Misplaced Pages

John D. Caemmerer

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
American politician

John D. Caemmerer
Member of the New York Senate from the 8th District
In office
1966–1966
Preceded byThomas A. Duffy
Succeeded byMurray Schwartz
Member of the New York Senate from the 5th District
In office
1967–1972
Preceded byEdward J. Speno
Succeeded byRalph J. Marino
Member of the New York State Senate
from the 7th district
In office
January 3, 1973 – December 31, 1982
Preceded byNorman J. Levy
Succeeded byMichael J. Tully Jr.
Personal details
Born(1928-01-19)January 19, 1928
Brooklyn, New York
DiedFebruary 7, 1982(1982-02-07) (aged 54)
Manhattan, New York
Political partyRepublican
Alma materNotre Dame University, St. John's Law School

John D. Caemmerer (January 19, 1928 – February 7, 1982) was a New York lawyer and politician.

Life

John Caemmerer was born in Brooklyn, and grew up in Williston Park, Nassau County, New York. He was educated in local public schools prior to attending Xavier High School in Manhattan and later Notre Dame University and St. John's Law School. Caemmerer was Deputy Town Attorney for the Town of North Hempstead and Village Attorney for the Incorporated Village of Williston Park. Both before and after being elected to the New York State Senate Caemmerer was a principal in the law firms, Pratt, Caemmerer, & Cleary and later Farrell, Fritz, Caemmerer, Cleary, Barnosky, & Armentano. During this time Caemmerer served as a local Republican Leader, and was North Hempstead Republican Committee Chairman from 1966 to 1972.

Caemmerer was a member of the New York State Senate from 1966 until his death in 1982, sitting in the 176th, 177th, 178th, 179th, 180th, 181st, 182nd, 183rd and 184th New York State Legislatures. He was Chairman of the Committee on Villages and Local Government until 1972 and, after the death of Edward J. Speno, became Chairman of the Committee on Transportation. Caemmerer worked to increase penalties on drunk drivers while lowering the maximum allowable blood alcohol content from .15 to eventually .10 in New York State. Caemmerer was also one of the first New York State Legislators to propose a mandatory seatbelt law in the state. Caemmerer was also involved in the first MTA capital plan for New York State. Many in the Senate feel that Caemmerer's crowning achievement was the passage of the child seat law in 1981.

He died on February 7, 1982, in Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, of cancer.

The Long Island Rail Road's West Side Yard was officially named the John D. Caemmerer West Side Yard because Caemmerer obtained funding to construct the facility. Ironically, Caemmerer's 17 year-old daughter, Kathleen Caemmerer, was the sole survivor of a tragic 1982 Long Island Rail Road accident. Caemmerer's daughter was a passenger in the van struck by a train traveling 65 MPH. The 1981 Ford Econoline carried ten teenagers, and apparently drove around a flashing railroad crossing gate when the train was not able to stop in time.

Sources

  1. Clines, Francis X. (January 7, 1973). "L. I. Legislators Gain Key Posts". The New York Times. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  2. Cliness, Francis X. (May 24, 1971). "Albany Tightens Drunk-Driving Laws In Day Mostly Devoted to Minor Bills". The New York Times. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  3. JOHN CAEMMERER, CHAIRMAN OF STATE SENATE TRANSIT PANEL in the New York Times on February 8, 1982
  4. Voboril, Mary (March 26, 2005). "The Air Above Rail Yards Still Free". Newsday. New York.
New York State Senate
Preceded byThomas A. Duffy New York State Senate
8th District
1966 		Succeeded byMurray Schwartz
Preceded byEdward J. Speno New York State Senate
5th District
1967–1972 		Succeeded byRalph J. Marino
Preceded byNorman J. Levy New York State Senate
7th District
1973–1982 		Succeeded byMichael J. Tully Jr.
Categories: