Lynbrook mayoral election to pit two former allies

The Lynbrook mayor and two village trustees said they will seek re-election in March, defying a challenge from a newly formed political party aiming to unseat the incumbents.

Mayor Alan Beach and trustees Robert Boccio and Ann Marie Reardon announced on Saturday that they will seek another term on the board as members of the Lynbrook New Vision Party.

"I put my entire heart and soul into being your mayor because I love this village," Beach wrote in a Facebook post. "Every decision I make is done with the sole purpose of improving our community and making Lynbrook the best village to raise a family."

In an interview, Beach, who was appointed mayor in 2017 after serving for a decade as a village trustee, said he would push to "revitalize my downtown" if re-elected.

"I want to see it hopping — more activity, more businesses coming to our village," he said.

The re-election announcement came two weeks after Deputy Mayor Hilary Becker and village residents Antoniella Tavella and Steven Liguori said they were forming the Preserve Lynbrook Party to challenge Beach, Boccio and Reardon for their seats, with Becker vying with Beach for the mayorship.

The mayoral race pits two former allies against each other. Becker was formerly a member of the New Vision Party, and Beach appointed him as his deputy mayor in 2017.

Beach declined to comment on Becker's run.

A central issue in the race will be the future of development in the village. The Preserve Lynbrook members, in announcing the party's formation earlier this month, railed against a 200-unit apartment building proposal that they said was too big and out of character with the community.

"There needs to be a master plan," Becker said. "To just start throwing up apartment complexes all over the place makes no sense to us."

The village board voted down the proposal in November.

Asked whether he supported multifamily housing development in the village, Beach said he would consider any proposal that "fits with the character of this village."