Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow Welcome New Village Attorneys

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June 4, 2015

| by Elaine Marranzano |

Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow have each retained new village attorneys with specialization in real estate development, municipal law and land use.

Tarrytown’s new attorney is Steve Silverberg of Silverberg Zalantis in Tarrytown, replacing Jeffrey Shumejda, who resigned after 25 years due to health reasons. Silverberg previously provided legal services for Tarrytown on the development of Hudson Harbor and litigation against Sleepy Hollow regarding development of the General Motors property. He was formerly attorney for the town and Village of Mamaroneck and deputy town attorney for Greenburgh.

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Silverberg has a one year contract and an annual retainer of $54,000.

In contrast to his predecessor, Silverberg will share his duties with two additional lawyers from his firm. Katherine Zalantis will attend Planning Board meetings; Christie Tomm Addona will cover the Zoning Board, while Silverberg will attend the Board of Trustee meetings.

“There is an advantage to having several people familiar with the issues in Tarrytown,” said Silverberg. “We all benefit from having more than one mind thinking about these things.”

Silverberg is a graduate of Brooklyn College and the N.Y.U. School of Law.

Sleepy Hollow’s new attorney is Clinton Smith, of McCarthy Fingar in White Plains, replacing Janet Gandolfo, who was not reappointed. Smith is an expert in municipal law and land use, a former elected official in the Town of New Castle, a former member of the Westchester County Planning Board, as well as attorney for numerous towns and villages. Smith, a graduate of Emory University and Columbia Law School, worked previously for Sleepy Hollow as legal counsel during a police disciplinary hearing. Smith said he believes Sleepy Hollow will be an “exciting” place to work.

“The Hudson River developments – opening up and populating the waterfront – are rousing activities on their own ,” he said.

Initially, Smith plans to attend all board meetings. “If I am going to be responsible for the village as my client, I want to be familiar with all of its activities,” he said, adding that he expects other attorneys in the firm will also become involved.

Smith has a one year contact and annual retainer of $91,000, which Mayor Ken Wray said is “in-line with what the village paid its two previous attorneys.”

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