Richard Gottfried

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Richard Gottfried (b. 1947) represents District 75 in the New York State Assembly, which includes Murray Hill, Chelsea, Clinton, portions of Midtown Manhattan and the Upper West Side, including Lincoln Center.

Elected to the Assembly in 1970-while a matriculating student at Columbia Law School-Gottfried currently serves as Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Health and is a member of several other standing committees, including Higher Education, Insurance, Rules, Judiciary and Social Services. He is also a member of the Assembly Steering Committee.

Some of his signature pieces of legislation-bills enacted into law that he claims primary or secondary responsibility for-include the creation of the Prenatal Care Assistance Program as well as the Child Health Plus and Family Health Plus programs. He is also the author of the Physician Profiling Law, which allows patients to access information about their primary care physician. He also claims credit for the Health Care Proxy Law-which allows individuals to designate a secondary party to make critical health care decisions for them if they become incapacitated-as well as the HIV Testing and Confidentiality Law.

Gottfried was the sponsor of the 1998 Hudson River Park Law, which established that park, as well as the legislation that led directly to the creation of 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.

During his time as a member of the New York State Assembly Richard 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.

Gottfried is a non-practicing attorney with a J.D. from Columbia Law School, a fellow at the New York Academy of Medicine, as well as a member of the American Public Health Association and American Civil Liberties Union. He holds a B.A. from Cornell University.