Former U.S. Representative Nita Lowey, a trailblazing lawmaker and one of New York’s longest-serving and most influential Democrats, passed away on Saturday at the age of 87 after a battle with breast cancer.
Born Nita Melnikoff in the Bronx on July 5, 1937, Lowey grew up in a household that valued public service. She attended the Bronx High School of Science before earning her bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College in 1959. Her early political career began in New York State, where she worked on Mario Cuomo’s 1974 campaign for lieutenant governor before serving as assistant secretary of state for 13 years.
