LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION honoring former New York State Assemblyman Ivan
Lafayette and Bertine Lafayette for their service, spanning 50 years, to
their community, the 34th Assembly District, and the State of New York

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to take note of and
publicly acknowledge individuals who have distinguished themselves
through their exemplary careers, accomplishments, and purposeful lives
of service to their community and their profession; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to honor
former New York State Assemblyman Ivan Lafayette and his wife, Bertine
Lafayette for their service, spanning 50 years, to their community, the
34th Assembly District, and the State of New York; and
WHEREAS, The Lafayettes will be fittingly recognized for their distin-
guished community service and dedication to the residents of the 34th
Assembly District of the State of New York on Thursday, June 26, 2014,
at a Dinner Dance held in their honor at Bruno's On The Boulevard, Jack-
son Heights, New York; and
WHEREAS, Ivan Lafayette served in the New York State Assembly from
January of 1977 until his retirement in September of 2008; he then was
appointed by the New York State Governor to the State Insurance Depart-
ment as Deputy Superintendent; in that position, he spoke to various
groups throughout the State on issues dealing with insurance and other
matters concerning the Insurance Department; he was at the Department
when it became the Department of Financial Services, combining the New
York State Banking and Insurance Departments; and
WHEREAS, While in the Assembly, Ivan Lafayette served as Deputy Speak-
er and Dean of the Queens Assembly Delegation; he served on the Execu-
tive Board of NCOIL which is the National Conference of Insurance
Legislators and was the Chairman of NCOIL's Financial Service Committee;
he also was the Chair of the Assembly's the Sub-Committee on Automobile
Insurance; and
WHEREAS, Assemblyman Lafayette also served as a Senior Member on the
Assembly's Ways & Means Committee, Rules Committee, Steering Committee
and Banks Committee, as well as the Insurance and Transportation Commit-
tees and the Assembly Intern Program; and
WHEREAS, From 1985 until December of 1990, he served as the first
Chairman of a Legislative Standing Committee on Racing and Wagering; as
such, he was invited to speak at meetings at the various segments of the
racing industry nationwide; those National meetings were sponsored by
the Thoroughbred Racing Association and the Standardbred Racing Associ-
ation; through his efforts, legislation was adopted to recognize the
inter-relationship of various types of tracks and off-track interests;
with his efforts, New York State's Racing & Wagering Industry was
enhanced with commensurate growth in State and local revenues; and
WHEREAS, Assemblyman Lafayette served as Speaker Pro-Tempore for five
years; from 1997 until 1999, he served as Majority Whip and was Chairman
of the New York State Assembly's Committee on Standing Committees; prior
to those positions, he was the Chairman of the Assembly's Majority
Steering Committee; from January 1991 until December 1992, he served as
Chairman of the Assembly's standing committee on Consumer Affairs and
Protection; he is the former Chairperson of the Administrative Regu-
lations Review Commission and Co-Chair of the Democratic Study Group;
and
WHEREAS, Prior to his legislative career, Ivan Lafayette was in the
automotive field with his father; as a teenager he worked changing tires
and washing cars; he then went on to become a mechanic, a repair person,

parts manager and then General Manager for his father's Packard, Stude-
baker, Rambler, Lincoln Mercury, Edsel and Volvo franchises; in
1960-1961, he was honored as the Top Salesman for American Motors in the
United States; and
WHEREAS, Throughout his legislative career, Assemblyman Lafayette is
proud to have been a sponsor of hundreds of Assembly bills that are now
New York state laws; those that are particularly noteworthy are the
nationally acclaimed Truth in Testing Law for college applicants as well
as his Uninsured Motorist's Law, which creates penalties for driving
without insurance; other accomplishments include the law that requires
banking institutions to be responsible as to interest obligations; he is
the sponsor of the law that establishes Banking Development Districts to
encourage economic growth in certain areas, as well as the Omnibus
Racing & Wagering Laws, and the Red Light Camera law; and
WHEREAS, Ivan Lafayette was instrumental in the expansion of Building
Aid to include Pre-K and Kindergarten facilities; he has also worked to
provide a fair capital program for New York City schools; he was
involved in innovative concepts to improve education, and provide
preschool training; through his efforts, three Early Childhood centers
are in place in the neighborhood; the first, P.S. 228 opened in Septem-
ber of 2001, and the other two, P.S. 222 and P.S. 28 opened in September
of 2002; and
WHEREAS, Assemblyman Lafayette sponsored the IIES Law--Insurance
Information and Enforcement System; this law allows for the tracking of
the insurance status of New York State registered vehicles, as well as
any traffic violations, and registrations; this law was a model for the
United States; and
WHEREAS, Ivan Lafayette is the author of the Auto-Bumper Quality Label
Law, and made possible the New York City Item Pricing Law; he is also a
sponsor of the Social Services Law which increases support for those in
need, as well as a law that makes low-cost electricity available to
various businesses and associations; he also made possible the expansion
of the Open Meetings Law; and
WHEREAS, Assemblyman Lafayette also sponsored laws that suspend Driv-
er's Licenses of specified offenses that are committed within and out of
New York; another one of his laws prohibits price gouging by all parties
in the distribution of all consumer goods and another states that insur-
ance companies must give written notification to the policy holder when
their policy is not being renewed; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Lafayette also sponsored many laws that provide co-ops
.SO DOC A R1367 RESO TEXT 2013
with veteran's property tax exemptions and removed parking tax obli-
gations to the shareholders in co-ops, as well as the expansion of SCRIE
(Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemptions); he was also a staunch
supporter of legislation that guarantees humane treatment of all
animals; and
WHEREAS, Ivan Lafayette has a long history of involvement in civic and
community affairs; he is a founding member of the Jackson
Heights/Elmhurst Kehillah, a member of Post 209 of the Jewish War Veter-
ans and the American Legion; he is the former President of the Jackson
Heights Community Federation, a former Trustee of the North Queens Home-
owner and Civic Association, and was also a Board Member of the Corona
Preservation Senior Center and the Community Education Resource Center,
Community Development Agency's Area Policy Board 3 and 4 and a member of
the Executive Committee of the Health Planning Task Force, Sub-regional
B; and
WHEREAS, Ivan Lafayette served as President of the Jackson Heights
Chapter of B'Nai B'rith; he is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Jackson
Heights, Queens, is an honorary member of the Father Bellini Society,

Queens Council on the Arts, and the Latin American Cultural Center; he
also served on the Faculty Advisory Board of LaGuardia Community College
Secretarial Science Department; and
WHEREAS, Ivan Lafayette was the impetus for the formation of the Air
Services Committee for LaGuardia and Kennedy Airports under the Queens
Office of Economic Development Corporation; and
WHEREAS, This extraordinary man has received numerous awards and cita-
tions from groups such as the New York City Coalition of School-based
Drug Prevention and Education Programs, Federation of Italian, twice by
Boy Scouts of America, St. Gabriel's C.Y.O. Italian Charities, Elmcor
Youth and Adult Activities, Local 504 Air Transport Workers Union,
numerous Block Associations, the Langston Hughes Library, the Jackson
Heights/Elmhurst Volunteer Ambulance Corp., North Queens Homeowners and
Civic Association, Junction Boulevard Merchants Association, B'nai
B'rith, Jewish War Veterans, Father Bellini Society, the Long Island
Board of Realtors, Jackson Heights Community Development Corporation,
and the Astoria Heights Homeowners and Tenants Association, as well as
LaGuardia Community College, Kiwanis Club of Woodside, former Lieutenant
Governor Alfred Del Bello, former Council Members Peter Vallone, Jr. and
Joseph Lisa, former Congressman Thomas Manton, Senator George Onorato,
the Woodside Senior Assistance Program, the Catherine Sheridan Senior
Center, the Steinway Senior Center and the East Elmhurst/Corona Civic
Association, and Elmjack Little League, The Lexington Center for the
Deaf gave him their Award of Merit, and he has been honored three times
by the North Queens Civic & Homeowner Association; and
WHEREAS, Furthermore, Ivan Lafayette was honored by the Dominican-Am-
erican Society of Queens and he received the Morty Manfred Award from
PFLAG; the Federation of New York Housing Cooperatives and Condominiums
declared him a Friend of Co-ops and Condos and Queens Council on the
Arts honored him with their Friend of the Arts Award; the United Commu-
nity Civic Association awarded him as their 2006 Man of the Year and
most recently, the Community Education Council, District 30 proclaimed
him as Educator of the Year; he is also the recipient of LaGuardia
Community College's Presidents' Medal; and
WHEREAS, Assemblyman Lafayette participated in the Adopt-A-Class
program and has "adopted" seventh grade classes, at J.H.S 141 Q, and the
Joseph Pulitzer, I.S. 145 School in Jackson Heights; he has received
special awards from these schools and from the William Cullen Bryant
High School for his outstanding commitment to public education; he has
also been cited for participating in the Mentorship program with LS.
227, the Louis Armstrong School and participated in the annual "Princi-
pal for a Day" program; Ivan considered education as one of his highest
priorities and was constantly fighting for additional funds for the
schools in his district; and
WHEREAS, Bertine Lafayette grew up in an environment that was filled
with the arts; her father was a violinist with the New York Philharmon-
ic, her mother a teacher at the Juilliard School of Music and her broth-
er, Michael, was a concert violinist; and
WHEREAS, Throughout her childhood, Bertine studied ballet, piano and
art and graduated from Hunter College with a major in speech and dramat-
ics; she earned her Master of Science degree from Hunter College in
1995; and
WHEREAS, Bertine Lafayette was an early childhood teacher for the New
York City Board of Education from 1970 until her retirement in 1995; she
was a Turnkey teacher trainer from 1987 until 1990, and served as a
Chapter Leader for the UFT from 1973-1976 and again from 1988 until
1995; she was also the president of the P.T. A. at PS 148 from 1963
until 1965; and

WHEREAS, She has served on the board of Queens Council on the Arts
since 1985, and served as its President from 1990 until 1992; she also
served on the Board of Queens Theater in the Park from 1992 until 2010;
and
WHEREAS, Currently, Bertine Lafayette serves on the Program Committee
for the Sherman, Connecticut Jewish Community Center as well as the
Queens College Arts Advisory Board; and
WHEREAS, Bertine and Ivan Lafayette have made Jackson Heights their
home since 1956; they have three sons, Jonathan, an executive editor of
a Crain's publication and his wife, Helen, an attorney; Mark, an attor-
ney, and his wife, Lisa, a computer specialist; and Richard, a Medical
Doctor at Stanford University, and his wife, Christa, a Bio-Tech
specialist; they are also the loving grandparents of nine grandchildren,
Sara, Michael and triplets Gregory, Eric and Marissa, William Tyler,
Ascher Rabin, Thalia and Anya; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend The Honorable Ivan and Bertine Lafayette for their many years of
dedicated service to the residents of the 34th Assembly District as well
as the entire State of New York; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Ivan and Bertine Lafayette.
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