5 seek re-election in North Hempstead town races

Noah Manskar
North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth speaks at a previous town board meeting. (Photo by Noah Manskar)

This year’s Nov. 7 election will see five incumbents, including four Democrats and one Republican, seeking to return to their seats in the Town of North Hempstead.

Supervisor Judi Bosworth, town Clerk Wayne Wink, and Councilwomen Lee Seeman (D-Great Neck) and Viviana Russell (D-New Cassel) are to run on a slate the North Hempstead Democratic Committee set earlier this month. The list will not be final until after the party’s countywide convention on May 31.

They will seek to maintain the party’s control of what Steve Markowitz, the leader of the Great Neck Democratic Club, called “the best run municipal government on all of Long Island.”

“I don’t see any really serious challenge to any of the incumbents in either party, and they all work together very well,” Markowitz said.

Town Councilman Angelo Ferrara (R-New Hyde Park) is looking to retain one of two GOP seats on the six-member Town Board. Ferrara is the board’s longest-serving member.

The field of GOP challengers that the Nassau County Republican Committee nominated last week includes businesspeople and a law enforcement expert who “are committed to cutting taxes and reducing waste in government,” said Jeffrey Clark, leader of the Mineola Republican Club.

“I think the residents are looking for honest government, they’re looking for hard working, dedicated candidates, and that’s what we bring to the table,” Clark said.

Bosworth, a Great Neck resident and former Nassau County legislator, is seeking a third two-year term as town supervisor.

One of Nassau County’s most popular Democratic officials, Bosworth has overseen a series of ethics reforms following revelations that Gerard Terry, the town’s former Democratic leader, had accumulated a tax debt of $1.4 million while collecting paychecks from the town.

Bosworth has also helped lead the town to an “Aaa” bond rating from Moody’s Investors Service, the highest possible rating.

Her Republican challenger is Stephen Nasta of Great Neck, a retired NYPD inspector and a lecturer at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

In his 21-year NYPD career, Nasta led two Bronx precincts and oversaw a staff of 400 narcotics investigators in the borough, according to his John Jay College biography.

Following his retirement in 1998, Nasta was named the chief detective investigator in the Bronx district attorney’s office, where he oversaw a wide variety of criminal investigations for 11 years.

Wink, another former county legislator from Roslyn, is seeking a second four-year term as town clerk.

He was elected in 2013 in a heated race against then-Clerk Leslie Gross, a former Democrat who ran as a Republican after the town committee did not nominate her.

His Republican challenger is David Redmond of Mineola, who owns DPR digital, an information technology consulting firm.

Redmond is a Chaminade High School graduate, a Mineola volunteer firefighter, a member of the Mineola Knights of Columbus and a Nassau County Police Activity League coach.

Seeman is seeking a fourth four-year term representing the 5th Council District, encompassing the southwest portion of Great Neck, North New Hyde Park and part of Floral Park. At 88, she is the Town Board’s oldest sitting member.

Seeman has been active in local Democratic politics since 1955. She has long been involved in the Great Neck Chamber of Commerce and has served on the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.

The Nassau County Democratic Committee honored Seeman last month with the Judy Jacobs Lifetime Achievement award, named for the late county legislator.

Seeman’s Republican challenger is Richard DeMartino, a vice president at the State Bank of Long Island and a former president of the Greater New Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce.

A Vietnam War veteran and New Hyde Park resident of more than three decades, DeMartino is a member of the North Hempstead Veterans Advisory Committee and has served on the board of directors for the Herricks Community Fund.

The New Hyde Park chamber honored DeMartino with the Florence Lisante Award for Outstanding Citizenship in 2014.

Ferrara, a 47-year New Hyde Park resident who owns his own printing business, is seeking a sixth term representing the 3rd Council District, which includes New Hyde Park, Garden City Park, Mineola and Williston Park.

He has touted his efforts to change outdated laws and his ability to work across the aisle to solve constituent problems.

Ferrara’s Democratic challenger is Jerry Vattamala of Mineola, a staff attorney for the New York City-based Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

He led the group’s fight in a 2012 case that sought to change how New York draws district lines in an effort to more fairly represent people of color.

Russell is seeking a third term representing the 1st Council District, which includes Old Westbury, New Cassel, Westbury and Carle Place. She is the Town Board’s first African-American member.

Before being elected, Russell worked at the town’s 311 Call Center and as a constituent liaison for state Assemblyman Charles Lavine.

Russell’s GOP challenger is Ursula Babino of Carle Place, who is the vice president of Custom Funding Corp., a Williston Park-based mortgage broker.

Babino has also served as the vice president of the Carle Place Civic Association.

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