A Lifetime of Service
Michael, his wife Mary and their 3 children live in Eltingville. Mike is a retired New York City Police Lieutenant and also served in the United States Army Reserves.
In 2009, Mary urged Mike to run for the NYC Community Education Council for Staten Island (the school board). Mike has been serving as an elected volunteer with CEC 31 since winning that first election. Mike has been re-elected 4 times to the two-year term position. Mike has served as the President of Community Education Council 31 since 2014.
Mike has been a tremendous advocate for the entire Staten Island community. He has a knack for building coalitions and bringing people together to develop common sense solutions to community problems.
In 2017 Staten Island was the only NYC borough left out of the My Brother’s Keeper initiative by the New York State Education Department. After that omission, Mike took the lead with his fellow District Leadership Team parent representatives in sending an email to then Chancellor Carmen Farina explaining that Staten Island has just as much a need. Chancellor Farina agreed with the points the team highlighted and authorized the NYC DOE to provide the funding of $150,000 which the state denied.
The DLT work on My Brother’s Keeper helped the district secure a total of $900,000 in grant funding in support of our schools, building Empathy, Equity and Excellence.
Mike successfully advocated for additional training for Police Officers that aligned with the state’s Drug Recognition Expert designation for Staten Island to combat the opioid crisis and the increase of “drugged driving.”
Mike highlighted in a 2016 Staten Island Advance letter to the editor that DREs are a “crucial piece missing in the current efforts to make our roads safer and enhance prosecution in drug cases.”
After bringing the issue to the NYPD’s Highway Unit DRE Training Coordinator, the NYPD implemented an “Impaired Driving Awareness Course” that now trains upwards of 800 officers from across the city each month. The program has also been incorporated into recruit training at the Police Academy.
Commitment to Staten Island
Mike has played a key role in keeping our kids safe, whether it was getting Yellow Bus service back or going from school to school conducting Internet Safety Courses for parents and students. Mike is extremely well regarded on Staten Island because he serves everyone and is truly about helping our kids and our community.
Mike has partnered with elected state and city officials to compose resolutions and legislation that have made a real difference in our daily lives. He works closely with NYC agency leaders and understands the roles each agency has, especially the Department of Education, New York City Police Department and NYC Department of Transportation.
Mike is known throughout Staten Island for his commitment to our Staten Island community. He was instrumental in restoring Yellow School Bus Service for 7th and 8th grade students. He played a key role in establishing NYC DOT Neighborhood Slow Zones for schools with severe hazardous traffic conditions.
In November 2015 Mike successfully negotiated with NYC DOT to add Photo Enforced signs in areas across the city in an effort to improve safety. Until then DOT was not required to place photo enforced signs under the school speed camera law. Having photo enforced signs in and outside of school zones can help deter speeding.
Mike authored a resolution to prohibit U-turns in school zones that was passed into NYS Law. He also established school “Stop, Drop and Go” programs to improve safety and traffic congestion around schools.
After the Newtown, Connecticut tragedy, Mike turned to his professional experience as a New York City Police Department Lieutenant in leading the CEC in developing a Comprehensive School Safety Plan. The plan drew national attention and led to NYS Legislation authorizing school districts to hire retired Police Officers for security and providing funding for cameras, buzzer entry systems and reinforced doors for school buildings. The safety and security plan provided incentive for the NYC Department of Education to update the agency’s emergency preparedness policies.
Mike has been a mentor and coach for the YMCA youth baseball league. Additionally, he volunteers as a member of the Board of Managers for the Staten Island YMCA.