In the Wall Street Journal article “Largest Police Union Backs Democrat in DA Race: Ex-congressman leads in fundraising on Staten Island; Republican says she isn’t concerned” by Rebecca Davis O’Brien dated August 31, 2015, CSI’s Dr. Richard Flanagan was tapped for his expert commentary.
EXCERPT: “The PBA endorsement is ‘a pretty big signal to the law-and-order voters on Staten Island that McMahon has the stamp of approval from the cops,’ said Richard Flanagan, an associate professor of political science at the College of Staten Island. Mr. McMahon’s name recognition on Staten Island, coupled with the backing of the borough’s Conservative Party, ‘signals to more conservative voters that McMahon can be trusted,’ Mr. Flanagan said. Mr. Flanagan said the PBA’s endorsement is also notable because Mr. McMahon shares party affiliation with Mayor Bill de Blasio , who is unpopular on the island, in part because of a perceived lack of support for police.”
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Dr. Flanagan is author of “Mayors and the Challenge of Urban Leadership” (2004), “Staten Island: Conservative Bastion in a Liberal City” [with Dan Kramer] (2012) and “Robert Wagner and the Rise of New York City’s Plebiscitary Mayoralty: The Tamer of Tammany Hall,” forthcoming. His next book, “The Fight for City Hall: The 2013 Mayoral Election and the Future of New York City,” chronicles the state of the city at the end of the Bloomberg era.
