Ex-US Rep Lester Wolff Passes Away at 102

by Nolan Cleary

Former Long Island Congressman Lester Wolff, who challenged Governor Nelson Rockefeller and Robert Moses on their plans to build a cross-Sound bridge from Oyster Bay to Rye, NY, has passed-away at the age of 102.

Wolff, a Democrat, served in Congress from 1965-1981. He gained a reputation in the House for a progressive voting and his support for environmental policy.

Congressman Thomas Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) remembered Wolff as a “tenacious and lifelong defender of the environment”.

Wolff celebrated his 100th birthday in 2019. Wolff voted to expand Medicare during his time, opposed the Vietnam War, and favored the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Wolff served well over a decade in the House, but was defeated for re-election in 1980, by John LeBoutillier (R-Brookville), who swung the then north-shore district to the Republicans as part of the Reagan landslide.