Q&A With Adam Baumel: Democrat Running against Nicole Malliotakis
BAY RIDGE – Among the assembly races throughout Brooklyn, one has flown under the radar. The 64th district encompasses Staten Island and a portion of Northern Bay Ridge. Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R) has held the seat since 2010. This year the lawmaker will have a Democratic contender during the November 6 general election.
Adam Baumel, 30, served in the U.S. Navy from 2009 to 2013, then graduated from John Jay College with a degree in Political Science. He was an intern for NY Assemblyman Michael Benedetto of the Bronx in 2016 when the former Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver and Sen. Maj. Senate Leader Dean Skelos were indicted on campaign finance charges. For Baumel this was a turning point. The then-29-year-old announced his run for office in September 2017.
Q. How have you served residents in the 64th Assembly District?
A. I am proud to have served this country in the military first and foremost, which also gave me the opportunity to move to New York to pursue a top education from one of the state’s quality institutions of higher learning. My local advocacy has come in the form of fighting for better transportation options for both our subways and busses, primarily for residents with accessibility needs. I was on the forefront of petitioning for Senator Golden to act on making our subways in Bay Ridge accessible to all our neighbors. I have also been a strong advocate for the Local 3 IBEW members on strike and other organized labor in the district by walking the picket lines with them.
Q: What do you say to Staten Island residents that say as a Brooklynite you’ll ignore their portion of the district?
A: I am running for office because I feel this district would benefit greatly from new leadership and a new direction. I would say that many issues that Staten Islanders deal with are similar to those in Bay Ridge like issues with the MTA, construction, over-development, and an issue near and dear to my heart, falling short on serving our Veteran population on both sides of the bridge. My opponent has had 8 years to solve these issues, and the Staten Island and Brooklyn residents I have spoken to believe that they have largely gone unaddressed.
Q: What ideas do you have to aid in the opioid crisis plaguing Southern Brooklyn and Staten Island?
A: We should continue pushing for more civilian intervention through NARCAN training and supply. I am also in favor of legalizing adult use of cannabis. In every state that has passed legalization, they have seen a substantial drop in opioid-related overdoses. Once cannabis is more readily available as a medical option for treating pain and other health issues, doctors will not feel the need to prescribe opioid-based pain medication for conditions that should not warrant those prescriptions.
Q: The incumbent opposes warning cards for disruptive students and recently spoke out against the idea. What are your thoughts?
A: I feel that we should be doing everything possible to avoid our students receiving an external suspension and potential criminal records. My opponent proposed making it easier to suspend school children as young as 5-years old in her mayoral race last year. I am not sure what idea could be worse when our main goal should be educating our children.
Q: As a Democrat, how can you convince a highly-concentrated Republican constituent base to vote for you?
A: I am running to represent this district with my strong working-class values. These values include making sure to support organized labor, improving transportation through smarter ideas and out of the box thinking, and ensuring our residents won’t be put into a position of declaring bankruptcy from the costs of an unexpected medical diagnosis. My main concern is serving the working class folks in my district, not the real estate lobby or corporations who continue to push over-development in Staten Island.
Q: Property taxes continue to be a sore spot throughout the district. What can you do as a member of the State Assembly to address the issue?
A: Property taxes like all other taxes would be a far easier pill to swallow for taxpayers if they had more transparency and could hold elected officials accountable for the taxes that were proposed. This is why a key aspect of my reforms package includes a tax transparency chart which would provide taxpayers the ability to see where all of their hard-earned money goes and also would allow them to see how legislators like Assemblywoman Malliotakis are spending their tax dollars.
Q: Do you believe in term limits? If so, how many terms would you say is the appropriate time for an assembly person to hold office?
A: I don’t believe term limits are the best means of addressing the rampant corruption in Albany. I am far more in favor of another tenet of my reforms package, which is comprehensive campaign finance reform, which would include some form of publicly financed elections. I fear that term limits would greatly reduce the efficacy of our local government as well as prematurely end the careers of effective local legislators who have produced results. This potentially could make the corruption worse as lobbyists would now have far more experience than those they are looking to influence up in Albany.
Q: Do you think members of the assembly need a raise?
A: I think our state legislature should be made full time, I would also push for a 15% cap on outside income and closing the LLC loophole that many legislators have used to skirt around the existing campaign finance laws. If these changes effectively addressed the culture of corruption in Albany then a pay raise may eventually become appropriate.
Q: Favorite restaurant on the Brooklyn side of the district?
A: I love Gino’s on 5th Ave. and Tanoreen on 3rd Ave. in Bay Ridge.
Q: What’s your favorite place to shop?
A: Sips + Maker on New Dorp Lane is a great little coffee shop that also sells really cool local handmade products.
Q: What’s your media diet?
A: As far as media is concerned I’m all about independent media. You won’t find me watching CNN, MSNBC, Fox News or any other corporate media source.