During recent months, the Great Neck News has published a series of letters debating the skills, or lack thereof, of Gerald Schneiderman, a long-term trustee of the Village of Great Neck Plaza.
I want to thank the editor of The Great Neck News for providing this forum for an extended discussion of this matter as incumbent officials of Great Neck Plaza, who are most often in their positions through uncontested elections, are not known for their willingness to publicly debate issues concerning their personal job performance.
With the foregoing in mind, and as a 40-year resident of the Plaza and one of the few people who has had the temerity to challenge a Plaza incumbent when I ran for Mayor in 2002, I feel compelled to participate in this discussion.
On one side of the debate is Michael Glickman who initiated the debate through commentary in his letters to this paper. I have read and re-read these letters. Glickman’s opinions, whether you agree with them or not, are based upon numerous facts and copious research and I have yet to read anyone coming forth to challenge these facts or in any way depict them as erroneous.
Rather, Glickman’s critics seem to be challenging his personality, his writing style, or the edge that he brings to his criticism.
In his letter to this paper on January 7, 2011, John Ryan, a member of the Great Neck Business Circle, states that Mr. Glickman’s facts are inaccurate and he is using this paper for a “smear campaign.” Yet, Mr. Ryan fails to state a single fact to demonstrate his charge that Mr. Glickman was either “dishonest or inaccurate;” rather Mr. Ryan prefers to furnish a wholly uncorroborated and undocumented narrative that Mr. Schneiderman is a “leader and friend to the community” and whose “main concern….is to grow business.”
I question how that meaningless assessment of Mr. Schneiderman makes Mr. Glickman dishonest? If Mr. Ryan knows of anything dishonest or inaccurate that Mr. Glickman said which he depicts as “ugly misrepresentations,” he should tell us specifically what he knows instead of resorting to the hypocrisy of referring to Mr. Glickman’s remarks as “dishonest” and a “smear campaign.”
Next we come to Muriel Pfeifer’s criticism of Mr. Glickman in her letter to the Great Neck News dated December 17, 2010. In addition to the usual platitudes that Mr. Schneiderman was a “valued trustee…hands-on, proactive, and productive,” at least Ms. Pfeifer, unlike Mr. Ryan, was willing to furnish specific information about what she believed were Mr. Schneiderman’s achievements in office.
First achievement, she says Mr. Schneiderman “spearheaded” Restaurant Week; it’s a shame that Gerry’s spearhead wasn’t sharp enough soon enough to prevent restaurants like Millie’s Place (a Great Neck icon for decades), Boston Chicken, Cold Stone Ice Cream, Quesnos Subs, Cosi, Fredericks One and Fredericks Two and many others from closing their doors during Gerry’s time in office. To the extent that Ms. Pfeifer claims that Restaurant Week was a success, she fails to state how she knows this to be true or can even furnish any anecdotal evidence for her conclusion (like what restaurants she chose to visit that week). Restaurant Week was not invented by Mr. Schneiderman, as Ms. Pfeifer would want us to believe – it’s a common event at many cities, including New York City.
Ms. Pfiefer then points to what she believes are Mr. Schneiderman’s other accomplishments. For example, she called him when she saw a broken patch of sidewalk and she says that he got it fixed because he cut through bureaucracy; it’s a shame that Ms. Pfeifer felt a call to the Plaza’s Public Works Dept. would not have achieved the same result. (Perhaps Ms. Pfeifer would take Gerry on a walking tour of the Village to get the rest of the place fixed up and eliminate the ubiquitous garbage bags which illegally appear every night on the Village’s streets).
Finally, she credits Mr. Schneiderman for a beautification program, lauding him for the placement of potted plants around the Village (something almost every other village routinely does as well) and chastising Mr. Glickman for not appreciating the “warmth, welcome, and beauty” of these plants. Actually, for Ms. Pfeifer to portray Mr. Glickman as preferring an “ascetic lifestyle” for our village, devoid of floral beauty is an untrue conclusion; all he said, Ms. Pfeifer, if you would re-read his letter, is that he doesn’t want our tax dollars used to beautify the LIRR train station with potted plants. And I agree. To portray Mr. Glickman as being against potted plants on the basis of that remark, is just as wrong as your portrayal of Mr. Schneiderman as the Johnny Appleseed of our Village.
This letter should not be construed in any way as defense of Michael Glickman who is extremely able to speak for himself. Whether you like his style or not, to me in his letters, he’s trying to raise important questions and bring an awareness of important issues to the public’s attention – and may I add, many of these issues have been generously obscured by the gang at village hall. Objecting to Mr. Glickman’s style is fine, but if you object to his substance, tell us what exactly is erroneous and how you know it to be wrong.
With respect to Mr. Schneiderman, Mr. Glickman asks pertinent questions. He wants to know Mr. Schneiderman’s accomplishments, after decades in office and being the recipient of hundreds of thousands of dollars of benefits including a salary, family health insurance, and pension entitlements.
I, too, would like Mr. Schneiderman to enumerate his accomplishments (and please don’t say you attended meetings and events – you were paid to be there).
When the trustees and mayors of every other village on the Great Neck peninsula serve voluntarily and without compensation, I would like to know from Mr. Schneiderman (or any other “Jean Team” member) why he can’t work like other trustees do for the honor and pride of public service to his community. Finally, I’d like Mr. Schneiderman (and other plaque holders) to tell his constituents why he needs two brass plaques installed on his personal vehicles proclaiming his title of “Trustee;” these plaques, in my opinion, are frivolous, pompous, meaningless, and an embarrassment to this Village.
And one last question for Mr. Schneiderman. If you are lucky enough to be re-elected, would you serve without any compensation, benefits, or brass plaques?
Let’s hope we can finally get a letter from Trustee Schneiderman!
Alan A. Gray
Great Neck
