Plaza candidates pledge to stay the course

Richard Jacques

With three candidates running unopposed, this year’s election in Great Neck Plaza promises to offer more of the same in terms of village representation.

Long-time Trustee Gerry Schneiderman and recently-appointed Trustee Marion Green, each running without opposition, have offered few new ideas as they head for what appears to be certain re-election.

“I kind of feel it’s a continuation of my volunteer service that I have done my whole life,” said Green, who like Schneiderman, earns $10,000 per year as a trustee.

Unlike some Great Neck villages, where elected officials serve without pay, Great Neck Plaza features some of the highest paid, non-volunteer board positions on the peninsula. In the Plaza, the deputy mayor is paid $12,500 and the mayor takes home $40,000 annually for their part-time positons.

Elected officials in Thomaston, Kings Point and Great Neck Estates take home no pay.

A former Great Neck school teacher for 33 years, Green was appointed to the board of trustees in March by Village of Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender after the resignation of former Trustee Rafe Lieber.

“I see democracy working and it’s wonderful,” said Green, who has never faced an opponent in a board of trustees race.

The lack of candidates, which Green said is not good for the village, could be due to the time constraints of the job.

“I think the reason, in my mind, is that the younger people don’t have time [to run],” she said.

Green is a proponent of mixed-use zoning and she said village revitalization is one of the major issues facing the Plaza in the coming years.

A resident of the Plaza for two decades after moving from Queens, Green has served on the village Board of Zoning Appeals and the Historic Preservation Commission, the Great Neck Coop Condo Council and she is a 10-year member of the Institutional Review Board at North Shore-LIJ hospital.

Green said she and the other members of the Plaza board of trustees, all members of the United Residents Party, work well together.

“We are of one mind in trying to address the needs of the village,” Green said.

Also running uncontested this year is Schneiderman, a village resident for 40 years and a board of trustees member since 2000.

Schneiderman, a retired businessman, said he is also in favor of mixed-use zoning, which he said would help revitalize the village.

“You want people to be active and moving around in the downtown in the evening,” Schneiderman said.

When pressed by Blank Slate Media on his position regarding the proposed Thomaston pocket track extension by the Long Island Railroad, which could impact the Plaza, Schneiderman deflected the question at first.

“I think I would differ to Mayor Celender on it,” he said. “It’s too deep a topic.”

After some prodding, the candidate expounded on the issue further, stating that the pocket track would be good for the region, but further discussion is needed before a final decision is made.

“I think it would benefit the entire peninsula,” said Schneiderman.

Schneiderman served as chairman of the board of zoning appeals from 1982 to 2000. He is currently the village representative to the Nassau County Village Officers Association and the Great Neck Business Circle and is the liaison to the Great Neck Village Officials Association.

According to Schneiderman, being a trustee is the “best job” he’s ever had but it’s “time consuming.”

“People with young families can’t do it,” Schneiderman said. “Conservatively, I’m out six to eight evenings per month.”

Schneiderman is currently researching a project which he said could reduce residential gas bills by 8 percent in the village and an additional 12 to 13 percent for commercial users.

No decision has been made by the board of trustees regarding the gas proposal, which was briefly introduced by Schneiderman at a public meeting Feb. 16.

Uncontested races are not the norm for the Plaza. In the last five years, there has been only one uncontested race – that being in 2009.

Last March, three United Residents Party members defeated three Citizens For Plaza Reform Party members in contested races for trustee and mayoral spots.

In the 2010 village trustee race, Ted Rosen received 604 votes. Pamela Marsksheid’s received 600 votes. Michael Glickman received 402 votes and Scott Schwartz tallied the least number of votes at 394.

Celender defeated mayoral candidate Stu Hochron by 189 votes last March.

After being soundly defeated last year, Glickman, a sharp critic of the current administration, and Schartz each did not enter the race this year.

Incumbent Plaza Justice Neil Finkston of the United Residents Party will also be running unopposed.

Finkston, a village justice since April of last year, is a partner with the law firm of Hertzfeld & Rubin, P.C., specializing in appellate litigation.

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