Hon. Daniel Serota, who serves as Mayor of Brookville and its Village Police Commissioner, and Principal of Serota Properties, has been nominated to the board of The Museum of American Armor, whose extensive collection of historic military vehicles pays tribute to those Americans who have served to protect our freedoms.
“Dan’s father served during World War II, manning an anti-aircraft battery in the Pacific. He knows first-hand of the men and women who served their nation, liberated a continent, and then came home to start a family, create a business, and leave an enormous legacy. Dan’s arrival on the board comes at a time when that legacy is in danger of being forgotten, ignored in classrooms across the state. We simply cannot allow that to happen. Dan brings depth to our Board and strength to our mission,” stated Lawrence Kadish, president and founder of the museum.
Mayor Serota explained, “My father was part of a 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun crew during World War II. He rarely spoke of his experience, but when I visited the Armor Museum and saw a Bofors on display it immediately connected me to my father who passed at the age of 90 some 13 years ago. And that is what makes the Museum of American Armor so important. It connects us to the heroes in our own families.”
Long recognized as one of the dominant real estate companies on the island, Serota Properties owns a large portfolio of commercial, industrial, retail, and residential buildings, but it is public service that Dan is perhaps best known. He originally served on the Brookville Village Architectural Review Board before successfully running for trustee, Deputy Mayor, and Mayor. Years earlier, he was a government intern for U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato.
Michael D. Sapraicone, the Armor Museum’s Senior Trustee, stated, “Mayor Serota brings a unique perspective to the role of an Armor Museum trustee as he fully appreciates that in addition to serving as a living tribute to American servicemen and women, we provide an educational experience for a new generation of Americans. He is very much welcomed to the Board.”
The Museum of American Armor is a state charted, 501 (C) 3 institution located inside Nassau County’s Old Bethpage Village Restoration, 1303 Round Swamp Road, Old Bethpage. Within its 25,000 square feet of space is a collection that includes some 50 operational armor vehicles including the iconic Sherman tank, a replica Tiger tank, armored cars that helped liberate the Nazi concentration camps, and Vietnam-era military vehicles. It annually welcomes some 12,000 people to its various events throughout the year.