemption program, and protect the right of artists. He sponsored the legislation that created the Javits Convention Center.
He is a leading advocate in the Legislature for civil liberties, reproductive freedom and gay rights. He has been repeatedly named to the New York Civil Liberties Union's Honor Roll. He was named "Environmental Legislator of the Year" by the Family Planning Advocates.
Mr. Gottfried was a pioneer in enacting legislation to recognized and protect rights of crime victims. He was an architect of the 1978 Omnibus Crime Act and wrote laws to reform the grand jury system, strengthen the rape laws and decriminalize marijuana. He drafted the Juvenile Justice Reform Act 1976 and sponsored revisions of the laws on foster care, adoption and child abuse.
He previously served as Deputy Majority Leader, Assistant Majority Leader, chair of the Assembly committees on Coder (covering the criminal justice system) and Children and Families, and chair of the Assembly task forces on the Homeless, Campaign Finance Reform, and Crime Victims.
Mr. Gottfried was first elected to the Assembly in 1970, at the age of 23, while a student at Columbia Law School. He was born in New York city on May 16, 1947. He is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School, Cornell University (BA, 1968), and Columbia Law School (JD,1973). He is a lawyer, but does not maintain a private practice. He works full time as a legislator. He is member of the American Public Health Association, the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Association of the Bar of Students League of New York, and an associate member of the American Watercolor Society. Dick Gottfried resides at 91 Central Park West with his wife Louise, a nursery school teacher, and their son, Michael, born in 1977.
