By: Brian T. Dessart
Edward Cook
Andrew Pagliaro
It was a blustery, below-freezing night last Thursday, but inside the East Rockaway Village Pride Party's meeting, a hot agenda was cooking -- the nomination of the party's candidate for the upcoming village trustee election.
Edward Cook, a lifelong East Rockaway resident, accepted the nomination from the newly formed Pride party to run as its candidate in the March 16 election. Just 19 hours before the meeting, Cook resigned his position as East Rockaway's Village Justice, which he has held since 1999.
"We couldn't have found a better man for the job than Edward Cook," said Bill Goodspeed, chairman of the nomination committee.
Cook, 39, called the nomination a "great honor." "I am looking forward to focusing on the party's positive message," he said.
Cook will face Andrew Pagliaro, the current trustee and a member of the Unity Party, for the one-year seat -- the only elected village position up for grabs this year.
Cook graduated from East Rockaway High School in 1982 and went on to receive a bachelor's degree from the College of William & Mary. He then earned a law degree from the University of Virginia. He served in the Navy in the Gulf War, and after Sept. 11, 2001, he committed to active duty again as part of the staff of the commander in chief of the Pacific Fleet. Currently, Cook is a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserve.
In the community, he has served as president of St. Raymond's Holy Name Society and is a member of the East Rockaway Kiwanis Club, Knights of Columbus, St. Raymond's Parish and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
"He is highly respected in this village by everyone," said Mayor Joseph Carrigan, who added that he will endorse Cook in the election. "It is an honor for me to be the mayor at this time in East Rockaway."
The Village Pride Party was founded last September by a group of disenchanted former members of the village's Unity Party, who said that Unity had lost its way and was beset by internal strife, a claim that Unity members have dismissed. According to Village Pride Party officials, the party has built a roster of more than 300 members, and Cook said he would like to see that momentum continue.
"I would like to see the party carry on with [its] great work," Cook said. "It is important to keep the character of the village intact."
On Monday, Unity Party president Charles Formont, the former mayor of East Rockaway, confirmed that Pagliaro will be the Unity candidate.
Pagliaro, 39, was appointed as a trustee last April to finish out Joseph Carrigan's term after Carrigan was elected mayor. Also a lifelong resident of East Rockaway, he graduated from East Rockaway High School in 1982, in the same class as Cook, and went on to receive a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from Hofstra University. He works with the Nassau County Civil Service Commission in Hempstead, and is active in charity work in East Rockaway.
"I'm excited," Pagliaro said. "The way East Rockaway stands now, things are only going to get better. Charlie Formont set the tone, and we have to make sure that tone is followed through. It's great to have two parties running -- people have a choice. I'm ready."
The Unity Party has been a political force in the village since its beginnings in the mid-1990s, but Carrigan and two other village trustees, Richard Meagher and Bruno Romano, have publicly signed on with the Pride party, foreshadowing what may become a contentious election.
"We have some challenges," Cook said. "But we are going to win."
