SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz announced today that he will withdraw legislation he introduced in the Assembly earlier this month that would transfer oversight of a swath of sand at Brighton Beach and Coney Island from the state to New York City.

Cymbrowitz did not credit the decision to opposition from environmentalists who worried the Parks Department, less constrained by the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s more stringent oversight, would botch the job, as first reported on Sheepshead Bites. Instead, the Sheepshead Bay-Brighton Beach legislator said he did it because he himself had mounting concerns over Parks Department decision-making in light of the controversial new boardwalk comfort stations.

“I believe that giving the city any additional authority of the area near the boardwalk is a mistake. The state Department of Environmental Conservation should continue to have oversight and this legislation will not move forward this session,” Cymbrowitz said in a strongly worded letter to the mayor, according to a press release.

The bill, which can be read here, would have transferred oversight of 250 feet of sand immediately south of the 2.5-mile Riegelmann Boardwalk. It was sponsored in the Assembly by Cymbrowitz and co-sponsored by Alec Brook-Krasny. Diane Savino introduced it in the Senate.

When asked about the legislation earlier this week, Cymbrowitz told Sheepshead Bites that plans to create an already funded bicycle path adjacent to the boardwalk had been stalled for nearly eight years. Cymbrowitz said that the DEC had denied the Parks Department’s application, as well as other attempts to build community resources on the beach, and that he had hoped to free Parks from DEC’s yoke.

That upset activists who said that the DEC had more stringent standards for a reason: they serve as a watchdog over would-be projects that can contribute to beach erosion and other environmental risks.

The Parks Department told Sheepshead Bites that they did not request the bill, nor had any input into it.

Cymbrowitz has now changed his tune, saying that the plan is nixed because he has lost faith in the Parks Department’s ability to meet residents’ needs, citing the new boardwalk comfort stations as the turning point. Residents from the Oceana Condominium complex have protested the new bathrooms and comfort stations adjacent to their facility, claiming that they obstruct views and attract vagrants. Cymbrowitz sided with the residents, even sending a letter to the Parks Department.

His concerns have escalated alongside the mounting missteps of the comfort stations’ installations, according to his press release:

His appeal fell on deaf ears and, despite several well-publicized protests by Oceana residents, the original plan prevailed. During installation, the piles hit solid granite and seawater and the borings couldn’t go through, delaying the process. The Parks Department then devised an alternative construction plan that involved pouring concrete in the sand. Environmentalists and FEMA have already deemed this method unsafe, according to Assemblyman Cymbrowitz.

The legislation, however, was introduced on May 3 – at least a month or more after Cymbrowitz sent his critical letter to the Parks Department opposing the comfort stations.

Sheepshead Bites could not reach Cymbrowitz for comment on this article. We will update this post if we hear back from him.

UPDATE (4:28 p.m.): Brighton Beach resident Ida Sanoff, executive director of the Natural Resources Protective Association, which vocally opposed the legislation, is celebrating the withdrawal as a victory for the community.

“It just goes to show there’s no limit to what you can do when you shine a light on the darkness. And just the fact – politics is all about looking good – and just on the basis that this was being done so quietly raised a lot of red flags,” said Sanoff. “This would have had far reaching impacts on all the people who live and work along the shoreline. This would have put hundreds of thousands of people who would have been put at risk. This is a victory.”

She added: “Sometimes these things are resurrected in a slightly different form. I can assure you that we’re going to be very, very vigilant. We’ll keep a close eye on any piece of legislation that’s proposed that has anything to do with the shoreline … There are no secrets along the shore. If it doesn’t come out in the wash, it’ll come out in the rinse.”

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Legislation sponsored by local officials seeks to transfer jurisdiction over the sands of Brighton Beach and Coney Island from the state to the city, allowing them to move forward with a long delayed bicycle path. But local activists are calling foul play, saying that it undercuts stringent regulations that are in place for a reason.

Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz has introduced legislation to the State Assembly that would transfer 250 feet of property south of the 2.5-mile-long Riegelmann Boardwalk along Brighton Beach and Coney Island to the New York City Parks Department. Even though the Parks Department maintains the land, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has final say about work to be done there – and according to Cymbrowitz, the agency has repeatedly blocked a planned bike path that would run the length of the property.

“[Funding was allocated for a bike path] almost 8 years ago. It was done by [Assemblyman] Alec Brook-Krasny’s predecessor Adele Cohen. Alec and I have continued to ensure that it’s in the budget, and every time we attempt to work with Parks Department, DEC says no,” Cymbrowitz told Sheepshead Bites. “As part of the money that Alec and I gave for the redoing of the boardwalk several years ago, the plan was also to put additional play areas on the sand to make it more enjoyable for families and individuals. Again, DEC said no. So that’s where the legislation came from, because DEC is the agency of no.”

Cymbrowitz’s proposed legislation would wrest control from the state agency, and give the Parks Department total control of the area south of the boardwalk. It’s co-sponsored by Brook-Krasny and sponsored in the State Senate by Diane Savino.

Brighton Beach resident Ida Sanoff, executive director of the Natural Resources Protective Association, said the pols have their story all wrong, and says this is just an end-run around important regulations that keep neighbors safe.

For starters, the DEC has never rejected the request for a bike path. In fact, that request was never made, she said.

“Within the last six months I followed up with DEC. And according to DEC, the Parks Department never completed the application. And if I know this, why don’t they? There’s something very, very wrong here and no one can give me a straight answer as to what’s going on,” Sanoff said.

A DEC spokesperson told Sheepshead Bites they could not comment on pending legislation. Asked in an e-mail follow-up about the application for a bike path, the agency has not yet responded. Similarly, the Parks Department has not responded to a request for comment.

Brook-Krasny, however, said that he only recently learned that Parks may not have completed the application, and is considering withdrawing his support for the legislation, although he will still push for the bike path, he told Sheepshead Bites.

“One day we’ll have a bike path. But again, there’s a question about why that application was denied. We’ll have to look into it,” said Brook-Krasny.

The Coney Island legislator said that Sandy was also giving him second thoughts about transferring jurisdiction. When Sheepshead Bites noted that he signed onto this legislation more than six months after Sandy, Brook-Krasny reiterated his need to look over the proposal.

“With everything that’s happening after Sandy, I’m just rethinking what was done even after Sandy,” Brook-Krasny said after we pointed out the time gap. “Look, I’ve got to look into it and really think about it, and think together with Steve Cymbrowitz. The idea to have a bike path is a great idea, and I understand the application by the Parks Department was never completed. I just need to spend some more time on it. ”

According to Sanoff, the DEC’s more stringent regulations require any work on the beaches to include proper studies into erosion. She said that fixed structures – particularly hard ones made of concrete – increase the potential for erosion, and with it, the damage caused by flooding.

“There is a reason why there are coastal engineering studies and a coastal hazard area,” Sanoff said, suggesting that Parks would not be required to do those studies. “The way water hits concrete, the wave energy is concentrated. When it hits something soft like wood or sand, it’s weakened. If you look where the bathrooms were hit, you can actually see where the water has eroded the land under the building. Anytime you put any kind of structure on the beach, you have to be careful that it doesn’t cause erosion. That’s why you don’t have structures on the beach.”

She added that the bike path itself is a bad idea, since it’s one long stretch of hard material that will cause water to eat away at the beach – and crash into homes and businesses in the next flood.

“The main concern is putting three miles of concrete down without any engineering studies, without any oversight, and also building quote-unquote recreational facilities, which will most likely be buildings,” Sanoff said, referring to plans by legislators to add recreational facilities as part of the boardwalk renovations – which, according to Cymbrowitz, the DEC has also opposed. “This is going to be a disaster. It’s going to make Sandy look like an overflowing bathtub.”

The text of the Assembly bill can be read here.

Senator Savino’s office did not return a call requesting a comment.

Correction (10:30 a.m.): The original version of this article referred to Sanoff as the chair of the Natural Resources Protective Association. She is actually the executive director. We have amended the post to reflect this, and regret any confusion it may have caused.

Yes, it’s last minute, but we’re passing it along anyway…

State Assembly Insurance Committee Chair Kevin A. Cahill will be holding a roundtable today at 2:00 p.m. at the Shorefront YM-YWHA of Brighton – Manhattan Beach (3300 Coney Island Avenue) to discuss the claims settlement practices of insurers related to Superstorm Sandy. He will be joined by Assemblymembers Steven Cymbrowitz, Helene Weinstein and Alec Brook-Krasny.

Cahill has been making the rounds to Sandy-afflicted areas to discuss the topic, and it may result in proposed legislative changes in the case of future disasters.

“The damage caused by Sandy left hundreds of thousands of homes and commercial properties without power and caused an extraordinary amount of property damage,” said Cahill. “This roundtable will help us determine if insurance companies adequately responded to claims from families and businesses that rely on their insurance policies to recover from such a disaster.”

The committee will also hear testimony from representatives of the Department of Financial Services, insurance agents and brokers, consumers, adjusters and major insurance companies.

And they’re off!

The race for the 48th District of the City Council, currently occupied by term-limited Councilman Michael Nelson, officially kicked off yesterday as 45th Assembly District Leader Ari Kagan became the first candidate to officially throw his hat in the ring.

But it wasn’t without drama. The event was delayed as a protester heckled the candidate for approximately 10 minutes at the start of the event, calling him a “foot soldier for the KGB.”

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Source: Brook-Krasny’s office

Following President Barack Obama’s lead, Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny is leading the State Assembly’s initiative to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 per hour, according to a report by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

Last year, the Assembly passed a bill that raised the minimum wage to $8.50 per hour, but are now planning to amend the bill to match the raising rate of inflation and Obama’s national missive. Brook-Krasny stressed the importance of New York State taking the lead in this matter.

“While the national attention to this vitally important issue is encouraging, it’s essential that we don’t wait for Washington to take action. With overwhelming public support to increase the minimum wage here in New York State, we have to act now,” he told the Daily Eagle.

If the legislation is passed, the minimum wage will be raised to $9 per hour starting in January 2014. Food service workers who rely on tips will see their base pay increased to $6.21 per hour. The legislation will also index the minimum wage starting in 2015, so that every year, it’s adjusted to reflect the rate of inflation according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

While the bill is expected to pass in the Assembly, its future in the Senate will be tested by Republicans who argue that an increase in the minimum wage will limit job growth and weaken the economy. Brook-Krasny doesn’t agree.

“By increasing the minimum wage, working families will see a rise in their purchasing power and are likely to spend the money from their hard-earned paychecks at local businesses, helping strengthen our economy,” he said.

Newly sworn-in Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, representing a broad swath of Brooklyn’s southern coastline walloped by Superstorm Sandy, is hosting a Post Sandy Town Hall Meeting, according to a last-minute press release his office sent out.

The release states:

Too many New Yorkers are still struggling to recover and get back to normal after Superstorm Sandy. Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8) will be hosting his first town hall meeting and will be joined by local elected officials and representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the American Red Cross, the Rapid Repairs Program, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) and other government agencies to address concerns and provide up-to-date information on Post-Sandy relief.

Jeffries will be joined by State Senator Diane Savino, Assemblyman Alex Brook-Krasny, Councilman Domenic Recchia and representatives from FEMA, the American Red Cross, Rapid Repairs Program, SBA, NYS Department of Financial Services (DFS) and other government agencies.

The event will be at 7 p.m. at Coney Island Gospel Assembly, 2828 Neptune Avenue (between West 28th Street and West 29th Street).

Watch the video above to see Jeffries urging his colleagues in the House to pass Sandy relief legislation.

Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz celebrating during an election night party at the Turkish Cultural Center of Brooklyn. (Photo: Erica Sherman)

By now, the whole world knows that the American people chose to send Barack Obama back to the White House for another four years. But how did your local elected fare on election day? In short, Southern Brooklyn will see little if any change, with all incumbents but one returning for another term. Here’s the roundup.

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Some of the damage in Sea Gate, at the tip of Coney Island, left by Sandy. Photo by Erica Sherman

A news report is shining a light on Coney Island residents still left in the dark with no power, and in some cases with no heat or hot water. Public housing buildings right by the boardwalk got smashed by Sandy – flooding basements, pouring sand into building lobbies, and totaling cars – leaving elderly residents vulnerable, and causing increasing dismay as each day passes.

“Cold, no water, can’t flush my commode, I have to come downstairs and bring water up, ice, my refrigerator is not working because I have no electric. We need help,” told a Coney Island tenant to NY1.

As Sheepshead Bites’ own Laura Vladimirova previously reported, the situation on Coney Island is dire, and the area is in desperate need of supplies and volunteers like her and Bensonhurst Bean’s David Cohen, who both graciously offered their time to help out. If you are looking to donate, Laura recommends the following items: water, matches, candles, flashlights, canned goods, blankets, and clothing.

The Red Cross, FEMA, and the National Guard have set up emergency services in the area to help residents in the area with food and supplies. If you are a Coney Island resident in need of relief services, you can head to Brighton Beach Avenue and Coney Island Avenue until 4:00 p.m. Services are also being offered at West 25th Street and Surf Avenue until 4:00 p.m., and FEMA will be at the MCU Ballpark until 5 p.m.

More information can also be found on the Twitter pages of local pols, including Councilman Domenic M. Recchia, and Assemblymen Alec Brook-Krasny, both of whom are supplying up to the minute status reports and updates from Coney Island in an effort bring the area back from the abyss.

Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny speaking in front of Brighton Beach’s Shorefront Y (Source: Brook-Krasny’s office)

A new report in The Jewish Week finds increasing generational voting differences between older and younger Russian voters in Southern Brooklyn.

The report, which centers around a study by Sam Kliger, a Russian-born sociologist who analyzes the community, indicates that while older and elderly Russians vote predominantly Republican, the younger voting slice of the Russian block is more likely to be undecided and consequently, more open to the Democratic alternative.

While on a whole Kliger’s numbers show that the 350,000 strong Russian community based in New York City, Long Island, Westchester County, and Northern and Central New Jersey are likely to vote for Republican Mitt Romney by a margin of 4-1, younger voters in this block (ages 18-35) are evenly split in the upcoming election.

In explaining the staunch loyalty of older Russians towards the Republican Party and Mitt Romney, the report indicates two main issues of vital importance; the support of Israel and the idea of “redistribution,” one of the loaded buzzwords central to the 2012 race.

For older Russians, many of them World War II veterans and Holocaust survivors, the perceived notion that the Republican Party is more staunchly loyal to Israel and tough on terrorists is of paramount importance. Also, the conjuring of any reminders of their days in the oppressive Soviet regime with talk of “redistribution of wealth” enlivens fears of a shift back to bleaker days.

In an interview, Republican State Senator David Storobin echoed these sentiments,

Older Russians — the ones who remember Soviet times — tend to be more conservative.” In light of those memories, he added, those elderly Jews view government as inefficient, corrupt and unresponsive.

What concerns or frustrates older Russian Jews, Storobin said, are terms like redistribution — “any slogan that’s the same as one used in the [former] Soviet Union.”

The emerging split of younger Russian voters from these hardline viewpoints seems to stem from a number of delicate factors brought on by fresher experiences and more open world views.

A discussion in the article with Democratic Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny illuminated this point,

Interviewed by phone, Brook-Krasny said he’s long predicted a 50-50 split among younger Russian-speaking Jews when it comes to presidential elections, followed in the near future by a majority of that population voting Democratic.

“The more educated people [in the community] get, the more liberal they vote,” the lawmaker said.

Whether or not Brook-Krasny’s belief that the majority of the voting block will eventually shift Democratic remains to be seen, but the local voting trends of the upcoming 2012 race might serve as an early indicator for future elections.

Local Assemblymembers Alec Brook-Krasny and Steven Cymbrowitz, and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer released the Russian-language edition (pdf.) of the Immigrant’s Rights and Services Manual on Friday at the Shorefront YM-YWHA in Brighton Beach.

This pamphlet serves as a resource that educates New York immigrants on their rights, government benefits, and programs. New York City already provides translations in Chinese, Spanish and Korean.

“I am proud to stand here today with my friend, Borough President Scott Stringer as we present this amazing and much needed resource to the Russian-American community,” said Brook-Krasny. “As an immigrant myself I first hand understand the trials and tribulations of assimilating into the mainstream American community, it is my hope that this guide will serve as a stepping stone to many others who are striving to reach the American dream.”

Brook-Krasny himself is the first Russian-born, Russian-language speaker elected to public office in America. He emigrated from Moscow in 1989, and was elected to represent to 46th District in the New York State Assembly in 2006.

A community education effort led by Stringer’s office along with Brook-Krasny will help distribute the pamphlet to those interested. Workshops will also be held to hand out and clarify aspects of the manual.  Organizations that wish to host a community workshop should call the Borough President’s office at (212) 669-8300.