Great Neck Park Race: 170-Acre Dispute Pits Incumbent Against Challenger

The roughly 170-acre Kings Point Park is the central battleground in the race for Great Neck Park District commissioner. The property sits under a unique legal arrangement where the Village of Kings Point holds title but leases the land to the park district. This structural complexity has fueled a sharp disagreement between incumbent Tina Stellato and challenger Nancy Sherman.

Stellato, 50, seeks a fourth term after first winning election in 2017 and taking office in January 2018. Before her board service, she worked for more than 17 years as a professional tennis player at Parkwood Tennis. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from St. John’s University, where she received a tennis scholarship.

During her time on the board, the district has added new parkland and renovated facilities. Management also expanded recreational and cultural programs while increasing recreation revenue. Stellato cites these achievements as evidence of effective stewardship of the district’s resources.

Sherman, who is in her 60s, is a local attorney who moved to Great Neck in 1995. She raised two daughters in the community and has served on the Village of Thomaston Board of Trustees since 2023. In 2025, she founded Save Kings Point Park, a grassroots group formed to oppose proposed changes to the park’s layout and preserve its natural resources.

The conflict originated in 2025 when the village sought state legislation to remove 2.48 acres from Kings Point Park. The land would have housed a parking lot for a community center built by the United Mashadi Jewish Community of America. The bill required the village to provide replacement parkland to offset the loss.

The park district supported the proposal, stating it would trade the 2.48 acres for 5.67 acres of the former Wildwood Pool and Tennis Club property. Stellato noted that the Wildwood site was privately owned, meaning the district would gain land that was not previously public parkland. The district calculated that this new property, combined with nearly 8 acres of contiguous village-owned wetlands, would add about 13.5 acres of total parkland.

“I was absolutely for the land swap,” Stellato said. She argued the move would result in a net gain of parkland for residents. Sherman disagreed, stating, “I would never agree to give any of our parkland away.” She argued the district should not have backed the alienation and that residents deserved a chance to weigh in before the legislation was introduced.

Sherman said she would oppose any future legislation to remove parkland if elected. If outvoted, she would push for public hearings and a full environmental review before changes were made. The state Senate passed the initial bill in June 2025, but it stalled in the Assembly and was stricken in March 2026. Residents also filed a lawsuit challenging the village’s environmental review of the proposal.

Both candidates support expanding pickleball access. Stellato wants dedicated outdoor courts and continued improvements to sites like the Steppingstone Park splash pad and Thomaston Park. Sherman proposes a state-of-the-art indoor pickleball facility at Memorial Field. She also emphasizes park maintenance, financial transparency, and fuller use of existing properties. The election is scheduled for Dec. 8 from 1 to 9 p.m. across four separate polling locations.