Recently, the outskirts of Long Island found themselves without a mayor or many other officials after a mass resignation on Thursday. This came in the wake of a staggering 87% increase in property taxes.
Mayor George Pappas of Atlantic Beach abruptly stepped down, along with Deputy Mayor Charles Hammerman. Their resignations occurred just two months after the controversial tax hike took effect.
The tax increases were linked to a federal discrimination lawsuit filed against the town by Chabad Lubavitch of Beach, a Jewish organization that purchased the old Capital One Bank building in 2021. The group converted it into a synagogue and community center, claiming it faced discriminatory practices from local officials.
With both Pappas and Hammerman gone, the governance of Atlantic Beach will temporarily shift to three trustees. However, two of these trustees, Patricia Beaumont and Nathan Etolog, will be leaving shortly as newly elected councillors Joseph B. Pierantoni and Laura Heller are set to be sworn in on the following Monday.
The pair had successfully won seats in last month’s village election.
This means that Barry Floringer, the lone remaining member of the current board, will be left to manage a leadership crisis as residents grow increasingly concerned about how the situation deteriorated so rapidly.
Pappas’s resignation was anticipated amid the backlash resulting from the drastic tax increase that many homeowners felt blindsided by. Yet, there’s been intense criticism from the county, which insisted that the village has inadequately managed commercial property valuations for years.
“Nassau County is not accountable for the village’s budget or tax collections in Atlantic Beach,” stated County Official Joseph Adamo.
Some community members suspect that the tax hike wasn’t merely a result of assessment errors but rather an attempt to cover the costs associated with ongoing and expensive legal disputes faced by the village.
When officials first learned about the Chabad project, they acted quickly to see it halted, initiating a procedure to seize the property for village use—though they ultimately lost in court after being accused of religious bias by the organization.
Just days prior, the village board quietly ratified a $950,000 settlement with Chabad, in addition to the $500,000 already expended on legal fees. It was within 48 hours of this decision that both the mayor and deputy mayor stepped down.
“We shouldn’t be footing the bill for their anti-Semitism,” one resident shared with the Post.
The village board has yet to respond to inquiries for comments.
