Shimsky, Challenger Debate Future of Taxes, Edgemont in 92nd Assembly District Race

Democratic Assemblywoman MaryJane Shimsky is seeking re-election for her seat for the first time next week against Alessandro Crocco.

While this is Crocco’s first run for elected office in America, it’s not the first time he would be elected to a role in an official capacity. Born and raised in Calabria, Italy, he served the Italian government as a liaison to transplanted Italians in the tristate area.

The 37-year-old Republican, who lives in Hartsdale, said he jumped into the 92^nd Assembly District race because a different perspective was needed.

“I think it’s about time we bring a fresh voice to Albany, having somebody who’s actually able to answer to the people and not just to the political parties,” said Crocco, a wine importer who came to the United States to earn his master’s degree at the University of Minnesota.

“I really believe in the American dream and I want to make sure that whoever is coming after me is still going to find the same appreciation, the same freedom,” he added.

For Crocco, two key issues are the high taxes and the ongoing attempts by residents of Edgemont to secede from the Town of Greenburgh. He said Shimsky over her nearly two years in the Assembly has supported tax increases 125 times, including her vote to support up to as much as $5 billion for New York City to help it take care of the migrant population.

Shimsky shot back that Crocco has little understanding of the differences between taxes and appropriations, in this case to help the city deal with a crisis. Some tax increases were as a result of enabling legislation, such as the Town of Mount Pleasant’s request to extend its 3 percent hotel occupancy tax, she said.

The legislature has cut state income taxes for the middle class to the lowest levels in decades, Shimsky said. Plus, in her time on the Board of Legislators, county taxes were reduced.

“We’ve been really careful to do everything we can to keep taxes down, and again, the governor is considering reducing income taxes,” said Shimsky, a Dobbs Ferry resident.

The complicated Edgemont issue is a sore point for many in Greenburgh. There have been periodic attempts by members of that community to incorporate and leave the town, which would likely be a fiscal disaster for the rest of the municipality.

Shimsky, who fended off attacks during the Democratic primary from former assemblyman Tom Abinanti, whom she defeated for the nomination, said it is unlikely ever to happen. Within the past month, Greenburgh officials rejected the latest petition. She also said Crocco doesn’t have any plans to prevent the ongoing requests from Edgemont.

“I don’t know what he thinks he’s going to accomplish on this, and all of the arguments that I made last May and June still apply, that we had a really good bill that would have taken us far ahead of where we at the end of (Abinanti’s) term where he had gotten nothing done,” Shimsky argued.

However, Crocco said incorporation is “definitely a realistic possibility” because Shimsky failed to do her job and supported a bill that kept that potential incorporation alive. Losing that portion of the tax base would devastate Greenburgh, which would likely have to severely slash services.

“It’s a risk, it’s a risk for the entire Town of Greenburgh, it’s a risk for the middle-class families,” he said. “It’s going to be a huge burden to these families, a huge burden to the families that are using public services.”

With the shortage of housing and affordability issues, Crocco is hopeful that falling interest rates in the months and years ahead will encourage builders to create more housing stock. The state should also offer developers various incentives, he said.

Representing a district that has experienced its share of flooding, environmental issues are critical to Shimsky. She said Metro-North must make its system more resilient to weather extremes, including raising the Hudson line’s tracks so they are not under water. Money from the more than $4 billion state bond will need to be invested in communities in flood-prone areas.

“I challenge Mr. Crocco on how to deal with that with no money,” Shimsky said, taking a swipe at his comments regarding rising taxes.

While battery energy storage systems (BESS) are needed to help the state meet its renewable energy goals, Shimsky said, that will require guidelines from the state to ensure communities aren’t placed in danger.

“The way we do that is we look at a package of laws (to make sure) that the public will be safe as the technology moves forward,” she said.

With so many state roads in the 92^nd Assembly District, Shimsky said she will continue to work to increase the state’s investments in that infrastructure. Although the legislature was unsuccessful in increasing funding in 2023, there was a greater commitment this year, Shimsky noted.

The two candidates are on opposite sides regarding the state’s Proposition 1. Crocco said the language in the proposition is misleading, and while written to protect people in additional groups, that could end up backfiring. He said the threat that biological males playing on girls’ and women’s sports teams is more than theoretical.

“I’m all about protecting women and girls,” he said.

Meanwhile, Shimsky blasted Republicans’ scare tactics to vote down additional protections for a wider variety of people, including the disabled and the LGBTQ community, by enshrining those protections in the state constitution. It will also not affect girls’ sports, because both girls and boys are already participating in sports meant for the opposite gender if there isn’t a team for them to play for in a particular sport.

“We’re not going to get a bunch of boys going on hormone therapy to play girls’ sports,” Shimsky said. “It’s not going to happen, and if it was going to happen, we would have seen evidence of it already.”

Crocco stressed that his goal is to help families deal with the high cost of living in Westchester.

“It’s all about lean government. It’s all about cutting theses excesses and putting that money back in (residents’) pockets so they can live here,” Crocco said.