Celebrating two decades of public service

After 53 years of marriage and 20 years of public service, Senator Serphin Maltese remains his wife’s “personal American hero.”
“I’ve always considered Serphin like an action hero,” said Constance DelVecchio Maltese. “[He embodies] truth, justice and the American way.”
Born in Corona on December 7, 1932, Maltese graduated from P.S. 63, J.H.S. 64 and Stuyvesant High School.
A veteran of the Korean War, he completed his service in 1954. He and Constance were married on August 27, 1955, when he was still in college.
“When we were first married we had a room and a half in Rego Park,” she said. “We had a mattress on the floor and a card table with four chairs. I went to work, and he went to school. After the children came [daughters Andrea and Leslie] Serphin went to night school, and I painted at home.”
After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Manhattan College, he was awarded a War Service Scholarship and received his Bachelor of Legal Letters and Juris Doctorate degrees from Fordham University Law School.
Admitted to the Bar in 1963, Maltese served as Queens Assistant District Attorney and Deputy Chief of the Homicide Bureau until 1984, when, as counsel for then-Senator Alfonse D’Amato, he ran for Congress against Tom Manton (that was the historic year that Congressmember Geraldine Ferraro was tapped as Democratic Vice Presidential nominee).
“It was an active and energetic campaign because it was the VP nominee’s district,” said Maltese.
He was also the Conservative Party Chair at the time, but in 1988, he said, “the Republicans asked me to run.”
That year he campaigned against Frank Sansivieri for Senator Martin J. Knorr’s seat — and won by 55 percent to 45.
Upon seeking reelection to his second term, Maltese was opposed by political bosses in Queens who objected to his independent stance on behalf of his constituents, forcing him to seek nomination by write-in vote. In one of the largest primary write-in votes, with no other race on the ballot, Maltese won re-nomination over his opponent by a margin of 6,243 to 237.
After that, said Maltese, “I had three or four more races,” all of which he won.
In his 20 years as Senator, Maltese secured funding for 230 groups throughout the district, city and state.
“I really enjoy people, meetings and going to gatherings,” he said of his hands-on approach to politics. He still writes birthday letters to constituents.
The causes he championed most, he said, were the needs of veterans, seniors and youth, and, of course, education, especially for the academically gifted and those with special needs.
In that same vein, he has served as Chairman of the Board of Christ the King High School for 32 years, a role he will continue.
“I will try to raise some funds for the school,” Maltese said. “It’s near and dear to my heart — both my daughters went there,”
As a veteran himself — and a self-proclaimed “World War II buff” — he said, “I worked very closely with veterans,” serving as Chair of the Veterans Committee, a role he felt enabled him to be a spokesperson for veterans’ rights.
“We’ve gotten medals for over 1,500 veterans over the years,” he said, noting that it is especially moving to see a man receive a medal years later, as his grandchildren look on, “for the first time seeing him as a hero.”
He also passed 239 “Maltese laws” over two decades — pieces of legislation that he sponsored — including the creation of the 250-bed State Veterans Nursing Home at St. Albans, renaming the Interboro Parkway after Jackie Robinson and ensuring hearing tests for infants. Maltese also helped to save the floundering Wyckoff Heights Hospital by securing $175 million in funding.
Over the course of his Senate career, his appointments included Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Consumer Protection; Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction; Chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Veterans; the Senate Standing Committee on Elections; and Chairman of the Senate Cities Committee. He also serves on the following Senate Committees: Rules, Civil Service and Pensions; Codes; Higher Education; Finance; and Judiciary. Maltese also serves in the Senate Leadership as Vice Chairman of the Majority Conference. And in keeping with his keen interest in the arts, Maltese was also appointed to serve as Chairman of the Special Committee on the Arts and Cultural Affairs.
On November 4, City Councilmember Joseph Addabbo won his bid for Maltese’s Senate seat.
Now, come January, Maltese said, what he and his wife are looking forward to “is spending time with the grandchildren [Genevieve, Sandra, Eva and James].”
What he will take with him, he said, is “the enjoyment of spending 20 years doing what I really love to do. It’s been a pleasure.”