By Ryan Schwach<\/p>\n
Catherine Nolan, who represented Queens in the State Assembly for nearly four decades, passed away on Wednesday, one day before what would have been her 68th birthday. <\/p>\n
Nolan served the borough for 38 years as the assemblymember for the 37th District, where she lived most of her life. She passed on Tuesday, following a long battle with cancer. <\/p>\n
During her decades in office, Nolan was known as a trailblazer in local politics and a champion for education reform and protecting workers rights across the state. <\/p>\n
The former rep had been enduring an undisclosed form of cancer, which forced her into retirement in 2022. <\/p>\n
Her death was announced Wednesday by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, under whom she served as deputy speaker from 2019 until her retirement. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is with great sadness that I learned of the passing of my friend and former Assemblymember Cathy Nolan,\u201d said Heastie in a statement. \u201cShe was a dedicated public servant and a trailblazer.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIn her 38 years in the People’s House, she was a voice for her constituents in Queens and fought for legislation that improved the lives of people across our great state,\u201d he continued. \u201cI was lucky to serve with her and privileged to have her on my leadership team as deputy speaker. My heart goes out to her husband Gerry, her son Nick and to all of her friends and loved ones. She will be missed.\u201d <\/p>\n
Nolan was elected to the Assembly in 1985, at just 26-years-old, and became the first woman to chair the Labor Committee. <\/p>\n
Even as a representative for the borough of Queens, Nolan fought for the rights of farm workers in New York, leading legislation to extend labor protections. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is past time to correct the injustices which prevent farmworkers from collectively bargaining, having a day of rest or being compensated for their overtime work,\u201d Nolan told the Eagle in 2019. \u201cFarmworkers must be afforded the same rights that all other workers receive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Closer to home, she was an advocate for class size laws and universal pre-K as chair of the Education Committee. <\/p>\n
In 2022, following surgeries related to cancer, Nolan chose to bow out of politics and retire. <\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t run for reelection like I used to and be with the voters,\u201d she told Newsday at the time. \u201cI\u2019m a little sad, but 38 years\u2026I always gave it full-out, and won\u2019t be able to do that. I pretty much loved every minute. I never minded a fight for the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was succeeded by Assemblymember Juan Ardila, who was replaced last year by Assemblymember Claire Valdez. <\/p>\n
Nolan was remembered for her work and commitment to the borough by her former elected colleagues on Wednesday. <\/p>\n
“Cathy Nolan was a true champion and a trailblazer in every sense of those words,\u201d said Borough President Donovan Richards. \u201cShe inspired a generation of young people in Western Queens to get involved in their community, but she wasn\u2019t satisfied with just holding office or accumulating political power. Instead, she dedicated every day of her nearly 38-year Assembly career to improving our education system and investing in the futures of countless children across our borough, city and state, regardless of their ZIP code or socioeconomic status.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Cathy is no longer with us physically, her legacy of service and commitment to her constituents in Western Queens and beyond undoubtedly lives on,\u201d Richards added. \u201cMy thoughts, and those of all 2.4 million Queens residents, are with the Nolan family and all who knew and loved her.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Ryan Schwach Catherine Nolan, who represented Queens in the State Assembly for nearly four decades, passed away…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-160595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}