“The Orthodox Jewish community of Airmont just wants to be left alone to peacefully worship and coexist, but Airmont officials are openly hostile”
Fresh Air: Mayor-elect Nathan R. Bubel
T
he mayor of the Rockland County village of Airmont was defeated in his first reelection bid last Tuesday, four years after he ran for office with the promise to keep the Jews out.
Phillip Gigante and his fellow candidates for village trustees were turned out by voters in the village bordering Monsey, following a tumultuous election season. The chaos culminated in Gigante’s admitting three weeks before voting day that he “couldn’t defend” his campaign’s filing papers from allegations of voter fraud. He was removed from the ballot and then mounted a losing write-in campaign.
Instead, Nathan R. Bubel will be the next mayor of Airmont after winning 51% of the vote against Gigante’s 43%. Some 3,132 people cast ballots, for a 90% participation rate, the highest voter turnout in the village’s history.
The duel between Gigante’s “Preserve Airmont” party and Bubel’s “Protect Airmont” group played out in court before it went to the voters. Bubel’s side charged that Gigante’s party did not have enough valid signatures to qualify for a spot on the ballot; State Supreme Court Judge Sherri Eisenpress concurred, and Gigante was disqualified, as were his allies, village trustees Paul Marchesani and Anthony Valvo.
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