Kings Point board prepares for race

Anthony Oreilly

The seats of Village of Kings Point Mayor Michael Kalnick, Deputy Mayor David Harounian and trustee Sheldon Kwiat will go uncontested in the village’s upcoming June 17 elections. 

But last minute write-in candidates have announced their candidacy in previous village elections. 

Real estate attorney Mojgan Sasson and cardiologist David Schifter declared their intentions to wage a write-in campaign against then trustee Peter Aron and Ron Horowitz a week before the 2011 village elections.

Sasson and Schifter said they decided to run after the village board implemented a 9.8 percent village tax increase. 

A total of 452 votes were cast in the election with Aaron receiving 222, Horowitz 226, Sasson 58 and Schifter 29.

Sasson then went on to challenge Kalnick for the position of village mayor in the 2012 election while Schifter and Kings Point resident Freydoun Elnekaveh challenged Harounian and Kwiat.

Kalnick won 816 to 489. Harounian and Kwiat received 830 and 828 votes, respectively, while Schifter and Elnekaveh received 491 and 441 votes, respectively. 

The deadline to file to run for a village seat this year was May 13. 

Village residents can cast their vote from 12 until 9 p.m. at Kings Point Village Hall, which is located on 32 Steppingstone Lane.

Efforts to reach Kalnick, Harounian and Kwiat for comments on their candidacies were unavailing. 

The village’s public relations firm, Ryan and Ryan PR Inc., provided statements for all three of the candidates. 

Kalnick is seeking his 17th term as Kings Point’s mayor, having previously served as trustee and deputy mayor. 

Kalnick, in Ryan and Ryan’s statement, said he wishes “to continue to use his vast experience in village government as mayor of Kings Point to ensure the village continues to thrive.”

A resident of Kings Point for more than 40 years, Kalnick has also chaired the village’s board of zoning appeals and the Great Neck Fire Alert Company’s Length of Service Award Program. 

He is also the current chairperson of the Water Authority of Great Neck North. 

A graduate of New York University School of Law, Kalnick is a partner at the law firm of Kalnick, Klee & Green LLP in Manhattan. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Harounian, a resident of Kings Point for more than 40 years, is seeking his sixth term on the board. 

A statement from Ryan and Ryan says that Harounian wishes to “serve the community he holds so dear to his heart.” 

“As a village trustee, he plans to carry out his commitment to maintaining the area as one of the best places to live in America, practicing fiscal responsibility, upholding an open door government and preserving the excellent quality of life enjoyed by the residents,” the statement stated. 

Harounian in March was offered a plea deal to have sexual harassment charges against him held in abeyance for six months. 

The agreement, called an “adjournment upon contemplation of dismissal,” was granted by Nassau County First District Judge Susan Kluewer during a brief bench trial in which Kluewer agreed to drop the case for six months on the condition that the 75-year-old Harounian completes 14 hours of community service and “stay(s) out of trouble.”

“I’m very happy with it and I’m fine with it,” Harounian said in an interview about the plea deal.

Harounian in a January interview said he does not believe the charges will have an impact on his chances of winning.

“Why should it?” Harounian asked when questioned about the potential impact of the charges on this re-election campaign.

Harounian allegedly made sexual comments to Cronin during services at Temple Israel of Great Neck  on Oct. 26, 2013.

After Cronin went to the police, Harounian was given a court summons for harassment in the second degree.

Cronin’s attorney, Marvin Kornberg, has said that multiple people saw Harounian make sexual comments to Joanna Cronin, a 43-year-old Great Neck woman, and force Cronin’s “own hands to her breasts, touching her breasts during services.”

Melvin Roth, who represented Harounian after the summons was issued, rejected the allegations at the time, saying Harounian had never harassed Cronin.

“They’re not true at all. They’re completely baseless. Never happened. We’re going to fight it vigorously in the courts,” Roth said. “I don’t know where she’s getting these allegations from.”

Harounian appeared in First District Court on Nov. 7 on charges of harassment and was issued an order not to harass or commit any crimes against Cronin.

Harounian, who was born in Iran and moved to the United States at the age of 19, is the owner of Harounian Rugs International, a rug manufacturing business located in Manhattan.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University. 

Harounian has served as the vice president and first vice president of Temple Israel of Great Neck and is currently the temple’s chair of the President’s Advisory Board. 

Harounian also served on the village’s architectural review committee before being elected to the board of trustees. 

In December of 2013, Harounian created the Persian-American Business Leadership Council, an organization that strengthens “the bonds between the vibrant immigrant ethnic group and the broader American business community,” according to a press release.

Harounian helped to start Keren Hayeled, an institution that works with orphans around the world to offer rehabilitation and educational services.

Kwiat is seeking to extend his more than 30-year stay on the board. 

Ryan and Ryan’s statement says that Kwiat, the village’s architectural review board chair and president of his family’s diamond jewelry firm, wishes to work to improve the village’s police force. 

“He would like to further develop the village’s important emergency response plan by continuing to work with county and federal agencies on matters of public safety,” the statement said. “Additionally, Kwiat plans to maintain the close, friendly and supportive relationship the village has established with the United States Merchant Marine Academy.” 

Kwiat has also served on the board of governors of the Gemological Institute of America for 12 years, the executive board of directors of the Diamond Manufacturers and Importers Association, the board of directors of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee and chairs the board of directors of the Jewelers Security Alliance. 

He has previously served as the vice-chair for Young Adult Institute/National Institute of People with Disabilities.

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