Vito Lopez

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Vito J. Lopez (b. 1940) represents District 53 in the New York State Assembly, which is comprised primarily of Bushwick and other neighborhoods within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Lopez holds a BS in Business administration from Long Island University and an M.A. in Social Work from Yeshiva University.

First elected in 1984, Lopez is the current Chairman of the Housing Committee as well as the Co-Chair of the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force. He is also the current Chairman of the Kings County Democratic Party.

Lopez has participated in various forms of political activism in addition to his duties as an Assemblyman, establishing Brooklyn Unidos, which is a coalition of local Latino leaders, and the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Center, which provides services to senior citizens within those neighborhoods.

During an October 13, 2006 meeting with the Lambda Independent Democrats-a powerful political club comprised of gay Democrats in New York City-Vito Lopez publicly declared his support for extending the right of civil marriage to same-sex couples for the first time in his political career. He also intimated that he would help to enact legislation that would recognize same-sex marriages, which the highest court in New York State refused to recognize earlier that year. [1]

Assemblyman Vito Lopez is a strong advocate for affordable housing, and is recently having trouble passing a bill (Sponsored by Councilwoman Palma and Councilman David Yassky) in the City Council because of bureaucracy. But the Assemblyman will be successful in January because it is ultimately the state's decision on remodeling or keeping the current 421-a bill.