Former state Assemblyman Vito Lopez has died. He represented parts of Brooklyn for nearly 30 years in Albany, where he was chairman of the Assembly's Housing Committee. He was also leader of the Brooklyn Democratic Party organization from 2006 to 2012. But Lopez resigned two years ago in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal. He died Monday night of cancer at the age of 74. 

For an assemblyman, Lopez played an outsize role in New York politics. Tom Robbins, an investigative journalist in residence at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, said Lopez gained his clout while at the helm of the housing committee, making him the "point man on crucial decisions about rent regulations. He could say 'live' or 'die' to reforms, to cutbacks. He was very, very smart about the way he used his power," Robbins said.

But while Lopez built an empire that drew the scrutiny of investigators and journalists, Robbins said his residents in his district — the rapidly gentrifying Bushwick, Brooklyn — have him to thank for affordable housing.

"Even though it always had to be Vito's way or the highway, everything that got built there had to be Vito's housing, but he built a lot of it. And poor people will be able continue to live in Bushwick," Robbins said. 

Robbins spoke to WNYC's All Things Considered Host Jami Floyd.