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The assemblyman, Dov Hikind, a Democrat who has been a longtime power broker in the Orthodox Jewish community, wore an Afro wig, orange jersey, sunglasses and brown makeup or face paint as part of a costume that Mr. Hikind said represented a "black basketball player."

"I was just, I think, I was trying to emulate, you know, maybe some of these basketball players," Mr. Hikind told The New York Observer. "Someone gave me a uniform, someone gave me the hair of the actual, you know, sort of a black basketball player." He added, "The fun for me is when people come in and don't recognize me."

Mr. Hikind told the newspaper that he enlisted a professional makeup artist to help him with his costume. He said that he later had spent more than half an hour in the shower trying to remove his makeup, and, shortly after midnight on Sunday night, was still not finished.

On Monday morning, after a photograph of Mr. Hikind on Facebook circulated in political circles and on social media, he wrote a brief blog post defending the costume. Mr. Hikind, who has been in the Assembly since 1983, noted that it was common to dress up for Purim.

"I am intrigued that anyone who understands Purim — or, for that matter, understands me — would have a problem with this," Mr. Hikind wrote. "This is political correctness to the absurd. There is not a prejudiced bone in my body."

But some of his fellow elected officials expressed disapproval.

"I am deeply shocked and outraged by the insensitive actions of Assemblyman Hikind, to dress as a black basketball player complete with tanned skin and an Afro wig," said Assemblyman Karim Camara, a Brooklyn Democrat and the chairman of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus. Mr. Camara said that "the history of the blackface minstrel show is something deeply painful in the African-American community" and that "the stereotypes embodied in blackface minstrels have played a significant role in cementing and proliferating racist images, attitudes and perceptions."

"We as leaders have to be extremely careful that we foster understanding amongst our different cultural groups and not use the images of one as a tool for humor," he said. "In speaking with many African-Americans, both leaders and average citizens, the outrage is widespread."

Another Assembly Democrat, Deborah J. Glick of Manhattan, took to Twitter to state her concern, writing: "Assembly member Dov Hikind in blackface was beyond offensive. A Purim party shouldn't be cover for insensitivity." And City Councilman Mark Weprin posted on Twitter a simple question: "What was Dov thinking?"