Paterson was born in Brooklyn. An infection during infancy left him with no sight in his left eye and severely limited vision in his right, due to optic atrophy.
His family moved to the Long Island suburb of Hempstead so that he could attend mainstream classes. An excellent student, he graduated from Hempstead High School in 1971.
Paterson received a BA in history from Columbia University in 1977 and a law degree from Hofstra Law School in 1983. After law school, he went to work for the Queens District Attorney's Office, but failed the New York bar examination, and so did not become an attorney at law. He attributed this to insufficient accommodation for his visual impairment, and has since advocated for changes in bar exam procedures.
Paterson is the son of former New York Secretary of State Basil Paterson, who was the first African American Deputy Mayor of New York City, and the second African American to run for statewide office in New York (Edward R. Dudley was the Democratic nominee for New York State Attorney General in 1962). Secretary Paterson was the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 1970. The elder Paterson also served in the New York State Senate, in the same seat his son occupied. The elder Paterson was also the first African American vice-chair of the national Democratic Party. Paterson himself completed the New York City Marathon in 1999.
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