Spigner, a ‘godfather of politics,’ dies at 92
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | NOV. 6-NOV. 12, 2020 17
A. Philip Randolph. Spigner
organized the Queens Branch
of the Negro American Labor
Council. He had been traveling
to Harlem from Queens
for meetings, but there was
enough of a critical mass to
merit a Jamaica presence.
He held the first meetings
in his living room in Queens,
“even before I had furniture,”
he recalled. He assumed the
role of secretary or assistant
secretary. “I’m a joiner,”
Spigner has said. “That’s what
I am: I’m a joiner, and I became
a volunteer. Who’ll take
the minutes? I’ll take the minutes!”
One night, Spigner met the
late Kenneth N. Browne, an
assistant district attorney, at
Fuzzy’s on Linden Boulevard.
Browne was running for the
New York state Assembly. After
Spigner asked, “You need
some help?” Browne invited
him to the local Democratic
Club. There, he met legendary
district leader Guy R. Brewer,
who asked Spigner to help
organize some new troops to
gather petition signatures to
help Browne qualify for the
ballot. Browne won the election.
Brewer was working as the
liaison to the African-American
community for Queens
Borough President Sidney
Leviss. Subsequently, Browne
became a civil court judge
and Brewer won the vacated
Assembly seat. Brewer was
obliged to give up his district
leader position because he
could not hold it simultaneously
with the legislative seat.
He asked Archie to become
district leader and Spigner
moved into Borough Hall to
take Brewer’s place there.
The musical chairs were humming.
“When I met people like
Guy Brewer and Ken Browne, I
recognized that I needed some
(more) education,” Spigner
said.
He enrolled in classes at St.
Monica’s Church in Jamaica
— where York College stands
today — to strengthen his academic
skills. He was admitted
to an associate degree program
at Queens College in the
mid-1960s, earned a bachelor’s
degree in political science
from QC in 1972 and went on to
pursue graduate studies at the
college.
In 1989, the New York City
Council was expanded from 35
to 51 members. Tired of trekking
to Albany, Brewer wanted
to join the Council and have
Spigner replace him in the Assembly.
Spigner demurred.
The Democratic Club’s
board of directors voted — by
secret ballot — to resolve the
dispute. Winning by one vote,
Spigner went on to become a
councilman and then deputy
majority leader, appointed by
Speaker Peter Vallone. During
his 27-year tenure, Spigner
chaired the Committees of
Housing and Buildings, and
Economic Development, and
the Legislative Office of the
Budget Review. A two-term
limit was imposed on Council
members in a 1993 referendum
and, subsequently, Archie left
the City Council. But his legacy
lived on.
On May 6, 2005, Borough
President Helen Marshall proclaimed
“Archie Spigner Day”
in Queens. At a ceremony that
day, federal officials renamed
a United States Post Office in
St. Albans in his honor. Congressman
Gregory Meeks
authored the bill. It passed
both the House of Representatives
and the Senate and was
signed by President George W.
Bush. At the event in Queens,
Senator Charles Schumer
thanked Spigner and his club
for strongly supporting him
when he ran against Alfonse
D’Amato for the United States
Senate.
“All of us stand on Archie’s
shoulders,” Schumer said at
the time.
At another occasion, New
York state Senator Leroy Comrie
spoke about Spigner, his
longtime mentor and close
friend. He stated, in part, “Archie
is a person that has a keen
sense of the dynamic of a situation.
He does his homework
and is never underprepared.
He’s willing to listen to reason.
He loves to debate. He loves to
write and truly loves the city.
… He has worked hard for
equality to ensure that all are
given equal treatment. … He
has never backed away from
an issue in which he has believed.”
Outside the Guy R. Brewer
United Democratic Club in St.
Albans is a sign that Spigner
as its district leader. The sign
is a reminder that in Spigner’s
universe, another election is
always around the corner.
Editor’s note: Excerpts of
this article are sourced from
“Building Futures: The honorable
Archie Spigner and his
place in Queens history,” which
was written by Jay Hershenson,
Queens College’s Vice President
for Communications and Marketing
and Senior Advisor to
the President, and published on
QNS.com in January 2020.
Archie Spigner (l.) with Gregory Meeks.
Photo courtesy of Comrie’s offi ce
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