The monthly meeting of the Great Neck Chamber of Commerce (GNCC) welcomed the area’s newly elected officials, New York State Senator Elaine Phillips and New York State Assemblyman Anthony D’Urso, at the breakfast held on Jan. 19 at the Inn at Great Neck.
GNCC President Scott Zimmerman said that he was “very pleased that both chose to come to the Great Neck Chamber meeting so close after their respective elections.” Program Chairperson and Town of North Hempstead Councilwoman Lee R. Seeman spoke of the officials’ past accomplishments and welcomed them to Great Neck.
Phillips, who represents the New York State Seventh Senate District, was elected to the office previously held by Senator Jack M. Martins. She was formerly the mayor of the Village of Flower Hill. Prior to her election as mayor, Phillips was a financial analyst for MetLife and J.P. Morgan Securities, and a vice president in Institutional Sales at Goldman Sachs.
“[I was] lucky enough to be able to leave the private sector to care for my three daughters and then enter public service and serve as a public official,” said the senator. She spoke of her swearing-in ceremony at the State Capitol building in Albany, of the “enormous size” of the building complex and of her assignment to eight senate committees.
Assemblyman Anthony D’Urso, who was elected to represent the New York State 16th Assembly District, will be replacing Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel, who chose not to seek reelection to the post that she held for 10 years. For more than 30 years, D’Urso served as a public servant with the Department of Housing Development in New York City and then as assistant commissioner of the Office of Architecture, Engineering and Construction. The assemblyman also served as a Town of North Hempstead councilman for many years, representing the entire town before the town’s six council districts were created.
D’Urso left the public eye for a while so he could perform good deeds around the world, but said, “[I am] delighted to once again serve the public, to be sworn in as an elected official at the state capital in Albany and to serve my constituency on the five committees to which I have been assigned.”
Both Phillips and D’Urso look forward to reaching out to the communities that they now represent—to talk to their constituents, hear their concerns and issues, and to implement as many improvements and reforms that they can.
The next GNCC meeting will be held on Feb. 16. For further information, call 516-487-2000 or email info@greatneckchamber.org.
