Vanessa Tamari reelected to the Great Neck Park District Board
Vanessa Tamari is photographed at the Great Neck Park District Holiday Festival in Great Neck on Saturday. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Great Neck Park District Commissioner Vanessa Tamari was reelected Tuesday, defeating Gordon Charlop, a challenger who sued the district over his defeat in 2023.
Tamari won by a margin of 1,681 to 615, according to results provided by the park district on Wednesday.
Tamari, 47, of Kensington, will begin her second three-year term in January. She was first elected to the board in 2021. She is an attorney specializing in insurance defense and medical malpractice.
Tamari campaigned on purchasing more parkland, expanding the farmers' market and adding pickleball courts, among other initiatives.
Charlop, 66, of Great Neck, had spent much of the past year criticizing the district for what he had deemed its "unfair" election process.
The district operates a $19.9 million budget and oversees 16 parks covering 264 acres, officials said.
Charlop, a partner at a Wall Street securities firm, was defeated last December by incumbent Tina Stellato, 1,580-710. He then filed a lawsuit against the park district in Nassau State Supreme Court in which he made allegations of "illegal" absentee ballot procedures.
The lawsuit asked the judge to invalidate the election results. But the park district argued in court papers that a State Supreme Court judge had no standing to rule on the results of an election.
Jonathan Silver, Charlop's attorney, asked for access to the race's voting machine results and absentee ballots. The judge in September granted Charlop access to the ballots. Charlop said a private forensic document examiner found that 114 pairs of absentee voter applications and their corresponding ballots were "either probably or highly probably not written by the same person."
Charlop focused his campaign on the allegations.
"I'm thrilled with the results. I thank my voters, and I thank my community for standing by me," Tamari said in an interview.
In an interview Wednesday, Charlop conceded the election. "I congratulate Ms. Tamari on her victory," Charlop said.
Great Neck Park District Commissioner Vanessa Tamari was reelected Tuesday, defeating Gordon Charlop, a challenger who sued the district over his defeat in 2023.
Tamari won by a margin of 1,681 to 615, according to results provided by the park district on Wednesday.
Tamari, 47, of Kensington, will begin her second three-year term in January. She was first elected to the board in 2021. She is an attorney specializing in insurance defense and medical malpractice.
Tamari campaigned on purchasing more parkland, expanding the farmers' market and adding pickleball courts, among other initiatives.
Charlop, 66, of Great Neck, had spent much of the past year criticizing the district for what he had deemed its "unfair" election process.
The district operates a $19.9 million budget and oversees 16 parks covering 264 acres, officials said.
Charlop, a partner at a Wall Street securities firm, was defeated last December by incumbent Tina Stellato, 1,580-710. He then filed a lawsuit against the park district in Nassau State Supreme Court in which he made allegations of "illegal" absentee ballot procedures.
The lawsuit asked the judge to invalidate the election results. But the park district argued in court papers that a State Supreme Court judge had no standing to rule on the results of an election.
Jonathan Silver, Charlop's attorney, asked for access to the race's voting machine results and absentee ballots. The judge in September granted Charlop access to the ballots. Charlop said a private forensic document examiner found that 114 pairs of absentee voter applications and their corresponding ballots were "either probably or highly probably not written by the same person."
Charlop focused his campaign on the allegations.
"I'm thrilled with the results. I thank my voters, and I thank my community for standing by me," Tamari said in an interview.
In an interview Wednesday, Charlop conceded the election. "I congratulate Ms. Tamari on her victory," Charlop said.
Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.
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