Public Safety / Back The Blue

I can’t even begin to tell you how many people tell me they don’t like going into Manhattan anymore because of the rampant quality of life crimes. Commuters standing on platforms who must now keep their head on a swivel to make sure someone doesn’t shove them on the tracks.

Pedestrians just walking down the street now thinking if that person standing over there is going to stab or assault them. Homeowners who continue to fear that local kids will knock down the expensive fence they just paid to repair after it was previously destroyed.

Drivers having to slam on the brakes because a gang of kids on bicycles is recklessly interfering with traffic and banging on their car windows. Store owners who are forced to sit back and watch as a criminal steals right off their shelves with zero consequences.

Police Officers being physically attacked and the assailant flips the middle finger and a flashes a smirk to all Americans as they walk away.

Sound familiar?

This is the new normal under the pro-crime, anti-police agenda. Instead of protecting victims and fighting for them, they look the other way as criminals overrun our streets.
I’ve had enough of it.
While serving in the NYS Assembly, I was approached by a family whose child was sexually harassed at a local railroad station. Despite political pushback that I received (insane), I immediately held a ‘Rally for Safety’ to call for additional police presence at the station so that students – and all riders – could feel safe during their commutes. It was the right thing to do.
The men and women of law enforcement know where I stand. As an Assemblyman, during the height of the ‘Defund the Police’ movement, I was the only elected official on Long Island who voted against ALL anti-police laws.
I have received nasty and vulgar threats and messages for my support of law enforcement. I tell them, bring it on.
When the called to abolish ICE, I joined them for a ride along to see how they get violent criminals in this country illegally off our streets.
When they dumped buckets of water and other fluids on Police Officers, I introduced and spearheaded legislation to make such actions a felony.
When they rolled out the disastrous Bail Reform laws, I was one of the first to warn of the impact it would have on our communities.
Today, our judges are laughed at, and our Police Officers have their hands tied behind their backs.
I will always Back the Blue. If I see a Police Officer, I immediately thank them and their family for their service and sacrifice.
In Congress, I will double down on this support and make sure that our hometown is not just safe, but a thriving place to live, work, and raise a family.

Affordability / Cost of Living

People are fleeing New York in droves. It’s no secret. The policies in this state have made it extremely difficult to conduct business, buy a home, or start a family. It’s even worse for young people.

Mortgage payments, car loans, and consumer credit card debt are all at record highs. People can’t breathe. It’s one of the main issues I hear every day across the 3rd Congressional District.

I guarantee you know people like this. Chances are they are members of your family. Young married couple with two strong incomes who are looking to buy a house. They can’t qualify for the mortgage. For the lucky ones who can, many end up house poor and living paycheck-to-paycheck. Having kids and paying for childcare? Forget it.

A young kid coming out of high school who wants to start a business in his hometown. They will have an easier time getting a $200,000 student loan for a useless degree than they would obtain $20,000 to buy some startup equipment for a local landscaping or power washing business.

It makes zero sense. Our “leaders” are bleeding us dry.

Between 2017 and 2022, our region alone lost over 100,000 residents. Most because of the cost-of-living crisis.
Thankfully, we can take immediate action that would help. Repealing the SALT tax cap for one. I’ll use all my powers and capabilities as your congressman to get this done. It goes beyond SALT though.
We will encourage entrepreneurship. We will provide incentives for the growth of strong families and expand and offer new tax incentives for working moms and families. The nuclear family is the backbone of our community and country. Our policies shouldn’t be making it harder for them to live and do business.
We will end arbitrary and unfounded “green” initiatives and mandates that make it impossible for homeowners, builders, and investors to live and work in their properties.
We will train the students of today for the jobs of tomorrow. Our current system of higher education is outdated and out-of-touch.
Our cost of living is one of the top concerns of voters. People are tired of the empty promises and no one coming up with solutions. Our current “representative” played a serious role in creating this mess and we are supposed to believe he will suddenly fix it? Fat chance.
It’s time for a fresh start. It’s time to send the next generation down to Washington. Someone who will fight for the future of our district. Someone with skin in the game and their best years ahead. Not the same old politician who keeps building their own personal wealth and influence while our cost-of-living skyrockets here at home.

Environment / Water Quality

As far as I’m concerned, the Green New Deal, banning gas stoves and red meat, mandating all Americans to buy electric cars by an arbitrary year when we all know the power grid can’t support it, and all the other unrealistic and misguided policies being pushed by climate activists are not even worth discussing.

I’m here to find solutions to the problems we have right here in the 3rd Congressional District – real tangible issues that impact our quality of life.

Like addressing our water quality. While serving in the NYS Assembly, I co-chaired the Assembly Republican Water Quality Task Force aimed at investigating issues with aging water infrastructure and emerging contaminants to generate proactive solutions.

When the DEC only wanted to spend half the necessary amount to clean-up a NYS Superfund Site, I successfully demanded that they do a full and proper remediation.

When it comes to the Bethpage Navy-Grumman Plume, I met with the Governor about containment and worked towards securing funding so that we can not only protect public health but ensure this is dealt with once and for all.
I worked closely with Long Island fishing boat Captains and anglers to advocate for finding the right balance between sustainability of fishery resources while still ensuring that those who make their living on the water can provide for their families.
In Congress, we will spearhead new initiatives aimed at alleviating the financial burdens faced by local water districts and ratepayers including a shift back towards federally focused funding for water infrastructure projects which have become increasingly challenging to manage at the local level.
I find it laughable when all the world climate “experts” take their heavy-polluting-private-jets across the globe to talk about how we at home should make sacrifices to save the Earth. I have no time for this hypocrisy but when it comes to finding real solutions that will actually make our communities safer and healthier, then I’m all in.

Womens Rights / Abortion

I do not support a national abortion ban – period. Don’t believe the lies you will hear. What I am wholeheartedly against are abortions in the third trimester only. Surveys show 80% of Americans agree with me on this stance.

As a New York State Assemblyman, I did not vote to codify Roe v. Wade into state law because it allowed provisions for the use of late-term abortions in the final three months of a pregnancy and language used in the bill pertaining to the “health” of the mother was vague and undefined.

I stand with women on this issue and will fight to ensure that all women have access to the treatment and care they need and deserve. I also stand with the 80% of Americans who oppose abortions in the final three months outside of cases of rape, incest, and the clearly defined health of the mother. This is common sense.
What baffles me is how New York Democrats – including those in Congress who did not speak out against this – sat by and allowed for the possibility of late-term abortions to take place in the final three months. I cannot and will not ever support that.

Stopping China

America has a lot of enemies, chief among them, China. We will not continue to turn a blind eye while Communist China uses their resources to infiltrate our country and influence our people. This ends today.

China or Chinese interests currently own nearly 400,000 acres of U.S. agricultural land. If you are not concerned about this, you should be. This is extremely fertile land and the future threat to our food supply chains should not be underestimated. It’s not just the land itself, but where it is located which should raise the most alarms.

In 2022, a Chinese company sought to purchase land near an Air Force in North Dakota. Thankfully, local officials stopped the sale, but even military officials warned that these efforts pose a “significant threat to national security with both near and long-term risks of significant impact to our operations in the area.”
There’s more though.
Federal investigations have found that for years, Chinese owned companies like, Huawei, have used their telecommunications equipment atop American cell towers to plant listening devices near military and government facilities.
According to the FBI, it was “determined that the equipment was capable of capturing and disrupting highly restricted Defense Department communications, including those use by US Strategic Command, which oversees the country’s nuclear weapons.”
Seriously, how are we allowing this to happen?
Remember the spy balloon that moved across the country surveilling our land, bases, and people? It used an American internet service connection to communicate and send data back to Beijing.
Look it up.
Just last year, two people were arrested right here in New York for attempting to establish a Chinese Secret Police Station in NYC on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party with the intention of harassing and threatening dissidents living freely here in America.
Not to mention, all the Chinese spies who have cozied up to American politicians. That’s a story for another day…
In Congress, I will work to reduce our dependency and reliability on China as a whole. Specifically on Chinese manufacturing for many of our technology components and pharmaceutical products. The risks of cyber threats and bioterrorism are way too high to let them dictate our foreign policy. In doing so, we will also see a boom to our local economy with new development and new opportunities for the next generation of our workforce right here in Queens and on Long Island.
I will also push to continue bringing the manufacturing of semiconductors back home so China cannot continue to hold the threat of a Taiwan invasion over our heads.
China, Chinese spies, and Communist Party sympathizers around the world are seeking to infiltrate our country, our technology, and our institutions. Preventing them from gaining the capabilities which could leave us vulnerable to attack will be a main priority.

Israel

Since October 7th, in the Halls of Congress, on college campuses, throughout social media, and most significantly, right here in New York’s 3rd Congressional District, Jewish hate and attacks have gained dangerous traction. This will not be tolerated.

We have activists on the streets burning flags, students tearing down posters of the missing hostages in their school cafeterias, elected members of Congress who chant the anti-Israel rallying call of “from the river to the see, Palestine will be free.” All of this because our weakness towards the Terror Republic of Iran has fostered an environment which allows for Jewish hate both at home and abroad.

This isn’t just campaign rhetoric. I saw it firsthand when I traveled to Israel in 2022 for the ICT World Summit on Counterterrorism. A trip I took on my own dime to better educate myself – not a taxpayer funded diplomatic trip most of our “representatives” take just for the photo-op. Hearing from experts like David Bernea, the Director of Mossad, they warned of the risks associated with softening our financial and physical choke on Iran. Horrifically, just one year later on October 7, 2023, we saw what weak sanctions and oversight could lead to with the rape, carnage, and violence carried out by the Iran-backed Hamas terrorists.
As your Representative in Congress – if they present a realistic plan and strategy to do so – I will urge the use of U.S. Special Forces to go in and rescue the still missing hostages – some of which are American citizens and people with deep ties right here in the 3rd Congressional District. This is personal for us, and we will not allow Hamas to dictate our foreign policy by holding these hostages over our head. The game we are playing here is not only dangerous, it’s unconscionable.
I support the full destruction and complete eradication of Hamas. Period. By any means necessary. I stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters and fully support their efforts to save their people. This extends to Hezbollah coming from the North in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen. All these groups are being funded and armed by the Terror Republic of Iran. We will cut the head of the snake. We will cripple them.
In Congress, I will ensure that America’s foreign policy and defense framework not only includes but maintains and builds upon Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge so they can continue to defend themselves. Additionally, it is imperative that we continue to support the Memorandum of Understanding that increases security assistance to Israel. Lastly, I will stand up against all actions to boycott, divest from, and sanction (BDS) Israel because these efforts are a direct attempt to delegitimize and destroy the Jewish state.
Simply put, an enemy of Israel is an enemy of the United States and our policy towards Jewish hate must be one of absolute zero tolerance.

Veterans

My grandfather proudly served in the United States Army. He was my hero and fighting for Veterans rights and services in his memory is a cornerstone of my public policy.

As a New York State Assemblyman, I tackled Veterans issues head-on. When Democrats cut critical funding for the Joseph P. Dwyer Peer to Peer Support Project, I fought to get this funding back in the budget. We also ensured that a permanent director was appointed to the NYS Division of Veterans’ Services.

When Democrats decided to give free college tuition to those here illegally, I advocated for the members of Gold Star Families to receive this assistance instead.
It boggles my mind why some elected officials seek to punish those who sacrifice everything for our country but as your Representative, I will not allow it.
What really makes me mad is that people here illegally have access to essentially unlimited world-class healthcare free-of-charge, but our Veterans have to wonder where, and if, they will be able to get the treatments they need. We are flipping the script. I want Veterans to get healthcare wherever is most convenient to them. We need to modernize and be proactive.
My grandfather gave me some of the best advice I ever received. “If you want to make a difference, then you have to get involved.” For Veterans and all Long Islanders, I will always deliver on this advice in his memory.

Fentanyl / Drugs

In 2021 alone, over 106,000 Americans died from drug-related overdoses. A significant amount of those from fentanyl. I guarantee that you know of someone whose life or family this has destroyed. This is no longer just a border issue. This is tearing apart our communities right here in the 3rd Congressional District.

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is 50 times more powerful than morphine. The tiniest amount could kill thousands of people. In 2022 alone, the DEA seized enough fentanyl to kill every single American. This isn’t just a local drug problem anymore. Our nation is being attacked.

The China-to-Mexico-to-America fentanyl distribution ring will be dismantled. The criminal enterprises and Cartels responsible for these deaths will be held accountable and treated like the terrorists they really are.
Our population is simply being destroyed. That 106,000 number, let’s put it into context. That’s roughly 290 deaths per day or the equivalent of a full capacity commercial airplane disappearing out of Americans skies each day – and then some. It’s staggering and yet no one is doing anything about it.
I will.
Post covid, drug use is way up and alcohol use has increased between 35-40%. What did they think would happen when they shut down our businesses, locked people in their homes, and prevented us from going to the gym or our places of worship? Our health suffered, our kids are dealing with record levels of depression and anxiety, and people would now rather stay home than go out and interact with the real world.
The “leaders” who sat by and let this crisis unfold should be ashamed of themselves.
We will be proactive in catching kids early. Prevention is key. They need the social skills and confidence to be able to reject drug use from the start. We will make sure parents know what their kids are consuming on social media and in the classroom to ensure they are not fed toxic material 24/7.
As an Assemblyman, I pushed forward Death by Dealer legislation to hold those who peddle this poison accountable. We will expand on this to send a message that if you play a part in the death of our friends and neighbors then we will come after you. If an innocent victim overdoses on these drugs and dies, I want the dealer charged with murder.
Instead of always playing catch-up, we will also stay at the forefront of new drugs entering our communities. Drugs like Carfentanil, Xylazine, Nitazenes, and others will not be allowed to overtake our streets and kill our children.
Ridding our communities and country of these deadly drugs will take leadership, compassion, and education. We will work with parents, educators, and leaders in the field to get children the mental health treatment they need to prevent them from ever turning to drugs in the first place.

Border Security

We will immediately seal the southern border to all illegal immigration. Period. If you want to start a new life in this country and become a productive member of society then you need to get in line and follow the rules – just like everyone else.

I support immigration. I am the proud descendent of hardworking Italian immigrants. People who came to this country to build a better life for future generations. People like you, your parents, or your grandparents.

Sadly, over the past four years the crisis at our southern border has not only reached but far exceeded a tipping point. Tens of thousands of illegal border crossings each day. It’s not only unsustainable – it’s insane.

The only solution my opponent in this race has come up with is a plan that would still allow for up to 5,000 illegal crossings each day. Seriously? Even a 5th grader would say that makes zero sense. Hold on, it gets worse. Their plan for our border security also sends $10 Billion to fund Hamas terrorists masked as humanitarian aid to Gaza. What a joke.

Under the current Biden Administration, we have allowed countless violent criminals to invade our country. Don’t get me wrong, most of these people are good people – people who just want a better life for their families. But hiding among them are monsters like Diego Ibarra – the murderer with gang ties who slipped through the cracks of our broken system to kill Laken Riley earlier this year. There are thousands more just like him right now in our communities.
What did our current leaders have to say about that? Instead of apologizing to her family for allowing this to happen, they went on an apology tour for calling him an illegal.
That’s where we are right now in this country. Rolling out the welcome mat and a care package to those who break our nations laws and telling law-abiding Americans to just suck it up and deal with it.
Not on my watch.
When they called to abolish ICE a few years ago, I joined them for a ride-along right here on Long Island to see how the rid our communities of dangerous and violent criminals. In just the one night that I witnessed, they tracked down and apprehended multiple people who were in this country illegally and wanted for serious violent and heinous crimes in their home countries. This is the work ICE does. These Agents keep America safe. I fully support them in their efforts.
While it may not be a popular thing to say, everyone needs to know the truth about the reality of who is crossing our southern border. According to Customs and Border Protection, hundreds of people on the FBI’s Terror Watch List have been caught trying to illegally cross the border. In one stretch last year from October to March there were 70 alone. Think about all the ones who didn’t get caught and made it through. Make no mistake they are planning the next terror attack as we speak and the Biden Administration is 100% responsible.
In Congress, I will support H.R. 2 – a plan that keeps American safe. I will work to expand and modernize legal pathways for merit-based immigration so the best and brightest can pursue their own American Dream, and demand that only true asylum cases are heard on the spot, not seven years later. We will have physical barriers at all critical points along the border, fully fund biometric systems, and have tighter controls and oversight on our visa process.
We need real solutions and I am committed to finding them.

Mike’s Platform