OPINION:Staten Island, Brooklyn Needs Mike DeCillis In Congress
New York Needs Mike DeCillis in Congress
by Ed Yutkowitz
Most adults recall where they were on September 11, 2001. Every politician honors the innocent victims who died on that tragic day and pays tribute to the first responders who risked their lives to save others.
Only one person running for office in New York was actually among those first responders: Mike DeCillis, the Democratic candidate in New York’s 11th Congressional District.
Mike was at home in Brooklyn when he heard the news about the attack on the World Trade Center. A paramedic awaiting appointment to the NYPD, he immediately raced to aid victims at Ground Zero. Today, he’s running to rescue New York from an even greater existential threat: the scourge of the MAGA movement.
A descendant of Italian immigrants, DeCillis grew up on Staten Island, where his parents still live, and is raising his family in Bay Ridge. He’s devoted his adult life to public service, first as a special education teacher and then as a SWAT paramedic. While serving as a New York City police officer, he earned a law degree, and later served as a chief of staff in the New York State Assembly.
DeCillis is a mainstream Democrat, the kind who created our modern pension systems, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. He wants to resurrect our floundering national economy and fraying social safety net, undo the harm done by Trump’s alienation of allies and embrace of enemies, and bring hope to our country.
In contrast, his opponent’s virtually 100% voting record of support for President Trump has helped weaken our economy and undermine our nation’s safety and security. An election denier, Nicole Malliotakis is proud of her endorsement by the man who incited the January 6 attack on the Capitol and pardoned the felons who assaulted police officers that day.
She shares Trump’s agenda: surrender to Putin, sabotage Ukraine, censor the media, and delegitimize elections. She supports his efforts to nationalize our private sector and politicize our system of justice. She endorses the immigration and trade policies that have devastated New York State’s agricultural, manufacturing, and tourism industries, and his fake and failing war in Iran. She favors the administration’s harmful policies on health care, education, energy, and the environment. She’s never renounced Trump’s corruption, sexual abuse, and vendettas against political foes. She subscribes to his lies and his efforts to reinvent history for his own purposes.
Her servility has done nothing to help New Yorkers save money on groceries, fill their tanks with gasoline, or regain faith in their country.
Mike DeCillis thinks differently. He knows that New Yorkers are struggling and need the help that only the federal government can provide. He believes that health care is a human right and that it’s Congress’s duty to deter a dangerously despotic presidency. He’ll fight to rebuild our city’s infrastructure and public transportation in Brooklyn and Staten Island.
To be fair, Malliotakis isn’t all bad. She’s gotten funding for some local projects and signed on to programs, largely pushed by Democrats, to help first responders. But she’s never been a leader in fighting for New York or those who protect us. She’s even refused to support the Major Richard Star Act, a bipartisan bill to provide combat veterans with the full benefits they deserve.
Her web site claims that she “passed the law requiring full, lifetime funding for the World Trade Center Health Program.” It’s simply not true. In fact, first responders still haven’t gotten all they need. Administration cuts have contributed to people waiting a year or more for coverage. Many have developed cancers and respiratory illnesses linked to toxic conditions at Ground Zero
DeCillis has personal experience with health issues from 9/11. He’s disgusted with the attitude that we can find money for gaudy ballrooms and arches to deify the president but that firefighters with cancer must fight Washington for care. He’ll help end that.
Political pundits believe that Malliotakis is the odds-on favorite in CD-11. A skilled political operative, she has a unique ability to fudge the truth. She has a campaign war chest swollen with outside PAC money that dwarfs that of her Democratic challenger. She’s refused repeated entreaties to debate DeCillis in a public, unbiased forum.
Until recently, many Democrats had assumed that a Republican victory in the district was likely. But short-sighted negativity can become a self-fulfilling prophecy and has meant little coverage of the District 11 race by local media.
Polling suggests that conventional wisdom may well be wrong. Many Democrats have recently endorsed the Democratic candidate. DeCillis is ahead in the Brooklyn portion of the district, and independents on Staten Island are breaking in his direction. If Democrats turn out in large enough numbers, victory can still be his.
If district residents like life under Republican rule, if they like high prices, the loss of international respect, and a country that’s turned mean and autocratic, they should return Malliotakis to office. But if the expected Blue Wave materializes, their already ineffective representative will then be in the minority.
They have a choice: a champion in the majority, or a Trump sycophant in the minority.
A vote for Malliotakis is a vote for Trump. A vote for DeCillis is a vote for themselves.
Banner Image: Mike DeCillis at No Kings protest. Image Credit – Mike DeCillis
Edward Yutkowitz
A native New Yorker, Ed Yutkowitz is a communications professional and freelance writer active in New York City politics. As Director of Communications for a major NYC energy company, he managed corporate branding and internal and external communications strategy. He is currently a public relations consultant and freelance writer and has worked on behalf of a number of successful political campaigns. Some of his work can be found at sheridansquare.net and winningblue.com.
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