Public Employee Press

Lenny Allen
He fought for members to the end

District Council 37 lost a great union leader May 28 when Local 2021 President and Political Action Chair Lenny Allen died at 75 after a long battle with cancer.

"Lenny loved this union and his members almost as much as he loved his family," said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. "He always was a true gentleman; he had enormous respect for others. His death is a tremendous loss and we will all miss him dearly."

Allen became president of Off-Track Betting Employees Local 2021 in 1999 and led a long battle to save the jobs and health insurance of some 800 OTB employees and 700 retirees.

Saving jobs

Allen worked tirelessly as chair of DC 37's Political Action Committee and its Screening Committee and helped launch the political careers of the late City Council member James Davis, and state Sens. Diane Savino, Kevin Parker, Eric Adams and others who are loyal allies of DC 37 and working families.

Leading rallies and demonstrations and using his political prowess to lobby the City Council and State Legislature, Allen saved members' jobs again and again by blocking attempts by Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg to sell or close OTB, which brought in millions of dollars a year for the state and city. In the end, after Republican senators reneged on a deal to save OTB, the state shuttered the beleaguered betting agency.

That betrayal struck Allen deeply, but he was always the optimist's optimist. He shrewdly pressed for legislation to protect retirees' health benefits and crafted a deal for Catskills OTB President Donald Groth to expand into New York City and rehire hundreds of former Local 2021 members.Despite sickness and chemotherapy, Allen returned almost weekly to Albany to lobby legislators to move those plans forward.

"Lenny was an exceptional man," said DC 37 Political Director Wanda Williams of the Korean War vet and retired Housing Authority Police Officer. "Len faced adversity with dignity, grace and high regard for others and communicated masterfully with politicians on every level of government. He was a political animal who understood how politics works and patiently guided this union's political direction and endorsements. His death is a big loss for DC 37."

Allen married his wife, Delores, twice, and used to chuckle at how lucky he was to have her. Lenny Allen was a loving husband, a dear friend and a good father to Anastasia and Summer, the twin great-granddaughters he and Delores were raising. DC 37 has set up a scholarship fund for the girls and will hold a memorial for him in September.

"He fought to the end and every day to the last he worked on behalf of the members of Local 2021 and DC 37," said longtime friend Local 957 President Walthene Primus. "People should know he never gave up."

— Diane S. Williams