Castellanos Asks AG to Probe De Los Santos’ Residency After Spending $8,000 on Surveillance
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jun 3
Castellanos Asks AG to Probe De Los Santos’ Residency After Spending $8,000 on Surveillance
1 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jun 3
Summary
Monday’s complaint to Attorney General Letitia James accuses Assemblyman Manny De Los Santos of living in Rockland County while collecting a $142,000 salary to represent Northern Manhattan’s District 72.
Castellanos says private investigators filmed De Los Santos at his wife’s Clarkstown home and failed to see him at his claimed Washington Heights apartment during two April stakeouts.
De Los Santos called the effort harassment, saying Castellanos crossed a line by targeting his family; his estranged wife said he has lived in the Manhattan apartment since arriving from the Dominican Republic at 12.
The residency fight has already spilled into court: Castellanos says her April bid to knock him off the ballot was dismissed on a service technicality, while his own challenge to her candidacy also failed.
New York law requires legislative candidates to live in-district for 12 months, but a 2016 Court of Appeals ruling lets candidates claim any residence with significant, continuing ties absent fraud.