A former Queens State Senator, he was elected for 10 terms and served for 20 years from 1988 to 2008.
Born in Corona, Queens, he grew up on Manhattan’s lower East Side and graduated from PS. 63, JHS 64 and Stuyvesant H.S., where he is an Alumni Executive Board Member. After his Korean War military service in the Army and the Marine Corps Reserve, he attended Manhattan College on a Regents Scholarship and the GI Bill. He won a War Service Scholarship and received his LL.B and J.D degree from Fordham Law School.
He was the prime sponsor of legislation that created the Veterans 250 bed St. Albans Nursing home and has authored 239 Maltese bills that are now law. He previously served as Queens Asst. DA and Deputy Chief of the Homicide Bureau. He has been honored by countless organizations: La Guardia Community College, St. John’s University and St. Francis College.
He has served as Chairman of the Board for Christ the King High School for 35 years.
He has been married for 56 years to noted portrait artist Constance Del Vecchio Maltese and they have 2 children, Andrea Spanarkel and Leslie Mc Gill and four grand children.
