At a board meeting lasting less than 10 minutes, Village of Saddle Rock Mayor J. Leonard Symanski said he is waiting on word from newly-elected state Sen. Jack Martins in regard to a state grant through the Dormitory Authority for $100,000 offered to Saddle Rock for dock repairs in 2009.

Former state Sen. Craig Johnson, defeated by Martins in 2010, contacted the village and suggested that Saddle Rock apply for the grant which was approved, according to Symanski.

Although the repairs to 100 feet of the 50-year-old seawall on Little Neck Bay in Saddle Rock were completed in June, the village is still waiting on money promised by Johnson.

“As I understand it, if the grant was approved before Johnson left office, we get the money,” the mayor said on Monday. “I expect a check from them for $100,000.”

Symanski said he is prepared if the funding falls through.

“I have been in office long enough to know, if you don’t have the money, don’t spend it,” said Symanski, who has served 20 years as mayor in the village.

Martins is investigating the hold-up of the grant money, according to Symanski.

Also at the meeting, Symanski said contract negotiations with Cablevision for a new contract are still ongoing.

“One of these days we will get an agreement with them. We, as the other 15 villages, are operating under the old agreement,” said Symanski.

The Village of Russell Gardens Board of Trustees approved a second bid for road work repairs at its regularly scheduled meeting Thursday after receiving bids two months ago that came in over budget.

The board is seeking to repair two eroding storm sewer drains on Tain Drive and some curbings on Melbourne Road, Wensley Drive, Linford Road, Clent Road and Dunster Road.

“I felt that the dollars were too high,” said Russell Gardens Mayor Matthew Bloomfield.

Bloomfield said the village believed about $140,000 is needed for the street projects.

Also at the meeting, Bloomfield praised the town’s maintenance workers for maintaining good snow removal services despite the record-setting snowfall in the past few months.

“It’s been a busy, busy, busy, busy month for maintenance,” Bloomfield said, referring to the six snowstorms that have hit this winter. “Our roads have been constantly clear and passable.”

Bloomfield said the maintenance crew has also been active, repairing a broken snowplow so it will last several years longer.

In the wake of a tax increase in last month’s passed budget, Bloomfield said the repairs allowed the town to avert the need to spend the more than $70,000 required for a new plow truck.

“We have it very much under control,” Bloomfield said, explaining that he was confident about continuing service throughout the winter despite the challenging weather. “I think our people draw from years of experience, and they also learn from the differences each storm has to offer. So far, this year, we’ve been notably successful.”

The mayor added that, while taxes increased as a result of the passage of last month’s budget, he hasn’t received any complaints from residents. He attributed the relative quiet to a general satisfaction with the services being provided. In some cases this winter, town employees have gone beyond their responsibilities, clearing snow from sidewalks and personal property after clearing the streets.

“We have a really active group of trustees and mayor,” said resident and former Russell Gardens mayor Dan Nachmanoff, who attended the meeting. “[They] really follow the things and provide the services that we need in our community.”

The filing deadline for the March 15 elections in six Great Neck villages expired Tuesday with no new first-time candidates entering the race and three current mayors entering unopposed races.

Great Neck Plaza Trustees Gary Schneiderman and Marion Greene and current Village Justice Neil Finkston, all from the United Residents Party, will run uncontested races. Plaza trustees serve two-year terms, village justices serve four-year terms. Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender, who defeated Stu Hochron last year, is not up for re election in 2011.

In two Kensington races, Trustee Gail Strongwater of the Kensington Action Party and Alina Hendler of the Kensington Trust Party will run unopposed for two-year terms. Mayor Susan Lopatkin, who’s term expires next year, defeated Gloria Markfield in 2010.

Evergreen Party members Mayor Matthew Bloomfield, Trustee Jane Krakauer and Trustee Martin Adickman will run without opposition in three Russell Gardens contests for two-year terms.

Good Neighbor Party members Mayor Robert Stern, Trustee Gary Noren and Trustee Steven Weinberg will run unopposed in Thomaston for two-year terms.

In Saddle Rock, longtime Mayor J. Leonard Symanski will run unopposed along with current Saddle Rock Trustees Mark Collins and Dan Levy for two-year terms. Village Justice Leonard Lorin will run uncontested for a four-year term. All candidates are members of the Saddle Rock Village Party.

The Great Neck Estates election will feature no opposition for Better Government Party members Mayor David Fox, Deputy Mayor William Warner, Trustee Sidney Krugman and Village Justice Harold Hoffman. In Great Neck Estates, justices serve for four years, the mayor and trustees serve two-year terms.

Elections in Kings Point, Lake Success and Kensington and the Village of Great Neck will be held in June with the filing deadline set for later this year.

A revision to the Great Neck School District student privacy policy is being proposed which would allow secondary students to opt out from providing their names and information to military recruiters and institutions of higher learning.

Currently, only parents can opt students out, but if the new policy passes, children will have the final say.

“The change being made now is that students are allowed to opt themselves out,” said Great Neck School Superintendant Dr. Thomas Dolan at a school board meeting Monday.

Dolan said the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 compelled school districts to provide lists to military recruiters.

“In the past, because of federal legislation, if those names were requested, we did release them,” said Dolan.

The proposed policy might encourage more discussion on the issue between families, according to supporters of the policy.

“We just see this as a great teachable moment where a parent and child might have to sit and talk and decide,” said Dolan. “We hope there’s not too many disagreements but at the same time, we would love to see some discussion on the issue.”

According to the new policy, parents will still be notified if a child decides to opt out.

The proposed privacy policy will be brought back for a second reading at the next school board meeting March 14.

At Monday’s meeting, five students were honored for contributing to the quality of life at the Village School.

Stephen Amedo was named Rookie of the Year; Jordan Glassheim was named Quintessential Student; William Christopher Reed for Most Improved; Jeremy Weissman for Community Service; and Sara Gottlieb, who was not in attendance, was honored for Academic Achievement.

Village School Principal Stephen Goldberg handed out the awards.

Upon the recommendation from the New York School Board’s Association, an improper advocacy policy was approved by the district Tuesday which states that district school funds and resources may not be used to exhort voters to support a particular position.

“The new language underscores how important it is that the community be assured that taxpayer dollars are utilized solely for the education of our students and not to income the outcome of election in any way,” said Trustee Susan Miner-Healy.

Also at the meeting at the Cumberland Adult Center, a policy change was approved by the board which now requires parents to notify school principals in writing – not the school districts – regarding the presence of a possible life-threatening food allergies of students.

A 79-year-old New Hyde Park man died in an explosion and fire that engulfed his Seventh Avenue house early Sunday morning and injured two firefighters.

The man’s body was discovered in a vestibule near the back door of the house by members of the New Hyde Park Fire Department, who responded to the emergency call short after 1 a.m. on Sunday.

“When we arrived the whose house was on fire,” Chief John Willers of the New Hyde Park Fire Department said, adding that a “massive amount of flames” thwarted the firefighters’ initial line of attack in front of the house.

Willers said the New Hyde Park volunteers then gained access through the back of the house, where they discovered the man’s body 10 feet from the door. They then realized that the structural integrity of the building had been compromised and they with drew from the house.

“We pulled everybody out. At this point, we couldn’t do anything for him,” Willers said. He said the two New Hyde Park volunteers had sustained minor injuries and were released shortly after being taken to an area hospital.

Willers said an oxygen tank was discovered in the bedroom of the house. Neighbors said the man was suffering from emphysema, but smoked cigarettes.

The identity of the dead man, known to his neighbors as “Lee,” was not revealed pending notification of family.

Williers estimated that the 80 New Hyde Park firefighters on the scene, assisted by units from Floral Park, Bellerose Terrace and Stewart Manor, brought the fire under controls approximately one half-hour after they started trying to subdue the flames.

A neighbor of the victim, Suzanne Piotrovsky, said she was awakened by her mother’s screams, and ran outside to see the house in flames. Her parents were awakened by the explosion.

“I tried to see if I could get to him, but the house was immediately engulfed in flames,” she said.

Piotrovsky said her father, Alfred, initially called 911 and was put on hold for one minute. Her mother, Carole, then called the fire department emergency number, and the New Hyde Park volunteers were there within minutes, she said.

Piotrovsky said she and her mother had acted as caretakers for their elderly neighbor over the past two months. She described the man as being very independent, but obviously in need of assistance because of his deteriorating health. The two women regularly went grocery shopping for the man. And earlier on Saturday night, Suzanne Piotrovsky said she had delivered him his favorite meal, a sausage and cheese sandwich from Dunkin’ Donuts. He had requested that they buy him cigarettes earlier in the day, but she said she and her mother refused his request.

Piotrovsky, who is a radiation therapist at South Nassau Hospital, said the man had recently returned home after being hospitalized at Winthrop University Hospital. She said he had refused further treatment, but had been visited twice during the week preceding the fire by home health-care workers, who she said were contemplating an intervention to remove him from the house because of dangerous conditions.

Observing the condition of the house when she dropped off groceries, Piotrovsky said the house was in a disheveled state with debris everywhere.

“He was a hoarder. There were piles and piles of everything” she said.

Piotrovsky said her neighbor should not have been permitted to continue living in the decrepit conditions.

“This could have been avoided, this whole situation,” Piotrovsky said. “The living conditions put other people’s lives in danger in addition to his life.”

After running outside and realizing there was nothing she could do to save her neighbor, she said she pulled the family’s cars out of the driveway adjacent to the growing conflagration. The flames did ultimately scorch the side of the west wall of the Piotrovsky’s house.

“In another minute, our cars could have gone up,” she said.

Her visibly shaken mother could only utter a brief comment on the event.

“It’s a terrible tragedy. It just shouldn’t have happened,” she said.

The two Piotrovsky women said they had been in touch with their neighbor’s sole relative, a niece living in Tennessee, and had called her on Sunday to tell her the news about uncle’s death.

Residents six blocks from the explosion reportedly were awakened by it.

Chief Hillers said the cause of the fire is under investigation by the county fire marshal’s office.

In the wake of the bitter 7th State Senate race in which Jack Martins defeated Democratic incumbent Craig Johnson, the Democratic majority in the state Senate rescinded $8 million in grant money that had been committed by Johnson for a wide variety of projects to villages and school districts in the senatorial district, according to Martins.

“The senate majority, knowing they had lost the majority, pulled the $8 million in funds to the 7th Senate district,” Martins said.

In many cases, the grant money was anticipated as reimbursement for projects completed and paid for by the respective municipalities and school districts. Included was work for the Town of North Hempstead, the Village of East Williston, the East Williston School District, the Herricks School District, the Village of Williston Park, the Village of Saddle Rock and the Village of New Hyde Park.

Martins said the grants were rescinded shortly after his razor-thin election victory was certified in state appellate court in early. And he said the $8 million was subsequently redistributed to districts in which Democratic state senators had won reelection.

“It certainly wasn’t to save money,” Martins said.

Martins won election after a protracted court fight, with Johnson and the Democrats seeking a full recount of the 85,000 votes cast that produced a 451-vote margin of victory for Martins.

The $8 million in unfulfilled grant funding included $3.75 million pledged to the Town of North Hempstead.

“The politics shouldn’t get in the way,” Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman. “The bottom line is it shouldn’t matter who did what and when. We’re asking the state to follow up and go through with the commitments.”

Kaiman said he has conferred with Martins on the withdrawn grants, which he confirmed amounted to between $3.5 million and $4 million, and said he will follow up with members of the Assembly and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He said in all cases, the town does not do work on the respective grant projects until the contracts with the relevant state agencies are consummated.

The town received notification by letter about the grant commitments – some dating back to 2009 – that were not going to be honored last week.

“Some of these are a couple of years old. To take those away is just incredible,” Kaiman said.

Martins said he is doing what he can to follow through on financial commitments made in his district, but the current state fiscal crisis makes that a difficult mission.

“It is our hope that we can track the monies that were withdrawn and restore some of these grants that were left unfunded,” he said.

But an essential problem with tracking the unfulfilled grants is that Martins said that Johnson trashed the records of the grants he had on file in his office.

“My understanding is that the documents have been discarded,” Martins said.

One source said that Johnson may have been exceeding his ability to deliver on his financial pledges in providing numerous grants to fire departments in the district that have never been delivered.

“He was doling out money like candy. And now we’re hearing that a lot of grant money wasn’t even there,” the source said.

Efforts to reach Johnson were unavailing. A source said that Governor David Paterson had interceded to delay expenditures for projects already approved by the Dormitory Authority of New York State – a source for many capital improvement projects – and the state Department of Health.

Martins said, “It’s not an unusual amount of money. It’s the rollback that’s the issue.”

He is compiling information about the unfunded grants from all parties who have been affected, as part of his effort to recover some of the money that was promised.

Travis Proulx, a spokesman for the Senate Democratic Conference said, “Given the need to bring government spending under control and a looming $10 billion deficit, if funds are not approved and in use at the time their sponsor departs the Legislature, those grants end. Taxpayers want and expect accountability and this is the best way of ensuring they get their money’s worth. Senator Martins, as a member of the Republican Majority, will determine how capital funding is spent during the next fiscal year and which projects are a priority for him.”

A legislature source said the Senate Democrats took a post-election decision for the first time because of the state budget crisis to reconsider all grants offered through Democrats who hads retired or had lost their seats. The source said that grants already approved by the Dormitory Authority of New York State – one of the prime sources – remained secure.

The source said that the unallocated funds had not been redistributed as Martins asserted.

Village and school officials are concerned – and in some cases incensed – that the legislature did not honor Johnson’s commitments.

East Williston Mayor Nancy Zolezzi said the village is still in limbo on two grants it had been told it would receive, one for $100,000 on the refurbished library in the new East Williston Village Hall, and $150,000 for the East Williston Fire Department. The village did receive $100,000 for the village hall construction project, according to Zolezzi, who credited Trustee Michael Braito for his persistence in securing that money.

“We were doing work and it was great. There villages that went ahead and did the work and they were left in the lurch. I think it’s unconscionable,” she said.

The East Williston School District is awaiting $450,000 in grants pledged by Johnson, according to East Williston School Superintendent Lorna Lewis.

The district spent $150,000 for renovating the North Side School playground and the running track at The Wheatley School. It also spent $100,000 to repair the parking lot at the Willets Road School. Two of the three projects had to be completed before the district could receive the state funding.

“They were health and safety issues. We had to do the work anyway,” Lewis said.

Saddle Rock Mayor Leonard Smolensky said that he received a call from Johnson in November 2009 asking if the village could use $100,000. Smolensky said yes, and the village went ahead with a project to repair its sea wall.

He said he called Johnson last November to ask about the money, and Johnson said he had paperwork from the state dormitory authority indicating the grant was approved. He received a copy of the letter from Johnson, but still never saw the money.

“I wouldn’t have gone ahead with it if we hadn’t gotten the money. It’s happened before, it’ll happen again,” Smolenski said.

But in this case, the mayor said the work needed to be done anyway.

“The sea wall was over fifty years old. There were houses in danger,” he said.

The Village of New Hyde Park received two grants through Johnson to renovate the William Gill Theater in its village hall. It received one of the grants for $100,000, but has been informed that a second grant for $150,000 may not be received. Deputy Mayor Robert Lofaro said the village has sought Martins assistant in recovering the money.

“The truth is this is more of a political funding for votes. I think we’re caught in the middle of a political crossfire here,” Mayor Daniel Pertuccio said at last week’s village board meeting.

The Village of Williston Park has been anticipating a $100,000 grant reimbursement for street repairs it made last summer. But Village of Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar is still hopeful that the village will be reimbursed.

“We didn’t get a rescind letter, which is a good thing,” Ehrbar said.

But the state legislative source said the fact that rescind letters had not been sent out did not necessarily mean that the funds would be forthcoming.

The Mineola School District was anticipating grants of $150,00 and $100,000 through Johnson from the state dormitory authority for equipment in its high school and middle school science labs, according to Jack Waters, district superintendent for finance & operations.

“We were told, and other schools were told, that Sen Johnson had secured these type of grants,” Waters said.

He said the district subsequently submitted a detailed explanation of the equipment it planned to buy. Soon after Johnson lost to Martins, the district was notified that the $150,000 grant had been rescinded.

“The timing wasn’t too obvious,” said Mineola Superintendent of Schools Michael Nagler with a note of sarcasm.

Nagler and Waters are still hopeful that the $100,000 grant will be received.

The Herricks School District was expecting reimbursement of $150,000 from the state dormitory authority for work it had completed to refurbish the facade of the Herricks Community Center, according to Helen Costigan, Herricks assistant superintendent for business. The project was part of a larger $7.9 million bond project for capital improvements to buildings in the district.

For projects funded through the dormitory authority, the work must be completed and then the municipality or school district applies for reimbursement.

Herricks has not proceeded on a second project for a $100,000 grant secured through for computer and cable TV equipment because it’s never received confirmation from the dormitory authority.

“I guess it could be rescinded at any time,” Costigan said.

Local county legislators are responding along party lines to Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano’s decision to file a lawsuit Monday to block a takeover of county finances by the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, which ruled that the county’s budget is out of balance by $176 million.

“I think this a time when we all need to be working together,” said Nassau County Legislator Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck. “I would hope that we don’t spend a lot of time fighting with the people we are working with.”

A NIFA takeover of county finances will not take away the Legislature’s responsibility or oversight, Bosworth said.

Like NIFA, the Great Neck legislator criticized Mangano for repealing a home-energy tax last year, which was passed by former County Executive Tom Suozzi.

Bosworth, said it’s fine to eliminate revenue sources as long as they are replace adequately.

“There was a $40 million source that was eliminated,” said Bosworth.

Mangano recently stated to Blank Slate Media he has offset revenue shortfalls “10 times already” in the last 12 months by reducing costs.

Nassau County Legisloar Richard J. Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) said NIFA’s action was premature.

“The budget has some challenges in it, but Mangano should be given an appropriate amount of time to manage,” said Nicolello.

Elected officials should be protected to govern, according to Nicolello.

“If (NIFA) was wrong in doing this, we should not sit idly by and let it happen, he said.

In a statement Monday, Mangano said he is taking the necessary steps to protect taxpayers against NIFA which has continually expressed the need for Nassau to increase revenue.

“Where I come from, increased revenue is code name for higher property taxes,” said the county executive in a statement Monday after filing the lawsuit in the Nassau County Supreme Court.

“I am confident the court will provide me the opportunity to manage the financial affairs of Nassau County and protect our taxpayers.”

With no plans to raise taxes or let up on budget cuts, which have defined his first year in office, Mangano’s multiyear plan calls for no tax increases over the next four years.

“Although the County Comptroller and County Legislature concluded that the 2011 budget was balanced, NIFA took the unprecedented step to impose a control period not even one month into the budget year,” Mangano said in explaining the suit. “Simply put, NIFA’s action is unfounded, unfair and wrong. 

NIFA failed to provide recommendations to Nassau County regarding reduction of costs and improvement of services, according to Mangano.

Nassau County Legislature Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa) charged that all six membersof NIFA had conflicts of interest and were “ethically challenged.” He said he might subpoena NIFA members to appear in order to force them to disclose potential conflicts of interest. The six NIFA members include three Democrats, a Republican, a Conservative and an Independent.

Established in 2000 by the state Legislature to oversee the county’s finances and assist in providing financial stability, NIFA ordered a control period after ruling that the county would run a deficit of $49 million to $176 million – well above the 1 percent threshold that requires NIFA to take control.

In December, NIFA Chairman Ronald Stack said Mangano would still be able to govern while under the authority’s control. Stack said the onus would still rest with the county to come up with solutions to budget problems.

“NIFA’s creation was to ensure that elected officials continue to manage the county,” said Stack. “It was not established to be the governing agency.”

Democrats in the state Legislature say lawsuits will create hardships for beleaguered taxpayers.

“Whether you agree with the NIFA decision or not, NIFA has the authority to involve itself in our financial crises,” said Minority Leader Diane Yatauaro, “We must all work together cooperatively to provide renewed confidence in our fiscal condition for the economic marketplace and all our residents.”

Nassau Deputy County Executive Pat Foye resigned on Tuesday as a result of Mangano’s decision to file suit.

“The advice he has received to sue the state – the same state to which the country now looks for legislative and other support – and for others to smear duly appointed members of a state board created to held elected county officials fix Nassau County is irresponsible and wrong,” said Foye in a statement.

Mangano said he disagrees with Foye’s opinion on NIFA’s recent actions.

E-mail:rjacques@archive.theisland360.com

I regret that the exten- sion of the railroad lay-up track will trouble the resi- dents of Thomaston. It will indeed make a lot of noise during construction and cre- ate some intermittent ron- roning while trains are re- charging there – or whatever strange sounds trains emit while laying up.

However, the one is tem- porary and the other less of a nuisance than the trains that rumble by there now. And certainly some residents will be inconvenienced. This is often the situation when projects are undertaken.

But when the sturm und drang have passed, the re- sults are nearly always rec- ognized as benefiting the community. I believe this

will be the case here. The increased train capacity and flexibility will accrue to the residents of Thomaston as to all who live on the peninsula. It may even raise the value of houses in Great Neck – in- cluding in Thomaston.

I do not know whether the new construction will raise or lower the village’s income from taxes. But I cannot imagine that either way life there will be much affected.

People talk as if the pres- ent Colonial Road bridge – formerly known as the Grace Avenue bridge – has been there for ages. It has not been. When in the 1930s I rode my bike from Kensing- ton School – still lamented — to the home of my friend,

Alan L. Gleitsman (recently deceased, he who endowed a scholarship for Great Neck High School students) on Terrace Road in Thomaston, I crossed that bridge. It had a black iron structure and wooden planks for a roadbed that bounced and rattled as I crossed. It was upgraded to its present form probably in the 1950s or ‘60s.

Whatever complaints about noise that may have been made at the time of construction were rapidly overcome by the benefits of the new steel bridge. The same will happen again, not only with a newer bridge, but also with the lay-up track.

David Kahn

Great Neck

President Obama’s speech was disappointing.

Placing a freeze on discretionary spending for 10 years resulting in anticipated savings of $400 billion represents only 15 percent of the budget is a drop in the bucket.

Everything needs to be on the table including Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and military spending which represent 85 percent of the budget.

With $1.5 trillion dollar debt this year and $14 trillion plus long term, we have to dig deeper for real cuts.

Pledging to veto any spending bills containing earmarks was a recycled pledge from 2000 that has never been enforced. Earmarks for all agencies total in the billions isn’t enough. We need a return to 2008 spending levels.

This was prior to the one time stimulus, TARP, auto industry and cash for clunkers expenditures which distorted the yearly average amount of federal spending.

It is time to follow “pay-as-go” budgeting, means testing for all government assistance programs, sunset provisions for agencies and programs that have completed their missions.

Government should also adopt a real campaign against waste, fraud and abuse. They need to go after both individual and corporate delinquent taxpayers and student loans, aggressively. There must be an open budget process, on an agency by agency basis. This would help rather than the midnight omnibus budget adoption.

Failure to take real action now may result in America going from a superpower to a super debtor nation.

This would leave us far less relevant in world affairs.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

Point of information to Karen Rubin: Mayor Robert Stern is the mayor of Thomaston Village and as such he represents the residents of Thomaston and advocates on their behalf. Mayor Stern does not advocate for the management of the LIRR, not the proponents of mass transportation, not the Park District and its desire to expand commuter parking, and certainly not developers of the Nassau Hub.

Basically, Ms. Rubin’s complaint is that Mayor Stern is advocating for his village and will not allow the public relations machine of the LIRR or Ms. Rubin’s endless pompous sanctimony to intimidate him into agreeing to something that is not in Thomaston’s best interest.

Kudos to you, Mayor Stern. Kudos to you.

Janet Fine

Great Neck

Wouldn’t it be nice if truth-in-advertising laws applied to politicians as well, at least in regard to the way they report information?

The recent News article that suggested that the Village of Great Neck Plaza would run an annual budget of $200,000 less than the previous year is a farce.

In fact, had anyone bothered to read the transcript from the January 19, 2011 village trustees meeting, they would learn that village officials will exceed that $200,000 number by borrowing money through a bond issuance to address a handful of “capital” expenses. So while a few expense lines were removed from the forthcoming operating budget, the village is doing what they typically do, distorting the facts in a way that will leave all taxpayers carrying the bag (and this bag is going to be full of debt service costs).

None of us should be surprised by the way the village casually throws around the $200,000 figure because that is precisely the number those officials hope to cause confusion around. You see, it is $200,000 that we, village taxpayers, pay annually for our esteemed part-time politicians’ salaries, plus health insurance for the mayor and her family, as well as that of Trustees Schneiderman and Rosen’s families, plus the cost of the pension they work so hard to “earn.” And while the political elite will try to demonize me for highlighting these facts and figures, it is rather bothersome that the residents of this village are forced to sit idly by as the mayor and trustees selfishly find themselves only able to tell half-truths.

What amazes me is how these politicians are able to find money to renovate LIRR property surrounding the train station, property that is not owned by the village, yet they can’t find money to fix the elevator in the Maple Street parking garage that hasn’t worked in years. It is amazing that the mayor is able to find time for her weekly “visits” to the assisted living centers (in return for oodles of absentee ballots that determine the outcome of every local election cycle), yet she can’t seem to find time to walk around the village and speak to residents and store owners.

It is also amazing that Trustee Schneiderman represents the village on the BID board and some unknown Great Neck Business Circle (that is both absent from the web and the official record at village hall), and yet he has never offered a report about the urgent needs of our downtown to his colleagues or to the public at any trustee meeting in recent memory. And it is amazing that the great defenders of this administration are not village residents or store owners, they are not leaders in the community or even those who wish to see it improve, but rather they are those that have political and business interests before the current administration.

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were an administration that we could rely on to do the right thing and trust to address the needs of this village?

Michael S. Glickman

Great Neck

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