Skip to main content

LaLota Addresses Casework

Thu, 01/12/2023 - 11:06
Nicholas LaLota

Freshly minted Representative Nicholas LaLota says the Republican Party’s dramatic and dayslong effort to elect a speaker of the House last week didn’t have much of an impact on his ability to hit the ground running as the new representative for New York’s First Congressional District.

News reports that emerged from the epic struggle for votes that ultimately landed California Representative Kevin McCarthy in the speaker’s chair had suggested that a key area of congressional work — casework undertaken on behalf of constituents — may have been put on hold as House Republicans struggled to rein in some 20 far-right members who opposed Mr. McCarthy’s ascension.

Mr. LaLota, who voted for Mr. McCarthy on each of the votes before he was at last given the gavel late Friday night, said in a statement to The Star that, contrary to those reports, “We haven’t encountered any casework roadblocks in these first few days.” He added that “while we are somewhat limited in the resources available to us in terms of computer and email access, our casework team is answering the phones and eager to advocate for our constituents to bring matters to a successful resolution.”

Congressional caseworkers deal with all sorts of hurdles constituents face in their dealings with federal agencies — from the Department of Veterans Affairs to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. An incoming member such as Mr. LaLota would have already been handed off any casework initiated but not completed by his predecessor, Lee Zeldin. The deadline for such a handover was Dec. 23.

Speaking ahead of the House vote Friday night, Mr. LaLota said he was “optimistic that these federal agencies will work with us to resolve constituent issues despite delays in the House.”

Villages

First East Hampton, Then the World

In the summer of 2011, Alex Esposito and James Mirras addressed a specific need with Hamptons Free Ride, an electric shuttle service that ran in a fixed loop through East Hampton and from parking lots in town to Main Beach. Since then, a “hometown side project” has developed into Circuit, an all-electric, on-demand “micro-transit” solution in more than 40 cities and towns.

Jul 17, 2025

WordHampton Moves Downtown

The public relations firm WordHampton has long had its finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the East End business community. That comes with the job. And now, with a new office overlooking Park Place in East Hampton Village, it is part of that pulse in a way that was not quite as tangible from its former headquarters in Springs.

Jul 17, 2025

Sag Harbor Rejects Proposed Tree Settlement

The case of Augusta Ramsay Folks, an 81-year-old accused of cutting down two trees on Meadowlark Lane in Sag Harbor in June of last year — in violation of the village’s new tree-protection law — was back in court on July 8, when a settlement proposed by Ms. Folks was rejected by the village and then withdrawn by her attorney.

Jul 17, 2025

 

Your support for The East Hampton Star helps us deliver the news, arts, and community information you need. Whether you are an online subscriber, get the paper in the mail, delivered to your door in Manhattan, or are just passing through, every reader counts. We value you for being part of The Star family.

Your subscription to The Star does more than get you great arts, news, sports, and outdoors stories. It makes everything we do possible.