Joseph R. Lentol Papers
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Abstract
The Joseph R. Lentol papers, 1951-2020, includes correspondence, press releases, photographs, flyers, posters, and news clippings related to Lentol's career as New York State Assemblyman for Kings County District 50 and his father Edward S. Lentol's career as a New York State Assemblyman and Senator. The collection also includes campaign flyers collected from New York City and State elections from 2001 to 2020.
Biographical note
Joseph R. Lentol was born on January 15, 1943. His mother was Matilda A. Postis and his father was New York State Assemblyman, Senator, and Supreme Court justice Edward S. Lentol. Before running for office, Lentol was Assistant District Attorney in Kings County.
Lentol was first elected to the New York State Assembly for Assembly District (AD) 58 in 1972, running for an open seat after Assemblyman Chester Straub left to run for New York State Senator. He ran against Republican Vinny Abate in the 1972 and 1974 elections. In 1978, Roman Popadiuk ran against Lentol in the Democratic primary and Lentol won. Nick Stefanizzi, head of the local school board, ran campaigns against Lentol in the Democratic primaries in 1980 and 1982. These were close elections, but Lentol won both primaries. The 58th AD was redistricted and assigned a new number, AD 50, after the 1980 census. Fort Greene was added to this Assembly District in 1982.
Between 1983 and 2010, Lentol did not have any Democratic primary challengers. André Soleil, a lawyer, ran against Lentol in the 2010 Democratic primary. About 6,000 votes were cast in the 2010 primary and Lentol won by a wide margin. Lentol lost to Democrat Emily Gallagher in the 2020 election. There was a large voter turnout for the 2020 election, around 20,000 people.
During his time as a New York State Assemblyman, Lentol was the Chair of the Assembly's Committee on Codes (1992-2020), the Committee on Governmental Employees, the Committee on Governmental Operations, and the Administrative Regulations Review Commission. Lentol was also Dean of the Brooklyn Delegation of the Assembly from 2001 to 2020, coordinating efforts that called on all Brooklyn Assemblymembers to work together on projects with borough-wide implications.
Lentol advocated for waterfront and green space preservation, criminal justice reform, and affordable housing. In 2000, Lentol was selected to be a part of the Election Modernization Task Force, which made recommendations to the State on how to increase voter registration and turnout.
Lentol was a part of the New York Conference of Italian-American Legislators and the New York State Legislative Pilots Association.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into three series:
Series 1: New York State Assembly office files, circa 1963 - 2020
Series 2: Other political campaign flyers, 2001-2020
Series 3: Edward S. Lentol papers, 1951-1966
Scope and Contents
The Joseph R. Lentol papers, 1951-2020, includes correspondence, press releases, campaign promotional material, photographs, and news clippings from Joseph R. Lentol's career as a New York State Assemblyman for Kings County Assembly District (AD) 58 from 1973-1982 and AD 50 1983-2020, covering the neighborhoods of Greenpoint, Williamsburg, and Fort Greene (Fort Greene was covered after 1980 census reapportionment). These files from Lentol's office reflect constituent complaints and requests, projects Lentol worked on, and organizations with which he was involved.
This collection also includes promotional flyers collected from various New York City and State political campaigns between 2001 and 2020. There are also papers from the career of Edward S. Lentol who was Joseph R. Lentol's father and served as New York State Assemblyman, Senator, and Supreme Court justice. The Edward S. Lentol papers do not cover the time he served as New York State Supreme Court justice and most of those materials are election results printed in newspapers, a 1958 Democratic Campaign Handbook, photographs, and promotional campaign materials.
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Conditions Governing Access
Open to users without restriction.
Conditions Governing Use
While many items at the Center for Brooklyn History are unrestricted, we do not own reproduction rights to all materials. Be aware of the several kinds of rights that might apply: copyright, licensing and trademarks. The researcher assumes all responsibility for copyright questions.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date (if known); Joseph R. Lentol papers, CBHM.0004, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Eric Radezky, 2021.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
If digital surrogates exist, they should be used in place of the originals whenever possible.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Folder titles in brackets were supplied by the archivist. The news clippings in this collection were photocopied onto archival paper and the originals discarded.
