Greenstein Likely Winner in New Castle; Dems in Front for Town Board
New Castle Supervisor Robert Greenstein appeared headed toward re-election late Tuesday night but the opposing Democrats’ town board candidates Jeremy Saland and Hala Makowska were out in front of Greenstein’s running mates.
The Republican-endorsed Greenstein was leading Democratic challenger Victoria Alzapiedi by 273 votes, according to figures from both party headquarters. Shortly after 2 a.m., the Westchester County Board of Elections updated its totals to include all 16 districts in town with Greenstein ahead 1,926-1,625.
In the town board race for two council seats, Saland was the leading vote-getter (1,935) followed by Makowska (1,831), who outlasted Republican Eileen Gallagher (1,759). The Republicans’ second town board candidate, Seth Chodosh, collected 1,456 votes.
Initially, totals were delayed from the town’s District 5 because the votes were unable to be tabulated due to a problem with the machine.
Although Greenstein seemed confident he would win a second term, he said he was disappointed that Gallagher was likely to come up short.
“I’m not surprised by my outcome to be honest with you,” Greenstein said shortly after 10 p.m. at the Republicans’ headquarters. “I was hoping for a better outcome for Eileen. But the truth is they outspent us by four times and they have the voter registration (in their favor) two to one. So considering they have the voter registration two to one and they outspent us four times, I think we did okay.”
The final weeks of the campaign, particularly the supervisor’s race, turned bitter where supporters of both slates took to social media to alternately support their side and ridicule the other. The campaign also featured a flare-up a few weeks ago between Saland and Greenstein, when Saland, one of the town’s three prosecutors, accused the supervisor of questioning his integrity because of a high rate of parking ticket dismissals last month.
Gallagher said she was happy that she was able to stay above the fray and run a clean campaign.
“I’m proud of the campaign I ran,” she said. “I was really excited. I felt I did a great job, and no matter what the vote is, I feel like I’m a better person for the experience.”
Makowska said she wasn’t surprised that voters made the somewhat unusual choice of splitting their allegiances by re-electing the Republican incumbent supervisor, yet opting for her and Saland. She called the results the voters’ desire for checks and balances.
Although she and Saland will be in the minority, Makowska said she is hopeful the board will function well. She said that she was initially in a similar position when elected as a commissioner for the Millwood Fire Company.
“I’ve been in the minority before on the Board of Fire Commissioners and I think there is sometimes a settling in period, but I think that most people rise to the occasion, and I think my colleagues, some of which already reached out to me, will rise to the occasion as well so that we can function in the best interests of the town,” Makowska said.
They will replace fellow Democrats Elise Kessler Mottel and Jason Chapin, neither of whom ran for re-election.
Meanwhile, Greenstein dismissed concerns that there could be lingering hard feelings from the campaign when the new board is seated in January. During the past two years he has had numerous run-ins with Chapin, which he blamed in large part on the outgoing councilman’s membership in the town’s Democratic Committee.
“I’m just worried that everybody is looking out for the best interests of New Castle, and I think that they will be because it’ll help that they’re not active members of the New Castle Democratic Committee,” Greenstein said of Makowska and Saland.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/