Sam Pirozzolo is am American politician from

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

that currently serves as a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

for the 63rd District, replacing the retiring

Michael Cusick Michael J. Cusick (born February 21, 1969) is a New York State legislator who represents the New York State Assembly's District 63, in Staten Island, New York. He is a Democrat, and has served in the Assembly since 2003. Early life and educatio ...

. Prior to this he had run for several offices in the Borough, and has been involved in the local Staten Island Republican Party.

Early life

Prior to his political career, Pirozzolo worked as an

Optician An optician, or ''dispensing optician'', is a technical practitioner who designs, fits and dispenses lenses for the correction of a person's vision. Opticians determine the specifications of various ophthalmic appliances that will give the nec ...

running a private practice for 31 years. He also served as the chairman of the

Steinway Street Steinway Street is a major street in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, in the United States. Steinway Street is a 2.4 mile two-way street that runs north-south between Berrian Boulevard in Astoria and Northern Boulevard in Long ...

Business Improvement District and was president of the Staten Island Community Education Council for seven years. In 2014 Pirozzolo, as vice president of the New York City Parents Union, was part of a

class-action A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...

lawsuit against the State of New York demanding that the

New York State Education Department The New York State Education Department (NYSED) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the supervision for all public schools in New York and all standardized testing, as well as the production and administration o ...

strike down provisions that "prevent the removal of ineffective teachers from the classroom" and "require layoffs of more effective teachers" in economic downturns, during which, the department lays off non-unionized teachers first, regardless of their performance, in an effort to keep as many members of the

American Federation of Teachers The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the second largest teacher's labor union in America (the largest being the National Education Association). The union was founded in Chicago. John Dewey and Margaret Haley were founders. About 60 perc ...

tenured Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

as possible.

Political career

2012 State Assembly bid

During the 2012 New York state elections Pirozzolo was the Republican nominee against

for the 63rd District. Touting his experience with the school board, he was endorsed by former mayor

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

because of "his honesty, business experience and proven record of leadership." Pirozzolo ran on a campaign of reducing road tolls and supporting small businesses to drive economic growth. He also stated, that if elected, he would opposed mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

's plan to build a trash incinerator on Staten Island, shortly after the Borough closed the numerous dumps on the island. He would be endorsed by the

Amalgamated Transit Union The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) is a labor organization in the United States and Canada that represents employees in the public transit industry. Established in 1892 as the Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees of America, the un ...

's local 1181, namely due Pirozzolo's efforts to restore school bus services while on the school board. Cusick would go on to win the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

and

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

nominations and defeat Pirozzolo 66% to 33.9%.

2021 City Council bid

Pirozzolo was a candidate in the

2021 New York City Council election The 2021 New York City Council election were held on November 2, 2021. The primary elections were held on June 22, 2021. There were several special elections for seats vacated in 2020 and early 2021; these special elections were the first to use ...

seeking to represent the 50th District after longtime incumbent

Steven Matteo Steven Matteo (born February 18, 1977) is an American politician who served as Council member for the 50th district of the New York City Council. He is a Republican. His district is located completely on Staten Island and encompasses the neigh ...

retired. Pirozzolo gained notiraity for the campaign when he erected a 16 ft "T" made of an

American flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the c ...

on his front lawn. the T, which stands for Trump, was the subject to an arson attack and a $2,400 fine from the city government. Pirozzolo argued that the

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an e ...

introduced by former President Donald Trump at the end of his tenure, was effective and that schools, businesses and public places should re-open and life should return to how it was before the

COVID-19 lockdowns Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...

. He also stated that his top goals would be the economy and public safety, opposing the tax reforms then pending in the city council, as well as supporting Staten Island's Police. Pirozzolo would get third place in the Republican Primary, with 26.5% of the vote, in an election that was mostly centered around the top two candidates, David Carr and Marko Kepi.

New York State Assembly

Pirozzolo would once again become the Republican candidate for the 63rd District, as incumbent Cusick announced his intention to retire on January 1, 2023. Pirozzolo would face off against Democratic candidate Vincent Argenziano, winning the general election with 54.25% of the vote to Argenziano's 45.64%. Pirozzolo was sworn into the New York State Assembly on January 22, 2023, by State Supreme Court justice

Ronald Castorina Ronald Castorina, Jr. is an American judge, politician and attorney from New York. A Republican, Castorina represented the 62nd District in the New York State Assembly from May 10, 2016 to January 2, 2019. In 2020, he was elected as a judge of the ...

, at a ceremony at the Joan & Alan Bernikow Jewish Community Center. The first issues he has focused on while in the Assembly is an effort to alleviate traffic, support education and rethinking the state's proposed bail reforms. Pirozzolo proposed adding turning lanes to Rockland Avenue to alleviate Staten Island's traffic woes. He has also supported expanding

homeschooling Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

at a state level, since, despite serving on a school board, Pirozzolo home-schooled his kids. Lastly, Pirozzolo has argued that the last thing the state needs now is a way for criminals to more easily get back onto the streets, and that any effort to lower or eliminate

cash bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...

would result in high re-offending rates, and that instead, there should be a support network for the convicted and new minimum security prison facilities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pirozzolo, Sam Living people Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly Politicians from Staten Island Year of birth missing (living people)