Gianaris challenger received primary residence tax exemption for Nassau County home
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Iggy Terranova is challenging State Sen. Michael Gianaris in Senate District 12. Photo via Terranova’s campaign
By David Brand
A former sanitation worker attempting to oust Western Queens State Sen. Michael Gianaris in the June Democratic primary has framed himself as a nearly lifelong resident of Astoria, the heart of New York’s 12th Senate District. But property records suggest he has lived outside the district, and even the city, for several years.
Iggy Terranova, the challenger, has owned a home in Nassau County’s Levittown since 2006 and received a School Tax Relief, or STAR, exemption on the suburban property last tax year, according to Nassau County property records. Home owners who own multiple properties can only qualify for a STAR exemption at their primary residences, according to the state Department of Taxation and Finance.
Terranova’s website states that he has “spent the majority of his life living in Astoria, where he went to school, was an [altar] boy, and still calls it home today.” He registered to vote at an address in Astoria in 2018, Board of Elections records show. His wife is registered to vote as a Republican at the Nassau County address.
In a statement, Terranova said that he lives in Astoria, and not the Levittown home.
“The 12th Senate District is where I eat, where I sleep, and where I have voted for the last several years,” he said. “Several years ago I bought a second home in Nassau County which is not my primary residence.”
Terranova, an immigrant from Italy who came to the U.S. as a baby, began his career as a garbage collector and worked his way through the Department of Sanitation until he reached the role of citywide community affairs officer.
He decided to challenge Gianaris, the senate’s deputy majority leader, after Gianaris led the resistance that scuttled the Amazon corporate campus deal in Long Island City.
“Mike hurt our community. He did everything he could to hurt the Amazon deal,” Terranova told the New York Post in December, shortly after filing his campaign with the state Board of Elections.
The residency issue would not necessarily affect his candidacy, so long as he has a residence in District 12 and has lived in the state for five years, two election attorneys told the Eagle.
“It doesn’t have to be your primary residence. It must be a bona fide residence, a real residence,” said election attorney Ali Najmi. “Multiple residences are permissible.”
Gianaris declined to comment for this story.
