TonyAvella
ChairoftheChildrenandFamiliesCommittee
ViceChairoftheEnvironmentalConservationCommittee
NewYorkStateSenate
Tony Avella has dedicated his life to fighting for working and middleclass families. Tony’s distinguished public service career, prior to
public office, included service as a civic activist, a member of Queens
Community Board #7 and as an aide to New York City and New York
State elected officials. Tony also served as an aide to former New
York City Mayors Ed Koch and David Dinkins.
In 2001, Tony won election to the New York City Council in the 19th
District representing Northeast Queens and was re-elected with an
overwhelming majority in both the 2003 and 2005 elections. As a
member of the City Council, Tony served as Chair of the Zoning and
Franchises Committee and was founder and Chair of the first ItalianAmerican Caucus.
During his tenure on the Council, Tony authored several important pieces of legislation. Signed
into law in 2005, his “Demolition by Neglect” bill strengthened the Landmarks Preservation
Commission and has prevented the willful destruction of many of the City’s treasured
landmarks.
Tony also led the fight citywide against overdevelopment, the proliferation of McMansions, and
other major abuses of the City’s building and zoning codes. In an effort to preserve the unique
residential character and quality of life in neighborhoods throughout the City, Tony helped
create new zoning districts such as R2A, which prevents the construction of McMansions,
rezoned major portions of his district as well as numerous other neighborhoods in the City, and
enacted citywide amendments to the “Community Facilities” section. Tony’s hard work resulted
in the first real changes in the City’s zoning code in over 40 years.
In 2009, his last year in the Council, Tony received the “New York City Human Rights Award” for
obtaining the highest score of elected officials in New York City on the Human Rights Project’s
report cards. A city-wide human rights coalition with more than 100 groups from all over the
City, the Human Rights Project is the lead organization of the New York City Human Rights
Initiative.
Respecting the will of the voters who twice passed term limits, Tony refused to run for a third
Council term. Instead, Tony took his message of change and reform city-wide, in a campaign for
New York City Mayor. An underdog in the race, Tony ran on his populist reputation as New York
City’s fiercest reform politician. He received rave reviews for his performances during the
Mayoral debates and routinely challenged the status quo.
After a challenging campaign against a 38-year incumbent, Tony was first elected to the State
Senate in 2010. As a freshman senator, he was appointed ranking member of the Cities and
Environmental Conservation Committees. Re-elected in 2012 and 2014, Tony has continued
his dedicated service to the people of the 11th Senatorial District.
In early 2014, Tony joined the Independent Democratic Conference, a coalition of five
Democratic Senators focused on bipartisanship and efficiency in the Senate. The group is
committed to bettering the lives of working-class families across the state through progressive
legislation such as the DREAM Act and increasing the minimum wage.
Tony currently serves as the Chair of the Children and Families Committee, Vice Chair of the
Environmental Conservation Committee and is a member of the Banks, Cultural Affairs,
Educations, Elections, Housing, Insurance, Judiciary, Transportation, New York City Education
Sub-Committee, and Libraries Select Committee.
His also Chair of the Senate Task Force on the Delivery of Social Services to New York City,
the first-ever task force of its kind. The task force aims to identify challenges and improve
access to social services programs such as food stamps, affordable housing, Medicare and
public assistance. In his first five years in Albany, Tony has been proud to have been a part of
five on-time State budgets.
Tony is recognized by leading environmental groups as having led the successful fight in the
legislature to stop hydrofracking from occurring in our State, an extremely dangerous natural
gas toxic drilling practice that poses a dangerous risk to our drinking water and the environment.
He has also received the distinguished Humane Legislators award from the Humane Society of
the United States for his career-long dedication to animal-welfare legislation.
In the 2013-14 Legislative Session, Tony had three important bills signed into law by Governor
Cuomo, including one that now requires the Department of Environmental Conservation to notify
Community Boards in New York City of any new “brownfield” site cleanups taking place within
their districts. The Governor also implemented Tony’s bill directing hospitals to provide all blind
and visually impaired patients with a large print or audio recording version of the discharge plan
and preadmission information in an effort to allow improved patient access to healthcare
information while protecting patients' right to privacy.
Tony also took the lead in calling for much needed reforms to the Queens Public Library. He
was instrumental in the passage of legislation that has already resulted in significant changes to
the library’s leadership and organization. In March 2015, as a result of his reforms, the Queens
Public Library held its first-ever public budget hearing, which allowed Queens residents an
opportunity to see how hundreds of thousands of tax dollars are spent by the library in the
upcoming fiscal year.
Tony has been one of the major advocates in the fight against increased airplane noise not only
across northeast Queens, but throughout all of New York City and Long Island. He has served
as the liaison between constituents and both the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
and the Federal Aviation Administration to bring more transparency to how the agencies
operate. Tony also played a vital role in establishing the first ever New York Airports Community
Roundtable that allows the community to have input about the use of flight paths that have led
to the increase in noise over residential neighborhoods. In 2015, Tony was chosen to represent
the State Senate as one of 62 voting members of the Roundtable. He also successfully pushed
for Governor Cuomo to implement the Part 150 noise study, which will provide data that can be
used to show how airplane noise affects neighborhoods.
Tony is also recognized as a staunch good government reformer, both in his former role in the
City Council and now in the Senate. Tony continues to refuse in the Senate, as he did in the
Council, the “lulu,” an additional taxpayer-funded salary increase in return for loyalty to party
leadership instead of taxpayers. In the Council, Tony fought against and subsequently refused
the 25% City Council pay raise, which he considered unethical when the city was reducing
services.
Tony remains at the forefront of the battle to reform the New York City’s Department of
Buildings and Board of Standards and Appeals. Tony is also an acknowledged leader for animal
welfare, veterans and senior issues and a fighter for property tax fairness for cooperative and
condominium property owners.
Tony is a graduate of Hunter College of the City University of New York. He is a lifelong Queens
resident and currently resides in Whitestone with his wife Judith.