Despite the unique concerns and current events that pair with living on Long Island, many can say that they’re proud to be from here, or at least to call our Island home. There’s beautiful scenery, plenty to do, great, hard-working people, opportunity, quaint communities and action-packed downtowns, along with locally conscious and home-grown elected officials who live among the communities they so accurately represent.
However, it’s those same facets of Long Island, namely Suffolk County, that give it a distinct problem that many other areas in the country don’t face: outsized importance in Congressional races on a perennial basis.
Randy Altschuler, Perry Gershon, Michelle Bond: these are some of the recent congressional candidates we’ve seen run for New York’s First Congressional District within the last decade, and they all had the same problem: they didn’t live on Long Island at all, much less NY-01.
Altschuler (R) was born and raised in New York City and made a play for NY-01 against then-Congressman Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) in 2010, which almost saw him win the seat amidst the 2010 red wave. Altschuler tried again in 2012 and lost by five points. Altschuler is the co-founder and CEO of Xometry, Inc., and was last seen donating $10,000 to Dave Calone’s (D-Setauket) 2023 Suffolk County Executive campaign from a Maryland address.
Perry Gershon (D) vied for NY-01 against Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) in 2018. Gershon’s New York City residency earned him the nickname “Park Avenue Perry.” He made his family’s second home in East Hampton his primary residence in 2017 in order to make a play for the district. Gershon was defeated by Zeldin by about four points, even as Democrats won nationally by about nine points.
In 2022, Suffolk residents were bombarded daily with mailers and robo-calls from Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and other prominent Republicans to vote for a little-known candidate and cryptocurrency “queen” named Michelle Bond (R) in the 2022 Congressional GOP Primary. Thanks to The Messenger’s FOIA request, Bond’s primary residence was determined to be in Potomac, Maryland.
Many are proud to be from Long Island, particularly Suffolk County, but unfortunately, the allure of NY-01 just can’t stop carpetbaggers from setting up shop in Suffolk in hopes of wooing voters who take retail politics seriously. Residents here will vote for candidates they expect to hear from and access easily.
The Representative for NY-01 has some outsized importance in Congress, in that he or she represents most of the largest suburban county in the nation and one of the most affluent. However, Suffolk is home to a diverse population, with tourism, agriculture, and various industries making up the economic landscape. The Representative for NY-01, by virtue of the makeup of the district, will most certainly be sought for consultation by House leadership on how to better life for suburban residents in general, and by campaign committees on how to better advertise policy positions to such communities.
We’ve had two Republicans and one Democrat in the last decade carpetbagging to NY-01. Democrats seem intent on evening the score in November. This year’s model is John Avlon.
Avlon is a well-known CNN anchor and former Daily Beast editor. The journalist-turned-anti-Trump-obsessor has launched a late primary against 2020 candidate Nancy Goroff (D-Stony Brook). Avlon waited for the lines to be redrawn amid the mid-decade redistricting to better gauge his chances for election.
Avlon should have been informed that the lines for NY-01 were not projected to be anywhere near his Manhattan residency, but that didn’t stop him from waiting on the sidelines to mull over his intentions.
According to ownership documents and sightings obtained by The Messenger, Avlon’s primary residence is located in Gramercy Park. He was seen leaving and entering the building just last week, with New York Post cover stories hanging in the background, further cementing his regular residency and the timeliness.
Avlon purchased the $3.6 million apartment in 2015. Tax records show that the firm that owns his building applied for tax abatements with NYC, which requires that all unit-owners in the building to be primary residents in order to qualify.
Furthermore, Avlon added a $1.5 million house in Sag Harbor to his assets in 2017. According to a FOIL request to the Suffolk County Board of Elections submitted by The Messenger, Avlon’s effective date of registration in Southampton Town was 2020. He voted early, which requires in-person voting, for the 2020 general election and the 2024 presidential primary this year. However, he voted absentee in the November general elections of 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Lack of community engagement and government work in Suffolk County makes us think the Sag Harbor residence is merely an East End summer home that many Manhattanites work to attain.
Avlon has insisted he has called Suffolk home for many years, but that hasn’t stopped him from stating in February that he intends to live in Sag Harbor full time, we assume to build up cred in Suffolk.
If Suffolk has always been his home, then why the need to “live full time” in his already full-time home?
Only adding insult to injury is that Avlon says his wife and kids will remain in New York City until the end of the school year.
Imagine wanting a congressional job so badly that you run almost 100 miles east to a district you don’t even live in full time, instead of working to change the disastrously-run city in which you’ve just left your wife and children.
This is the reality of the race in NY-01. Avlon also seems to think that Congressman Nick LaLota (R) is a loyalist to former President Trump, as stated in his campaign kickoff speech in Sag Harbor.
“We need to rebuild the middle class, protect women’s reproductive rights, invest in our infrastructure, and mitigate climate change — all while defending our democracy against Donald Trump and his MAGA minions like Nick LaLota, who do whatever Trump wants, including blocking a bipartisan border security deal,” said Avlon. “This district needs real leadership, not more hyper-partisanship, and I am going to hit the ground running, talking to voters across Suffolk County about the issues we all care about.”
Avlon calls LaLota a MAGA minion, while detractors, like ex-Congressman George Santos (R-Queens), who is now running in NY-01 as an Independent, calls LaLota a “RINO” (Republican In Name Only).
We’ve asked this question before, and we’ll ask it again: which is it? LaLota certainly can’t be both, and due to the high stakes of this election, we’re inclined to believe he’s neither.
We’re not optimistic we’ll get answers soon, but the voters of NY-01 can give their answers in the June 25 Democratic primary that pits Goroff against Avlon.
