Village of Great Neck elections uncontested

Anthony Oreilly

Village of Great Neck trustees Norman Namdar and Barton Sobel will be running uncontested in this year’s village elections on Tuesday, June 17. 

But running unopposed has not meant no opposition in the village, as a last-minute write-in campaign last year threatened the seats of Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman and two other trustees.

“I would not like to think of any race as uncontested,” Sobel said on Monday.

Kreitzman, Deputy Mayor Mitchell Beckerman and trustee Jeffrey Bass narrowly won re-election last June after a write-in campaign was organized by community activist Rebecca Rosenblatt Gilliar, which resulted in hundreds of Great Neck residents lining around the block to vote for candidates who had not previously announced their candidacies.

Kreitzman defeated challenger Pedram Bral 325 to 232. Deputy Mayor Mitchell Beckerman took 316 votes and Trustee Jeffrey Bass won 320 votes, with opposition trustee candidates Christine Campbell and Anne Mendelson receiving 226 votes each.

Sobel, a resident of the village for 15 years, said while he encourages people to vote in the village elections, he said the write-in campaign was something that hurt the village. 

“I don’t think they’re doing a service to the voters and to the residents when they do that,” he said.

He said that a repeat of last year’s campaign was something that is in the back of his mind, but was not a major concern.

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

Voting will take place at the Great Neck House, located at 14 Arrandale Avenue from Noon to 9 p.m. 

Sobel was elected to the board of trustees in 2010 after former trustee Edna Guilor-Segal stepped down. 

“She told me that when she planned on stepping down, she thought I would be a good replacement,” Sobel said. 

Segal had also recommended Sobel to serve on the village planning board, the position he held before becoming trustee. 

At the same time, Sobel had been recommended as a member of the nominating committee for the Great Neck Public Library and as a member of the Great Neck Park District’s Advisory Committee for the Children’s Play Garden at the Village Green.

“Those three things kind of happened at the same time,” Sobel said. “It was a lot but it turned out to be pretty good. All of them were areas that I thought could use attention.”

Sobel said he decided to volunteer in the village after waking up one morning and seeing garbage strewn throughout the Village Green. 

“Somehow, I got involved in that and also with the construction of the Children’s Play Garden,” he said.

Sobel works as an attorney at his own private practice. He has been married for 17 years and has four children. 

On the same night as the write-in campaign former village Trustee Mark Birnbaum, husband of Nassau County Legislator Ellen Birnbaum (D-Great Neck), was elected as the village justice. 

Kreitzman appointed Namdar, who had served on the village’s board zoning appeals for nine years, to fill Birnbaum’s seat, which had one year remaining on his term. 

“The mayor thought it would be better service for the community,” Namdar said. “It was at the time I thought it would be something I could do as a service.” 

Namdar, who has lived in the village for about 16 years, said he has enjoyed his term on the board and wishes to continue. 

“I respect the mayor and the members of the board,” he said. “All of the applications that come before the board, they’re handled very properly.” 

Namdar said he believes the rezoning talks on Steamboat, Middle Neck and East Shore roads has been the most important application he’s heard since joining the board.

“It’s going to be great for the village residents,” he said. “It’s been handled very properly and there’s still more to come.” 

Namdar said he is also looking to getting village residents, particularly Iranian residents, more involved in village government. 

Namadar currently works part-time as a structural engineer for DMB Enginerring Firm in Woodbury. Prior to that he was an engineer at Gennat Flemming. 

He has a wife, three kids and eight grandchildren. 

He added that he hopes there’s “more grandchildren coming.”

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