Cop-hating councilwoman and DA wage war on NYPD widow
By Rick LaRivière and Frankie Pressman
Kamillah Hanks, Staten Island’s embattled North Shore Councilwoman, is now fighting to kick challenger Jozette Carter-Williams off the June 24 Democratic Primary ballot.
Kamillah Hanks faces a field of challengers, including Carter-Williams, community advocate Abou Diakhate, Sarah Blas, and Neil Berry, all of whom are campaigning to end the corruption and cronyism that have plagued Staten Island’s North Shore.
Carter-Williams, the widow of NYPD Hero Officer Gerard Carter, had submitted nearly 800 signatures from local Democrats. She needed 450 valid signatures to qualify.
But the slain officer’s widow is not alone. Hanks has challenged every candidate in the Democratic primary, hoping that she won’t have to hear from voters at the ballot box. Many say she’s afraid and cannot win an election straight-up.
To make matters worse, Hanks, who is widely regarded as anti-law enforcement, is having her campaign turbocharged by sitting Staten Island District Attorney Michael E. McMahon and his political machine.
Hanks Tries to Disenfranchise Widow of Slain NYPD Hero
A preliminary Board of Elections Clerk’s Report knocked Carter-Williams down to 440. About 350 signatures were tossed over technicalities, including a significant number from homeless shelter addresses—addresses legally acceptable under New York law.
“Leave it to Kamillah Hanks to endorse a back-door Poll Tax,” a Democratic insider said. “This should disqualify her from the Democratic Party label immediately.”
An additional number of signatures were ruled invalid in the Clerk’s Report related to fraud and the illegibility of signatures. However, the Board of Elections’ determination that these signatures are invalid would be similarly defective. Only a New York State Supreme Court Justice can rule on those issues.
Carter-Williams is the only candidate backed by the NYPD PBA, SBA, and every major law enforcement group. Her campaign represents fallen officers and their families.
Hanks, meanwhile, carries a reputation as a cop-hater, having supported and funded True2Life with NYC Council monies—a group whose leader and Hanks supporter, Malcolm Penn, advocated for the release of Officer Carter’s murderer, Shateik Johnson.
McMahon’s Machine Behind the Attacks
District Attorney Michael McMahon is directly backing Hanks’ underhanded challenge. Sources within the Staten Island Democratic Party County Executive Committee confirmed McMahon dispatched longtime political crony Carmen Cognetta to orchestrate the objection.
Carmen Cognetta, a longtime Staten Island political operative, carries an embattled past marked by a judicial resignation in disgrace and allegations of backroom deals and cronyism.
McMahon, furious over critical media coverage exposing his ties to Hanks, chose to escalate rather than disengage.
“The optics are horrifying,” one Staten Island Democratic Committee member said. “McMahon is sabotaging the widow of a murdered cop to protect Kamillah.”
Selina Gray, Hanks’ campaign treasurer, filed the objection. Her husband, Otis Gray, works at the Board of Elections. Hanks’ millionaire developer husband, Kevin Barry Love, has two of his children on the Board’s payroll. Sources say Love even threatened BOE staff over discipline issues tied to his relatives.
Making matters worse, Hanks’ handpicked Board of Elections Commissioner, Michele Sileo, is set to rule on the challenges—despite her deep ties to Hanks.
Carter-Williams’ attorney, famed election lawyer John Ciampoli, has formally demanded Sileo’s recusal.
Corruption, Cronyism, and Cop-Hating Policies
Kamillah Hanks’ problems stretch far beyond election shenanigans. Records show Hanks previously ran a nonprofit, Historic Tappen Park Community Partnership Inc., which counted Staten Island drug lord Ettore Mazzei and NYC Board of Elections Commissioner Michele Sileo as board members.
Mazzei sits in Rikers Island awaiting trial for running a multimillion-dollar cocaine empire. Hanks never returned Mazzei’s campaign donations. Critics call the money “dirty drug cash.”
IRS filings reveal Hanks paid herself $82,375 from the nonprofit. Sileo, her Board of Elections ally and an attorney, also served on the nonprofit’s board.
“Jozette has run two non-profits for twenty years and hasn’t taken a dime,” said a campaign source.
Law enforcement sources are furious that McMahon, who is prosecuting Mazzei, is backing Hanks despite her ties to dirty money.
“She stabbed good cops in the back and now poses as a law-and-order Democrat,” a retired NYPD officer said. “McMahon should be ashamed.”
Hanks’ anti-cop record is well known. She sponsored the “How Many Stops Act,” which law enforcement leaders say has handcuffed police and fueled street crime.
Staten Island’s “Leona Helmsley” Faces Backlash
Hanks and her millionaire husband now draw comparisons to disgraced hotel mogul Leona Helmsley. Critics say Hanks’ attempt to disenfranchise homeless voters mirrors a modern poll tax.
Even insiders within Staten Island’s Democratic establishment are turning on her.
“This is voter suppression, plain and simple,” one Democratic official said. “If Kamillah Hanks wants to stop the homeless from voting, she has no business calling herself a Democrat.”
Rank-and-file cops are boiling with anger.
“Hanks will not be welcome if there’s another line-of-duty funeral because of her ‘How Many Stops Act,’” warned a law enforcement union source. “And if McMahon keeps it up, he’ll also have blood on his hands.”
As the June 24 primary approaches, Hanks and McMahon face a rising tide of outrage. Carter-Williams, standing as the widow of a hero and the candidate of law enforcement, is seen as the community’s last hope for real change.
“Hanks can’t run from her record,” another NYPD insider said. “And McMahon can’t hide from what he’s done. Voters see it. It’s game over.”
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