Marcantonio Declares for 12th Assembly District

Michael Marcantonio of Northport is taking a second run at the New York Assembly, announcing his candidacy for the 12th Assembly District seat being vacated by Andrew Raia.

The Northport Democrat’s attempt to win the seat last year when Raia ran for re-election was blocked when Republicans won rulings that Marcantonio didn’t meet residency requirements because he’d voted, as a student, in an election in North Carolina in 2014. State law imposes a five-year residency requirement.

Raia was re-elected last year but was elected town clerk earlier this month, and will succeed his mother, Jo-Ann Raia, when she retires at the end of the year.

Fellow Democrat Avrum Rosen announced his run for the Assembly seat last week. Rosen replaced Marcantonio on the ballot last year.

Marcantonio’s main focus is on the LIPA tax case, which has many fearing devastating economic consequences if the Town of Huntington loses its case. 

“I’m on a mission to fight and defeat LIPA  in this tax suit. I believe I’m very well positioned to deliver a victory to this community, not a half measure, not a settlement but a win,” he said. “We’re constantly presented two bad options and we’re forced to choose the lesser of  the two,” he said. “It’s either a  90 percent reduction in (LIPA) taxes or a 56 percent settlement, which will raise our taxes, which we cannot afford right now.”

A lawyer, Marcantonio said he’d drafted a bill, presented by State Sen. Jim Gaughran and co-sponsored by State Sen. John Flanagan, that would prevent LIPA from collecting hundreds of millions of dollars of past taxes. The bill passed in the State Senate but not the state Assembly.

Other issues:

The Northport Middle School issue which has been the focus of parental anger about health issues. 

Development in Huntington. “Our local government is overdeveloping. We need to put a halt to this. We are building apartment complexes that we do not have infrastructure to sustain.”

Congestion pricing in Manhattan. “Every single commuter from Long Island is going to have to pay extra. It hits LI commuters very hard. It’s going to suppress the ability to commute into the city and earn a living. And it’s regressive. because it taxes everybody the same.  The LIRR is a disaster and absurdly expensive.”

 

The 12th Assembly district incorporates parts of Huntington, Babylon and Islip.

 

Town Board Rejects Forming Committee on Northport School

 

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