that he honestly did not know if he would serve a full second term; this statement led critics and his main opponent in the 2017 Borough President election, Tom Shcherbenko, to argue that he should not run for Borough President if he already had one foot out the door. Oddo was re-elected Borough President in 2017. Oddo ultimately chose not to run for Surrogate Court Judge. Views towards Muslims In 2010, when developers planned to build a Muslim community center and mosque in Lower Manhattan, Oddo said he understood the outrage of families opposed to building a Muslim place of worship within a mile of the World Trade Center. Later that year, when a Catholic church planned to sell a convent to a group intending to use the building for a mosque, Oddo said that he would oppose the plan until the "responsible leadership of the Muslim community wholeheartedly, full-throatedly condemns the extremists of their religion." In 2005, Oddo said that police officers conducting random security searches on the New York subway system was not enough. Instead, he wanted police officers to prioritize the searching of young Muslim men. References External links NYC Council: District 50 - James S. Oddo Longer version of Norwegian show Rikets røst including more of James Oddo interview Exploding New York City Councilman Refuses To Get 'Punked' (Fox News, 2007) 1966 births American people of Italian descent Fordham University alumni Living people New York City Council members New York Law School alumni New York (state) Republicans People from Staten Island Staten Island borough presidents Monsignor Farrell High School alumni