Longtime New York politician and power broker Guy V. Molinari has died at the age of 89.
His son-in-law, former Amherst Congressional Representative Bill Paxon, said Molinari died of pneumonia on Wednesday in a Manhattan hospital.
The Staten Island Republican served as a state assemblymember, five-term congressman and borough president. The New York Times says Molinari's widespread influence included alliances with Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush and George W. Bush.
His father, S. Robert Molinari, was an assemblymember in the 1940s. Susan Molinari succeeded her father in Congress from 1990 to 1997. There is even a Staten Island Ferry named the Guy V. Molinari.