Village of Great Neck Mayor Pedram Bral echoed former Nassau County Executive Laura Curran’s prediction of a “bloodbath” for Democratic candidates in the 2022 midterm elections during the swearing-in ceremony for newly elected County Legislator Mazi Melesa Pilip.
Bral congratulated Pilip, a Republican, during her swearing-in ceremony at the Chabad Great Neck early last month, calling her victory over Democratic incumbent Ellen Birnbaum one that was “long overdue to the conservative values we all celebrate and cherish.” Bral touted Pilip’s efforts to fight on a grassroots platform and for the voters throughout the county’s 10th Legislative District, helping the Republican Party have its voice heard.
“The silent majority has spoken and we are no longer silent,” Bral said.
Curran, a Democratic incumbent who was defeated by a little more than 2,000 votes in November, told Fox News her loss to Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, was a result of the weakness conveyed by the Democratic Party. Curran also said it is important to have a confident leader.
“What we need always, and especially now, is someone who exudes confidence and competence,” Curran said. “Someone who sets a reassuring tone … I think it’s going to be a bloodbath for the Democrats in the midterms.”
Bral agreed with Curran’s prediction, saying the Democrats “have taken it far left” and he hopes the American Dream will stay alive after the midterm elections.
Following Republican election victories in Nassau County in November, the New York Republican Party’s statewide nominating convention will take place at the Garden City Hotel from Feb. 28 to March 1.
While criticizing those on the “far left” for inserting their ideologies into education, Bral reflected on an instance where he asked an educator to prioritize inclusivity in teachings and provide students with some of the values that conservatives have. Bral said he was told by the educator that a majority of Americans find the conservative values offensive.
“I want to say that here we stand, we say no to [critical race theory], no to divisions,” he said. “Stop making us villainized because of our standing for the conservative values that god has given us. We are standing here to celebrate the family values that we all celebrate.”
Great Neck Board of Education President Rebecca Sassouni said during a Jan. 19 public meeting she does not “appreciate our community being caught in the crosshairs of politicians or our community becoming the fodder for threats of bloodbaths.”
“It feels like there has been a ‘fever pitch’ for quite a few years now and I really pray the fever breaks,” she continued.
Bral touted the need for communities with diverse groups to stand together for the betterment of society.
“We have to stand together. It cannot be one part of the society saying one thing and the other part saying another thing,” he said. “I know for a fact that people who are in this room have the same values. We believe in the same things and we will fight for the same things.”
Pilip, in her speech, said she wants to be a legislator who “works with everyone to get things done” throughout her district, which encompasses Manhasset, Manhasset Hills, North Hills, Searington, Herricks and the nine villages on the Great Neck peninsula.
“I believe that everyone has something to contribute in a meaningful way,” Pilip said. “Government is about helping people. It’s about meeting the challenges we have, positively.”
News flash: “God-given conservative values” should not be discussed in a public school classroom. Discuss them in religious school classes, where they belong. Furthermore, as I wrote previously in a letter to the editor of this newspaper, Mayor Bral has no business making speeches about what should be included in Great Neck’s public school curriculum, unless he wants to step down as mayor and run for the Board of Education.
And while you reported selectively on some of his speech, you neglected to include his offensive transphobic comment that he “believes in chromosomes,” and you omitted his blatant insult to a teacher when you wrote that he “reflected on an exchange with an educator.” The exact words Mayor Bral used were “so-called educator,” which just exemplifies his contempt for the dedicated teachers in the GN Public Schools. Please, if you’re going to quote him, quote him correctly so that everyone can read his outrageous comments. These insidious attempts to undermine our public schools in his speeches and public statements go hand in hand with his enthusiastic support for continued overdevelopment in the village without consideration for the impact on our schools and infrastructure.
This man is charged with running a village of 10,000 people and he can barely discharge his duties as required, yet he sticks his nose in Board of Education business as well as county, state and national politics, creating and furthering division and animosity among his constituents.
If Mayor Bral really wants the communities with diverse groups to stand together, he should start by checking himself – his Facebook page contained a Lunar New Year greeting on 2/1/2022 that is at best tone-deaf, and at worst microagression against his Asian constituents. A quick Google search would have given him an appropriate greeting to share. Instead, he choose to adapt a Jewish quote attributed to Moses in Deuteronomy, and wished his readers “May you be the head of the tiger and not the tail.” He may have intended it to be humorous, but it just shows his ignorance and insensitivity to the diversity in his village. And to add insult to injury, he repeated this comment at the village board of trustees meeting that evening, elaborating with “That’s a greeting from the new year celebration in our culture.” Indeed it may be, but this is another culture’s holiday, and respecting their traditions would be a good start towards standing together with diverse cultures.
May there be no bloodbath in the next elections, but may a new, worthy mayor be elected to govern the Village of Great Neck after so many years of disrepair and conflicts.
What’s your point? You don’t even live in his village.
Most of Ms Gordon’s letter concerned Mr. Bral’s involvement with the schools. She pays school taxes just like you do.
Bral has nothing to do with the schools. School is an entity of its own and he has ZERO authority over it. PERIOD
I believe Ms. Gordon has issues with science, reality, Judaism and almighty.
Meow ?
I agree with Ms. Gordon, 100%!
Nina Gordon- only in your delusional alternative reality word believing in chromosomes is a transphobic statement. Grow up.
I agree with Nina Gordon, 100%!
The village of Great Neck where Pedram Bral is mayor is overcrowded and suffering from constant traffic and parking issues, East Shore Road across Avalon is a traffic nightmare for everyone who uses it. Middle Neck Road in the village is dangerous to drive because of the broken median and uneven pavement. Firebrands uncover illegally overcrowded dwellings. The streets are dirty, many of them suffer repeated flooding. The village lost most of its trees, businesses are dilapidated, zoning laws are only on paper and nobody follows them with approval of the board of trustees. The village taxes increase while the tax base is shrinking.
With all these problems, Mayor is busy with the more than 10 Million Town Hall construction instead of taking care of the streets and businesses. Mayor Bral should focus on solving problems in his own village before venturing into other domains. Good public schools are the only remaining foundation of our property values. Please, don’t touch it.
Kate,
To debunk few of your incorrect statements: middle neck road is a county road and county contractor ran out of time to pave before winter, it has nothing to do with the Mayor. You can bypass “traffic” in front of Avalon by going down vista. If you’re aware of illegal dwelling, be a responsible citizen and call the village building dept to investigate. There are over 23 miles of roads in vgn and you claim many have flooding issue? As far as flooding, only Plymouth, Chadwick and Warwick, which are built on clay and are at the bottom of two hills have flooding issues. Zoning laws are controlled by board of zoning not board of trustees. There’s a 2 million dollar budgeted for the new village hall in the budget, where do you get 10 million? Also school will have a choice to buy the old village hall and expand, are you suggesting you are against it? Finally your most ignorant comment about taxes: go educate yourself, village taxes have gone down out been stagnant in the past 5 years. What you referring to is school taxes, yes school taxes are going up year over year outrageously and out of control. I wish Mayor would run the schools to put stop on pout of control spending by school board.
Meow ?
Karen Goldberg do you ever get tired of lying and complaining?
Great Neck is very divided. We need to find common ground. Politics is becoming its own religion and it has to stop. Take the goggles off everyone and lets remember why we live and love in such a great town.