Rory Lancman is a New York State Assemblyman representing, amongst other areas, the heart of the Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Queens. We met the other day to get to know one another—or for me to get to know Rory—because after three terms in Albany, Lancman has his eye on Washington, D.C. and a seat representing his district in the U.S. Congress.
When the election will be, whether there will be one at all, and if there will actually be a district to represent in Congress at all, is, at present, somewhat up in the air. The decision on whether this congressional district gets drawn off the map is currently being tossed around between the New York State Legislature and the courts.
If we assume that all will remain equal going forward, then we can state that it is Lancman’s goal to oppose freshman Republican Bob Turner in next November’s election. As you know, Turner was elected to replace once-popular Congressman Anthony Weiner whose district stretched across segments of Brooklyn and Queens.
In the special election that took place last September, Turner faced off against Democrat David Weprin, who was considered the favorite by a considerable margin. The election turned out to be a referendum of sorts on the Obama presidency as well as Weprin’s emphatic support for legislation in the Assembly that favored same-sex marriage here in New York. It is important to note that while the legislation was passed numerous times previously in the Assembly, it was the State Senate that finally passed it into law. Still Weprin, an Orthodox Jew from a prominent political family in Queens, spoke openly about his support for the legislation, which was strongly opposed in the organized Orthodox Jewish community.
Assemblyman Lancman favored the same legislation, and we discussed why he thought that he would not be held to the same standard as Weprin if and when such an election takes place. Assemblyman Lancman explained that he thought the comments about the gay-rights legislation by Weprin were couched in terms of his perspective as an Orthodox Jew. While Weprin tried to backtrack on those comments once it looked like he was losing his lead to Turner, it turned out it was too little too late.
The fact is that Weprin never thought that what he was saying at the time would hurt him in such an extreme fashion. At the time that he said what he did, he was not suggesting that he was issuing any kind of religious ruling but was rather speaking from his perspective as a strong advocate for civil rights over many years.
“There’s no question that David did not intend for this to turn out this way,” said Lancman. As for his support of the same legislation that doomed the Weprin candidacy, Lancman says that though he belongs to an Orthodox shul in Hillcrest and his children attend the Solomon Schechter Day School in Queens, his support of the legislation was not presented in term of his religious beliefs.
The other issue that surfaced during the Turner-Weprin race was whether the faceoff for a traditionally Democratic Party seat was a referendum on the Jewish community’s displeasure with the Obama administration and its policies and attitudes toward Israel. After the Turner victory, his supporters said that it was; leaders in the Democratic Party refuted that assertion. Asked whether he intends to support Barack Obama in the coming November election, Lancman responded, “I’m voting for the guy that made certain to kill Osama bin Laden.”
Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch is known to say that regardless of the level of elective office that you may hold in the city, it is incumbent upon you to formulate a foreign policy of sorts. That is true of New York State assemblymen and in particular those who have aspirations to go to Washington, like Rory Lancman. On this score, Lancman says that in his opinion the U.S. needs to do whatever possible to see to it that Iran does not build a nuclear weapon that can threaten her neighbors—particularly Israel. On whether he thinks Israel will choose to go it alone and mount an attack that destroys Iran’s nuclear capabilities, Lancman says that he wouldn’t be at all surprised if that scenario is played out over the near term.
On the issue of the settlement communities in Judea and Samaria, Lancman says he does not agree that there has to be a settlement freeze or any kind of curtailment in construction in those areas in order for negotiations to take place between Israelis and Palestinians. He foresees several alternatives to solve the issue that the Palestinian side has made into a sticking point and obstacle to their agreeing to even sit and talk with Israel. He says he does not see why Jews could not remain in their homes in areas that someday may come under the jurisdiction of a possible new sovereign Palestine.
Lancman is an intelligent, soft-spoken, liberal Democrat who has taken the right positions on Israel. His position on social issues like gay rights and his seeming hard line on Israel-Arab peace are not uncommon among Democrats that represent large Jewish districts in New York and for that matter around the U.S.
Lancman has had a distinguished career in the Assembly and serves on a number of important committees. He has been instrumental in the passage of quite a few pieces of legislation that speak to these unusual modern times that we live in. His profile on his Web page indicates some of his important accomplishments.
“Homeland security legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Lancman and signed into law includes the Libel Terrorism Protection Act, which protects authors and journalists from politically motivated overseas defamation judgments and which prompted Congress to pass similar legislation on the national level; the Freedom to Report Terrorism Act, which insulates citizens who report suspicious behavior to the police from harassing lawsuits; the Public Servant Soldier Salary Act, which requires New York City to pay city employees called to active military duty the difference in salary between their military pay and city pay while deployed, guaranteeing soldiers and their families financial stability; the Non-Profit Homeland Security Preparedness Study Act, which directed the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services to study the security needs of New York’s non-profit institutions and to recommend strategies to make them safer; legislation strengthening the security of our state’s infrastructure by mandating the Director of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure to maintain maps of vulnerable sites in New York; and legislation empowering members of the Federal Protective Service, who protect federal facilities throughout New York from terrorist attack, to exercise the same law-enforcement powers in New York as do agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the United States Secret Service. Assemblyman Lancman is a sponsor of Speaker Silver’s Iran Divestment legislation (A.8668) that would bar companies that invest in Iran’s energy sector from doing business with New York state or local governments.”
At this point there are rumblings in Queens about who else has ambitions about running for the congressional seat currently held by Bob Turner. It is clear that redistricting in New York will result in the state losing two congressional seats due to national population shifts. Additionally on the drawing board is the adjustment of the neighborhood lines that includes the creation of a Jewish “super district” that will allow a Jewish representative to represent densely populated Jewish areas in Congress. This may result in the elimination of the 9th CD seat altogether.
There is a great deal on this issue still up in the air. Nevertheless, whenever the state legislature or the courts decide what the New York districts are going to finally look like, Rory Lancman is going to be ready to run an important and formidable campaign.

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