Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this online story and some copies of the print edition incorrectly referenced Phyllis Nastasio as a Democratic candidate in the upcoming election for A.D. 80. In fact, Nastasio is running on the Republican/Conservative ticket in this race. We apologize for this error. Our profile on Democratic nominee, John Zaccaro Jr., for A.D. 80 can be read here. 

 

Raised on Arthur Avenue, Pelham Parkway resident, Phyllis “Tiz” Nastasio is running on the Republican/Conservative ticket in the November general election in A.D. 80 to succeed incumbent, Democratic Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez. She faces John Zaccaro who is running on the Democratic ticket, and who will be profiled in our next print edition. Nastasio sat down with Norwood News to discuss her candidacy and what she hopes to achieve in office while serving some or all of the neighborhoods of Norwood, Bedford Park, Morris Park, Van Nest, Pelham Parkway, Pelham Gardens, and Allerton.

 

A teacher for 21 years, Nastasio’s number one issue is education. “We’re not doing the job for our children,” she said. “Public schools get $26,000 per student, per year, and the kids are not at reading level, they’re not in math, they’re behind so many other states. Even within New York State’s upstate, their numbers are higher. Why? Why are we failing our children?”

 

Nastasio teaches at a Catholic school. “Our tuition is just under $7,000 a year. That’s all we have to spend, and we’re educating children. Our children are successful; they’re coming out of their schools knowing how to read, knowing how to do basic math. We need to see where the money’s going because it’s not the teachers that are failing, it’s the system that’s failing. There’s a lot of money there; it’s not going into the right place. It’s not in the classrooms.”

 

Norwood News referenced recent comments by State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33) who had called for the reimbursement of public funding owed to public schools over several years, after a successful lawsuit by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity found the State had been historically underfunding public schools.

 

Rivera said legislators secured a reimbursement in the State budget and therefore questioned why, when this money flowed back to the City, the City education budget was cut. Norwood News contacted the City for comment, but did not receive a response. In the meantime, the city council voted to reverse the education budget, alleging they were misled by Adams administration officials as to the reason for the cuts. The matter is now in court awaiting a final decision. We asked Nastasio if she had a comment on the matter.

 

“I don’t think we need to put more money into it,” she said. “I think we need to know where the money that’s there is going because it’s not going to the kids. It’s not going to the classrooms. So, I think we need to audit.” We asked if public records were not already available in this regard. “Not really,” she said. “They say how much each individual school is getting, but it’s not broken down. In my opinion, I think we have too much going into administration, and not enough going into the classrooms. I mean, we don’t need five assistant principals in every school.”

 

Nastasio said she also felt students need to be taught basic home economics. “They need to know how to cook,” she said. “They need to know how to do basic things, how to care for themselves. We don’t have that anymore, and I think that is progressively affecting the families. If you teach them when they’re in school, then the family unit will be stronger.”

 

Asked for her thoughts on an alternate curriculum and mayoral control over schools, Nastasio said she didn’t really think it mattered if it was State or City-led, but it had to be looked at, adding that she would like to see both parents and teachers involved in the decision, because they best knew the students’ needs. “I think we should have a voucher system where parents can go to a Catholic school if they choose to,” she said, adding that in Charter and Catholic schools, parents had this input already, and she was for this approach for public schools also.

 

“In my school, we have every religion. It’s not just Catholic anymore. We registered a Jewish student this year. We have plenty of Muslim students, so it’s not because when we teach religion, we teach our religion. Everybody is welcomed,” she said. We mentioned the six Catholic schools that had closed across The Bronx during the pandemic and asked how things were going since then in terms of serving students. “Our numbers are low; people are moving,” she said. “We have to stop the mass exodus out of New York City.”

 

Nastasio’s other top priority is crime. “The two of them are connected,” she said. “We need trade schools [to] teach our kids a trade so they can get a job. If they’re working, they’re not committing crimes. You educate your children, you lower your crime level.” We referenced the mayor’s August announcment at Bronx Community College about a new workforce development initiative which matches training needs to industry and construction jobs.

 

“It needs to start at the high school level,” Nastasio said, adding that the “SHOP” class, which covered plumbing and engineering training needed to be brought back into schools, after being axed in the ’80s. She said even when her own son wanted to go to trade school, he had to go as far as Queens to find a course.

On criminal justice, the candidate said some sort of bail reform was needed, but she alleged the law later swung too far to one side. “We didn’t need to let people out there commit crimes without bail. What we needed was to reform the court system. Kalief Browder sat in jail for two years, awaiting trial.”

 

She continued, “That’s insane. That’s inhumane,” referring to the Bronx teen who was arrested over an alleged backpack theft which was never proven, and who later died by suicide after his release from Rikers Island, where he had been held because he couldn’t afford bail. He was also segregated from other detainees for a duration. “That kid’s life was ruined,” Nastasio said. “So, the court system needs to be expanded, not the bail system.”

 

Nastasio’s third top concern was NYCHA housing. “They’re a disgrace; people have ceilings falling on them,” she said. “The mold in these places…no working elevators, appliances that don’t work. Nobody has to live in those conditions. They pay rent to live there. They need to be treated as property people. You know what? It blows my mind that someone the city is the worst landlord that we have. And nobody’s doing anything about it.

 

If more funding were to fix such issues, we asked if she had ideas of how to reallocate the budget. “Right now? No, until I see where money is actually going,” she said. “I don’t know the budget for NYCHA. I would like, once I get into Albany, to see where the money’s going.”

 

A self-described “community candidate,” Nastasio said she is prepared to work with folks of all political persuasions to move things forward, adding that it was not just progressives who were fighting for so-called “bread and butter” issues. “We need our kids to be off the streets. We don’t have any community centers. We need a community center where our kids can go feel safe, learn things, basketball, swimming, tutoring. Tutoring is big, especially for the specialized high school tests. We don’t offer any of that,” she said.

 

She has received the backing of local political organization, the Northwest Bronx Democrats, comprising around 1,800 members. Its president, Sheila Sanchez, described Nastasio as being centered in community and someone who has already traveled to other parts of the district to help. It is not the first time that the Northwest Bronx Democrats have supported a non-Democrat, as reported.

 

The group endorsed Republican candidate, Gene DeFrancis, leader of the Allerton Merchants Association, to run against Fernandez in the November 2020 general election. DeFrancis had also received the endorsement of The Committee of 100 Democrats in the race. Meanwhile, Nastasio has also received the support of The Bronx NY Free Thinking Democrats in the upcoming election. Northwest Bronx Democrats founder, Anthony Rivieccio, previously told the Norwood News that the group believes in free speech, and that some of their conservative “Blue-Dog” Democratic members are Trump supporters while other members are Republicans.

 

Asked what she would address on Day 1, if elected, Nastasio replied, “Expand our schools. Our kids are strangling in the classroom. There’s too many of them in each class. We need more schools. They have to stop building things that won’t benefit the community, so that’s my first things. They’re killing us with buildings. We can’t even breathe. There’s no fresh air left anymore because of all the buildings that are going up. Those buildings are bringing more students Those students are going into overcrowded classrooms. There’s plenty of area to build schools, and let’s free up some of that space for the kids.”

 

Asked how she would convince voters who might say she is inexperienced for public office, Nastasio said she is a co-chair of Bronx Community Board 11’s public safety committee, sits on the education committee, and is also a member of the 49^th Precinct Community Council. “I know what the community needs. I’ve been active in the community, and I know I’ll fight for them in Albany.”

 

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this online story and some copies of the print edition incorrectly referenced Phyllis Nastasio as a Democratic candidate in the upcoming election for A.D. 80. In fact, Nastasio is running on the Republican/Conservative ticket in this race. We apologize for this error. Our profile on Democratic nominee, John Zaccaro Jr., for A.D. 80 can be read here.