Serving as Mayor of Pelham Manor is a passion for Jennifer. Having grown up in this cohesive community, she is honored to serve her friends and neighbors. In discharging her duties, Jennifer works closely with the Village administration and personnel. She also regularly represents Pelham Manor with constituents and outside agencies at all levels.
As Mayor, Jennifer has promoted fiscal responsibility, while spearheading communication, staffing and sustainability initiatives. During her tenure, Pelham Manor has remained New York State Tax Cap compliant and debt free. The Village boasts a low fiscal stress score and consistently receives a favorable rating from the New York State Comptroller. Last year, the Village improved its fiscal stress score again!
Jennifer is particularly proud of key strides made in Pelham Manor’s service departments. Under her leadership, the Pelham Manor Police Department (PMPD) has increased advanced training, in areas ranging from firearms competency to encounter techniques. Jennifer steered the re-introduction of the DARE program in our elementary schools, helping children make healthy life choices, and collaborated with other Village officials to reinstate the PMPD’s bicycle registration program. She has driven other critical public safety efforts, such as adding crossing guards at strategic locations in the Village and securing the first red-light traffic enforcement camera for a Village in New York State. She also enthusiastically supported the local law which reduced Pelham Manor’s speed limit from 30 to 25 mph and added approximately 50 stop signs throughout Pelham Manor.
As the chief elected, Jennifer works to foster continued progress in the Pelham Manor Fire Department (PMFD). She encourages the department’s advanced training program, which often involves collaboration with Westchester County and departments in NYC. She is delighted that the PMFD recently earned an upgraded International Insurance Offices Public Protection Classification for its delivery of fire suppression services, placing it among the top 17% of fire departments nationwide and top 4% in New York State. Jennifer also actively supports the PMFD’s extensive fire safety education efforts, which include presentations in our schools and at the Pelham Manor Firehouse.
Jennifer is committed to Pelham Manor’s wide range of environmental programs and sustainability initiatives. She coordinates with the Village Manager regarding operation of the Village’s robust in-house organic waste and recycling programs. She also helped launch Pelham Manor’s food scraps recycling program, which the Village runs through an inter-municipal agreement with the Village of Pelham, in coordination with Westchester County. Jennifer is thrilled that Pelham Manor has earned recognition as a Climate Smart Community.
A former Assistant District Attorney in Bronx County, Jennifer is General Counsel for a privately held company in Westchester County. She graduated from Pelham Memorial High School with high honors and was Captain of the PMHS Tennis Team. Jennifer attended Smith College and St. John’s University School of Law, where she earned the American Jurisprudence Award for Excellence in Legal Research and Writing. She has also served as a Small Claims Court Arbitrator.
Since returning to the community, Jennifer has held a variety of leadership positions, serving as Chair of the Pelham Preservation & Garden Society, President of the Pelham Country Club, Sustainer Representative to the Junior League of Pelham Board, Co-Chair of the Pelham Manor Citizens’ Advisory Committee and a member of the Siwanoy School Site-Based Council. In 2017, State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, the Westchester County Board of Legislators, and the Town of Pelham honored Jennifer as a Woman of Distinction for her civic engagement, her commitment to open government and her sound financial management of several organizations.
Jennifer is married to Ian Lapey and is the mother of Paul (25), Catherine (21), and two rescue dogs, Sunny and Theo. She is an avid tennis player, competing at the USTA 4.5 level. She and her 1987-88 varsity teammates were inducted into the Smith College Athletics Hall of Fame.