By Henry J. Stern
July 24, 2006

Tom Manton, the Queens County Democratic Leader, who passed away over the weekend, was a significant figure in New York City for decades.  Unlike some other past and present county leaders, Manton is generally regarded favorably.   He dominated Queens politics for twenty years, from 1986 to 2006, and his influence was city wide.  His predecessor, Donald Manes, who simultaneously served as Borough President of Queens committed suicide in April rather than go on trial for corruption charges which would most likely have led to his imprisonment.
 
Among Manton's achievements are the making of the last two speakers of the city council, Gifford Miller in 2002 and Christine Quinn in 2006, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, a dozen committee chairs and countless judges.  He commanded a large, well-disciplined party organization, which escaped the criminal travails of the Brooklyn organization. 
 
Three newspapers ran substantial obituaries this morning and the Post had a short article.

The Times, "Thomas J. Manton, 73, Influential Queens Democrat, Dies", Sewall Chan,  pg.B7.
Newsday, "Manton Dies at 73", Wil Cruz, pg. A5.
The Sun, "With the Loss of Thomas Manton, Queens Needs a New King", Jill Gardiner, pg. 3
Post, "Prince of Queens", Stephanie Gaskell, pg. 13.
 
Tom Manton and I served together on the City Council from 1974 to 1983.  He was there before me, representing western Queens, the Long Island City and Woodside district just south of Peter Vallone's turf in Astoria.  Although he tried to escape twice, running for Congress in 1972 and 1978, it was not until 1984 that he was elected, taking the seat vacated by Geraldine Ferraro, when she ran for Vice President and carried Minnesota.
 
When he was in the Council, he was strong and robust, a lawyer, former Marine and police officer, on the conservative side on local issues.  He was particularly outraged by the gay rights bill, which had first been introduced in 1971, and was buried in committee until 1986, when it was allowed by Speaker Vallone to come to the floor and pass as part of a series of unrelated events involving Stanley Friedman, the Bronx Democratic leader at the time, and Donald Manes which secured the critical vote of the late Councilman Bob Dryfoos, subsequently a major lobbyist.  Complicated.
 
It is ironic that Manton's last political coup was the selection of Christine Quinn, an open lesbian, to be speaker of the council, a position held from 1969 to 1985 (when it was called vice-chairman and majority leader) by the intensely anti-gay Thomas J. Cuite.

Manton deserves credit for not discriminating against Quinn because of her sexual preference, since he felt her election would be best for the city and the Queens Democratic organization.  Queens had three candidates for speaker, and by the alliance with Quinn of Manhattan and the Bronx leadership, Manton kept the choice committee chairmanships that he had originally gained by providing the votes to elect Speaker Gifford Miller, who had been elected to the council from Manhattan's upper east side in 1995, when he was 26.
 
When Miller became speaker in January 2002, the Finance Chair went to David Weprin (son of the late Assembly Speaker Saul Weprin and brother of Assemblyman Mark Weprin), the Land Use chair to Melinda Katz, and Leroy Comrie became Majority Whip - not that one was needed since the councilmembers are quite compliant.  All three, Weprin, Katz and Comrie, are from the borough of Queens, a unique constellation on the political zodiac. 

The Bronx, junior partner in the Manton coalition, got Joel Rivera, a freshman who was 22 when elected to the Council in November, but who had turned 23 by January, when he was chosen unanimously as the Council's majority leader and principal deputy to the speaker.  The Bronx also won the exclusion of Oliver Koppell, a councilmember who previously served as Attorney General of New York State, from any committee chair or position of leadership.  Koppell was not a friend of Roberto Ramirez, the Bronx kingpin, while Joel Rivera was the son of Assemblyman Jose Rivera, Ramirez' ally and successor as county leader. 

Since then, Jose Rivera has been joined in the Assembly by his daughter, Naomi Rivera, who was elected from another Bronx district.  While Pittsburgh has its Three Rivers stadium (where the Allegheny and the Monongahela join to form the Ohio), Bronx has its three Riveras, father Jose and daughter Naomi in the Assembly and son Joel, now 27, in his fifth year as the Council's majority leader.  (This material is included as a tribute to Manton's artistry in composing a diverse, representative legislative body, with the co-operation of colleagues from other boroughs.  In fact, Brooklyn leader Vito Lopez bought into the 2006 Council package for some assistance to his favorite councilmembers.)

Manton deserves a biography, or a serious scholarly article about his distinguished and lengthy political career.  He selected the first African-American borough president of Queens, Helen Marshall, who succeeded the first woman borough president Claire Shulman, who Manton did not select because he was not yet county leader when she was chosen.  He strove for balance between ethnic groups, recognizing the diversity of Queens' population.  The conformity he did require was simply loyalty to the political organization he led and willingness to follow decisions he and the group made
 
At the same time, Manton presided over a successful machine, built on favors and obligations, political and economic.  He successfully insulated himself from many of the mundane transactions which are part and parcel of patronage politics.  He had good judgment, decency and charm, which he did not hesitate to use.  He bore his long illness bravely, doing as much as he was able to do, appearing in public when required, and holding on as long as he physically could.
 
The period of mourning is not the time to analyze the conflicts, if any, between the Queens Democracy and the law.  Compared to his predecessor, Manes, Manton was a shining light.  And unlike so many in politics convinced of their own immortality, he chose his successor, Congressman Joseph Crowley, like himself a modest man, a family man, a man with few if any enemies.  To do this he cleverly avoided a primary election in which Crowley would have been opposed by a well-known incumbent councilmember.  Was this fair?  It depends, as they say today, on what fair is.

For a politician of the old school, Tom Manton was a remarkable success.  His willingness to adapt to change and move with the times made his leadership go unchallenged for almost a generation.

This is not a full-scale obituary, or a eulogy.  It is a collage of memories and observations, including political war stories, about an essentially decent man, who was engaged in a business based to a large extent on favoritism, cronyism and money changing hands.  But without the Tom Mantons, our politics would be in the hands of people far worse - look at the other counties of New York City, for example.  In the end, to the extent that character counts, he was a decent man, widely respected and sometimes justifiably feared.
 
When I was Parks Commissioner, under Mayor Giuliani, I believe, Manton called me several times on behalf of a young parks employee, a steamfitter, who was seeking a major promotion.  Manton knew the man's father.  He was always polite, and when I explained why I could not legally do as he asked he was understanding.  I wish that every conversation I had with people seeking favorable decisions was as good as the ones we had.  Yet if I could have helped, I would have, out of respect for Tom Manton.  He carried the human equation as far as it could go, and earned friends while making choices.  I am sorry that he is gone.