Peter Fortunate Vallone Sr. (born December 13, 1934) is an American politician.

Background

His father, Judge

Charles J. Vallone Charles J. Vallone (1902 – March 15, 1967) was an Italian-American judge from the state of New York. He served on the Queens County Civil Court. Life and career Vallone was born in Prizzi, Italy in 1902. After arriving in the United States ...

(1901–1967) of the

Queens County Civil Court The Civil Court of the City of New York is a civil court of the New York State Unified Court System in New York City that decides lawsuits involving claims for damages up to $25,000 and includes a small claims part (small claims court) for cases ...

, encouraged young Peter to broaden his horizons beyond the limited social interactions with other ethnic and religious groups that were discouraged in the pre-

Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilic ...

era. His mother, Leah Palmigiano Vallone, was a teacher and a Democratic State Committeewoman. With his wife, Tena, he has three children ( Peter Jr.,

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

, and Perry) and eight grandchildren.

Education

He attended

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

, where he received his BSS (1956) and his LLB (1959).

Political career

A former Democratic

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...

man who represented

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to four other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Queens, Long Island C ...

, from 1974 to 2001, he was the second most powerful official in New York City's government after the mayor, when he became the city's first Speaker of the City Council in 1986. He held that position until

Gifford Miller Alan Gifford Miller (born November 6, 1969) is the former Speaker of the New York City Council who represented the 5th district. Barred from seeking reelection due to term limits, the Democrat ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary fo ...

took over in 2002. Vallone drafted changes to the City Charter in 1989 that he claimed allowed the Council more say on the budget. He was an unsuccessful candidate for

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

as the Democratic nominee receiving in total 1,570,317 votes or 33.16% of the electorate. Vallone was also notably the first ever candidate endorsed by the

Working Families Party The Working Families Party (WFP) is a progressive minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois ...

, with the party receiving 51,325 votes for Vallone via fusion voting. Vallone also ran for

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, placing third in the Democratic primary.

Later career

Vallone currently teaches

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City, United States. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the colle ...

and his autobiography, ''Learning to Govern: My Life in New York Politics, From Hell Gate to City Hall'', described his years in government. He practices law in Astoria with his son,

Peter Vallone Jr. Peter Fortunate Vallone Jr. (born March 23, 1961) is an American judge and lawyer. Vallone was a member of the New York City Council representing the 22nd district, encompassing Astoria, Queens and the surrounding communities, from 2002 to 20 ...

, who succeeded him in the City Council in 2002. After he retired from politics, Peter Vallone Sr. founded a lobbying firm with a partner, Constantinople and Vallone In 2005, Vallone endorsed Republican

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...

for Mayor of New York City. In 2009, he endorsed a former rival in the mayoral race, Mark Green, who attempted to win back the job of Public Advocate.

Electoral history

References

, - , - , - , - 1934 births American people of Italian descent Fordham University School of Law alumni Living people New York City Council members New York (state) Democrats Politicians from Queens, New York Speakers of the New York City Council Vallone family Working Families Party politicians {{NewYork-politician-stub