Regular Session - June 1, 1998
3700
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9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 June 1, 1998
11 3:01 p.m.
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14 REGULAR SESSION
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18 SENATOR CHARLES FUSCHILLO, Acting President
19 STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary
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3701
1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
3 The Senate will come to order. I ask everyone
4 present to please rise and repeat the Pledge
5 of Allegiance.
6 (The assemblage repeated the
7 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
8 In the absence of clergy, may
9 we bow our heads in a moment of silence.
10 (A moment of silence was
11 observed.)
12 Reading of the Journal.
13 THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
14 Sunday, May 31st. The Senate met pursuant to
15 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday, May
16 30th, was read and approved. On motion, Senate
17 adjourned.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
19 Without objection, the Journal stands approved
20 as read.
21 Presentation of petitions.
22 Messages from the Assembly.
23 Messages from the Governor.
24 Reports of standing committees.
25 Reports of select committees.
3702
1 Communications and reports from
2 state officers.
3 Motions and resolutions.
4 Senator Meier:
5 SENATOR MEIER: Mr. President,
6 on page number 30, I offer the following
7 amendments to Calendar Number 864, Print
8 Number 6646-A, and ask that the said bill
9 retain its place on the Third Reading
10 Calendar.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO: So
12 ordered.
13 SENATOR MEIER: On behalf of
14 Senator Libous, please remove the sponsor's
15 star from Calendar Number 1 and Calendar
16 Number 332.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO: So
18 ordered.
19 SENATOR MEIER: On behalf of
20 Senator Wright, please place a sponsor's star
21 on Calendar Number 46.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO: The
23 bill will be starred.
24 SENATOR MEIER: Mr. President, I
25 wish to call up Senator Libous' bill, Print
3703
1 Number 1920, recalled from the Assembly which
2 is now at the desk.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
4 Secretary will read.
5 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
6 Libous, Senate Print 1920, an act to amend the
7 Vehicle and Traffic Law.
8 SENATOR MEIER: Mr. President,
9 I now move to reconsider the vote by which
10 this bill was passed.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
12 Call the roll on reconsideration.
13 (The Secretary called the roll
14 on reconsideration.)
15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 37.
16 SENATOR MEIER: Mr. President,
17 I now offer the following amendments.
18 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Amendments
19 are received.
20 SENATOR MEIER: Thank you, Mr.
21 President.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
23 Senator Farley.
24 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Mr.
25 President.
3704
1 I have a number of amendments
2 to be offered to the following Third Reading
3 Calendar bills:
4 Senator Hannon, on page 10,
5 Calendar 342, Senate Print 6057;
6 Senator Velella, page 18,
7 Calendar 612, Senate Print 577-B;
8 Senator Rath, on page 19,
9 Calendar 629, Senate Print 4850;
10 Senator Stafford, on page 19,
11 Calendar 631, Senate Print 6109-A;
12 Senator Maltese, on page 36,
13 Calendar 936, Senate Print 7021;
14 Senator Libous, on page 38,
15 Calendar 958, Senate Print 6145-A;
16 Senator Alesi, on page 38,
17 Calendar 959, Senate Print 6191-A;
18 Senator Cook, page 38, Calendar
19 960, Senate Print 6514;
20 Senator Balboni, page 43,
21 Calendar 1031, Senate Print 7198;
22 Senator Kuhl, on page 50,
23 Calendar 1118, Senate Print 6756;
24 Also for Senator Kuhl, on page
25 50, Calendar 1121, Senate Print 6828-A; and
3705
1 Senator LaValle, on page 54,
2 Calendar 1169, Senate Print 7135, and I ask
3 that all of these bills retain their place on
4 the Third Reading Calendar.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
6 Amendments are received and the bills will
7 retain their place on the Third Reading
8 Calendar.
9 Senator Skelos.
10 SENATOR SKELOS: Are there any
11 substitutions to be made?
12 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
13 No.
14 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could
15 move on to resolutions, Mr. President, I
16 believe there are two privileged resolutions
17 at the desk sponsored by Senator Libous. I'd
18 ask that the titles be read and move for their
19 immediate adoption.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
21 Secretary will read.
22 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
23 Libous, Legislative Resolution commending the
24 Special Olympians upon the occasion of
25 completing the Capital District Leg of the New
3706
1 York State Special Olympics Law Enforcement
2 Torch Run at the Opening Ceremonies marking
3 the 18th Annual Legislative Disability
4 Awareness Day, Wednesday, June 3rd, 1998, at
5 the State Capitol.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
7 Question is on the resolution. All in favor
8 signify by saying aye.
9 (Response of "Aye.")
10 Opposed nay.
11 (There was no response. )
12 The resolutions are adopted.
13 Senator Skelos.
14 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President
15 -- please read the second resolution.
16 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
17 Libous, Legislative Resolution memorializing
18 Governor George E. Pataki to proclaim
19 Wednesday, June 3rd, 1998 as Legislative
20 Disability Awareness Day at the State Capitol
21 in Albany, New York.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
23 Question is on the resolution. All in favor
24 signify by saying aye.
25 (Response of "Aye.")
3707
1 Opposed nay.
2 (There was no response. )
3 The ayes have it.
4 Senator Skelos.
5 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
6 there are two privileged resolutions at the
7 desk sponsored by Senator Maltese. I ask that
8 they be read in their entirety and move for
9 their immediate adoption.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
11 Secretary will read.
12 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
13 Maltese, Legislative Resolution congratulating
14 Christ the King Regional High School's Women's
15 Varsity Basketball Team and Coach Vincent
16 Cannizzaro on their outstanding season and
17 upon winning their ninth straight New York
18 State High School Championship.
19 WHEREAS, excellence and success
20 in competitive sports can be achieved only
21 through strenuous practice, team play and team
22 spirit, nurtured by dedicated coaching and
23 strategic planning;
24 Athletic competition enhances
25 the moral and physical development of the
3708
1 young people of this state, preparing them for
2 the future by instilling in them the value of
3 teamwork, encouraging a standard of healthy
4 living, imparting a desire for success and
5 developing a sense of fair play and
6 competition;
7 The Royals are the New York
8 State High School Champions, and
9 The athletic talent displayed
10 by this team is due in great part to the
11 efforts of Coach Vincent Cannizzaro, a skilled
12 and inspirational tutor, respected for his
13 ability to develop potential into excellence;
14 The teams's overall record is
15 outstanding, and the teams members were
16 loyally and enthusiastically supported by
17 family, fans, friends and the community at
18 large;
19 The hallmarks of Christ the
20 King Regional High School Women's Varsity
21 BVasketball Team, from the opening game of the
22 season to participation in the championship,
23 were a sisterhood of athletic ability, of good
24 sportsmanship, of honor and of scholarship,
25 demonstrating that these team players are
3709
1 second to none;
2 Athletically and academically,
3 the team members have proven themselves to be
4 an unbeatable combination of talents,
5 reflecting favorably on their school;
6 Coach Vincent Cannizzaro has
7 done a superb job in guiding, molding, and
8 inspiring the team members toward their goals;
9 Sports competition instills the
10 values of teamwork, pride and accomplishment,
11 and Coach Vincent Cannizzaro and his
12 outstanding athletes have clearly made a
13 contribution to the spirit of excellence which
14 is a tradition of their school;
15 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED
16 that this legislative body pause in its
17 deliberations to congratulate the Christ the
18 King Regional High School Women's Varsity
19 Basketball Team, its members, Mary Bullock,
20 Sue Bird, Jessica Burch, Mary Cacic, Patricia
21 Tubridy, Gillian McGovern, Clare Droesh,
22 Crystal Gadsden, Antoinette Siatta, Amy
23 Mulligan, Amy Dawson, Toni-Renee Roker, Nancy
24 Fucci, Maria Edwards, Kathryn Fowler and
25 Josephine Alohan and Coach Vincent Cannizzaro
3710
1 on their outstanding season and upon winning
2 their ninth straight New York State High
3 School Championship; and
4 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a
5 copy of this resolution, suitably engrossed,
6 be transmitted to Elizabeth Lawlor, Christ the
7 King principal; Athletic Director Sister Mary
8 Anne Kollmer; Coach Vincent Cannizzaro, team
9 assistants Bob Mackey and Jill Cook and Christ
10 the King Regional High School Women's
11 Basketball Team.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
13 Senator Maltese.
14 SENATOR MALTESE: The
15 resolution just read and a resolution that
16 will be read shortly exemplifies a spirit of
17 togetherness, good sportsmanship and fair play
18 that is certainly representative and
19 exemplified by this fine young women's
20 basketball team.
21 We have achieved for the ninth
22 straight year a state championship. We have
23 achieved in the past national championships.
24 One of the players on a prior team, Chamique
25 Holdsclaw, has been rated one of the best
3711
1 players and the best player, girls' basket
2 ball players in the country.
3 To be commended in the
4 resolution that will be read is a young woman,
5 Sue Bird, who has been also ranked as the top
6 girls' basketball player in the country, and
7 she is present here today with her teammates.
8 Also present is Coach Vinnie
9 Cannizzaro, who has molded together an already
10 fine team and put it together and provided the
11 leadership and dedication to bring it to the
12 state championships, so that they have just
13 finished an undefeated season 27-0. That has
14 been repeated over and over again in past
15 teams against some of the best teams in the
16 country, not just in Queens or New York City
17 or locally.
18 Assisted by Bob Mackey and Jill
19 Cook, assisted by a good team spirit on behalf
20 of all the teammates and assisted by Sister
21 Mary Anne Kollmer, our team supporter and
22 recreation director, and certainly by also
23 accompanying the team Delores St. Louis who
24 exemplifies the parents and the friends and
25 the supporters of this fine team.
3712
1 I, certainly as a Senator
2 representing all these young people, I commend
3 them not only for their excellence at play,
4 not only for their championships, repeated
5 championships, but for their reputation of
6 fair play, good sportsmanship and teamwork.
7 They represent the finest in young women in
8 America today, and I'm proud to support both
9 these resolutions and commend the young women
10 who are present here as well as the coaches
11 and Sue Bird who is present here today.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
13 Thank you, Senator Maltese.
14 Question is on the resolution.
15 All -- Senator Onorato.
16 SENATOR ONORATO: Mr.
17 President, I rise to join my colleague,
18 Senator Maltese, in commending Christ the King
19 on their outstanding achievement. As the
20 Senator representing Sue Bird, for her
21 outstanding achievement, I am exceedingly
22 proud having gone to Long Island City High
23 School, the public high school, who almost
24 became the Long Island City/Queens
25 championship. We never quite made it.
3713
1 I'm extremely proud that a
2 Queens team and one of my constituents is a
3 member of the team who not only won the city
4 championship but the entire state championship
5 and for all of her teammates who join with her
6 in this outstanding achievement, her coaches
7 and all who attach to this, I extend my
8 heartfelt gratitude that you made us very,
9 very proud, especially those of us from Queens
10 County.
11 God bless you all.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
13 Question is on the resolution. All in favor
14 signify by saying aye.
15 (Response of "Aye.")
16 Opposed nay.
17 (There was no response. )
18 The resolution is adopted. The
19 Secretary will read.
20 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
21 Maltese, Legislative Resolution honoring Sue
22 Bird in recognition of her outstanding
23 achievements in women's basketball.
24 WHEREAS, excellence and success
25 in competitive sports can be achieved only
3714
1 through strenuous practice, team play and team
2 spirit, nurtured by dedicated coaching and
3 strategic planning;
4 Athletic competition enhances
5 the moral and physical development of the
6 young people of this state, preparing them for
7 the future by instilling in them the value of
8 teamwork, encouraging a standard of healthy
9 living, imparting a desire for success and
10 developing a sense of fair play and
11 competition;
12 Sue Bird, Player of the Year
13 for Christ the King Lady Royals, is considered
14 one of the best women's basketball players in
15 the country;
16 At five feet nine inches, Sue
17 Bird has been named to the Tri-State All-Stars
18 for the third time and she is this year's Most
19 Valuable Player. She was also named to the
20 Parade Magazine's All-America first team;
21 Together with her talented
22 teammates, Sue Bird was the cornerstone of a
23 team that won the school's ninth straight
24 Catholic state federation title, while
25 accomplishing a perfect season of 27 and zero;
3715
1 For her multi-talented
2 contributions to winning the state Catholic
3 school title, in which she scored a game high
4 29 points, Sue Bird was named the Times News
5 weekly Crown Trophy Athlete of the Week;
6 During her career at Christ the
7 King, Sue Bird averaged 18.6 points per game,
8 5.4 assists and 7.7 steals per game for the
9 Lady Royals;
10 Recruited by the University of
11 Connecticut for her exceptional athletic
12 skills, Sue Bird is expected to start and make
13 an impact in her Freshman year;
14 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED
15 that this legislative body pause in its
16 deliberations to honor Sue Bird in recognition
17 of her outstanding achievements in women's
18 basketball, noting the significance of her
19 efforts and achievements and expressing
20 heartfelt confidence in the response to the
21 challenges of a promising future; and
22 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that
23 copies of this resolution, suitably engrossed,
24 be transmitted to Sue Bird, Elizabeth Lawlor,
25 principal of Christ the King Regional High
3716
1 School, Sister Mary Anne Kollmer, Athletic
2 Director, Coach Vincent Cannizzaro and Team
3 Assistants Bob Mackey and Jill Cook.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
5 Senator Maltese.
6 SENATOR MALTESE: Mr.
7 President, I've already spoken on behalf of
8 Christ the King.
9 I would ask the President's
10 indulgence in asking the members of the team,
11 Coach Cannizzaro, Coach Mackey and Sue Bird to
12 stand in support of this resolution.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
14 O.K. Will everybody please rise. Let me
15 offer on behalf of the colleagues and members
16 of the Senate, my congratulations on your
17 accomplishment.
18 (Applause)
19 Question is on the resolution.
20 All in favor signify by saying aye.
21 (Response of "Aye.")
22 Opposed nay.
23 (There was no response. )
24 The resolution is adopted.
25 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr.
3717
1 President.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
3 Senator Skelos.
4 SENATOR SKELOS: Could we
5 please have a reading of the non-controversial
6 calendar.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
8 Secretary will read.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 396, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 6041, an
11 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in
12 relation to tax exemption.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
14 Read the last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 3.
16 This act shall take effect immediately.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
18 Call the roll.
19 (The Secretary called the
20 roll. )
21 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
22 The bill is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 48, nays
24 1, Senator Leichter recorded in the negative.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
3718
1 The bill is now passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 403, by Senator Lack, Senate Print 5162-B, an
4 act to amend the Estates, Powers and Trusts
5 Law and the General Obligations Law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
7 Read the last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 3.
9 This act shall take effect September 1st.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
11 Call the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the
13 roll.)
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
16 The bill is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 411, by Senator Skelos.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
20 Lay aside for the day.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 602, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 3674-A,
23 an act to amend the Public Authorities Law, in
24 relation to powers of the state of New York
25 Mortgage Agency.
3719
1 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
2 Read the last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 6.
4 This act shall take effect immediately.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
6 Call the roll.
7 (The Secretary called the
8 roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
11 The bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 743, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 6305,
14 an act in relation to authorizing the city of
15 Glen Cove, county of Nassau.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
17 Read the last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
19 This act shall take effect immediately.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
21 Call the roll.
22 (The Secretary called the
23 roll.)
24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
3720
1 The bill is passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 746, by -
4 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
5 Home rule message at the desk. O.K.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 746, by the Assembly Committee on Rules,
8 Assembly Print 10,677, an act authorizing the
9 city of Ithaca.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
11 Home rule message at the desk. Read the last
12 section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
14 This act shall take effect immediately.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
16 Call the roll.
17 (The Secretary called the
18 roll.)
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
21 The bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 764, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 4233, an
24 act to amend the General Municipal Law, in
25 relation to granting additional points.
3721
1 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
2 Read the last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
4 This act shall take effect immediately.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
6 Call the roll.
7 (The Secretary called the
8 roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
11 The bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 803, by Senator Holland, Senate Print 233-A,
14 an act to amend the Domestic Relations Law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
16 Read the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
18 This act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
20 Call the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the
22 roll.)
23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
25 The bill is passed.
3722
1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 812, by Senator Holland, Senate Print 6325, an
3 act to amend Chapter 942 of the Laws of 1983.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
5 Read the last section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 4.
7 There act shall take effect immediately.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
9 Call the roll.
10 (The Secretary called the
11 roll.)
12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
14 The bill is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 835, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 4478, an
17 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
19 Read the last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 3.
21 This act shall take effect immediately.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
23 Call the roll.
24 (The Secretary called the
25 roll.)
3723
1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
3 The bill is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 873, by member of the Assembly Connelly,
6 Assembly Print 9208, an act to amend the
7 Education Law, in relation to the eligibility
8 of Vietnam and Persian Gulf veterans.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
10 Read the last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
12 This act shall take effect immediately.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
14 Call the roll.
15 (The Secretary called the
16 roll.)
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
19 The bill is passed.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 874, by member of the Assembly Mazzarelli,
22 Assembly Print 10370, an act to amend the
23 Executive Law, in relation to adding the
24 Commissioner of Mental Health.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
3724
1 Read the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
3 This act shall take effect immediately.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
5 Call the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the
7 roll.)
8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
10 The bill is passed.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 882, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 4435-A,
13 an act to amend the Retirement and Social
14 Security Law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
16 Read the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
18 This act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
20 Call the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the
22 roll.)
23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
25 The bill is passed.
3725
1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 893, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 6977, an
3 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to
4 the establishment of a qualified governmental
5 access.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
7 Read the last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
9 This act shall take effect immediately.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
11 Call the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the
13 roll.)
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
16 The bill is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 894, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 6978, an
19 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to
20 the election of a retired teacher member.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
22 Read the last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 3.
24 This act shall take effect immediately.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
3726
1 Call the roll.
2 (The Secretary called the
3 roll.)
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
6 The bill is passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 895, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 6979, an
9 act to amend the Retirement and Social
10 Security Law, in relation to applications.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
12 Read the last section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
14 This act shall take effect immediately.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
16 Call the roll.
17 (The Secretary called the
18 roll.)
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
21 The bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 952, by Senator Maziarz.
24 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay aside for
25 the day.
3727
1 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
2 Lay aside.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 962, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 6947-A,
5 an act authorizing apportionment of New York
6 State transportation aid to the Miller Place
7 Union Free School District.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
9 Read the last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
11 This act shall take effect immediately.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
13 There is a local fiscal impact note at the
14 desk. Call the roll.
15 (The Secretary called the
16 roll.)
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
19 The bill is passed.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 964, by the Assembly Committee on Rules,
22 Assembly Print 10727-A, an act authorizing the
23 Phelps-Clifton Springs Central School
24 District.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
3728
1 Read the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
3 This act shall take effect immediately.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
5 Call the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the
7 roll.)
8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
10 The bill is passed.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 965, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 7215-A,
13 an act changing the name of the Copake-Taconic
14 Hills Central School District.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
16 Read the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
18 This act shall take effect on the 30th day.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
20 Call the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the
22 roll.)
23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
25 The bill is passed.
3729
1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 966, by Senator Stafford, Senate Print 7422,
3 an act legalizing, validating, ratifying and
4 confirming acts.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
6 There is a local fiscal impact note at the
7 desk. Read the last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 3.
9 This act shall take effect immediately.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
11 Call the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the
13 roll.)
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
16 The bill is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 981, by Senator Lack, Senate Print 6704-A, an
19 act to amend Chapter 689 of the Laws of 1993.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
21 Read the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 3.
23 This act shall take effect immediately.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
25 Call the roll.
3730
1 (The Secretary called the
2 roll.)
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
5 The bill is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 998, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 3442, an
8 act to amend the Domestic Relations Law, in
9 relation to orders of protection.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
11 Read the last section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 3.
13 This act shall take effect on the first day of
14 November.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
16 Call the roll.
17 (The Secretary called the
18 roll.)
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
21 The bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 1006, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print
24 7067, an act to amend Chapter 889 of the Laws
25 of 1986.
3731
1 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
2 Read the last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 3.
4 This act shall take effect immediately.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
6 Call the roll.
7 (The Secretary called the
8 roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
11 The bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 1020, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 6445, an
14 act authorizing the assessor of the county of
15 Nassau.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
17 Read the last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
19 This act shall take effect immediately.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
21 Call the roll.
22 (The Secretary called the
23 roll.)
24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49, nays
25 2, Senators Cook and Dollinger recorded in the
3732
1 negative.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
3 The bill is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 1027, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 6784-A,
6 an act in relation to legalizing and
7 validating action of the town of Halfmoon.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
9 There is a home rule message at the desk.
10 Read the last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
12 This act shall take effect immediately.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
14 Call the roll.
15 (The Secretary called the
16 roll.)
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
19 The bill is passed.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 1029, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 7151,
22 an act authorizing the assessor of the county
23 of Nassau to accept an application.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
25 Read the last section.
3733
1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
2 This act shall take effect immediately.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
4 Call the roll.
5 (The Secretary called the
6 roll.)
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49, nays
8 two, Senators Cook and Dollinger recorded in
9 the negative.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
11 The bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 1041, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 3585-A,
14 an act to amend the Energy Law, in relation to
15 transfer of certain functions.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
17 Read the last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 17.
19 This act shall take effect October 1st of
20 1998.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call
22 the roll.
23 (The Secretary called the
24 roll.)
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51.
3734
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 1097, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 756-A,
5 an act to amend the Transportation Law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read
7 the last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 3.
9 This act shall take effect immediately.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call
11 the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the
13 roll.)
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
16 bill is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 1098, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 757, an
19 act to amend the Transportation Law, in
20 relation to increasing penalties.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read
22 the last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 3.
24 This act shall take effect on the first day of
25 November.
3735
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call
2 the roll.
3 (The Secretary called the
4 roll.)
5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
7 bill is passed.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 1114, by Senator Kuhl, Senate Print 4176, an
10 act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read
12 the last section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 4.
14 This act shall take effect immediately.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call
16 the roll.
17 (The Secretary called the
18 roll.)
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50, nays
20 1, Senator Cook recorded in the negative.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIEER: The
22 bill is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 1177, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 7494,
25 an act to amend the Highway Law, in relation
3736
1 to designating a portion of the state highway
2 system as the Norman J. Levy Memorial
3 Highway.
4 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay aside
5 temporarily.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay
7 the bill aside temporarily.
8 Senator Skelos, that completes
9 the reading of the non-controversial
10 calendar.
11 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
12 if we could go to the controversial calendar
13 commencing with Calendar 1177.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Clerk
15 will read the controversial calendar
16 commencing with number 1177.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 1177, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 7494,
19 an act to amend the Highway Law, in relation
20 to designating a portion of the state highway
21 system as the Norman J. Levy Memorial Highway.
22 SENATOR PATERSON:
23 Explanation.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER:
25 Senator Fuschillo.
3737
1 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you,
2 Mr. President.
3 It's truly an honor for me to
4 rise on the first occasion with my first bill
5 coming to the floor. Mrs. Levy, Joy Levy is
6 over to my right, and it's really an honor for
7 me to put a bill in that will carry on
8 probably one of the greatest legislators ever
9 in the history of the state of New York, my
10 friend, my mentor, my neighbor, the late
11 Senator Norman J. Levy.
12 This bill will, in a ceremony
13 of dedication rename in his memory Meadow
14 brook Parkway which goes right through the
15 neighborhood of Norman Levy, forever, and
16 Norman Levy's name will forever be on the
17 Meadowbrook Parkway.
18 Thank you.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read
20 the last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 3.
22 This act shall take effect immediately.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call
24 the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the
3738
1 roll.)
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 52.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
4 bill is passed.
5 Senator Bruno, that completes
6 the reading of the controversial calendar.
7 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President,
8 can we at this time return to motions and
9 resolutions.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Yes.
11 SENATOR BRUNO: And I believe
12 there is a privileged resolution at the desk.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Yes,
14 there is.
15 SENATOR BRUNO: I would ask
16 that it be read in its entirety and move for
17 its immediate adoption.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER:
19 Secretary will read the resolution in its
20 entirety.
21 SENATOR BRUNO: By Senator
22 Bruno, and all members of the Senate,
23 Legislative Resolution honoring the life and
24 paying tribute to the memory of Senator Norman
25 J. Levy.
3739
1 WHEREAS, it is the sense of
2 this Legislative Body that the quality and
3 character of life in the great state of New
4 York is indelibly enriched by the faithful and
5 caring efforts of those who devote their life
6 to public service; and
7 WHEREAS, it is with deep regret
8 and profound sorrow that this Legislative Body
9 mourns the death of Senator Norman J. Levy of
10 Merrick, New York who represented the 8th
11 Senatorial District, Nassau County, until his
12 death at age 67 on Saturday, February 7, 1998;
13 This Legislative Body is moved
14 today to extend a grateful tribute in
15 remembrance of a special friend who
16 unselfishly committed his life to public
17 service and the needs of others;
18 Born in Rockville Centre, New
19 York on January 24, 1931, Norman Levy attended
20 elementary school in Lynbrook and Malverne and
21 graduated from the Milford School, Milford,
22 Connecticut. In 1952 he graduated from
23 Bucknell University;
24 From 1954 through 1956, Senator
25 Levy served in the United States Army where he
3740
1 was assigned to the First Army Headquarters as
2 a Chief Legal Clerk, Army Staff Judge
3 Advocate;
4 Prior to entering the Army, he
5 attended the University of Pennsylvania Law
6 School and graduated from Brooklyn Law School
7 in 1958. Later that year he was admitted to
8 the New York State bar;
9 On August 1st, 1958, Senator
10 Levy became the first law intern of the Nassau
11 County district attorney's office and was
12 appointed assistant district attorney of
13 Nassau County on January 12, 1959. In
14 September 1962, he was appointed chief of the
15 Nassau County Rackets Bureau, investigating
16 and prosecuting organized crime, serving in
17 that capacity until December 31, 1970 when he
18 resigned to take office as a New York State
19 Senator;
20 In January 1971, Senator Levy
21 was appointed chairman of the Senate Committee
22 on Villages. In January 1973, he served as
23 chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor
24 where he compiled a distinguished record as an
25 advocate for working men and women, sponsoring
3741
1 laws increasing health and safety standards,
2 increasing unemployment insurance, workers'
3 compensation benefits and disability benefits;
4 In 1982, Senator Levy was
5 appointed chairman of the Senate Committee on
6 Transportation, responsible for legislation
7 dealing with every facet of transportation
8 including but not limited to mass transit,
9 highway, bridge and traffic safety, and
10 financing. The same year he was appointed
11 chairman of the Joint Legislative Commission
12 on Critical Transportation Choices, charged
13 with the research and development of policy
14 issues on long-term transportation problems
15 and solutions;
16 Senator Levy, a nationally
17 recognized legislative leader in the field of
18 transportation, sponsored the first in the
19 nation mandatory seat belt law and many of the
20 state's anti-DWI, school bus and highway
21 safety laws. He was the chief architect and
22 prime mover of New York State's highway and
23 bridge rebuilding programs which continue to
24 repair rebuild and expand the highway and
25 bridge infrastructure;
3742
1 Senator Levy, who recognized
2 the importance of a safe and reliable mass
3 transit system, was appointed chief
4 legislative advocate for the Capital
5 Improvement Programs of the Metropolitan
6 Transportation Authority, which rebuilds the
7 metropolitan region's rail, bus and subway
8 system;
9 In November 1996, Senator Levy
10 was overwhelmingly elected to his 14th
11 consecutive term as a New York State Senator,
12 returning him to the office in which he so
13 ably served his constituents and all people of
14 the state of New York with great dignity,
15 unerring dedication and incisive wisdom;
16 Norman J. Levy is survived by
17 his beloved wife Joy Saslow Levy;
18 Rare indeed is the impressive
19 conviction, dedication and commitment shown by
20 an individual for the benefit of his community
21 and fellow man such as that which New York
22 State Senator Norman J. Levy demonstrated
23 throughout his life and distinguished career;
24 and
25 WHEREAS, this Legislative Body
3743
1 wishes to give official recognition and
2 approbation to an individual who served his
3 community and state for so many years in so
4 many ways; Senator Norman Levy, quick of wit
5 and determined in his beliefs, will be deeply
6 missed for his considerable energy and sage
7 leadership. His memory will continue to shine
8 forth as a beacon for all who aspire to a life
9 of purposeful fulfillment in service to the
10 public;
11 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED
12 that this Legislative Body pause in its
13 deliberations in grateful tribute to the
14 memory of Senator Norman Levy, to celebrate
15 his life and honor his accomplishments and in
16 doing so to dedicate ourselves anew to the
17 cause of the people he served; and
18 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a
19 copy of this resolution, suitably engrossed,
20 be transmitted to his wife, Joy Saslow Levy.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER:
22 Senator Bruno.
23 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President,
24 colleagues, you've just heard a resolution
25 reviewing the life of a very extraordinary
3744
1 individual -- extraordinary in every way -
2 legislatively, as a colleague, as a friend, as
3 a devoted husband, as a family person. He
4 partnered with his wife Joy through every
5 minute that he lived, and Joy has joined us
6 here in the chamber with her mother, Lil
7 Saslow and her brother, Jerry, his wife Linda,
8 his nephew, Craig and niece Julie, and good
9 friend Lisa Young. We welcome you here.
10 When you reflect on what we
11 heard in a few moments, you can't help but
12 think about the effect one individual in
13 public service can have on the people of New
14 York State, truly throughout the Northeast and
15 the United States, because we all know that as
16 an individual legislator, he was so committed
17 to taking care of people that his reflection
18 shines throughout the state, throughout the
19 Northeast and throughout the United States.
20 We heard a lot of firsts before
21 he became chair of transportation. We heard
22 of the things that he did on behalf of the
23 constituency here in this state. As chair of
24 transportation for 16 years, he really was the
25 model of all of the things that were important
3745
1 in people's lives, and there is nowhere that
2 we can go in our lives that we don't feel his
3 effects and his legacy in what he did for the
4 people of this state.
5 I think one of the indications
6 of how he lived his life was soon after he was
7 operated on in what turned out to be an
8 illness that was to take his life. I talked
9 with him on the phone.
10 "How is it going, Norm?"
11 "I'm doing my best. I'm doing
12 my best, and I'm going to be fine."
13 And you had the impression that
14 he was trying to make you feel good in talking
15 to him. He asked what was going on, and I
16 told him. We had something important
17 happening here in the chamber. He said, "I'm
18 going to try and get in," and I said, "Norm,
19 don't do that unless you're comfortable doing
20 that," and that was the end if it.
21 We were in conference, and our
22 colleagues can remember, when the doors opened
23 and in walked Norm, just breezed in, and I
24 don't know if you -- I'm sure you recall, it
25 was one of the most emotional things I've ever
3746
1 seen because, spontaneously, when we saw Norm
2 come in, everything stopped, everyone got to
3 their feet and applauded him until he got to
4 his chair as chair of the conference.
5 Norm was humble. He didn't
6 want that. That's why he didn't indicate he
7 was coming in. He was embarrassed by the show
8 of affection and emotion, but knowing Norm,
9 you couldn't help but be affectionate, you
10 couldn't help but get emotional because he was
11 so real, so human, so down to earth, so caring
12 for everyone, starting with his beautiful wife
13 Joy, the Senate as an institution, his
14 friends, his colleagues. He just cared, and
15 when you think about our lives in public
16 service, if we can emulate a person like
17 Senator Norm Levy, in wherever anyone goes in
18 this state, they will have a recollection -- a
19 reflection of what Senator Norm Levy has done,
20 what's here, and what we will enjoy through
21 our lives.
22 I was at the Albany Airport,
23 the Albany International Airport, today for
24 their official ribbon cutting and dedication
25 and, as I looked around at that splendid
3747
1 facility, I thought of all the conversations I
2 had had with Norm over the years about that
3 facility. I just left the Stillwater and
4 Mechanicville site where the tornado struck
5 last night, and the devastation there is
6 unbelievable, with 30 to 50 houses totally
7 leveled, businesses out of business, 70 or 80
8 homes where people are moved out of. And you
9 know what? All I could think of were the
10 bridges going in there and out of there, the
11 roads going in there and out of there. And
12 you know what? They were all open with trees
13 and lines. Why? Because they were accessible.
14 The community was accessible. That's the
15 legacy of Senator Norm Levy to all of us. In
16 every community in this state, there are
17 places like Stillwater, Mechanicville, the
18 Albany International Airport, all the roads,
19 all the bridges, the mass transportation, the
20 subway system, that was his heart, that was
21 his soul. Why? Because he knew how important
22 all of these things are to our public safety,
23 to our health, to our general well-being.
24 I know there are a number of
25 people who have things to say, but you feel
3748
1 that you could go on and on and on talking
2 about Senator Norm Levy and the partnership he
3 had with Joy and with his family and with us.
4 But this is truly a celebration
5 of his legacy and of his memory and we want to
6 remember that. We are here together
7 celebrating his contribution, 28 years with
8 this institution here, 16 years chairing one
9 of the most important committees in this
10 Senate, and doing it in a way that makes
11 everyone that was exposed to him and his work
12 proud.
13 So when we think about this
14 state and we think about his devotion, and we
15 think about his commitment, you can't help but
16 feel good that Norm Levy was serving with us
17 in the Senate and this institution and there
18 isn't any greater legacy that any of us can
19 aspire to than to have that kind of commitment
20 that has gone before and has stayed with us
21 when we are no longer here.
22 Thank you, Mr. President.
23 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
24 Senator Bruno.
25 Senator Fuschillo.
3749
1 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Senator
2 Bruno, fellow legislators, it is indeed an
3 honor for me to rise and talk about a great
4 man.
5 I had the honor and privilege a
6 few months ago of running for his seat. The
7 first door I went to and knocked on, a woman
8 came to the door and she asked me my shoe
9 size. Innocently I looked down and said ten
10 and a half. She said, "That's not what I
11 mean. You have huge shoes to fill," and I
12 proceeded to tell her that nobody could fill
13 Norman Levy's shoes.
14 He was a no-nonsense legislator
15 pulling out all of the stops when he had a
16 vision to improve our quality of life. He
17 knew when his idea of the seat belt law was
18 first introduced it would be a tough battle.
19 He persevered and won, and we have the
20 nation's first seat belt law here in New York
21 State, a law that is now known across the
22 nation. Traveling on the roads, you see the
23 sign, Buckle Up; It Saves Lives. To those
24 signs, we should add another blip, Thank You,
25 Norman Levy, for the countless number of lives
3750
1 you have saved.
2 Norman Levy spoke out for the
3 children by enacting school bus safety
4 legislation and the helmet law. Ten days ago
5 when I came home on a Saturday morning, I
6 found my son had just gotten into an accident
7 with his bicycle. Rushed him to the hospital
8 and he was bleeding. The first question the
9 doctor asked me when we brought him into the
10 emergency room, Was he wearing his helmet and
11 was it cracked, and I said yes and no, and the
12 doctor said to me, "You know Norman Levy?" I
13 said, Sure. He said, Well, I worked with him
14 to draft that law, and it saved thousands and
15 thousands of kids from head injuries.
16 Norman Levy followed in the
17 footsteps of the late Robert Moses as the
18 chief architect and prime mover of New York
19 State's highways and bridges rebuilding
20 programs which continue to make our
21 transportation system safer and more
22 efficient.
23 When I recently had the honor
24 to run, I presented a grant in honor of Norman
25 Levy at a dinner that I went to recently with
3751
1 my colleague, Senator Balboni, and Joy Levy,
2 and I think Senator Balboni said it best when
3 he got up there and presented the grant, that
4 for the past eight years Norman Levy had been
5 up there by himself. Now it takes two
6 legislators to do what he did so well for 28
7 years.
8 At Norman Levy's service at the
9 Merrick Jewish Center a few months ago, it was
10 so appropriately stated by someone who said
11 that in his 27-plus years as an elected
12 official, he never heard an unkind word said
13 about Norman Levy, and we know in this
14 business it's extremely tough and difficult to
15 go through life like that.
16 The Merrick Light, which is a
17 local newspaper in my district, recently ran
18 an editorial that truly demonstrated how large
19 of an icon Norman Levy ever was, and they
20 said, quote, "Never since John F. Kennedy died
21 has there been such a desire to name a park,
22 school and even parkways for a statesman who
23 died in his prime," and I say to Joy Levy, my
24 friend, thank you for allowing us to be in
25 Norman's life, for he has certainly enriched
3752
1 my life forever.
2 Thank you.
3 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
4 Senator Skelos.
5 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you,
6 Madam President.
7 This has been a very difficult
8 year for those of us from Nassau County, I
9 know, Long Island and the entire Senate
10 because we've lost two wonderful colleagues,
11 two friends, Mike Tully and Norm Levy, and
12 Joe, I'm going to start off by thanking you
13 for giving us the opportunity today to speak
14 about our good friends, Norman and Joy,
15 because they truly were a team and also for
16 the courtesies that you extended to the Levy
17 family during the period of his illness.
18 Over the week end, I had the
19 opportunity to talk to some of my constituents
20 as we all do from time to time, and they said,
21 "What's coming up this week?" I said, "Well,
22 the regular calendar; we're trying to finish
23 by June 18th, and we are going to pass a
24 resolution and discuss Norm Levy." The person
25 said, "Well, gees, didn't Normie pass away
3753
1 several months ago? I know we -- it was in the
2 papers, we read the obituaries, tributes to
3 Norman." I said, Yes, but today is the day
4 that the Senate as an institution has the
5 opportunity to say thank you to Norman, to say
6 goodbye to Norman, to thank Joy for the
7 sacrifices that she's made, but also to
8 celebrate Norman's contribution to this great
9 institution called the state Senate, an
10 institution that all of us sitting in this
11 room, whether it's Republicans or Democrats or
12 whether we debate with each other vigorously,
13 an institution that we all love.
14 Joy, today you saw the calendar
15 went very quickly, non-controversial. It was
16 as if it was all Norman's bills because nobody
17 ever wanted to debate Norman. Norman would
18 come out on the floor with a stack of papers,
19 his pencil always writing -- Sarah, Jimmy
20 Moriarty, staff with him, and when you looked
21 at Norman with that preparation, you would
22 rarely ask a question.
23 I remember one time when I was
24 first elected to the Senate, we were in
25 conference. Norman chaired the Transportation
3754
1 Committee. I asked a question. He gave me a
2 thorough answer, and afterwards he got me
3 aside and says, "Deano" -- he always referred
4 to me as "Deano" -- he said, "You're chairman
5 of the Aging Committee, aren't you?" I said,
6 "Yes." He says, "Do I ever question you
7 about anything in the aging area?" I said,
8 "No." He says, Norman, don't you think I -
9 "Dean, don't you think I would protect Long
10 Island and the rest of the state when it came
11 to transportation needs?" I never asked him
12 another question concerning transportation.
13 Norman also had a wonderful,
14 wonderful staff. They were always prepared,
15 but I think it speaks for the caliber of Norm
16 Levy, by the fact that his staff members were
17 with him not only from during his days in the
18 Senate, but some from the D.A.'s office in
19 Nassau County, and many of them for Norman's
20 entire career, and I think that speaks well of
21 Norman. We all know at times we can be
22 difficult, but Norman's staff were consummate
23 in their work and also loved Norman.
24 As we traveled through the
25 district and talked to people, Norman was
3755
1 devoted to his district. Sometimes our local
2 daily paper would talk about Norman being
3 overly devoted, parochial, when it came to
4 issues of transportation or school aid, but
5 isn't it our job -- isn't it our job as
6 elected officials to represent our districts
7 with all the vigor that we can, and not only
8 was Norman devoted to his district, the people
9 of that Senatorial District were devoted to
10 Norman. They loved Norman. They miss Norman
11 and certainly I know that all of us in the
12 Senate today, and certainly myself who first
13 learned how to campaign was from Norm Levy.
14 1980, when I ran for the
15 Assembly, Norm Levy was the Senator for that
16 district. He walked with me day after day
17 after day and certainly Norman didn't have
18 to. He had his 70 percent locked up, but he
19 took me door to door. When that first door
20 slammed on your face like we've all had when
21 we first run for office and we have no idea
22 what to do because we think everybody loves us
23 and we're crashed, you turn around and you
24 walk away like this and Norman would give you
25 a smack on the back and say, "Keep going. If
3756
1 they're really bad, just mumble something
2 under your breath and it will go away," but he
3 taught you how to campaign. He taught me how
4 to campaign, and he taught me how to be a
5 legislator.
6 So Joy, today is our
7 opportunity as an institution to say to you,
8 thank you for allowing us to share Norman with
9 you for the past 28 years. We love you. We
10 love Norman, and certainly he'll always be
11 remembered.
12 Thank you, Joy.
13 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
14 Senator Libous.
15 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you,
16 Madam President.
17 I too want to rise and make
18 some brief comments about a friend and a
19 colleague who I sat next to for nine years
20 and, you know, you learn a lot from someone
21 when you spend a little bit of time just in a
22 business setting and seeing how they react to
23 things, and I think both Senator Bruno,
24 Senator Skelos and Senator Fuschillo
25 mentioned, you know, a lot of little things
3757
1 that Norman did really told a lot about the
2 character of the man.
3 Senator Skelos mentioned the
4 pencil. Norman would come here, sit at this
5 desk and he would have a pile of papers in
6 front of him, and they would be letters that
7 the staff had put together and he'd be going
8 through it and putting little pencil marks,
9 little arrows, little gizmos here and there.
10 I'd look at him, and say, "Norman, what are
11 you doing?" He'd say, "Well, you know, the
12 staff does such an outstanding job, and," he
13 says, "they're really great, but there's just
14 some little things that they don't understand
15 because I'm there. I know this constituent
16 personally, I know this person, I want to just
17 put a little note here," and he just had that
18 kinds of dedication that dealt with the little
19 things.
20 I can remember another day
21 where I was sitting here, and I had my leg
22 crossed and my shoe was up, and he looked at
23 my shoe, and he said, "Who is your shoe
24 maker?" And I said, "Why do you ask?" He says,
25 "Well," he said, "your shoes always look good
3758
1 on the bottom, and," he said, "I notice you
2 always have nice heels and I know you must
3 have a shoemaker that takes care of you," and
4 I said, "Yes," and I didn't have the heart to
5 tell him I couldn't afford new shoes and I had
6 to always go to the shoemaker, and he said, "I
7 got a little problem maybe you can help me
8 with," and he says, "Joy has a bit of a
9 problem with one of her shoes, and what
10 happens is, it wears down a little quicker,
11 and we can't seem to find anybody back home
12 who can take care of it and, you know, we've
13 got quite a few pair of shoes and I just
14 wondered if maybe your shoemaker would take a
15 look at it."
16 Well, Joy, as you know, for
17 several week ends we would take several boxes
18 of shoes to Binghamton, Norman would bring
19 them in, bring them to the office. The shoes
20 would go to the shoemaker in Binghamton, and
21 my shoemaker would look at me and say,
22 "Senator, what are you doing? You running
23 another business from the Senate," and I would
24 say, "No, we're only helping a friend."
25 The other thing that I will say
3759
1 before I sit down and let my other colleagues
2 speak, is that I remember one day I came in
3 here, it was right after petition time and I
4 remember, thought I was a big shot, kind of
5 beating my chest a little bit. Norman was
6 here, and I said, "Gee, Norman, I filed 6500
7 names on my petition." I thought that was
8 pretty good, you know, 6500 people signed my
9 petition. Norman looked over at me and he
10 said "Gee, Tom," he said, "that's fantastic."
11 He didn't say anything, and I said, Norman,
12 how many did you file? He said, "17,000." I
13 said, "Norman, 17,000. Nobody files 17,000,"
14 and he said, "Well, we did," and I then
15 checked around with some of his colleagues,
16 checked with Senator Skelos and several others
17 and they said, Oh, yeah, not only did he file
18 17,000, he probably got 10,000 of them
19 himself.
20 That's the kind of dedication,
21 hard work, that's the kind of person that
22 Norman Levy was, the things that he stood for
23 and, quite frankly, as someone else said, when
24 he believed in something, you had to get out
25 of his way because he was going to make it
3760
1 happen because it was the right thing to do.
2 Norman, we're going to miss you
3 and the only thing that I can say is that you
4 were one of the good guys.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
6 Senator Balboni.
7 SENATOR BALBONI: Thank you,
8 Mr. President.
9 I was not going to speak except
10 I happened to take a look over in the gallery,
11 and I see Senator Levy's staff, generations of
12 them, people who have been serving with Norman
13 for decades, and I think of all the things
14 you're going to speak about the wonderful
15 legacies that Norman left, in terms of great
16 projects, the legislation he passed, and then
17 I think about the other legacy, the legacy
18 that perhaps we don't talk about a lot in this
19 institution but nonetheless is so important,
20 the legacy of people, that all of us have the
21 opportunity to leave.
22 I had a chance to work almost
23 as a staffer on Norman's staff for a brief
24 period of time, and some of the people up
25 there will remember. I was the legislative
3761
1 representative for Nassau County working on a
2 big bill and I went and I sat in Norman Levy's
3 office and, by gum, for three and a half weeks
4 he treated me just like his staff, and I got a
5 chance to see what Norman was like when he was
6 angry; I got a chance to see what he was like
7 when he wanted something; I got a chance to
8 see what he was like come 6:00, 7:00 o'clock
9 and he's still going back doing more work.
10 You know, we are in a very
11 cynical time. People don't believe any more
12 or don't have faith in government, but yet our
13 future is contingent upon the people who will
14 follow in our footsteps and the people up
15 there have all gone on, most of them to very
16 important influential posts, as many of our
17 staffs and your staffs have done or are going
18 to do, and I can't think of a better role
19 model than someone like Norman Levy -
20 intelligent, honest, hard working, dedicated,
21 persistent and decent.
22 These are times we're going to
23 remember a lot of great stories about Norman
24 and all the accomplishments, but I hope that
25 all of us together can take this moment and I
3762
1 guess as the last most recent staffer to join
2 the Senate, I can tell you all you leave your
3 legacy on all of us. We adopt how you think,
4 how you feel, where your families come from,
5 and you mold us.
6 I hope we take this opportunity
7 when someone like Norman passes from our world
8 to want to do a little bit better and keep on
9 influencing those people who are going to take
10 our shoes one day and follow in our footsteps
11 for the future of the state and this nation.
12 Thank you, Mr. President.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
14 Senator Marcellino.
15 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you,
16 Mr. President.
17 Like many others who have known
18 Norman, served with Norman for years, we all
19 loved him because he was genuine and a real
20 person.
21 Some years ago, I was running
22 for an office in Nassau County and, as we do
23 to a railroad stop and one of the stops, one
24 of the station stops was in Norman's district
25 and I said to him, I called him up and I said,
3763
1 "Norman, can you send me some people to help
2 me out at the railroad station because I'm
3 going to be there early in the morning." He
4 said, "Carlo" -- always called me Carlo.
5 Called Dean "Deano" called me Carlo -- he
6 says, "I'll be there." I said, "Norman, don't
7 worry about it, just send me some people to
8 show up about 5:00 o'clock in the morning,
9 shake a few hands."
10 It was October, and it was
11 cold. Got there in the morning, there's
12 Norman. "Norman, where are your people?"
13 "I'm here." No one else, just Norman, he and
14 I and my person who had come with me to help
15 me get out my flyers stood there for about
16 three and a half hours under that railroad
17 station in the cold morning, freezing, while
18 Norman shook every hand of every person coming
19 off that platform, called each and every one
20 of them by their first name, and I mean this
21 with no exaggeration, he knew each and every
22 commuter getting on and coming off that train,
23 called them by their first names. I think he
24 knew half their spouses and their children's
25 first names. They all knew him. I might as
3764
1 well have stayed home that day, for the good
2 -- it was a great campaign stop for Norman.
3 It didn't do a hell of a lot for me. I lost
4 the election, but that wasn't Norman's fault.
5 That was mine. I'll take full credit for that
6 loss. Norman was just phenomenal.
7 It taught me a lesson what
8 campaigning was all about. It taught me
9 something about what someone who represents a
10 district was all about and what constituent
11 services was all about, because that's what -
12 everybody had a story. Everybody knew Norman
13 in relation to something he had done for them
14 or someone they knew or something that he had
15 done within the community that they were proud
16 of and that they were happy with, and every
17 once in a while a couple of them would come up
18 with something they had a problem with but
19 that wasn't a big deal, Norman handled it.
20 Norman talked to them, and every one of them
21 knew he was talking to them. He wasn't just
22 saying words that would go away in five
23 minutes. He was saying the real thing because
24 he meant it. That was a lesson to be
25 learned.
3765
1 When I got to the Senate, one
2 of the first people to say congratulations was
3 Norm Levy. He said, "Now, aren't you glad you
4 lost that election?" He said, "If that
5 happened you'd be some place else. You
6 wouldn't be here." When I was here and there
7 was a problem with station closings, we were
8 trying to close some railroad stations in the
9 Long Island Rail Road and some of the smaller
10 stations, it was Norman who called me in, and
11 he said, "Look, let me show you something,
12 this is what's going to happen in your
13 district." He said, "These are a few stations
14 that you might want to pay attention to
15 because this is going to impact you and your
16 constituents."
17 I wouldn't have known what to
18 say and where to go with that sort of thing.
19 I followed Norman's lead, Norman taught me
20 what to do and how to do it and led me down
21 the right path. It was good. It was the right
22 thing. He showed me which ones to let go and
23 which ones to keep open. It made sense; we
24 did it. The ones that he recommended to stay
25 open were the right ones for the constituents,
3766
1 were the right ones for the district. They're
2 open today, thanks to no small efforts on
3 Norman's part.
4 He was a complete
5 professional. He was a good friend, and Joy
6 should be as -- his pride and joy was Joy, and
7 I'm sure still is Joy, and God bless you, Joy,
8 and God bless Norman. He was a good friend
9 and a blessed man.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
11 Thank you, Senator Marcellino.
12 Senator Farley.
13 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Mr.
14 President.
15 I also rise to pay tribute to
16 Norman Levy. He was truly a New York State
17 original. As a Senator, I knew him when he
18 was chairman of labor and for many years in
19 transportation. Believe me, when he was
20 chairman of labor he was busy. He worked so
21 hard on everything that he did.
22 I think so many of us were at
23 the temple at his funeral service. We learned
24 that he was truly adored in his district, as
25 Dean said. This man was something else. I
3767
1 still recall when we were at a meeting in Long
2 Island, Senate Majority. It was about a year
3 and a half before the next election. Norman
4 was out there going door to door. He never
5 stopped meeting his constituents.
6 Let me say this: Also for a
7 member, if there was any member that needed
8 something or was in trouble or had a
9 transportation problem, Norman was the first
10 one to step up and try to help him.
11 You know, he -- he was such a
12 kind person, but I think one of the most
13 impressive things about Norman was his wife
14 Joy. That has to be one of the greatest love
15 affairs that ever existed. He absolutely
16 adored his wife, his bride, and I'll tell you
17 and, of course, Joy, they mentioned thank you
18 for letting us share him, but I'll tell you,
19 his major focus was you, whether it was your
20 shoes or whatever it was, Joy was the major
21 focus of his life.
22 But what a Senator he was.
23 I'll tell you, we -- you see a lot of people
24 come and go here, but Norman was truly one of
25 a kind and somebody that we'll miss very, very
3768
1 much.
2 God bless him, and God bless
3 you, Joy.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
5 Senator Hannon.
6 SENATOR HANNON: Mr. President,
7 the people of this state as well as everybody
8 in this chamber has been much better off
9 because of the service of Senator Norman
10 Levy. He's been an advocate for education,
11 labor, transportation, safety, safety big and
12 small, whether it's double-decker trains or
13 little bicycles.
14 The way he got to that and the
15 way he got to all the accomplishments that my
16 distinguished colleagues have spoken about was
17 that he was such a diligent and careful
18 legislaor, and a diligent and careful person.
19 He was truly a craftsman when it came to
20 taking a look at legislation and thinking how
21 would it impact the state, the locality, how
22 it would impact other related areas.
23 Michael Balboni said that he
24 served as a member of his staff for about six
25 weeks. Well, I got adopted when I also was
3769
1 representing the county, but I think I got
2 adopted for about two years. At that point
3 Norman Levy decided that since I was from the
4 county government that I must know a little
5 bit about everything municipal and, therefore,
6 he would call me out of the blue and I would
7 have to go and research everything municipal.
8 I learned more about things I
9 didn't want to know about. I learned more
10 about how one applied that to the matter at
11 hand. I learned more about balancing, and it
12 wasn't balancing by just saying we're going to
13 strike something in the middle. It was
14 balancing in relation to the difficulty of the
15 issue and what was needed to resolve that
16 issue, and what had gone before and trying to
17 relate as many different needs as possible.
18 It was truly learning what happens when you
19 drop a pebble in the water and all those
20 ripples spread out. That's the piece of
21 legislation. That's what I learned about, and
22 he would do it not only for the state, not
23 only as a member of the capital board for all
24 of the capital projects, he would do it for
25 his own district.
3770
1 What I learned about talking
2 from school superintendents in his district or
3 talking from community activists in his
4 district is how much he listened to people and
5 how much he cared for people, but he would
6 also do it for anybody else in the chamber who
7 had a particular problem that needed to be
8 addressed and sometimes he'd know about it
9 before you'd know about it, a closing of a
10 Motor Vehicle office, a problem with the way a
11 freight train was going to be running through
12 the district, and once again he brought wise
13 and judicious decision-making to that, a very,
14 very difficult thing but something he did in
15 such a way that held up such a high standard
16 for all of us, and his legacy is not the many
17 hundreds or maybe thousands of pieces of
18 legislation that he has enacted into law, but
19 a process of how we go about our decision
20 making, how we go about our legislating,
21 something that I am forever grateful that I
22 had a chance to be part of, for his concern.
23 People have mentioned how he
24 did his election. Well, he did that in such a
25 way that it advanced the governmental causes
3771
1 that were before him, that were before the
2 Senate. It was a way of process, of touching
3 people and finding out their concerns. It
4 wasn't electioneering. It really wasn't
5 partisanship.
6 I must close by saying he did
7 all this in partnership with Joy, not
8 partnership in the way we talk about our
9 spouses in general, but partnership of her
10 going with him to the various activities in
11 the district or up here, her making keen and
12 insightful observations, her being a true
13 friend to all of us when we needed a little
14 pat on the back. That's a real partnership.
15 That's something we admire also and a great
16 lesson to all of us, for which we are
17 grateful.
18 I'm better off, and I think
19 everybody else in the state is better off for
20 having had a chance to serve with Senator
21 Norman Levy.
22 Thank you, Mr. President.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
24 Thank you, Senator Hannon.
25 Senator LaValle.
3772
1 SENATOR LAVALLE: Thank you,
2 Mr. President.
3 Norman Levy was a colleague
4 that I think all the of us really want to
5 emulate. He was, of course, a person that was
6 loyal to his friends, loyal to this
7 institution. He loved the Senate. It
8 provided him with a vehicle to accomplish the
9 many things he wanted to do in life. He was a
10 person in perpetual motion.
11 Senator Balboni talked about
12 staff. I had the pleasure of knowing Norman
13 Levy as a staff member, and I can tell you
14 that if you are a staff member of the Senate
15 you were automatically a member of Norman
16 Levy's staff. I remember, as director of the
17 Education Committee spending a lot of time
18 with Norman talking about state aid, talking
19 about individual bills and, when Norman was
20 focused on something, it -- I mean he was just
21 tenacious, and he just moved, as has been
22 said, in a very methodical way until the job
23 was done.
24 We talked about his expertise
25 in the things he's done for transportation but
3773
1 I -- I can say that he has left an enormous
2 mark in education, not only for Long Island
3 but throughout the state. We just can't
4 mention enough times about safety issues,
5 whether it be school bus safety or other
6 issues. Norman interacted with the P-TA for
7 many years and would take their top concerns
8 in terms of education and safety, bring them
9 back, have them drafted properly and move them
10 through the legislative process.
11 No one was mentioned yet
12 Norman's record in the environment. Norman
13 had one of the best voting records year after
14 year on the environment, and so he was just a
15 very, very complete individual and, of course,
16 we've said over and over again a caring and
17 loving person.
18 My daughter Lisa ended up
19 working in the -- in Norm Levy's law firm and
20 Norm said, "Gee, Ken, you didn't tell me that
21 Lisa was working in the law firm," and from
22 that point on when he knew, he and Joy adopted
23 Lisa. They tried on many occasions to play
24 cupid, to move her in the right direction, but
25 it was, like everything that they've done,
3774
1 with people it's done in a caring way and a
2 very, very loving way.
3 Norman was a star when he was
4 here. Sometimes we don't want to recognize as
5 contemporaries that some may be stars here as
6 legislators. Norman is, as we look to the
7 heavens, one of those shining stars and he
8 will be there perpetually smiling down and
9 looking at the accomplishments that have been
10 done and, thankfully, Joy and other people are
11 ensuring that proper recognition will be given
12 to the many, many projects that Norman
13 shepherded through and accomplished in his
14 time here, albeit too brief. We will miss him
15 very, very dearly.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
17 Senator Volker.
18 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President,
19 there's a lot has been said about Norman and
20 it is really very, very difficult. One of the
21 things, when Senator Balboni spoke of his
22 staff, I have always contended that staff tend
23 to reflect their boss and, in fact, I must
24 honestly tell you that one of the ways in
25 which Senator -- Norman and I became very
3775
1 close friends was in his manner of attacking
2 issues and attacking various problems.
3 I was former chairman of
4 energy, as some of you may know as I say in a
5 former life, and Norman, when energy was a
6 really heavy issue and, of course, obviously
7 on Long Island it was a difficult one for a
8 lot of us because I was from upstate, Norman
9 was from Long Island, and Norman would call me
10 on many occasions to say, you know, shouldn't
11 we be doing this, shouldn't we be doing that.
12 He would always say, "but I understand, Dale,
13 that you have to look at your end of the state
14 also and you have to do the things that are
15 the right things for you."
16 The typical example of that, by
17 the way, is another example, one -- I think it
18 was late November, out of the clear blue when
19 I got a call from Norman. "Dale, this is
20 Norman. I just wanted to tell you something.
21 You got a problem."
22 "What do you mean, I have a
23 problem?"
24 "You have a transportation
25 problem." I said, "I do?" He said, "Well,
3776
1 there's a bill that's being put in that
2 affects the whole state, and," he said, "it's
3 very good for Long Island and it's pretty good
4 for New York City, but," he said, "you guys
5 could have a problem up there. I'm workin' on
6 it, but I wanted you to know before you ever
7 come down here," because we were coming down
8 some time later in December as we were wont to
9 do sometimes, "I want you to be aware before
10 you ever hear about it because there could be
11 a problem." He explained it to me, went
12 through the whole thing. Bottom line of that
13 story is, I mean he never had to do that
14 obviously. I wouldn't have probably known
15 about it.
16 The interesting thing is the
17 time we reached -- by the time we reached
18 Albany several weeks later, that problem was
19 resolved, and Norman was the one who resolved
20 it, which is typical, it seems to me, of the
21 way he operated, that he was an institution
22 alist. As has been said here, there's no
23 question he was an institutionalist. He loved
24 being here. He loved his constituents which I
25 think is the heart of what we're all about
3777
1 here in a way, and I was telling some of the
2 young staff people here who asked me about
3 resolutions, I said, "Well, you know, as
4 somebody whose father was in the Assembly and
5 who was memorialized here also, I think you
6 have to realize that the process that we go
7 through here, you call it part of the grieving
8 process if you would, but it's also part of a
9 process that is very important to us as an
10 institution," but it is also very important to
11 the family to truly understand.
12 Sometimes I think families
13 don't truly understand how important an
14 individual is to us up here because the family
15 back, obviously, on Long Island, to Joy and
16 the immediate family, no one has to tell
17 anybody about that. We know that and Norman
18 was and will always be, as has been said here,
19 a real part of this institution, and I will
20 predict to you that, when most of us are gone,
21 in years to come, people will still talk in
22 transportation, as Senator Bruno said, they
23 will talk in transportation terms about things
24 that Norman did and things he was involved
25 with, and they will talk in awe, but they will
3778
1 also talk in awe of a gentleman and a person
2 who not only loved his family, not only loved
3 his constituents but I think loved this
4 country and loved this state and was prepared
5 in the end, when you really think about it, to
6 give everything he had right up until his last
7 breath.
8 I will remember him with favor
9 probably as much as anyone in this chamber,
10 but I say this to you. He will not be
11 forgotten and, Joy, we will not forget you and
12 we will not forget those people who served
13 with Norman as his staff who are really now
14 totally part of this institution.
15 So God bless Norman, and God
16 bless you, Joy.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
18 Senator Stafford.
19 SENATOR STAFFORD: Thank you,
20 Mr. President.
21 Joy, we don't mention Norman
22 without mentioning Joy, as has been mentioned
23 here, a union, the best, you can say about the
24 union.
25 I can add a little more after
3779
1 you stand up and you hear what people have
2 said things so well. I'll make a couple -
3 two or three points here though.
4 I would always say it's not
5 pencil, it's pencils, a very large handful of
6 pencils. I always remember that as far as his
7 staff goes, I shared offices with Norman up on
8 the fifth floor, and again it's been mentioned
9 but they worked and if they didn't feel like
10 working, they worked, and if they felt maybe
11 they weren't going to work, they worked, and
12 if they had any questions, they worked. My
13 point is that it wasn't eight to five. It was
14 much longer, with dedication, I might add,
15 that you see very, very seldom.
16 I would just mention a few
17 words here, a couple have been mentioned al
18 ready, but words that Norman invented, and I
19 say this very constructively, but "tenacious",
20 he invented that word. "Persistent", believe
21 you me, he invented that word, and I think
22 that if there was a word that started with
23 Norman it was "relentless" when you were with
24 him and he was a protagonist for any issue,
25 and no one -- and I say this constructively
3780
1 and as a compliment -- no one could wear the
2 opposition down like Norman. If you had to
3 talk with him and had to discuss an issue with
4 you -- with him, you were done before you
5 started because he would discuss it with you,
6 but the point I will make which is an example
7 to all of us, he was always civil -- civility
8 and a gentleman.
9 There were times when he would
10 say "Ronzo" -- that's what he called me, and
11 when he said that, you knew that he was being
12 fairly serious about what he was talking
13 about, but two other points and this has been
14 said over and over again, and it will be said,
15 so committed and, finally, who could enjoy a
16 laugh more than Norman Levy? He laughed from
17 his toes.
18 He set an example for all of
19 us, Joy. Let's hope we can at least follow
20 some of what Norman had started.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
22 Senator Connor.
23 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Mr.
24 President.
25 You know, my earliest
3781
1 association with Norman when I was a
2 relatively new member here, I used to like to
3 debate a lot, talk a lot on the floor, you
4 know. Tend to be much more reticent now,
5 cautious, you know. In those days on the
6 other side of the aisle one of the members
7 would always come to the fore in the debates
8 we used to have was Norman Levy and he was
9 then the chair of the Labor Committee, and I
10 always managed to have a lot to say about
11 anything having to do with the Labor Committee
12 or any of the bills that came out of there,
13 and probably after I was here about three
14 years, maybe in 1980, there was a process.
15 There was an appointee of the then governor
16 who was, for whatever reasons, became the
17 object of great partisan differences about
18 confirmation, and I remember a process then
19 which Norman as chair of the committee led
20 which I, frankly, have not seen since in this
21 Senate in terms of its thoroughness, the
22 length of time it was taking to examine a
23 particular nominee. Numbers, great numbers of
24 witnesses were called both before the
25 committee and before its chair and, as you
3782
1 know, I think it's the Civil Rights Law, in
2 order to swear the witnesses in and to take
3 their testimony, another Senator in addition
4 to the chair had to be present and in the then
5 particularly observed courtesies of the house,
6 a Democrat would always have to be present
7 with Norman, and I kept getting the call and
8 so I ended up spending a lot of time with
9 Norman.
10 It was an interesting process.
11 It was somewhat -- you know, a young member
12 and you know, as a young member I could
13 pretend I really didn't know all that much
14 about what was going on. Norman took me in his
15 office one day, and he said -- he called me
16 "Kiddo" then -- "Kiddo, you know I got my
17 orders," and I said, "I understand, I got
18 mine," and we gave all those witnesses a fair
19 opportunity to be heard. The nominee,
20 although he was foredoomed, I suppose, in his
21 aspirations, did get a fair hearing and I got
22 to know Norman pretty well, and ever after I
23 enjoyed him, enjoyed debating with him when
24 the novelty of debating virtually every other
25 bill that came up wore off for me, for him as
3783
1 well as me, we were always friendly and
2 cordial.
3 I also respected the fact that
4 he cared very, very much, very, very much
5 about his causes, his projects, that he was an
6 unflagging champion for his ideas. Later,
7 when he -- later when he became chair of
8 transportation, something I've never told this
9 body, but my late aunt in New Jersey was a key
10 staff member in the Transportation Committee
11 there in New Jersey. She was a Republican,
12 but those staffs were non-partisan, and so she
13 always had an insight about Senator Levy and
14 his staff that I used to get, I suppose you'd
15 call it through the back door from Trenton,
16 but she certainly sang the praises of Senator
17 Levy when he was but a new chair of
18 transportation.
19 We're going to miss Norm Levy.
20 I think we're all better off for having known
21 him. Joy, thank you for sharing him with us,
22 and the fact that he was so dedicated to the
23 Senate never, never for a moment did any of us
24 doubt what his absolute first love -- who his
25 first love was and what his priority was, and
3784
1 we shall miss him, but as time goes on, we
2 shall -- those of us who served with him will
3 reflect back and realize how wonderful it was
4 to have served with him.
5 Thank you, Mr. President.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
7 Senator Stachowski.
8 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr.
9 President, I too rise to say a few things
10 about Norman Levy.
11 I met Norman when I first got
12 here. He was still ranker of labor, so I
13 didn't realize how old he was until you said
14 how long Norman was chairman of
15 transportation. So right away he made a new
16 member feel comfortable when -- and I always
17 will remember that. I also noticed with great
18 interest how, when it was his project, how
19 hard he fought and how, no matter how
20 impossible the obstacle would look, he would
21 find a way to get around it or through it, and
22 my favorite was -- incidentally, I was kind of
23 surprised that you only named a smaller road
24 after him. I thought you'd name the Long
25 Island Expressway after him, because if you
3785
1 recall, for those of us who were here, is when
2 one of the slowest things in a road project is
3 you have to do an EIS study first, and then
4 when that's finished you do the engineering
5 and then you build the road. Well, that was a
6 little too slow for Norman, at least in the
7 expansion of the Long Island Expressway, so he
8 passed a bill which I'll always remember that
9 you did the EIS and the engineering study at
10 the same time, and that was never heard of
11 before, and it passed and we did it and people
12 always remarked about that; but that's what I
13 always remember about Norman that if there was
14 a really major obstacle he found a way to get
15 around it for his roads in Long Island.
16 And I just think he was such an
17 intense man. He was a pleasure to work with
18 that if you wanted to see him smile, all you
19 had to do was mention his wife, Joy, as others
20 have mentioned earlier, and to see them
21 together was a joy, and I got to see that at a
22 few dinners at different conferences, and it
23 was a pleasure to spend time with them, and we
24 thank you very much for letting us share a
25 part of Norman's life.
3786
1 Thank you.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
3 Thank you, Senator.
4 Senator Saland.
5 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, Mr.
6 President.
7 My colleagues, Joy, I rise out
8 of a sense of respect and admiration for a man
9 who was my colleague, a friend, a man who is
10 perhaps one of the finest, most decent
11 gentleman/human beings that I have ever had
12 the good fortunate to know.
13 In a time and place when we
14 find that those of us in public life seem to
15 far too often have our life styles subjected
16 to questions and perhaps dubious allegations,
17 some of them dubious, Norman, in his life
18 style, his personal life style, his unending
19 devotion, love and affection for his wife Joy,
20 set a standard that would truly be admired by
21 anybody from any walk of life. It transcends
22 this chamber. It transcends any endeavor. My
23 wife Linda, who along with myself, had more
24 than one occasion to share time with Norman
25 and Joy, came away each and every time making
3787
1 me feel that I was less than an adequate
2 spouse simply because of being in Norman and
3 Joy's presence. So sometimes it was painful.
4 Norman was a marvelous man.
5 There are many of us in one way or another who
6 either may have the opportunity or perhaps
7 have had the opportunity to affect the quality
8 of life of those whom we serve. Norman was a
9 bit more than that. There are very few people
10 who dominate an area like Norman Levy
11 dominated the area of transportation.
12 I can recall when I first came
13 to this chamber after having served some ten
14 years in the Assembly, one of the first
15 constituent problems I ran into dealt with the
16 so-called Berkshire Spur, that northern
17 extension of the Thruway, and out of sheer
18 desperation when I was getting nowhere, I
19 contacted Norman and said, "Norman, I need
20 some help. Could you please help me with
21 this?" I explained to him what the problem
22 was. Norman said, "Sure."
23 We had a meeting. Norman held
24 court right outside here in the chamber and
25 dutifully all of the Thruway people showed
3788
1 up. We formed a little enclave around
2 Norman. Norman spoke for a little while, gave
3 them their marching orders which they
4 dutifully accepted and the problems which I
5 could not resolve as a Senator who represented
6 the affected district, miraculously in the
7 space of that very brief conference suddenly
8 were all remedied. I soon learned, thanks to
9 Norman giving me license, that whether it was
10 the Thruway Authority or DOT, if I merely
11 mentioned that I was going to bring in Norman,
12 that somehow or other my problems went to the
13 head of the list and were very, very quickly
14 resolved.
15 Norman was just truly an
16 extraordinary talent. He didn't attain all
17 the admiration that you see here today by way
18 of being bombastic. He didn't do it in some
19 self-absorbed egocentric way. He did it in a
20 fashion which we would all do well to
21 emulate. He was at all times a gentleman. He
22 at all times respected every member of this
23 house. He at all times really respected this
24 institution, and I would say above all, what
25 he respected and admired most was the love of
3789
1 his life, his wife Joy.
2 Joy, may you be for blessing
3 always and may your husband Norman always
4 enjoy the blessings of the Lord.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
6 Senator Maltese.
7 SENATOR MALTESE: Mr.
8 President, I rise with my colleagues and
9 acknowledge the words of Senator Skelos when
10 he said we appreciate this opportunity in an
11 organizational way, in an institutional way,
12 the opportunity to say good-bye to a
13 colleague, to a very close friend.
14 I personally have known Norman
15 for more than 25 years and now a member of the
16 Senate, I find it difficult to picture the
17 Senate without Norman Levy. I echo the words
18 of my colleagues over and over again who have
19 indicated that they never heard an ill word
20 spoken by Norman of others or of Norman by
21 others. He was unique in that regard, I
22 believe. Many of us at times lose tempers but
23 to my recollection not Norman.
24 Norman was always helpful and I
25 felt dutybound to rise and join my colleagues
3790
1 in their accolades for Norman, saying the
2 words that would become as he has a part of
3 the state, a part of the state archives so
4 that perhaps in generations and years and
5 years from now people would look back and say
6 that he was a man truly admired. He was a man
7 truly loved.
8 I also want to echo my
9 colleagues in saying that not very many of us
10 can point with truth to the fact that we were
11 able -- or instrumental in saving the lives of
12 thousands and tens of thousands of fellow
13 citizens not only here in New York State but
14 across the nation and Norman in all due
15 humility could very easily truthfully do that
16 and take full credit for the saving of those
17 lives and like all of you, I want to join in
18 what a pleasure it was to see Norman and Joy
19 together. What a pleasure to be alongside
20 them or be with them or in their company and
21 admire their closeness and it radiated so that
22 it affected those around them.
23 So I thank Norman for being
24 here and thank Norman for being a part of the
25 Senate, enhancing the Senate because of his
3791
1 presence. I thank Joy for giving us the
2 pleasure and privilege of knowing Norman, and
3 may God bless you both.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
5 Senator Marchi.
6 SENATOR MARCHI: Mr. President
7 and Joy, a very splendid mosaic certainly is
8 being created by the different people who have
9 spoken on Norm Levy, and they all add up to a
10 picture that is magnificent. Would it
11 describe him completely? I guess that's
12 beyond our human capacity, but it does measure
13 the enormous affection and respect which he
14 enjoyed in this chamber on both sides of the
15 aisle, the fact that nobody had a -- there was
16 no one who had something wrong to say about
17 Norman but it was also -- the reverse was also
18 true. I never heard him denigrate or
19 depreciate anyone and if he expressed alarm
20 sometimes, he would say, well, I -- I said,
21 gee, that was great. I said it was a
22 monumental achievement and he would sometimes
23 say very wistfully, and I knew he meant it
24 that time, I wish we could have done more and
25 I know he meant it.
3792
1 I go back a ways when the
2 system in transportation, the very subject was
3 very much balkanized. You had your highways
4 committee. You had railroads and there were
5 any number of committees that treated the
6 different aspects, both state and local, of
7 the movement of people on secure, safe and
8 congenial and acceptable style, the movement
9 of people and he was one of the early pioneers
10 that developed transportation as a cosmos, as
11 a force that had to address all of the
12 disparate elements but also had to form a
13 logical hole, to have a logical basis upon
14 which we had selected or discarded or
15 emphasized or de-emphasized the way we were
16 developing our education -- our
17 transportation.
18 There weren't very many. He
19 had a few predecessors and they were excellent
20 but there was -- he was certainly at this
21 early stage in life one of the great
22 institutional figures in this country in
23 developing a rational and complete vision of
24 what should be the objective of sound planning
25 in terms of transportational needs.
3793
1 I know Senator Skelos said very
2 wistfully that this is a celebrity occasion to
3 be here and the testimony that you've heard
4 here today is so heartfelt by everyone here
5 that it must reach you in terrific ways. You
6 who have contributed so much to ennoble and
7 enrich this mosaic and this is a celebratory
8 circumstance in this -- in our mortal sense
9 and I think it also transcends a mortality in
10 terms, I believe -- well, it was Senator
11 Volker that mentioned it -- these are not
12 empty rituals. These are rituals which should
13 give us pride and inspiration and never the
14 sense of despair if occasionally we run into
15 disparagement because he certainly was very
16 composed. He was certainly at peace which is
17 not the absence of war but the tranquility of
18 order, that tranquility of order which comes
19 from ordering one's life in a great way
20 without pain, without suffering, when it's
21 merged into the purpose that they are talking
22 about.
23 I am a firm believer in the
24 hereafter and I'm sure that he's looking down
25 on us with great pride and satisfaction and if
3794
1 all of us individually and otherwise reflect
2 even one half the compassion, the
3 intelligence, the goodness, the humanity that
4 he manifested in his lifetime, we all will be
5 up there celebrating, engaged in a celebration
6 that will have no end.
7 So I wish more of us could
8 reach the public because they would -- it
9 would add dimension, and we do it through the
10 instrumentality of one man who certainly
11 exemplified the best in all of us, but it does
12 say a great deal about the institution that
13 we're serving in and we walk out of here
14 prouder that we belong to it.
15 So God bless Joy, and our
16 prayers are with you and some day we'll have
17 an eternal celebration for which there is no
18 good-bye.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
20 Thank you, Senator Marchi.
21 Senator Gold.
22 SENATOR GOLD: Thank you, Mr.
23 President.
24 Mr. President, I would like to
25 just start by making reference to the last
3795
1 comment by my distinguished colleague from
2 Staten Island.
3 At cocktail parties it's always
4 the "in" thing to make your politician jokes,
5 your lawyer jokes, your doctor jokes and the
6 press doesn't always help but, as we all know,
7 when you get into the districts, you find out
8 that on an individual basis the joking stops
9 and every one of us was impressed on the day
10 of Norman's funeral at the outpouring from his
11 community and believe me when you're in that
12 community, if they make political jokes, it
13 certainly was one category which had nothing
14 to do with their Senator, Norman Levy, and I
15 agree with you, Senator Marchi, he did set a
16 wonderful example for all of us and we all owe
17 him that.
18 When people come into this
19 chamber, the impression you could get from one
20 side of the aisle is that the Republicans own
21 everything, but I'll tell you, Joy, they
22 didn't own Norman Levy because we all had
23 him. It was wonderful the way he smiled at
24 everyone and gave everyone a warm sense about
25 themselves just by knowing him.
3796
1 He was bright. He was a great
2 legislator, and I guess from the point of view
3 of the general public that's important but
4 from my very selfish point of view, I'm glad I
5 knew more than just the Senator who had a
6 great legislative record.
7 I knew a man who had a great
8 soul and a great sense of humor and a great
9 heart and when I think of Norman, I smile and
10 I don't know how anybody today in a time of a
11 little bit of tragedy because we lost him,
12 everybody is smiling because you cannot think
13 of Norman Levy without smiling.
14 I heard almost everybody stand
15 up and say, well, Norman called me this and
16 called me that. Of course, I have been called
17 a lot of things, most of which can't go in
18 this record but, you know, when somebody says
19 Emanuel, I know they don't know me. If they
20 call me Manny, it's usually a friend. Norman
21 from the first time I saw him called me Mendel
22 and I said, How does he know my Yiddish name,
23 but he had a way of finding something to call
24 you that made it a little warmer and a little
25 more personal than just using your name in the
3797
1 way others would do it.
2 I indicated that we all had a
3 relationship with Norman and in this place we
4 all have our egos and we all have our ways of
5 doing things. Norman Levy would come to this
6 floor with a legislative idea and if you laid
7 his bill aside instead of grabbing for all of
8 the files and figuring how he was going to
9 fight you and how he was going to debate you,
10 Norman would reach out for you and say, "What
11 is it? Do you want me to lay it aside? You
12 got an amendment? You got a suggestion", and
13 I think that that is one of the major keys to
14 his success as a legislator. He didn't have a
15 huge ego that got in the way of working
16 through an idea.
17 Senator Stachowski mentioned
18 how there was a problem that everybody's had
19 all over the state and Norman was able to work
20 through it. I saw with my own eyes and I felt
21 with my own heart that's the way Norman was
22 successful. He was goal-oriented. If there
23 was something you had to do, he was going to
24 find a way to do it and if somebody had an
25 objection, he didn't need a Conference
3798
1 Committee with the other side. He would talk
2 and one thing that he knew when he spoke is
3 that he had only one mouth but two ears. So
4 he would listen also in terms of his talking.
5 One of the little things which
6 showed the man in my mind, this man as he's
7 been described by his colleagues is a giant,
8 yet there was a time when, Joy, you became ill
9 and I and others would say to Norman, How's
10 Joy, and he would say, Oh, fine. Thanks for
11 asking, and the way he said thanks for asking
12 was like, Why would you bother with me and my
13 problems and my family? I'm only Norman Levy,
14 and it was the most incredible response. The
15 gratitude was real and the fact that Norman
16 didn't put himself on a pedestal, he let us
17 put him on a pedestal, was so absolutely
18 incredible.
19 I, like so many here, not only
20 liked him but loved him, respected very much
21 the relationship that he had with you, Joy,
22 and I will miss the Senator more -- I'll miss
23 the man, and I would be remiss if I didn't say
24 that in the small way that I know you, you
25 were all that Norman thought you were and
3799
1 that's wonderful.
2 And I want to close by saying
3 that while we're saying things about Norman
4 today and getting this all out of ourselves,
5 you owe Norman also something, Joy. You owe
6 him your continued courage to continue and to
7 be as well as you can be and it is my prayer
8 that that is his -- a major part of his
9 legacy, that you just keep your courage up and
10 let your health gain and so that we have you
11 as well as Norman's wonderful memory.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
13 Senator Dollinger.
14 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Thank you,
15 Mr. President.
16 Unlike many of my colleagues
17 from Nassau County, I did not know Norman Levy
18 for a long period of time, but I just want to
19 share a couple of impressions of him.
20 First of all, when I met him, I
21 knew I would like him immediately because I
22 went to a Transportation Committee hearing and
23 coming from Rochester in Monroe County, the
24 words "MTA" carry a tremendous significance.
25 You think of these tigers from New York City
3800
1 that are going to come in and they're going to
2 tell everybody what to do and there were three
3 gentlemen from the MTA seated across from
4 Norman Levy, and I never watched three guys
5 absolutely together, they reached to their
6 collar and pulled their collar out a little
7 bit. They tussled their hair back and all
8 three of them started to sweat at exactly the
9 same time and the reason was because they knew
10 Norman Levy was about to put them through
11 their paces and he proceeded to use that
12 prosecutorial zeal honed in the Nassau
13 district attorney's office to force them to
14 justify every single statement they made, and
15 I was enormously impressed because Norman Levy
16 brought a combination of being a lawyer and a
17 legislator to a pinnacle in this chamber. He
18 used all the skills that he had as a lawyer to
19 promote getting the truth that was needed to
20 form legislation and make choices.
21 What that means to me is that
22 he was as much a lawyer who relied on the
23 evidence as he was a politician who relied on
24 ideology when making decisions. Certainly the
25 seat belt legislation was an example of that
3801
1 where he had to balance growing evidence that
2 seat belts would save lives with an ideology
3 that said, well, gee, in your own car you
4 ought to be able to do whatever you want to
5 do, but he looked at the evidence and realized
6 that it was overwhelming that the use of seat
7 belts would save lives.
8 He did the same thing with
9 school bus safety, something that he stood on
10 the floor of this chamber and championed a
11 number of times because he was concerned about
12 children riding in buses. It also struck me
13 that I was surprised when I saw the letter
14 from Joy Levy after Norman's death in which
15 she continued his advocacy in this chamber for
16 detection of early hearing problems among
17 youngsters.
18 It was a demonstration that
19 Norm Levy was not only concerned as a lawyer
20 about making sure that the truth -- but he was
21 concerned as a lawyer for those who do not
22 have a voice normally in our society, whether
23 it's children riding school buses or children
24 who need the detection of early hearing
25 problems.
3802
1 It seems to me that the ideal
2 of a lawyer and a legislator is something that
3 we're losing now. There was a time in this
4 chamber that 50 to 60 percent of the people in
5 the chamber were lawyers. That's no longer
6 the case. It's probably a good thing that
7 there's a great diversity of people sitting in
8 this chamber and that it's no longer just
9 those who work with our laws in our courts
10 that are now making our laws in the sanctum of
11 this chamber.
12 As I said, that's probably a
13 good thing, but if there is an epitome of a
14 lawyer/ legislator, it was Norman Levy. He
15 used the skills as a lawyer to promote the
16 truth and he used his sense of a lawyer as
17 someone who has to protect those who don't
18 have a voice to protect themselves. He
19 embodied those rich traditions.
20 And for me at least, I'm not
21 sure that Norman has gone. I think he's
22 somewhere on the Long Island Expressway. It's
23 a clear day. The road is clear ahead. The
24 bridges are safe. The roads are secure. I'll
25 just wish you, Norm, enjoy the drive.
3803
1 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
2 Senator Johnson.
3 SENATOR JOHNSON: Thank you,
4 Mr. President.
5 It was more than a quarter of a
6 century ago when I was first designated to run
7 for the position of Senator in the 4th
8 District. At that time a great part of my
9 district was in Nassau County and when I was
10 designated and when many activities took place
11 in the Nassau County organization, I was there
12 when I met Norman Levy and I met Joy, his
13 beautiful wife, and my wife Christel was with
14 me, and I think we became instant friends and
15 even more so when Norman told me that his
16 cousins lived in Babylon and I went to school
17 with his cousins and I worked for his aunt in
18 her store for a few years when I was going to
19 high school.
20 So we were friends from the
21 beginning, and I tell you, Norman was always a
22 thoughtful, considerate, helpful person. His
23 staff was great and they helped my staff out
24 many times with questions and problems not
25 only in transportation, but I think Sara was
3804
1 our unofficial school aid representative and
2 she told us what was going on when we went to
3 meetings with Norman, we were all very well
4 prepared. We enjoyed his company very much
5 and always did and always enjoyed serving with
6 him.
7 In recent years Norman has run
8 in parts of the town of Babylon because two
9 censuses and two redistrictings later, Norman
10 and Nassau County people ended up in Suffolk
11 County as opposed to when I first ran it was
12 just the opposite equation and Norman ran in a
13 good part of the town of Babylon. He made a
14 lot of friends there and a group of his
15 friends from Babylon sent a letter to me
16 asking me to read it today. For the
17 edification of all of his colleagues, I would
18 like to do so at this time.
19 This is from the Fire Chiefs
20 Association of the town of Babylon. "Dear
21 Senator Johnson: On behalf of the members of
22 the Fire Chiefs Association of the town of
23 Babylon, a vote was taken at the Association's
24 February meeting bestowing posthumously on
25 state Senator Norman Levy the title of
3805
1 honorary member of the Association. This
2 honor was bestowed upon Senator Norman Levy
3 for his dedicated and tireless efforts on
4 behalf of the members of this organization of
5 all firefighters on Long Island.
6 "It is requested that this
7 letter be read on the floor of the Senate so
8 that all of Senator Levy's associates may be
9 made aware of our feelings.
10 "If you have any questions,
11 please feel free to contact me. Very truly
12 yours, Anthony Miles, President."
13 I think that's a very nice
14 testimonial from a group of people in his
15 district who really appreciated him and what
16 he did and what he stood for.
17 So I think we all know and love
18 Norman and we all miss him very much, but it's
19 nice to know that he did make his mark not
20 only in Nassau in his immediate district but
21 in Suffolk County where he was adopted and
22 soon became one of our own.
23 Thank you.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
25 Senator Leichter.
3806
1 SENATOR LEICHTER: Thank you,
2 Mr. President.
3 Norman Levy was not only a very
4 fine legislator but more important and harder
5 to achieve he was an exceptionally fine
6 person.
7 The word that comes to mind
8 when I think of Norman is he was a true
9 gentleman in the best sense of the word. He
10 was a person who was extremely courteous,
11 helpful, friendly. My associations with him
12 were mainly here on the floor in the work of
13 the Senate. I didn't really have an
14 opportunity to know him that well personally,
15 although like everyone who was part of this
16 Senate family, I knew of Norman's very special
17 relationship with Joy, but Norman early on
18 realized when he took over the Transportation
19 Committee that I was interested in the MTA and
20 had some concerns and problems with the MTA
21 and he did the very really unique and
22 exceptional step of inviting me to meetings of
23 the Transportation Committee, of which I was
24 not a member. Whenever there was a
25 confirmation of a member of the MTA, he said,
3807
1 "Franz, I know you're interested. I want you
2 to come. I want you to participate. Feel
3 free to ask questions. I want to hear your
4 opinion about this nominee." Really a very
5 striking, a very amazing act, and I think it
6 shows what Norman was really like as a
7 legislator and as a person, which was that he
8 was non-confrontational, non-partisan. He was
9 somebody who tried to be helpful. Manny Gold
10 said he was goal-oriented. Yes. He was
11 goal-oriented but never in the sense my goal
12 and I'm going to roll over anything or anybody
13 who gets in the way. He was persistent as was
14 said by Senator Stafford, but he did it in a
15 way that was genial, that was always civil.
16 I remember another instance, I
17 was asked by the German consulate to help a
18 German firm that was interested in doing
19 something in regard to the Long Island Rail
20 Road and I right away said to them, Listen,
21 don't do anything on Long Island and
22 particularly in transportation without
23 checking with Norman Levy. So I called
24 Norman. He said, "Franz, if it's important to
25 you, I'll meet with these people. I'll do
3808
1 anything I can to be helpful to them," and,
2 indeed, he did and then to my embarrassment
3 after having asked him to set up this meeting,
4 I couldn't make the meeting. He made excuses
5 for me. He said to these German
6 industrialists, "I'm only doing this because
7 Franz Leichter asked me to do it," but that
8 was Norman. It came easy to him. He wasn't
9 looking for any rewards or any quid pro quo.
10 It really came from his nature and his
11 character.
12 He was a caring person and he
13 was effective in a way and all of us are
14 different in how we approach this job. Norman
15 was very quiet. He really didn't participate
16 that much in debates, and so on. He certainly
17 could defend his bills if he had to, but
18 Norman achieved his legislative work and his
19 goals really by quietness but firmness and he
20 generated so much respect.
21 He was a wonderful colleague,
22 somebody as I think back of my years in the
23 Senate as I think of leaving, somebody that I
24 will certainly remember and I know that he
25 enriched the Senate and he enriched me. He'll
3809
1 be terribly missed but he leaves a wonderful
2 legacy for all the people of the state of New
3 York.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
5 Senator Seward.
6 SENATOR SEWARD: Thank you, Mr.
7 President.
8 My colleagues and Joy, because
9 of your close partnership with Norman for so
10 long, you are also very much a part of this
11 institution and I consider you a colleague as
12 well.
13 Mr. President, I stand here
14 today with very mixed emotions, obviously very
15 sad because Norman is no longer with us and we
16 miss him very much but also I'm very honored
17 and pleased to stand and speak about such a
18 wonderful man, a colleague, a friend and, yes,
19 a mentor.
20 I had the honor of sitting next
21 to Norman for the last ten years and had the
22 opportunity to observe Norman up close in
23 terms of how he operated here on the floor.
24 The resolution that was
25 presented today, of course, outlines many of
3810
1 Norman's accomplishments and you can certainly
2 say about Norman Levy, he did not run away
3 from the tough issues. He tackled them head
4 on. He sponsored often controversial pieces
5 of legislation.
6 It was interesting to watch
7 Norman at work on the floor as I sat next to
8 him. He would lay his bill aside for a day.
9 He would star the bill. He would unstar the
10 bill. He would amend the bill. He would star
11 the bill again, unstar the bill and, boom,
12 before you knew it, it was passed. That's how
13 Norman Levy built up his outstanding
14 legislative record. He knew how to operate on
15 this floor.
16 Of course, Norman also very
17 genuinely respected the dignity of all people
18 that he came in contact with. He treated
19 everyone with the utmost respect regardless of
20 their station in life.
21 I recall early in my Senate
22 career Norman said, James, my man -- that's
23 what he always called me, James, my man -- I
24 want to come down to your district and have a
25 hearing on transportation issues and so we
3811
1 made the necessary arrangements. He came down
2 to Oneonta and Norman had a hearing and he had
3 at this hearing some of the town supervisors
4 from some of the smallest, smallest towns in
5 my district, some of the smallest towns in
6 this state but the way that Norman conducted
7 that hearing and dealt with these people, for
8 that moment that they were speaking to Norman,
9 they were having a tremendous impact on
10 transportation policy in the state of New
11 York. That's the way Norman treated people
12 and that's certainly something that we all can
13 learn from.
14 There's no question, it's been
15 said many times over here today, Norman Levy
16 was intelligent, hard-working, thorough, a
17 caring, compassionate man, a people person.
18 He paid attention to all the details. He
19 epitomized the very best of what it means to
20 be a public servant but more than that, he
21 epitomized what -- the best of what it means
22 to be a caring, sensitive human being.
23 And so, Joy, we join you in
24 mourning Norman's loss. We just pray that you
25 will take comfort in the fact that everyone
3812
1 here, his colleagues love Norman very much.
2 We miss him and we also hope that you will
3 take some comfort in the fact that we all are
4 better for having known Norman and served with
5 him and the people of this state are better
6 because of his long and distinguished career
7 as a Senator.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
9 Senator Wright.
10 SENATOR WRIGHT: Thank you, Mr.
11 President.
12 My colleagues and Joy, I want
13 to share three rather, I think, unique
14 experiences that I had dealing with my
15 colleague and friend Norman.
16 The first was when I was a
17 freshman and new to the Senate, I came to my
18 first Republican Conference and I had
19 established a reputation for one who was
20 punctual and on time when I was in local
21 government, so I made a point of doing that
22 when I arrived here in Albany, thinking that's
23 how I had gotten here, I wanted to make sure I
24 continued that tradition and I walked into the
25 Senate Republican Conference Room and found it
3813
1 to be empty but for Norm Levy and I'm thinking
2 to myself, what's going on here? Norman
3 immediately comes over, introduces himself,
4 welcomes me to the Senate and then introduces
5 me to a concept known as Senate time. Now,
6 this, of course, was pre-Joe Bruno and
7 proceeded to inform me that conference would
8 begin anywhere between the next hour, hour and
9 a half or two hours, depending upon whatever
10 else was going to occur, but as the newest
11 member of the Senate, here is a senior
12 colleague taking the time to not only explain
13 to me some of the intricacies of the internal
14 workings of the Senate but then he also
15 proceeded to sit down and spent another 15 or
16 20 minutes with me just explaining some of the
17 details of what went on in the Senate taking
18 the time to share with me as a person as only
19 Norm could do and then a little bit later in
20 that first year as chair of the Senate
21 Committee on Transportation, of course, we had
22 nominations.
23 Now, I don't think there's a
24 point in New York State further from Long
25 Island than Ogdensburg and you can still
3814
1 remain in this state, but I represent
2 Ogdensburg up on the St. Lawrence River and
3 they have a transportation authority that we
4 confirm members to.
5 Norm would personally greet
6 each of those individuals when they came
7 here. It was a long trip to come to the
8 Capitol. They made it. He made them feel
9 welcome and he, in fact, promised that he
10 would return to Ogdensburg to visit their
11 authority and he did, a long ways from Long
12 Island to travel to Ogdensburg but he made the
13 commitment and he honored that commitment.
14 And the third example I would
15 share is again unique to my North Country and
16 that was the, most of you will remember in
17 this room, evening we passed the beaver bill,
18 a rather controversial bill dealing with
19 wildlife and, of course, again, the views of
20 upstate North Country were significantly
21 different than those of downstate Long Island
22 and as we're counting votes and running around
23 at the end, Norm came over and he said to me,
24 "Do you need the vote?" And I said, "I'm not
25 sure," and he looked me right in the eye and
3815
1 he said, "If you need it, you have mine." I
2 appreciated that. That was the first
3 controversial matter that I had ever brought
4 before this house and we were successful but
5 that kind of commitment that if a colleague
6 needed the help, Norman would be there to
7 provide it.
8 I share those examples because
9 I was just a young man coming to this Senate,
10 inexperienced and Norman took the time to make
11 me feel comfortable, make me feel part of this
12 process, and I truly believe if there were
13 ever an author of a handbook on how to be a
14 proper and appropriate Senator and how to
15 behave appropriately and assume the
16 responsibilities of a Senator, Norm Levy was
17 the author of that book.
18 I'm glad I had the occasion to
19 share, albeit a brief five-plus years with
20 Norman, they were certainly good experiences
21 here in the Senate and, Joy, I'm glad you
22 shared him with us and I'm glad I had the
23 occasion and we're going to miss him.
24 We thank you and, Norman, we
25 thank you.
3816
1 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
2 Senator Smith.
3 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you, Mr.
4 President.
5 My colleagues, first let me
6 start by saying to Joy, thank you for giving
7 Norman the kind of life that made him happy
8 and secure enough to reach out across the
9 aisle to many of us.
10 I remember when there was a
11 problem with the Roosevelt School system.
12 Norman reached out to Senator Montgomery and I
13 to meet with state Ed' and to try to come up
14 with a resolution.
15 Oftentimes in Transportation
16 Committee I marveled at how he would ask
17 questions, questions that would normally come
18 from our side of the aisle and he was
19 tenacious to get the right answers and those
20 answers that would benefit all of us, not just
21 the area that he represented and whenever he
22 saw that we may have a problem, he never
23 failed to reach out and to let us know, but
24 there was one little area, Joy, that I didn't
25 make out so well in. I hear that there was
3817
1 "Deano" and "Carlo" and "Ronzo" and "Kiddo",
2 but somehow I managed to be "Ades" and I don't
3 think that anybody wants to be "Ades", but I
4 still loved him. He was wonderful and he will
5 be truly missed.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
7 Senator Rath.
8 SENATOR RATH: Mr. President,
9 my colleagues, Joy, this is a very public time
10 and it's also a very private and personal
11 time.
12 Someone said recently, "Show me
13 your garden and I will show you the person",
14 and I think that at the memorial service we
15 heard some about Norm's garden. I know you
16 and I have talked about gardens and I think
17 anyone who is interested in gardens knows
18 something about the other persons that they're
19 talking with. Those were wonderful
20 conversations that we had, and I did have them
21 with Norman briefly.
22 Today Senator Marchi spoke
23 about the mosaic. It has been a mosaic. It's
24 something about the private yet public
25 activity that we're going through today and
3818
1 sharing with each other our recollections.
2 There's been a lot of allusion
3 not only today but at that wonderful memorial
4 service of the life hereafter and I tell you,
5 Joy, I am once again convinced that we will
6 see Norman again and let me tell you why.
7 We just heard from Senator
8 Smith. We've heard from "Deano", "Carlos",
9 "Steverino", "Jim, my man". Let me tell you
10 what Norman called me. He called me Mary.
11 The only other person in the world who's ever
12 called me Mary is my mother. He was working
13 on a name. I know he was, and I can hardly
14 wait to hear what it's going to be. I think
15 that's going to be something that we're all
16 going to have some laughs about, those of us
17 who weren't quite finished in learning from
18 Norman because his staff has told us the
19 wonderful names and the wonderful camaraderie
20 and the warm, personal and special feelings
21 that they all had with Norman. So I'm looking
22 forward to what he's going to have for a name
23 for me because it's going to have to be
24 wonderful. I know it will be wonderful like
25 he will -- like he was.
3819
1 A final thought. So much has
2 been said about the seat belt -- about the
3 seat belt legislation. Yesterday my husband
4 and I drove up from Cleveland late in the
5 afternoon. You can imagine what that was
6 like, the thunder, the lightning, the
7 horrendous rain beating up against the
8 windshield. I was so grateful for that seat
9 belt that held me very tightly in the car and
10 every time now after today I click my
11 grandchildren into their seat belts or I reach
12 behind me and pull that seat belt across and
13 click it, I'm going to say thanks, Senator
14 Levy, thanks.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
16 Senator Goodman.
17 SENATOR GOODMAN: Joy and my
18 colleagues, it's hard for me to believe it but
19 I think that with the exception of Senator
20 Marchi, I probably served longer in this
21 chamber with Norman Levy than perhaps any
22 other sitting Senator, and I must say in that
23 respect I count myself exceptionally lucky
24 because Norman Levy was a man's man and a rare
25 individual of enormous acuity and ability and
3820
1 I must say that his passing leaves a
2 tremendous vacuum which can never truly be
3 filled.
4 I would like to comment briefly
5 upon one or two of the very special personal
6 memories that I have of Norman. He arrived in
7 the Senate one term after I did. I guess you
8 could say I was a sophomore in college and he
9 was a freshman. We both served in the bull
10 pen upstairs on the fifth floor of this
11 building which was a unique experience in and
12 of itself and we survived that without
13 checking into the state sanatorium and that
14 was a great accomplishment because the working
15 and living conditions in that bull pen were
16 unique. It was more like a college dormitory
17 than a state Senatorial office. Each of us
18 occupied a closet and by the time we finished
19 we had all either loved one another or felt
20 that it was imperative that we move out. In
21 the case of Norman and myself and a few of the
22 rest of us, we're very, very happy that we
23 have that collegial experience but then as the
24 sands trickle through the hourglass, Norman
25 gained greatly in stature, and I watched with
3821
1 great fascination as he became one of the
2 leading members of this great house and in
3 doing so, he did so with a rare sense of
4 concern for his fellow Senators.
5 I remember particularly when
6 Norman became Chairman of the Transportation
7 Committee, he had in the palm of his hand vast
8 powers involving literally billions of dollars
9 which could be distributed in different ways
10 around the state and had he wished to exercise
11 that responsibility with arrogance or self
12 centeredness, he could have easily done so but
13 there was never a day in his life as a Senator
14 I think in which he allowed his ego to run
15 away with him, nor was there ever a day when
16 he did not consider the needs of his
17 colleagues in this body, and so when I used to
18 go to Norman and say, Norman, there's a matter
19 of the distribution of the funds from the
20 Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority and I
21 don't think the City is getting a fair shake,
22 he would examine the situation objectively and
23 he would come back and he would either say, I
24 think that you may not have a point and spell
25 out the precise reasons why or he would say, I
3822
1 think you do have a point and he would find a
2 way to redistribute the funds in a fair and
3 equitable fashion.
4 Those of us who watched Norman
5 over the years know that he never walked from
6 point A to point B without having a heavy load
7 under his arms of working papers. Without
8 exception I've never known a Senator work
9 harder in a more continuously and more
10 intensively on the responsibilities with which
11 he was charged than Norm Levy but my
12 recollections go far deeper and far beyond
13 that because in him there is a rare sense of
14 good fellowship which is one of the most
15 precious assets that one can possibly leave
16 this chamber with.
17 As we all know, we work under
18 great pressure and at times it becomes very
19 difficult for us to maintain collegiality
20 across the aisle and there's been more than
21 adequate testimony today as to the way in
22 which Norman bridged that gap and did it with
23 a great fellowship and consideration, but I
24 also happen to know of his enormous dedication
25 to his wonderful and unique wife Joy and I'm
3823
1 so happy that she's here today to share with
2 us some of these thoughts because she is a
3 very, very special person.
4 Joy Levy is, in my opinion, one
5 of the great women of our generation. She has
6 suffered much difficulty in various physical
7 problems that she's had to surmount. I've
8 never, ever seen her when she did not have an
9 exquisite smile on her face and when those
10 sensitive brown eyes of hers did not exude
11 sympathy for others and to always think about
12 others rather than being -- dwelling and
13 thinking about herself.
14 So there you have it, a unique
15 couple deeply dedicated to one another and yet
16 able to think far beyond their immediate needs
17 and to consider the problems of other people,
18 to share in them and have empathy with them
19 and that to my mind is one of the rarest gifts
20 that they could have given to any of us.
21 They're a great team, a great, great team and
22 I can remember Norman speaking with me from
23 time to time about various personal problems
24 that he had in which I tried to advise and
25 help him and he was always so appreciative and
3824
1 I always, frankly, got a great benefit from
2 his suggestions about various things we talked
3 about, our families and about various personal
4 matters which ran deep and which tied us
5 together in very, very close concert.
6 So, Mr. President, so much has
7 been said, and I think it would ill-behoove me
8 to go on at any great length but let me just
9 say when those days roll by and we find
10 ourselves far away from this body and think
11 about the people who were really close to our
12 hearts, Norman Levy will be right in the very
13 center and the very core of our beings because
14 of who he was, what he was and how he handled
15 his wonderful sense of good fellowship and
16 empathy with all of us and his wife shared so
17 deeply in that image and, Joy, from the bottom
18 of our hearts we thank you for all that you
19 did for us through your graciousness, your
20 kindness and your dedication to your beloved
21 husband. We'll miss him more than you'll ever
22 know.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
24 Thank you, Senator Goodman.
25 Senator Nanula.
3825
1 SENATOR NANULA: Thank you, Mr.
2 President.
3 It's been approximately four
4 and a half years since I have been elected to
5 this great body and upon being elected, Norman
6 Levy was one of the first people that I had
7 the honor of meeting and I don't come from a
8 political background. My family was not
9 political and, although I had some great
10 mentors that have taken me under their wing
11 over the past several years that I have been
12 in elected office, from literally the day that
13 I came here, Norman was to me somebody that I
14 could look up to, somebody who was
15 ingratiating to me, somebody who treated me as
16 an equal even though I was a newcomer and even
17 though I was on the opposite side, so to speak
18 -- excuse me -- of the aisle, and so many
19 folks have talked about that today, how Norman
20 really reached out regardless of affiliation,
21 regardless of background, regardless of
22 geographical location in the state. I'm from
23 Buffalo in the western portion of the state
24 and there probably aren't too many -- too
25 much, I should say, further distances between
3826
1 two Senate districts than Norman's and mine
2 and so many others have mentioned how beyond
3 being a good legislator, he was a statesman
4 and he was truly a caring man when it came to
5 the people that he served.
6 In Long Island I've had the
7 pleasure of spending some time in Norman's
8 district and I actually have met Democrats in
9 that district who vote for Norman Levy and who
10 voted for Norman Levy because they said Norman
11 cares for us regardless of our affiliation.
12 Senator Goodman mentioned
13 dollars, the highway funds allocated. I met
14 with a Democrat within Norman's district who
15 told me even though this community is
16 predominantly Democratic, when it came to CHPS
17 funding, the money was there. There wasn't
18 any politically-driven formula. There wasn't
19 something that was political in nature that
20 determined how these dollars were dispensed.
21 It was based upon need not political
22 affiliation and when it came to issues, I
23 always looked towards Norman as a leader.
24 I can remember with the
25 65-mile-an-hour speed limit issue, I withheld
3827
1 my direction on that issue until hearing from
2 Norman because I had such faith and confidence
3 in his knowledge and knowing that he would put
4 the research necessary into this issue to
5 ensure that it was the best thing for the
6 people of the state, and I know it's been said
7 by many other people, I want to say it as
8 well, and I don't have the kind of experience
9 with Norman that others do nor do I have the
10 kind of experience with this chamber that
11 others do, but I know this, Senator Levy will
12 be greatly missed as a legislator and as a
13 human being, not only by the people of the
14 Senate but by the people of the state.
15 Thank you.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
17 Senator Oppenheimer.
18 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Hi, Joy.
19 Well, I guess a lot of the things have been
20 said, his unique kindness and assessing of
21 each person for what that person was and he
22 certainly was very interested in most of us,
23 probably all of us on this side of the aisle
24 and that's a very nice thing because we
25 sometimes get too partisanly involved and we
3828
1 don't necessarily reach out to the other side,
2 though I think sometimes we would like to but
3 maybe because of tradition we don't.
4 I thought in the beginning that
5 maybe Norman was being so kind to me because
6 he's friendly with Gloria, my sister, and
7 they've worked together so much in Nassau, but
8 then I realized it was just him and that's
9 just the way he treats people. He just likes
10 people and wanted to be as helpful to people
11 as he could be.
12 Of course, you know, I had the
13 good fortune to be his ranking on Transporta
14 tion Committee for ten years and, my Lord,
15 what that man knew about transportation. It
16 was just awesome, and I remember one day he
17 was trying to go through all the various parts
18 of ISTEA with me, the federal program. I felt
19 like a real dunce, though with most other
20 people I felt I was fairly knowledgeable, but
21 Norman was Mr. Transportation in New York
22 State and he handled it in such an
23 egalitarian, such a systematic and, you know,
24 professional manner and, as has been
25 mentioned, he didn't have to do it that way.
3829
1 He had a lot of clout but he believed in doing
2 things the right way and the honest way and,
3 of course, as far as personal memories, I will
4 never forget when he sent me that little note
5 with a beautiful orchid plant. I couldn't
6 believe the plant and the note said "To the
7 best ranker that a chairman could ever want"
8 and I treasured that orchid, even though I
9 must confess I killed it within about two
10 years, but I felt very lovingly towards him
11 and towards you, and I think I have never seen
12 a marriage that was more close and more caring
13 than yours.
14 So in many ways you were very,
15 very blessed, Joy. It's just too bad we
16 didn't have him longer.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
18 Senator Onorato.
19 SENATOR ONORATO: Thank you,
20 Mr. President.
21 I rise to join my colleagues in
22 singing the praises of Norman Levy. As you
23 can hear from all of us, every adjective and
24 superlative has been mentioned about the
25 character of Norman. He was a doer, a giver,
3830
1 respectful.
2 You know, there's a television
3 program "Touched by an Angel". I think Joy
4 was probably the angel that was blessed enough
5 to touch Norman in guiding him and giving him
6 the strength to do the things that he has
7 done, and I hope and pray that you can touch
8 some of us that are still left in this chamber
9 to carry on the work that he has sought to
10 fulfill and perhaps the great road builder
11 that he is, he will provide the highway to
12 heaven for the rest of us to follow him.
13 Thank you.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
15 Senator Leibell.
16 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you,
17 Mr. President.
18 Joy, I was and I am
19 "Vincenzo". I made the trip a few years ago,
20 only four years ago, that short trip from many
21 years in the Assembly chamber to this chamber
22 and actually that trip from the Assembly
23 Minority to the Senate Majority probably one
24 of the larger cultural chasms we have in the
25 world and it was a long trip and it was one
3831
1 that Norman Levy made much easier for me and
2 certainly coming into this chamber and coming
3 into our conference on the first day to be
4 greeted in his warm way as "Vincenzo" and then
5 over the course of time to be able to talk to
6 him and to speak with him about so many things
7 that were knew to me and to receive his kind
8 counsel and to be the beneficiary of his
9 thoughtfulness, is something that I will
10 forever remember.
11 There's very little I can add.
12 You've heard from all of his colleagues today,
13 but I think it has been expressed and I have
14 to echo this, that if I were to think of a
15 Senator, not a Majority or Minority Senator,
16 but a Senator who is a role model for this
17 chamber for now and for many years into the
18 future, it would have to be Norman.
19 Thank you.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
21 Senator Mendez.
22 SENATOR MENDEZ: Mr. President,
23 my dear colleagues, Joy, practically
24 everything has been said about Senator Levy.
25 Yes, he was an excellent
3832
1 legislator. Yes, he was generous with his
2 time and his knowledge to others. Yes, I
3 believe he was -- he had great joy at problem
4 solving and for him problems did not have
5 partisanship. He just was there to resolve
6 problems that affected all of the people in
7 the state of New York and in his district and
8 he would do it lovingly, patiently and seeking
9 the cooperation of everybody that could help
10 resolve that problem.
11 As a woman who is also a widow,
12 Joy, who lost -- I lost my husband many years
13 ago and I thank God I did have a wonderful
14 love experience with him -- you have been a
15 very fortunate woman. There you were married
16 to a great man who loved you very, very deeply
17 and you loved him very, very, very much and
18 the two together were able to contribute in
19 easing the lives of so many people in New York
20 State and in your district.
21 So you will have great, great
22 memories from him as your partner working
23 together in the issues in the district and
24 throughout -- and in the area of
25 transportation where he was so knowledgeable
3833
1 about and also as a woman you own moments with
2 him.
3 So he is resting in peace and
4 he has left a tremendous legacy and he had a
5 tremendously self-fulfilled life of which you
6 participated. We shall miss him and we admire
7 you.
8 Thank you, Mr. President.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
10 Senator Markowitz.
11 SENATOR MARKOWITZ: Thank you
12 very much.
13 Some of the things, I think
14 that we all agree on as we get older, mature,
15 we never think that those that are closest to
16 us will ever leave us. Frankly, I know, I can
17 imagine what Joy and her family have gone
18 through of losing someone so close to you and
19 you can accept at times, of course, other
20 people passing but somehow you never really
21 can ever accept that person or persons closest
22 to you, and so I guess we have to look at it
23 another way and that is that it's inevitable
24 that conclusion. The question is how have we
25 spent the years that we have been blessed to
3834
1 have?
2 On that barometer, Norman
3 reached the heights, the heights of the
4 mountains because the years that he had, he
5 has certainly made the most of it. I don't
6 think there are few of us in this chamber that
7 did not envy in many respects Norman, his good
8 looks, his brilliance, his diversity of
9 interests, a lot of us -- I'm not saying all
10 of us -- a lot of us are very focused on our
11 major business here as public servants, but
12 Norman had a tremendous diversity of
13 interests, that's for sure, that went far
14 beyond this chamber. His genuine concern and
15 care always demonstrated itself, that's for
16 sure, and so all I could say is so many of us
17 also, no matter what our relationships are
18 with our families, also envy that kind of
19 special -- that special thing you guys had,
20 let me tell you.
21 These days in the 1990s you
22 don't see that very often. Believe me. You
23 know that and I know it and you guys had it
24 together and all I can say is that I hope that
25 the days ahead will -- in reflecting on your
3835
1 life and on Norman that the smile will be ever
2 present because, frankly, you're more blessed
3 than most of us.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
5 Thank you, Senator Markowitz.
6 Senator Skelos, would it be
7 your pleasure to add all Senators to this
8 resolution?
9 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes. If we
10 could open sponsorship to all the Senate
11 Minority. Just put every member on the
12 resolution.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
14 The Secretary will add the name to all
15 Senators to the resolution.
16 On the resolution, all those in
17 favor signify big saying aye.
18 (Response of "Aye".)
19 All those opposed say nay.
20 (There was no response.)
21 The resolution is adopted.
22 Senator Skelos.
23 SENATOR SKELOS: Joy, I think
24 you see how Norman's colleagues felt about
25 him.
3836
1 There will be a reception held
2 in the Majority Conference Room. Senator
3 Bruno invites all the members and guests to
4 join us right after session closes.
5 Is there any housekeeping at
6 the desk?
7 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
8 Yes.
9 Senator Marcellino.
10 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you,
11 Mr. President.
12 On behalf of Senator Trunzo, on
13 page number 41, I offer the following
14 amendments to Calendar Number 1011, Senate
15 Print Number 5473-A, and ask that said bill
16 retain its place on the Third Reading
17 Calendar.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
19 The amendments are received. Said bill will
20 retain its place on the Third Reading
21 Calendar.
22 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
24 Senator Skelos.
25 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
3837
1 in name and in the memory of Senator Norman J.
2 Levy, there being no further business, I move
3 we adjourn until Tuesday, June 2nd, at 3:00
4 p.m.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO: On
6 motion, the Senate stands adjourned in the
7 name and memory of Senator Norman J. Levy
8 until Tuesday, June 2nd, at 3:00 p.m.
9 (Whereupon, at 5:34 p.m., the
10 Senate adjourned.)
11
12
13
14
15
16
17