Menorah Lighting hosted by NYS Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo and Rabbi Katzman of Chabad.

everybody. Thank you, Sam. This is very nice. >> Thank you very much. Take a picture of this. I know. >> Okay, we're standing by the office from Sam Sam Perzolo, our local assemblyman. We just did the manure lighting. Sam, how are you? >> Good. Good evening. How are you? >> Good evening. Quick questions that people ask me. The first question is what do you think about seceding Staten Island from New York? >> So I think it's a topic that we really need to look at to see if it balances to see if it makes sense. Financially it might not be a good idea and the answer would be no. Uh financially it might be a good idea and the answer could be yes. In 1993 uh there was a vote held on Staten Island and over 65% of Staten Islanders voted to leave the city of New York and create the city of Staten Island. >> 65%. >> 65%. Now, they had a different income stream then than they do today. So, financially that's a big issue. But here's the goal. The goal would be whether it's a police, any civil servant, whatever services the state is providing to New York actually to, you know, we just spoke about vouchers. So, we would be the city of New York and a lot of the vouchers that we're talking about come from the state. >> Oh, so you're talking about the vouchers to pay for for private schools. >> Yes. So, those vouchers would remain because we're still part of New York State, right? And like I was saying before, the goal is that everything would remain the same. We're not asking teachers to take a pay cut. You know, we're not saying we won't have any police precincts because if you think about it, your tax money has already paid for police cars, police houses, fire stations, fire trucks, buses, whatever it is. Cuz we've been paying taxes for years. So, we already own some of that. So there would be some type of process of dividing up the >> there has to be an equal process to what it is now or at least to say this is what we've got. >> Okay. One more question somebody asked is the city of yes to make some easier zoning rules. Does that apply to Staten Island as well? >> So the city of yes 100% applies to Staten Island and it could be a problem. So look at this house that where my office is right. This is a singlestory house. Someone could buy this house, knock it down, and put up a four-story apartment building, not have to have any parking recommendation or requirements. So, it's a problem and it could break up areas and neighborhoods of Staten Island like we've never seen before. If we were our own city, the city of Staten Island, we would not have to do that. A lot of people hear about these battery storage sites where they put these big lithium-ion batteries that can catch fire. You know, we wouldn't have that either. We can control our own destiny. So even if our taxes, let's say our taxes were to go up or we did have an increase, the question would then become, is it worth it to pay more to be in control of your own destiny? >> Very interesting. Now another question that people ask, how does the Staten Island community feel about a lot of people moving from Brooklyn to Staten Island? >> So I couldn't say specifically how they feel, but I'll tell you how I feel and how my family, friends, neighbors feel. If you're willing to come to Staten Island and become a part of our community and help produce and work and be a good Staten Islander, then of course, you know, everybody is welcome. If you want to come to Staten Island and cause trouble, I'll be the first one to tell you to go. >> Okay? Nobody should cause trouble here. Okay? So, it was a beautiful lighting here. We had a big crowd before. And until next time, we'll do another interview. Thank you so much, Sam. >> You got it. Thank you, Mayor. >> Happy Hanukkah. I thank you Sam for everything you do and uh always be there. God will reward you. We are standing here and we're proud of who we are. Uh Jewish or not Jewish who are here to be good people. This is the news today. We report inside reports police in Sydney hiding behind the wall. It's terrible.