Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, who has represented the 66th Assembly District including the East and West Villages, Tribeca and Soho for the past 35 years, will not seek reelection next year. It was not an easy decision, she said, but she felt it was necessary.

“I have always devoted 100% of my energy representing this district,” she said in a statement. “With one year left in my term, running for re-election would mean a three year commitment. I don’t believe I could continue to dedicate 100% of my energy beyond next year. It has been a difficult decision at this time, and the time may never be right, but my constituents deserve a representative who can work hard every day for them.”

“36 years ago, I was motivated to run as an out lesbian to ensure that LGBTQ youngsters would not feel isolated and ashamed of who they are. By having a seat at the table, I had a key role in banning discrimination of my community and ensuring the right to marriage equality.”

Glick, 74, took office in 1990, but her issue-oriented approach to service did not start there. During college (she grew up in Queens Village and has her bachelor’s from Queens College and an MBA from Fordham) and immediately afterwards (she worked at a printshop in Tribeca on Hudson Street) she was involved in political organizing — the war in Vietnam, the first Earth Day, and of course the fight for abortion rights. When she started college, abortion was illegal.

“And then there was Stonewall. I was barely out to myself let alone the world, but that all changed quickly,” she said.

Her work for a good decade after continued to be issue-oriented, not so much electoral politics. “Then in 1980 the country lost its mind and elected Ronald Regan and I thought, ‘You know, you actually have to pay attention to who’s in office.’ That was the aha moment — that getting at the very least involved in working in campaigns was necessary.”

She started campaigning for progressive candidates downtown but never saw herself as a candidate herself. (“One time I was on the street campaigning with Liz Holtzman who was running for comptroller. One of her issues was establishing a Police Integrity Unit, and this big guy got right up next to her and said, ‘How many cops are you going to put in jail?’ She just looked at him without batting an eye and said, ‘Every single one that disgraces the badge.’ And I thought, oh wow she is tough, I could never do that.”)

But after several of the candidates Glick worked with over the years got close but couldn’t secure a city office, they pointed to her. The demographic of the assembly district had shifted over time, and the gay community had no representation anywhere. That was 1989, and she has never lost an election since.

A lot has changed, of course, in the 35 years she’s been going to Albany. When she arrived there were very few women or people of color, and no women with young children. Now there’s a baby caucus. Her neighborhoods, and especially adjacent ones (most notably Fidi and BPC) have gotten denser and taller — yet affordable housing continues to be residents’ #1 complaint and priority.

“A lot of what has driven me my entire adult life was the right of women to control their own bodies. And the flip side of that coin was the right of LGBTQ people to control their own destiny, and there is still work to be done,” she said when we spoke during the 2022 election. “I do this because I have a passion for public service and over time you become somewhat committed to or proprietary about the people you represent. The passion for serving has not eroded.”

Glick is the chair of the Committee on Environmental Conservation, and said in her final year she will work on threats to clean water and clean air. “Our very health is threatened by dangerous chemicals in everyday products and ubiquitous plastic products and packaging made from fossil fuels and toxic materials,” she said. “I will work hard to reduce excessive packaging that is not only a challenge to our health, but also costly to dispose of in landfills, which are running out of space.”

And she thanked her many staff members over the years for their dedication to serving the district, and finally, the residents of Assembly District 66: “They have enabled me to be who I am without concern for societal or political constraints,” she said. “I thank my constituents for their support, their intelligence and their confidence in my work.”