STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — While Staten Island Republicans were celebrating various victories in local races on Tuesday, their minds were also on how they can ensure that Staten Island’s voice is heard by the incoming mayoral administration.

The Advance/SILive.com asked various local elected officials how they plan to work with Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, who secured a historic victory Tuesday night over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.

Mamdani received more than 50% of the vote citywide despite the three-candidate field, winning four out of five boroughs, but only receiving 22.7% of the vote on Staten Island, which was less than half the 55.4% received by Cuomo and barely above the 21.3% received by Sliwa.

Councilmember David Carr, a Republican who represents Mid-Island, said the fact that many Staten Islanders rejected Mamdani means the incoming mayor must work closely alongside local elected officials who have a greater understanding of the borough and its residents.

“I think that the mayor-elect needs to realize that when he comes into office in January that he didn’t get a mandate from Staten Islanders. And I think that that means he needs to understand, approach us differently and that if he wants to govern successfully here, he needs to do so in collaboration with the folks on this Island who do have mandates to govern,” said Carr.

“We have ideas, long-standing ideas about how to improve our quality of life, how to protect our neighborhoods, and if he’s willing to work with us on those sorts of things, then we could have productive relationship. But if he’s going to try to impose his vision, which is a radical vision, not in keeping with Staten Island values, then I think we’re going to have a contentious relationship,” he continued.

Councilmember Frank Morano, a Republican who represents the South Shore, said how local elected officials work with the new mayor will depend on whether Mamdani continues to pursue the progressive platforms he ran on, which he said were unpopular with many Staten Islanders.

“If he pursues a path as mayor that’s as radical as the one that he pursued as an activist and in the State Assembly, it’s going to be very difficult. It’s going to be difficult for us. It’s going to be difficult for him. It’s going to be difficult for the public. I’m speaking specifically about public safety issues, issues related to zoning and issues related to the Jewish community in New York City,” Morano said.

“There’s been a long history of mayors that campaign as one thing to get elected and then moderate a little bit once they’re in office. My hope with Mayor Mamdani, and I think we’ve seen a couple of signs of this with respect to his willingness to keep on the Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, my hope is that he’ll moderate a bit and recognize that the rigors of running a large city government like New York don’t necessarily match to the rhetoric of socialism. If he wants to pursue a rigid ideological path, we’re going to be at loggerheads and we’ll bring the fight to him enthusiastically,” he added.

‘I’m okay with a little benign neglect’

When asked about Mamdani’s limited campaign efforts on Staten Island, the councilmember said he’s “okay with a little benign neglect,” so long as the incoming mayor acknowledges the unique nature of the borough and caters his policies and initiatives to that.

“It concerns me in that he doesn’t necessarily put our values, our issues, the things that are important to Staten Islanders, at the forefront of his agenda. However, if he’s going to recognize that Staten Island has very different values than the rest of the city and allow carve outs on certain things that go forward with different citywide policies, then I’m okay with a little benign neglect,” said Morano.

“If he’s going to give us a little bit of a break on this addiction to road diets and bike lanes, if he’s going to give us a little bit of a break on different sanitation enforcement and fines for everything, if he’s going to give us a little bit of a break in terms of shoving different types of affordable housing projects down the throats of communities where it’s not really a good fit, then I’ll take it. You don’t have to visit, but I think it remains to be seen if we’re going to fit into a citywide plan or if he’s going to recognize that we really view what’s going on in city government, including every aspect of city service, differently than how they view it in Astoria and Park Slope,” he concluded.

‘We are the squeaky wheel’

Borough President Vito Fossella, a Republican who won reelection over Democratic challenger Michael Colombo, said he has long worked alongside politicians with vastly different beliefs and will continue to so long as Mamdani is doing right by Staten Island.

“In all my roles, whether the City Council, Congress or Borough President, I have always tried to work with anybody who wants to do the right thing for the people of Staten Island. That means presidents, governors, mayors, regardless of party. I think it’s important to collaborate and get the job done. So I will continue that approach and work with anybody who wants to do good by Staten Island and fight anybody who wants to do bad by Staten Island,” Fossella said.

Assemblymember Michael Tannousis, a Republican who represents the East Shore and serves as chair of the Staten Island GOP, vowed that the Republican delegation will continue to fight for the best interests of Staten Islanders and oppose policies and initiatives that run counter to the beliefs of the borough.

“We are going to see what he does in regards to Staten Island. We are always going to fight. The Staten Island Republican Party and its elected officials will always fight for the people of Staten Island. We’re going to observe how he treats Staten Island, what they do, what their policies are going to be, and we will be right there holding their feet to the fire each and every single day,” Tannousis said.

Assemblymember Michael Reilly, a Republican who represents the South Shore, took issue with Mamdani’s minimal efforts here on Staten Island, but said he hopes the borough’s elected officials can find some common ground with the new administration.

“I get very upset when candidates running for citywide or statewide office don’t want to participate in the voters here on Staten Island. If you want to be the mayor of New York City, you want to be the mayor of every New Yorker, and when you don’t include 500,000 people that are members of your community, your city, that’s a loud voice that you’re ignoring. We are the squeaky wheel. We are going to keep raising our voices and we’ll continue doing that, and hopefully we can find some common ground on things that we can work on,” Reilly said.

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