He attended the public schools, was deputy coroner of Kings County, New York from 1886 to 1892 (during which time his father was coroner) and engaged in the real estate business.
He was a member of the Democratic State committee and served as leader of the assembly district from 1919 to 1934.
He was appointed as a confidential investigator in the State Insurance Department in 1914 and served until 1919.
Lindsay was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-eighth and to the five succeeding Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1923 to January 3, 1935.
He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1934 and resumed the real estate business.