NY constituents wary of Santos as scandals pile up

QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) -- The congressional office for U.S. Rep. George Santos is open, but the sign above still has the name of his predecessor, Tom Suozzi.

Even with the office up and running, there are concerns about whether the congressman can do his job and help his constituents of Queens and Long Island.

Charles Lavine, a longtime Democratic assemblyman who lives in the district, said Santos should be gone, but in theory he would seek Santos's assistance with an immigration or passport or tax issue.

"And if he does not respond to the request of my constituents, I will go to Sen. Schumer or Sen. Gillibrand," Lavine said.

Lavine added that as long as House Republicans refuse to kick Santos out following lies about his background and questions about his finances, the least Santos can do is his job.

Lavine scoffs at the idea that local Republicans have tried to wash their hands of Santos by saying residents should turn to other congressional representatives for their needs.

"That action, meager as it was, was simply to give themselves the ability to shield themselves and distance themselves from Mr. Santos," Lavine said.

Just a couple days ago, Lavine said he got a communication from neighboring U.S. Rep. Andrew Garbarino, of the 2nd Congressional District, saying he would be happy to help with any constituent matters.

Garbarino's staff said it was a clerical error due to changing district lines and there's been no coordinated effort to cover for Santos.

“My office inadvertently sent this email to contacts in our database, including past constituents of my predecessor who once represented the 3rd Congressional District. I’m sorry Chuck is making this political. People make mistakes,” Garbarino said in a statement.

His spokeswoman said he could not comment on the Santos scandals because he sits on the Ethics Committee, which will investigate Santos.