Village of Great Neck Trustees Bart Sobel and Norman Namdar beat back a challenge from Perry Spector on Tuesday night, while the Village of Lake Success elected two new trustees and Kings Point re-elected its mayor and two trustees in an uncontested race.
In the Village of Great Neck, Sobel, of the Great Neck Greater Village Party, received 339 votes, while his running mate, Namdar, received 262. Spector, a 20-year-old challenger running with the Voice of the Village Party, secured 116 votes. There were also 10 write-ins.
“I feel vindicated,” Sobel said. “I feel that I worked very hard to earn the trust of the residents in this village and I hope I will continue to do so.”
Sobel added that the next step is to continue working on downtown revitalization, the Essex Road village footbridge and “continuing to improve our village in every way we can.”
Namdar also said he felt “very happy” to secure re-election.
Spector said that he ran for trustee because he saw a “very bright future ahead” for the community and he “wanted to be a part of bringing about even more positive change.”
“Regardless of the outcome of the election, I’m greatly please that I’ve had the opportunity to talk to so many of our residents about their opinions and helpful suggestions,” Spector said. “I believe that our village is in good hands, and it was quite evident that the other candidates also cared greatly about the community.”
Spector, a student at Baruch College and Great Neck North High School alum, said his next step would be to continue his education and “be a community activist to the best of my ability.”
Both Sobel and Spector thanked people for their support.
Spector had cited his youth as his “largest advantage” and “greatest asset” and campaigned on boosting transparency by advocating for livestreaming meetings, updating the village website, creating a new village newsletter and adding a discussion board on the website.
Sobel, an attorney, campaigned on his experience on boards, including his eight years on the village’s Board of Trustees, and completing ongoing projects like the Essex Road pedestrian bridge, revitalization of Middle Neck Road and possibly implementing new zoning rules.
The elections came as the village works with VHB, an engineering firm, and a citizens advisory committee to try to revitalize Middle Neck Road and East Shore Road.
They also come as a number of project applications are before the board, including a major redevelopment for Millbrook Court and a possible assisted living facility on the corner of Middle Neck Road and Hicks Lane.
In the Village of Lake Success, Mayor Adam Hoffman secured re-election with 126 votes and Trustee Stephen Lam held his seat with 94 votes. Residents also elected Dr. Robert Gal and Sugnam “Peter” Chang with 96 votes and 122 votes, respectively.
Gal and Chang fill the slots of Alan Mindel, who announced his retirement earlier this year, and longtime trustee Fred Handsman, who did not secure enough votes in the Village Party’s primary race – which was contested, as opposed to the general election – to be a candidate in the general election.
Of the 436 ballots cast in that election, Lam secured 255 votes, Chang 239, Gal 228 and Handsman 219.
The Village Party is the only party in the Village of Lake Success.
Meanwhile, in the Village of Kings Point, Mayor Michael Kalnick won re-election with 92 votes, as did Trustees Sheldon Kwiat and David Harounian with 90 and 89 votes, respectively.
The mayoral race and trustee races in Kings Point were uncontested.
