In a deviation from City Hall tradition, Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro opted to order in at his Borough Hall office. The reason? The popular elected official says he tends to get approached while eating out, making the office a more conducive setting for interviews. Food arrived from Montalbano’s Italian Food Specialties, a nearby eatery with an extensive sandwich menu, and was garnished with the BP’s very own hot sauce, which he dries on top of his water-heater at home.
Molinaro sat down to talk about his recent heart attack, who he thinks should succeed him at Borough Hall and what Paris Hilton should be doing with her life. Following is an edited transcript of the interview.
City Hall: What did you get for lunch?
James Molinaro: I got tuna fish, whole-wheat roll, with cheese. We’ll put some hot pepper on now, custom-made by me.
CH: What’s in the hot sauce?
JM: It’s my own ingredient.
CH: Do you sell it?
JM: No. Mayor Bloomberg’s daughter, in his first term, worked with Peter Madonia and they used to come here for lunch quite often also. And she loved it. The last person who tried it was [Deputy Mayor Dan] Doctoroff. There was a fresh jar, exceptionally, exceptionally hot. “Looks pretty good,” he says. So he took a scoop, put it on, bit into it—you should have seen the look on his face. He didn’t let on, though. He withstood it. [Former Transportation Commissioner] Iris Weinshall had a meeting right before she left and said we have to warn her successor about the hot sauce.
CH: How’s your health these days?
JM: Fine. That one escapade I had, but otherwise I feel fine.
CH: Have you changed your diet at all since your heart attack?
JM: My diet was acceptable to my physician, and also, just for the record, I had a complete medical check-up a few weeks prior to my attack—a stress test and everything you could possibly think of. Clean bill of health.
CH: You are a Lower East Sider by birth. When did you move to Staten Island?
JM: A month before the bridge opened, ’64.
CH: Do you ever look back?
JM: I look back and say I should have purchased one of the old buildings on the Lower East Side. I miss the lifestyle that we had when I lived there growing up. It was great. It’s just kids playing, and you never realized you were poor. Every kid on the block agreed that you wanted to be a ballplayer, you wanted to be a fireman. Good place, good time. Absolutely no narcotics at all.
CH: You have been a Conservative since the 1960s. What made you want to join them, instead of the Republican Party?
JM: When I registered to vote, I didn’t join a political party. You have to understand that I came from an area that was 10-to-one Democrat. I was very friendly with everybody, but Democrats didn’t offer any solutions that I believed were right, and the Republicans had become Democrats. The Conservative Party started in 1960 and I followed it very closely. I voted Conservative, but I didn’t join because I wanted to make sure it wasn’t full of right-wing wackos—there were a number of them in there.
CH: Today the Conservative Party is rather small. Why not join the Republicans now? Do you still view the party as too liberal?
JM: No. Many Republicans are conservatives and many Republicans are liberals and the same with the Democrats. It’s to my advantage and what I believe in to be friendly with both Democrats and Republicans. I don’t believe that a political party is evil. There’s good and evil in every party—there’s good and evil in everything. I think all political parties have the same goals in mind: to do what’s in the best interests of people. Where we separate is, how do you get there? That’s the difference.
CH: Who are you backing for president?
JM: My candidate right now is Giuliani. You would say, “Now that’s a contradiction of what I believe in.” No, it’s not. I’m pro-life, he’s pro-choice. There’s bigger things. At times, okay, you can have an abortion—but used as a method of birth control, it’s not what civilized people should be doing.
CH: What about Michael Bloomberg? Everyone’s talking about him running for president, and you’re a fan, right?
JM: Yes, but he’s not running. He says he’s not running—I don’t think he’s lying.
CH: What if he were to change his mind?
JM: Right now, I’m supporting Giuliani for a number of reasons. I saw what he did. He came into a city that had almost a $5-billion deficit. He came into a city where, you would go into the city and on people’s automobiles you would see a note saying, “No radio.” And instead of surrendering to it, he said, “No, this is not the way we’re going to live.” He applied the broken windows strategy and he turned it around. Of course, at times, being a little tougher than people wanted him to be.
CH: Your term is up in 2009. What are you going to do? Have your own TV show? Become a lobbyist?
JM: Oh, I don’t know where I’m going to go. In politics, a week’s a lifetime. Look at Spitzer—he had a 76 percent rating. Now he’s down in the 40s—low 40s. Personally, I think he surrounded himself with the wrong people. A lot of times what happens to you is due mostly to the people around you. You can’t keep your hand on everything. I’m fortunate—I’ve got a deputy borough president and a kitchen cabinet of six people that I really honor. They never embarrass me.
CH: Do any of them look like potential borough president material?
JM: I think my deputy would make a great candidate. I think he would make a great borough president, but that’s not for me to decide.
CH: Others are jockeying around for this seat. Do you have feelings about them?
JM: There are a lot of people that have not announced they have an interest in it. I don’t know anyone who has announced—Jimmy [Oddo] hasn’t announced. He’s toying with the idea. I know [Michael] McMahon’s toying with the idea. There are always some unknowns that will pop up.
CH: The reason we’re eating in your office today is because you tend to get mobbed when you eat out.
JM: That’s right. Always in a nice way. People, they complain sometimes.
CH: Do you go out to eat a lot then?
JM: No, very seldom.
CH: Do you cook?
JM: No. Hot sauce: that’s my contribution.
CH: If you weren’t in politics, what would you be doing?
JM: I have no idea. You know, it’s difficult to answer that question because almost everything interests me. I’m just a curious person. I like challenges and having a meaningful purpose at the end of the day. If someone said, “Stay home tomorrow and we’ll send you a check for $10,000 a week,” it wouldn’t appeal to me. In the six years I’ve been borough president, I don’t think I’ve taken six weeks vacation. I’ve got a beautiful condo in Florida on the Gulf Coast in Sarasota. I go down for three or four days. But I think there’s a purpose why we’re put here. It’s not being like—what’s her name, Hilton, goes around wasting money—that crazy actress—
CH: Paris Hilton?
JM: Paris Hilton.
CH: Didn’t think that would come up during this interview.
JM: She has an opportunity, but she’s not-, you can contribute, help so many people that are less fortunate—and still do what you’re doing.
ceichna@manhattanmedia.com
Molinaro sat down to talk about his recent heart attack, who he thinks should succeed him at Borough Hall and what Paris Hilton should be doing with her life. Following is an edited transcript of the interview.
City Hall: What did you get for lunch?
James Molinaro: I got tuna fish, whole-wheat roll, with cheese. We’ll put some hot pepper on now, custom-made by me.
CH: What’s in the hot sauce?
JM: It’s my own ingredient.
CH: Do you sell it?
JM: No. Mayor Bloomberg’s daughter, in his first term, worked with Peter Madonia and they used to come here for lunch quite often also. And she loved it. The last person who tried it was [Deputy Mayor Dan] Doctoroff. There was a fresh jar, exceptionally, exceptionally hot. “Looks pretty good,” he says. So he took a scoop, put it on, bit into it—you should have seen the look on his face. He didn’t let on, though. He withstood it. [Former Transportation Commissioner] Iris Weinshall had a meeting right before she left and said we have to warn her successor about the hot sauce.
CH: How’s your health these days?
JM: Fine. That one escapade I had, but otherwise I feel fine.
CH: Have you changed your diet at all since your heart attack?
JM: My diet was acceptable to my physician, and also, just for the record, I had a complete medical check-up a few weeks prior to my attack—a stress test and everything you could possibly think of. Clean bill of health.
CH: You are a Lower East Sider by birth. When did you move to Staten Island?
JM: A month before the bridge opened, ’64.
CH: Do you ever look back?
JM: I look back and say I should have purchased one of the old buildings on the Lower East Side. I miss the lifestyle that we had when I lived there growing up. It was great. It’s just kids playing, and you never realized you were poor. Every kid on the block agreed that you wanted to be a ballplayer, you wanted to be a fireman. Good place, good time. Absolutely no narcotics at all.
CH: You have been a Conservative since the 1960s. What made you want to join them, instead of the Republican Party?
JM: When I registered to vote, I didn’t join a political party. You have to understand that I came from an area that was 10-to-one Democrat. I was very friendly with everybody, but Democrats didn’t offer any solutions that I believed were right, and the Republicans had become Democrats. The Conservative Party started in 1960 and I followed it very closely. I voted Conservative, but I didn’t join because I wanted to make sure it wasn’t full of right-wing wackos—there were a number of them in there.
CH: Today the Conservative Party is rather small. Why not join the Republicans now? Do you still view the party as too liberal?
JM: No. Many Republicans are conservatives and many Republicans are liberals and the same with the Democrats. It’s to my advantage and what I believe in to be friendly with both Democrats and Republicans. I don’t believe that a political party is evil. There’s good and evil in every party—there’s good and evil in everything. I think all political parties have the same goals in mind: to do what’s in the best interests of people. Where we separate is, how do you get there? That’s the difference.
CH: Who are you backing for president?
JM: My candidate right now is Giuliani. You would say, “Now that’s a contradiction of what I believe in.” No, it’s not. I’m pro-life, he’s pro-choice. There’s bigger things. At times, okay, you can have an abortion—but used as a method of birth control, it’s not what civilized people should be doing.
CH: What about Michael Bloomberg? Everyone’s talking about him running for president, and you’re a fan, right?
JM: Yes, but he’s not running. He says he’s not running—I don’t think he’s lying.
CH: What if he were to change his mind?
JM: Right now, I’m supporting Giuliani for a number of reasons. I saw what he did. He came into a city that had almost a $5-billion deficit. He came into a city where, you would go into the city and on people’s automobiles you would see a note saying, “No radio.” And instead of surrendering to it, he said, “No, this is not the way we’re going to live.” He applied the broken windows strategy and he turned it around. Of course, at times, being a little tougher than people wanted him to be.
CH: Your term is up in 2009. What are you going to do? Have your own TV show? Become a lobbyist?
JM: Oh, I don’t know where I’m going to go. In politics, a week’s a lifetime. Look at Spitzer—he had a 76 percent rating. Now he’s down in the 40s—low 40s. Personally, I think he surrounded himself with the wrong people. A lot of times what happens to you is due mostly to the people around you. You can’t keep your hand on everything. I’m fortunate—I’ve got a deputy borough president and a kitchen cabinet of six people that I really honor. They never embarrass me.
CH: Do any of them look like potential borough president material?
JM: I think my deputy would make a great candidate. I think he would make a great borough president, but that’s not for me to decide.
CH: Others are jockeying around for this seat. Do you have feelings about them?
JM: There are a lot of people that have not announced they have an interest in it. I don’t know anyone who has announced—Jimmy [Oddo] hasn’t announced. He’s toying with the idea. I know [Michael] McMahon’s toying with the idea. There are always some unknowns that will pop up.
CH: The reason we’re eating in your office today is because you tend to get mobbed when you eat out.
JM: That’s right. Always in a nice way. People, they complain sometimes.
CH: Do you go out to eat a lot then?
JM: No, very seldom.
CH: Do you cook?
JM: No. Hot sauce: that’s my contribution.
CH: If you weren’t in politics, what would you be doing?
JM: I have no idea. You know, it’s difficult to answer that question because almost everything interests me. I’m just a curious person. I like challenges and having a meaningful purpose at the end of the day. If someone said, “Stay home tomorrow and we’ll send you a check for $10,000 a week,” it wouldn’t appeal to me. In the six years I’ve been borough president, I don’t think I’ve taken six weeks vacation. I’ve got a beautiful condo in Florida on the Gulf Coast in Sarasota. I go down for three or four days. But I think there’s a purpose why we’re put here. It’s not being like—what’s her name, Hilton, goes around wasting money—that crazy actress—
CH: Paris Hilton?
JM: Paris Hilton.
CH: Didn’t think that would come up during this interview.
JM: She has an opportunity, but she’s not-, you can contribute, help so many people that are less fortunate—and still do what you’re doing.
ceichna@manhattanmedia.com
