Richard N. Gottfried

On December 13, 2021, Gottfried, then the longest serving member of the New York State Assembly, announced he would not seek re-election in 2022 thus ending his tenure in the Assembly after (what will be) a record 18,993 days in office.

During his time as a member of the Assembly Gottfried has served in various leadership capacities, including as Deputy Majority Leader, Assistant Majority Leader, Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Codes, and Children and Families, as well as Chairman of the Assembly Task Force on the Homeless, Campaign Finance Reform and Crime Victims. In his 2010 re-election bid he received 82% of the vote.

Gottfried introduced the first same-sex marriage bill in the Assembly in 2003. When then-Governor Eliot Spitzer submitted it as a governor's program bill in 2007, Assembly Member Daniel O'Donnell, one of the Assembly's openly-gay members, became the lead sponsor. Marriage equality became law in New York State in June 2011.

Gottfried was the sponsor of the 1998 Hudson River Park Law, which established that park, as well as the legislation to expand the Jacob Javits Convention Center. He was also instrumental in the enaction of the Omnibus Crime Act of 1978 and drafting of the 1976 Juvenile Justice Reform Act.

As a leading advocate for patient autonomy, he has a major responsibility for New York's managed care reforms, and continues to sponsor legislation for stronger protections for consumers and health care providers, work toward public support for universal access to quality, affordable health care, and establish end-of-life and pain management protocols. Gottfried's NY Health bill, to establish universal, publicly funded health coverage, was the first of its kind to pass a legislative body (NYS Assembly, 1992).

Elected to the Assembly in 1970, while a matriculating student at Columbia Law School, Gottfried serves as chairman of the Assembly Committee on Health and is also a member of the Committees on Higher Education and Rules. He is also a member of the Assembly Steering Committee and the head of the Manhattan Assembly Delegation.

Gottfried was born in New York City. He is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School, where he was a classmate of Jerrold Nadler and Dick Morris. Gottfried earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University in 1968 and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 1973.

Richard N. Gottfried (born May 16, 1947) is an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the New York State Assembly representing portions of Manhattan. Gottfried had been a member of the Assembly for more than 50 years, making him the longest-serving member of the body and one of the longest-serving state legislators in the United States.