Angelo Del Toro

He was born on April 16, 1947, in New York City. He attended Brooklyn Technical High School and Manhattan Community College. He graduated Bachelor of Arts in political science from the City College of New York in 1968; and Juris Doctor from New York Law School in 1972.^[1]

He entered politics as a Democrat, and was an aide to City Council President Paul O'Dwyer. Del Toro was a member of the New York State Assembly (129th D.) from 1975 until his death in 1994, sitting in the 181st, 182nd, 183rd, 184th, 185th, 186th, 187th, 188th, 189th and 190th New York State Legislatures. He was Chairman of the Committee on Education from 1991 to 1994.

In 1985, he ran in the Democratic primary for President of the New York City Council, but was defeated by Andrew Stein,^[2] coming in fourth among six candidates.^[3]

Del Toro had been suffering from kidney disease for more than fifteen years, and suffered two heart attacks in December 1994. On December 30, 1994, he went to his dialysis at Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan, and died during the procedure after another heart attack. He never married.^[4]

The Puerto Rican/Hispanic Youth Leadership Institute is named in honor of Angelo del Toro.^[5] Each year, the Hispanic/Latino brings students from high schools across New York State travel to Albany for a firsthand look at New York State’s legislative process.  

The point of this conference is to say to you that you can do it too....you can influence public policies and state policies. You can influence how the government and how society goes on. And that's very important.

— Angelo Del Toro, 1991^[6]