The Candidates

“As Village Trustees we seek to provide transparent leadership, encourage community input and ensure that Croton’s growth is measured and sensible.”

Gary Eisinger

    1. Expansion of the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) zone to include One Half Moon Bay will forever mar our waterfront, adversely impact traffic flows throughout the village and jeopardize the ability of our all-volunteer fire department to meet the needs such out of scale projects engender.

    2. A moratorium on large scale projects will provide needed time to evaluate already in-process projects of 100+ units on the fabric of our community and enable better decision making on whether projects like Lot A and One HMB can be absorbed into our village in ways that improve our quality of life, not frustrate it. 

    3. Put the trust back in Trustee by listening to the diverse voices of Croton.  

  • Gary was born and raised in the Hudson Valley, spending his childhood sailing the Hudson, fishing the lakes of Bear Mountain and hiking in Harriman State Park.  His first date with his wife Sharyse was a July 4th sail to Croton Point Park.  In the next decade, living in Tokyo, Miami and NYC, they realized that raising their family in Croton on Hudson was meant to be. Their two children, Jack, a Senior at Rice University and Isabel, a Freshman at Tulane University, both attended Croton Harmon schools K-12.

    As a lifelong educator, Gary gained expertise in school turnaround through personalization of challenging learning environments.  He built strong instructional and administrative teams and established policies and procedures that turned unsafe, hectic “F/undeveloped” schools into safe, orderly learning environments.  Gary has a dynamic approach with students, parents, school staff, teachers and difficult people.  He listens to others’ concerns, follows through on his word and knows the hard work necessary to earn the trust of the community.  His 30 year career took him through the positions of Teacher, Programming Chairperson, Assistant Principal, Principal, Deputy Leader for a network of 28 struggling schools and Director of State and Federal Education Policy in the Bronx where he recently retired.

    Gary is an active community participant, coaching and managing for Croton Little League baseball and softball, assisting his wife in PTSA activities and is a longtime member of the Croton Yacht Club, now serving as its Commodore.  The small village on the river that is Croton attracted them here and current leadership’s threat to remove height restrictions and court developers of large scale complexes has brought him to this fight.  Please join our movement to implement a moratorium on zoning change and out of scale projects.

Nigel Ravelo

    1. Moratorium: I strongly believe that we should slow things down in order to analyze the collective data, and allow current developments to be fully occupied before we approve any other large developments.

    2. The people have a voice, and that voice needs to be heard and amplified. I believe that is the responsibility of a trustee, and as your trustee, I assure that you will be heard.

    3. Ensure our community grows in a sensible and positive way that benefits all of us, whether you are a homeowner or renter. We need to preserve the magic of Croton.

  • Nigel was born in the Dominican Republic and immigrated to the United States when he was 6 years old. He was raised in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. He fondly recalls his frequent Metro North train rides from the Marble Hill train station in the Bronx up to Peekskill to visit his sister who still lives there. As a teenager he would wonder, “What is Croton-Harmon?”

    Fast forward to 2007, he found himself a single dad raising his young daughter. He sought a community which had natural raw beauty, being an avid lover of all things outdoors, as well as one with a tight-knit family feel. When Nigel and his daughter moved to Croton, he worked full-time in the city, commuting every day. Neighbors quickly became friends who stepped up to support him and his daughter, especially when conflicting schedules were an issue. Whether that meant he dropped her off early at a neighbor’s house on mornings of a delayed start or they coordinated frequent playdates and carpooling, these kind gestures quickly helped Nigel and his daughter forge friendships that quickly evolved into what felt more like family. He would quickly come to learn what Croton was. 

    Nigel was overcome with the great sense of community he and his daughter experienced. Shortly after moving, he felt compelled to give back to the village that he and his daughter have come to call home for nearly two decades. He volunteered as a Croton AYSO soccer coach for 4 years, as well as a Town of Cortlandt volunteer soccer coach for an additional four years. Nigel also volunteered his time to be a lunch server through the school’s PTA. A few years after moving here, he joined the Croton Volunteer Fire Department.

    Professionally, Nigel’s career started in the retail industry, ten of which were working at the largest store in the world, in operations and upper management. He then embraced an opportunity that presented itself, within a different industry. Recognized for his strong work ethic, organizational and interpersonal skills, Nigel began working for a local business, BestWeb. There, he spent 10 years on the enterprise side of internet service provider, data, communications, and telecom space. BestWeb went on to be purchased by a larger entity and he continued to work for them for 5 more years. Most recently, he runs a small start-up in the data, and audio/video space that continues to grow. NAV Systems serves public and local entities throughout Westchester and the surrounding counties.

    Nigel is running for Village Board of Trustee to maintain the magic of Croton and its character.