{"id":62599,"date":"2025-12-06T11:34:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T11:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/62599\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T11:34:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T11:34:07","slug":"assemblyman-fall-should-look-into-his-own-house-letter-to-the-editor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/62599\/","title":{"rendered":"Assemblyman Fall should look into his own house (letter to the editor)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I write in response to Assemblyman Charles Fall\u2019s November 22 opinion piece.<\/a><\/p>\n

Notably, most of Mr. Fall\u2019s complaints originate at the threshold of his own office, not with the incoming mayor. His neighbors in Mariners Harbor endure some of the nation\u2019s longest public commutes, yet he has failed to advance the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) plan he cites. That proposal languishes not at City Hall, but at the State-run MTA.<\/p>\n

On transportation, Councilmember Kamillah Hanks \u2014 not the assemblyman \u2014 recently announced the restoration of the Staten Island\u2013Brooklyn ferry. And while Mr. Fall highlights his vote to maintain the Verrazzano Bridge discount, he omits that the same bill installed speed cameras across Staten Island, where roughly 80% of residents must rely on cars. <\/p>\n

Outrageously, Fall even introduced legislation to prohibit the use of flashing-light warnings for speed cameras \u2014 warnings that are standard in many places where such enforcement exists. It seems he prefers collecting fines from working families to encouraging drivers who are warned to actually slow down.<\/p>\n

Once again, the \u201cvillain\u201d he points to is a massive state agency \u2014 the MTA \u2014 not the mayor.<\/p>\n

On housing, I am unaware of any initiatives from Assemblyman Fall to create affordable units anywhere in the borough. There is no need for him to \u201chave a conversation with the mayor\u201d on this matter; he might instead call Councilmember Hanks, who has just announced 2,500 new homes at the former Wheel site and is on track to deliver a legacy total of 5,000 new North Shore homes, many of them permanently affordable. That\u2019s 5,000 to 0. He should be partnering, not posturing.<\/p>\n

Mr. Fall now calls for stronger public safety while having voted for in the state for bail reform, Raise the Age, and other celebrated \u201creforms\u201d that have left many Staten Islanders feeling less safe. <\/p>\n

It is my sincere hope that, going forward, Assemblyman Fall finds greater success addressing Assemblyman Fall. With his new title of Deputy Majority Leader, many of these state issues should now be easy layups.<\/p>\n

(Kevin Love is a Stapleton resident. He is the husband of Kamillah Hanks. These opinions are his own views and not necessarily the views of the Councilmember.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I write in response to Assemblyman Charles Fall\u2019s November 22 opinion piece. Notably, most of Mr. Fall\u2019s complaints…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-62599","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}