Republican Mike Tannousis, like almost every insurgent candidate or incumbent running for office this year is putting the deadly coronavirus on the front of their plate of issues.
Tannousis, who is looking to succeed Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis (R-Bay Ridge, Staten Island) in the 64th Assembly District, explained that the COVID-19 pandemic is currently his most immediate priority, calling it “the biggest issue we’re facing.”
“The main goal is that residents in Brooklyn and Staten Island are safe, healthy and that they have everything that they need to survive this pandemic,” he said.
He then criticized Mayor Bill De Blasio (D) for his handling of the crisis, saying he has “failed in his leadership,” blasting the mayor’s inaction in preventing the spread of the coronavirus at Rikers Island and the subsequent release of exposed inmates as “irresponsible and dangerous to the public.”
The son of Greek Cypriot immigrants and a lifelong Staten Islander, the Binghamton and Pace-educated Tannousis worked as a prosecutor in the Bronx and Staten Island District Attorney’s Offices before joining Bay Ridge firm Connors & Sullivan, PLLC in July. His career includes obtaining the convictions of two Staten Island murder cases, including in the retrial of the case of the “Ramada Inn Massacre”.
Tannousis explained that it was the implementation of cash bail reform in New York state that finally inspired him to run for office. “The bail reform laws basically would affect the way that cases are prosecuted in terms of really putting the public’s safety at risk and not taking the public’s safety into account,” he told this reporter.
“Once they passed the bail reform laws, I realized obviously that the State Assembly did not have the safety of the public in mind, and that’s when I decided to run.”
Following COVID-19, Tannousis declared public safety his top priority “given the bail reform law that we passed recently.” He also focused on supporting small businesses. “A lot of small businesses have now suffered as a result of the pandemic, and really we’re not getting enough support from the state to begin with,” he said.
Other policy issues important to him include transportation, “especially in Bay Ridge,” referencing the neighborhood’s limited mass transit access, and tax relief and job creation.
When asked how he would represent the district compared to Malliotakis, Tannousis touted his prosecutorial experience and array of Republican and conservative endorsements to ensure that he could live up to her.
“Nicole Malliotakis has been that common sense in a legislative body that lacks common sense,” he said. “I want to continue to be that common sense voice that Nicole has been during her time in the state assembly.”
Tannousis will challenge Marco Kepi in the Republican primary for New York’s 64th Assembly District on June 23.
