Steve Markowitz will be replaced on the Village of Great Neck’s Zoning Board of Appeals, officials said at a Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday night, after about a decade of service.
“I thanked him for his services for the past 10 years. It does take a significant amount of time and dedication,” Mayor Pedram Bral said at the meeting. “He will be replaced with Mr. Daniel Romani.”
Markowitz said he received a call from Bral on Tuesday, in which he thanked him for his service and said he “wants to make changes.”
“He threw me off,” Markowitz said on Wednesday morning.
Bral said it was the end of Markowitz’s term – meaning the mayor could appoint or reappoint him – and that many people “have been asking for the position.” He has also been interviewing other people to see if they’d be interested in other positions, he said.
“Younger people are interested and I think that it’s good that younger people are interested,” Bral said, noting that it’s “pretty much one of the main reasons” for the change.”
“I think he has done a great job for a long time,” Bral added. “Now it’s probably time to pass it on to somebody else.”
Information about Romani was not immediately available.
Markowitz said he also received calls from fellow Zoning Board of Appeals members, including chairman Dennis Grossman, after the news got around.
“Dennis called me. He was shocked,” Markowitz said. Later, he said, “It caught everybody [on the zoning board] totally by surprise.”
Markowitz added that it’s one of the duties of the mayor to appoint people and that “as I’ve often said, elections have consequences.”
When asked for a comment, Grossman said, “Steve has been an important, integral part of the board for a long time.”
Bral also appointed Gary Slobin, an attorney on the Citizens Advisory Committee for the revitalization of Middle Neck Road and East Shore Road, to serve on the village’s Planning Board.
