Andrew Lanza
Encyclopedia
Andrew Joseph Lanza is an American lawyer and politician and is currently serving as a member of the New York State Senate
, representing the 24th District which encompasses most of Staten Island
. Lanza was elected State Senator in the November 2006 election. He is a former member of the New York City Council
.
. He is a 1982 graduate of Monsignor Farrell High School
in Oakwood. He is a graduate of Fordham University School of Law
, where he received his Juris Doctor
degree and St. John's University, where he received a B.S. in Accounting. He is admitted for the practice of law to the Bars
of New York, New Jersey
, SDNY
and DNJ
.
of Staten Island. The two campaigned together in 2006 for Lanza's election to the State Senate and Fossella's re-election campaign to Congress.
Work on Wall Street and in the Manhattan D.A.'s
Just prior to his entry into politics, Lanza was associated with Mercury Securities LLC, a Wall Street
software development
and stock trading firm, where he was a Managing Member
and General Counsel
Partner
.
He also served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office
as a prosecutor
of street crimes, felony
cases, New York State Welfare Fraud and procedural and constitutional issues
.
Lanza received his corporate legal training with KPMG Peat Marwick as a Senior Auditor where he was in charge of auditing public and private firms, banks, importers and hospitals.
, Lanza was first elected to the New York City Council
in 2001 and re-elected for a second term in 2003 to the 51st Council District on the South Shore
of Staten Island
, representing over 150,000 constituents. He was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2005 as well.
Out of 51 councilmembers, he was just one of three Republicans. The other two Republicans were Minority Leader
James Oddo
and Minority Whip Dennis Gallagher.
At the City Council he sat on the Education Committee, Land Use
Committee, Sanitation
and Solid Waste
Committee, Standards and Ethics Committee, Environmental
and Transportation Committee, as well as the sub-committee on Planning
, Dispositions and Concessions.
, who retired after 50 years of service in the State Senate. He has been named the Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee and Chairman of the Senate Civil Service and Pensions Committee. He also serves on the Aging Committee, the Cities Committee, the Codes Committee, the Education Committee, the Judiciary Committee, and the Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs Committee.
On Friday, June 24, 2011, Lanza announced that he would vote against the Marriage Equality Act
.
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is one of two houses in the New York State Legislature and has members each elected to two-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve...
, representing the 24th District which encompasses most of Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
. Lanza was elected State Senator in the November 2006 election. He is a former member of the New York City Council
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
.
Education
Lanza attended P.S. 32 as a child, as well as I.S. 24, both in Great Kills, Staten IslandGreat Kills, Staten Island
Great Kills is a neighborhood within New York City's borough of Staten Island. It is located on the island's South Shore, and according to many local geographers, it is the South Shore's northernmost community...
. He is a 1982 graduate of Monsignor Farrell High School
Monsignor Farrell High School
Monsignor Farrell High School is a Catholic secondary school located in the Oakwood section of Staten Island, New York. Opened in 1961, the school was named in honor of Monsignor Joseph Farrell, a prominent Catholic priest, as well as a religious, political and community leader on Staten Island.The...
in Oakwood. He is a graduate of Fordham University School of Law
Fordham University School of Law
Fordham University School of Law is a part of Fordham University in the United States. The School is located in the Borough of Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city.-Overview:According to the U.S. News & World Report, 1,516 J.D. students attend...
, where he received his Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
degree and St. John's University, where he received a B.S. in Accounting. He is admitted for the practice of law to the Bars
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
of New York, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, SDNY
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is a federal district court. Appeals from the Southern District of New York are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case...
and DNJ
United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of New Jersey....
.
Personal life
Lanza lives in Great Kills with his wife and three children. Lanza is a childhood friend of former United States Congressman Vito FossellaVito Fossella
Vito John Fossella, Jr. is a U.S. Republican politician from the state of New York who formerly represented the state's 13th Congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives for six terms, from 1997 to 2009 serving as the lone Republican from New York City. Fossella, a Staten Island...
of Staten Island. The two campaigned together in 2006 for Lanza's election to the State Senate and Fossella's re-election campaign to Congress.
Work on Wall Street and in the Manhattan D.A.'sNew York County District AttorneyThe New York County District Attorney is the elected district attorney for New York County , New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws....
Office
Just prior to his entry into politics, Lanza was associated with Mercury Securities LLC, a Wall StreetWall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
software development
Software development
Software development is the development of a software product...
and stock trading firm, where he was a Managing Member
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
and General Counsel
General Counsel
A general counsel is the chief lawyer of a legal department, usually in a corporation or government department. The term is most used in the United States...
Partner
Partner (business rank)
A partner in a law firm, accounting firm, consulting firm, or financial firm is a highly ranked position. Originally, these businesses were set up as legal partnerships in which the partners were entitled to a share of the profits of the enterprise. The name has remained even though many of these...
.
He also served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
as a prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
of street crimes, felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
cases, New York State Welfare Fraud and procedural and constitutional issues
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
.
Lanza received his corporate legal training with KPMG Peat Marwick as a Senior Auditor where he was in charge of auditing public and private firms, banks, importers and hospitals.
New York City Council
Running as a RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, Lanza was first elected to the New York City Council
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
in 2001 and re-elected for a second term in 2003 to the 51st Council District on the South Shore
South Shore, Staten Island
The South Shore is a geographical term applied to the area in the New York City borough of Staten Island, south and east of the island's ridge of hills along the waterfront and adjacent areas from the Narrows to the mouth of the Arthur Kill, although many observers prefer to restrict its scope to...
of Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
, representing over 150,000 constituents. He was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2005 as well.
Out of 51 councilmembers, he was just one of three Republicans. The other two Republicans were Minority Leader
Minority leader
In U.S. politics, the minority leader is the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative body. Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat, with their counterpart being of the opposite party. The position...
James Oddo
James Oddo
James S. Oddo is a Republican politician from Staten Island, currently serving as Minority Leader in the New York City Council. He is one of five Republicans serving on the Council.-Early life and career:...
and Minority Whip Dennis Gallagher.
At the City Council he sat on the Education Committee, Land Use
Land use
Land use is the human use of land. Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as fields, pastures, and settlements. It has also been defined as "the arrangements, activities and inputs people undertake in a certain land cover...
Committee, Sanitation
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
and Solid Waste
Waste
Waste is unwanted or useless materials. In biology, waste is any of the many unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms, metabolic waste; such as urea, sweat or feces. Litter is waste which has been disposed of improperly...
Committee, Standards and Ethics Committee, Environmental
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
and Transportation Committee, as well as the sub-committee on Planning
Planning
Planning in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior...
, Dispositions and Concessions.
New York State Senate
Lanza was elected to the New York State Senate on November 7, 2006 and took office on January 1, 2007. He fills the seat vacated by Senator John J. MarchiJohn Marchi
John J. Marchi was a New York State Senator who represented Staten Island for a record 50 years. Marchi , a Republican, retired on December 31, 2006, from the seat that he had held since January 1, 1957....
, who retired after 50 years of service in the State Senate. He has been named the Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee and Chairman of the Senate Civil Service and Pensions Committee. He also serves on the Aging Committee, the Cities Committee, the Codes Committee, the Education Committee, the Judiciary Committee, and the Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs Committee.
On Friday, June 24, 2011, Lanza announced that he would vote against the Marriage Equality Act
Marriage Equality Act
The Marriage Equality Act is a 2011 New York State law that allows gender-neutral marriages for both same- and opposite-sex couples, while prohibiting state and local courts and governments from penalizing religious and religious-supervised institutions, their employees, or clergy for refusing to...
.