Rory Lancman

Lancman was born and raised in Queens and is a graduate of New York City Public School 164, Parsons Junior High School, and Hillcrest High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queens College (City University of New York) in 1991 and a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia Law School in 1995, to which he had transferred after a year at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

Lancman served in the New York's 42nd Infantry Division as a lieutenant of Infantry from 1988 to 1992.

Lancman served on Community Board 8[1] for over sixteen years, chairing first the Aging Committee and then the Youth & Education Committee. He ran unsuccessfully for the New York Senate in 2000, losing to Frank Padavan.

In September 2007, he was named one of City Hall's "40 under 40" for being a young influential member of New York City politics.[2] He was first elected to the State Assembly in 2006, and ran uncontested in the 2008 and 2010 general elections.[3][4]

In 2012, Lancman sought the Democratic nomination for New York's 6th congressional district. He faced New York City Council member Elizabeth Crowley and fellow Assembly member Grace Meng, and eventually lost to Meng. A large campaign war chest gave Lancman's campaign cause to believe they would emerge the victor, but Meng went on to take it with over 50% of the vote.[5]

On November 19, 2012, Lancman declared his run for the 24th district of the New York City Council district, seeking to succeed James F. Gennaro in the 2013 election.[6] Lancman won a score of endorsements, including the Queens County Democratic Party, the Working Families Party, the United Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, SEIU 32BJ, and 1199 SEIU.[7] Lancman defeated two other candidates in the primary and went on to win the general election in November 2013.

Council Member Lancman became the chair of a newly created committee on the New York City Council called the Committee on Courts and Legal Services. Although both are liberal, Lancman has been critical of Mayor Bill de Blasio at times.[8]

He resigned from the City Council on November 4, 2020 for a position under Governor Andrew Cuomo as his Special Counsel for Ratepayer Protection.[9][10]

In 2019, Lancman was a candidate in the Democratic primary for Queens County District Attorney in the State of New York.[11] Nily Rozic is the Democratic incumbent who succeeded Lancman as the Assemblymember for the 25th District.

• Paterson, David "Black, Blind, & In Charge: A Story of Visionary Leadership and Overcoming Adversity." New York, New York, 2020