Mayoral races in Manorhaven, Flower Hill set for Sept. 15

Rose Weldon
Manorhaven Mayor Jim Avena is being challenged in the village election this year by Vincent Costa. (Photo courtesy of Mayor Jim Avena)

Five villages in the Port Washington area will have elections Sept. 15, with two villages holding contested races.

The village elections were originally scheduled for March 18, but following two reschedulings due to the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order for all village elections to take place Sept. 15.

BAXTER ESTATES

The Village of Baxter Estates will see two trustee seats and a village justice position up for election. Incumbent Trustee Alice Peckleis is running unopposed, along with village Justice Elizabeth S. Kase.

G. Douglas Baldwin, a trustee of 15 years, will have his name on the ballot, but last week he withdrew from the race, citing his inability to leave Taiwan due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Voting will take place at Baxter Estates Village Hall at 315 Main Street in Port Washington from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.

PORT WASHINGTON NORTH

Trustees Steven Cohen and Michael Malatino of the Village of Port Washington North will also be unopposed in their election.

Voting will take place at the Port North Village Office at 3 Pleasant Avenue in Port Washington from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.

SANDS POINT

The Village of Sands Point has a pair of two-year trustee seats and a single one-year trustee seat up for election. Incumbent Trustee Peter Foreman is running to keep his seat for another two years, while incumbent Trustee Jeffrey Moslow is on the ballot to keep his single-year seat.

Trustee Lynn Najman did not file a petition to run, and her seat is being sought by Planning Board member Rita Sethi.

All three candidates are running unopposed, and voting will take place at Village Hall at 26 Tibbits Lane in Sands Point from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.

MANORHAVEN

Manorhaven Mayor Jim Avena is being challenged for his position by resident Vincent Costa in the village’s upcoming September mayoral election.

As confirmed by Village Clerk Sharon Abramski, a slate of candidates in Avena’s Manorhaven Residents Party will face off against a group from the Manorhaven Liberty Party headed by Costa.

Running for two open seats on the village’s board of trustees on the mayor’s slate are Deputy Mayor Priscilla von Roeschlaub, who is seeking to maintain her trustee seat, and Zoning Board of Appeals member Joseph Zimbardi, running for the seat being vacated by sitting trustee Ken Kraft.

On Costa’s slate as trustee candidates are resident Walter E. Peters and local business owner Harry S. Farina.

Avena, a former trustee, first ran for mayor in a tightly contested election in 2016 against former Mayor Gary Pagano. He, von Roeschlaub and Kraft were all elected that year and were all unopposed for re-election in 2018.

Kraft had announced his intent to not seek re-election in January, citing a desire to “enjoy the winters in Florida, a much warmer climate.”

The Village of Manorhaven is scheduled to hold its voting at Village Hall, 33 Manorhaven Boulevard, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

FLOWER HILL

The mayor’s seat and three spots on the Flower Hill Board of Trustees are contested for the first time in several years.

Mayor Brian Herrington, who took office after the death of Mayor Robert McNamara in April, is running for mayor under the Flower Hill Party banner, with incumbents Deputy Mayor Randall Rosenbaum and Trustee Gary Lewandowski on his slate.

McNamara, who was running for a trustee position under the same party at the time of his death, will remain on the ballot as per the rules of the executive order.

Under the Liberty Party banner, three-year Trustee Kate Hirsch is running for mayor, with residents Diane Turner, Jay Silverman and Jeffrey Greilsheimer rounding out her slate.

The elections, originally planned for the spring, saw Hirsch challenge the Flower Hill Party’s petition to have it thrown out, only for the Nassau County Board of Elections to rule in the party’s favor. Hirsch then filed an ethics complaint against Flower Hill’s chief election officer, village Administrator Ronnie Shatzkamer, alleging that she was assisting the Flower Hill Party in its campaign, with both Shatzkamer and Herrington denying the allegations.

Flower Hill’s election will take place from noon to 9 p.m., with residents voting at Village Hall at 1 Bonnie Heights Road in Manhasset.

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