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Who Is Running For Staten Island Borough President?
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David Cruz
Published Jan 28, 2021
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Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office
By
David Cruz
Published Jan 28, 2021
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UPDATE, OCTOBER 2021: Here is who will be on your general election ballot for Staten Island Borough President:
Democratic – Mark S. Murphy
Repubican – Vito Fossella
Conservative – Leticia M. Remauro
Staten Island 1st – Mark S. Murphy
Original pre-primary story:
Unlike the rest of the New York City, Staten Island remains a solidly Republican borough, so it's unsurprising that its race for borough president is centered solely on GOP contenders. And compared to the plethora of candidates in the other borough president races (the Brooklyn borough presidency race has 13 candidates running, more than any contest) the Staten Island race has just two declared candidates so far.
The successor to the term-limited James Oddo will inherit a "forgotten borough" that has been rocked by the pandemic and struggling to recover. Though the borough president's limited powers derive from control of discretionary and capital budget items, they also decide who gets to lead community boards, considered a first line of defense for city government. Borough presidents generally serve as cheerleaders for their boroughs, and whoever gets the Staten Island job will likely be intent on charming investors into jumpstarting a stalled $1 billion waterfront revitalization effort.
Sixty-two neighborhoods make up Staten Island, the most suburban borough in the city and home to six Special Zoning Districts that offer ironclad protections that limit large-scale construction. While worries over property taxes remain a constant in the borough, Staten Island faces a chronic opioid epidemic that appears exacerbated by the pandemic.
The only two Republican candidates in the borough president's race have waited three years for the chance to succeed Oddo, insider pols who hope their connections can take them to Borough Hall by 2022. Here are the candidates:
Steven Matteo
A Republican City Council Member respected by colleagues from both sides of the aisle, Steven Matteo announced a run for Borough Hall in 2018. Since then, the six-year minority leader representing the 50th District in central Staten Island has amassed $569,759 in campaign contributions, nearly ten times more than his rival. Those figures were boosted by his participation in the Campaign Finance Board's 8-to-1 matching program.
Additionally, Matteo—who also worked for Oddo—picked up endorsements from the Detectives Endowment Association and Amalgamated Transit Workers union, representing MTA bus drivers on the island. As chair of the Council’s Standards and Ethics Committee, Matteo presided over the rare expulsion of Bronx Council Member Andy King following a previous investigation.
Without a campaign website, Matteo does not have a centralized platform to share his ideas for the borough.
In previous news reports, Matteo outlined his push to reduce litter across the borough, support the creation of more Business Improvement Districts and merchant associations, and hail his involvement on the completion of an HOV lane along the Staten Island Expressway, among the many transportation initiatives he's backed. In his final year as council member, Matteo is primed to oppose zoning changes at three Special Zoning Districts. While a rejection or approval of a zoning change holds greater weight as a council member, borough presidents can still cast advisory votes that hold some influence.
Leticia Remauro
Leticia Remauro's days as a Republican operative go back to the 1990s, serving as community liaison under both then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former New Yorker Governor George Pataki. The 2000s saw Remauro chair the Staten Island Republican Party, sealing victories for fellow Republicans James Molinaro as borough president and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who reined over the city for 12 years.
Remauro has also used her long-established clout and connections to help seal a victory to the newly sworn-in Staten Island/Brooklyn Representative Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican who defeated Democratic Representative Max Rose. Remauro's consulting firm was paid $90,158.98 by the Malliotakis camp.
On her campaign website, Remauro is pushing to keep the NYPD budget intact, install "Smart Light" technology to manage the crush of traffic in parts of the borough, advocate for more trade schools, and begin a top-down assessment of the borough's current zoning laws to help boost property values. So far, Remauro is behind in generating campaign cash, showing her having raised $61,000.
While Remauro may have enough political juice, she was widely criticized after a video surfaced this month showing her shouting "Heil Hitler," while comparing Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Cuomo—who've imposed restrictions during the pandemic—to Nazi dictators. The event took place on December 2nd at a rally for the owner of Mac's Pub. Remauro has since apologized and ignored calls to renounce her candidacy.
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election 2021
2021 Voter Guide
staten island
borough president
David Cruz
David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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