Angelo Maragos, the Republican candidate who is running for the 26th District council seat, told the Sunnyside Post in October that he had lived in Long Island City for the past seven years. But this was not the case: he had spent two of those years in Manhattan–between May 2007 and May 2009.
Maragos’ place of residency has been a topic of fierce debate since Jimmy Van Bramer, who is running for the council seat on the Democratic ticket, ran a series of attack ads questioning Maragos’ place of residency and whether he lives in the district—which includes Woodside, Sunnyside and Long Island City.
Questioned about Van Bramer’s attack ads, Maragos revised his story and said: “I lived in the city [Manhattan] in an apartment with three others between May 2007 and May 2009.” He said his misstatement was the result of a “blur,” and that he didn’t think it would be an issue.
Maragos was raised in Great Neck and moved to Long Island City when he began college in 2004. Following his graduation from Cooper Union, he moved from Long Island City to Manhattan.
Upon his return to Long Island City, Maragos registered to vote with the New York City Board of Elections on April 4, 2009, under a LIC address. (Double click on link Maragos Registration)
Around this time, the Queens GOP picked the 24-year-old Maragos to represent District 26. On May 23, the Republicans put out a press release stating that they had picked him. It read, in part, “…as a life long New Yorker, Angelo has pledged to be a full-time representative of all the people of North Western Queens.”