Running as a Republican, Lanza was first elected to the New York City Council in 2001 and re-elected for a second term in 2003 to the 51st Council District on the South Shore of Staten Island, representing over 150,000 constituents.
At the City Council he sat on the Education Committee, Land Use Committee, Sanitation and Solid Waste Committee, Standards and Ethics Committee, Environmental and Transportation Committee, as well as the sub-committee on Planning, Dispositions and Concessions.