The Manhattan Beach Community Group is having its “end of summer” meeting tomorrow night. It should be no surprise to anyone that the meeting agenda is dominated by traffic issues, since the summer was marked by another fatal accident. The issue of the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association may also come before the board, after that group claimed to have advanced its agenda further than the MBCG, following a meeting with Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. In an MBCG statement earlier this month, the group said many of the plans forwarded by the MBNA originated with the MBCG traffic committee.
Sheepshead Bites may not be able to make it to this meeting, and we’re looking for someone to record it for us. We can meet you beforehand to lend you a tripod and Flipcam – a one-button operated, cell phone-sized camera. If you’re going, please get in touch with us. Thank you!
The meeting will be at 8:00 p.m. in the auditorium of P.S. 195 (131 Irwin Street).
Community District Education Council 22 (CDEC22) is having its annual membership meeting this Thursday, July 22.
The Council is a 12-member board responsible for communicating the needs of local schools, their leadership teams, and parent-teacher associations to the Chancellor and the Panel on Educational Policy.
The group is offering free giveaways for back to school, and they’re also asking for suggestions, concerns and feedback for future meeting topics.
CDEC22 will be voting in the annual officers at this meeting and discussing upcoming events for the year. There are currently two vacancies on the Council.
When: Thursday, July 22 at 7 p.m. Where: 5619 Flatlands Avenue – Room 115
Fore more information, contact (718) 968-6111, cec22@schools.nyc.gov or cdec22@hotmail.com
Refreshments will be served.
Vince Martell has headlined every BayFest in recent memory. It's time for a change.
Last night’s BayFest 2011 planning meeting kicked off without a hitch, but with only four people in attendance the group’s challenges for the “biggest BayFest ever” were clear.
Most of the evening was spent discussing how to rival their 10th anniversary bash. In 2001, the group had hundreds of members and more than 50 volunteers cobbled together to throw the biggest event Sheepshead Bay had seen in generations, with the entire waterfront down to Ocean Avenue shut off to traffic as tens of thousands of attendees flooded the streets. Fifteen bands played along the piers and the main stage, and entire blocks were dedicated to vendors, street performances and live demonstrations.
“Standing on the stage and looking all the way down to Lundy’s and seeing a sea of people” was an extraordinary feeling incomparable to recent events, said Bay Improvement Group President Steve Barrison.
With BayFest 2010 still on our minds, organizers with Bay Improvement Group are already gearing up for next year’s extravaganza. BayFest 2011 will be the 20th anniversary of the event, and the group is getting a head start to throwing an extra large celebration, “rocking out on all ten piers with 15 bands.” Don’t believe they can do it? Well, they threw a similar-sized event for their 10th anniversary, and that’s why they’re getting to the drawing board now.
Tonight at 8:00 p.m. at the Golden Gate Inn (3867 Shore Parkway on Knapp Street), Bay Improvement Group is holding a planning meeting and wants YOU to come down and put a word in. The event needs some fresh blood and some fresh ideas, so if you’ve got a knack for event planning and want to reinvigorate a Sheepshead Bay tradition, get down to this meeting!
Mosque opposition group Bay People sent a representative to last week’s Community Board 15 meeting to again press their case against the religious facility. The group has repeatedly criticized media reports that play up the appearance of bigotry, and say that their main objections pertain to zoning. Since Sheepshead Bites has been among the list of media outlets they’ve claimed sensationalize the story, we’re posting this unedited video of the representative from Bay People making their case.
We have additional video from speeches made at Bay People’s June 27 rally that require some editing and cleanup. If you’re interested, let us know and we’ll bump it up on our priority list.
Last week’s Community Board 15 meeting was the final one before summer recess. To mark the occasion, board member and Manhattan Beach resident Manhattan Beach Community Group boardmember Stan Kaplan riffed on a number of topics. [UPDATED]
I like Stan. Although he can never remember what blog I’m from, he cares a lot for the community while also having a sense of humor about the issues it faces. So keep in mind that Stan’s rant is light-hearted, while also touching on some serious topics.
And those topics are:
Bicyclists on the Ocean Avenue footbridge
Manhattan Beach’s zebra stripes
Architectural renderings from developers coming in front of the board
DOB’s use of “non-compliance” as a euphemism for “illegal”
Correction: The original version of this article indicated Kaplan is a boardmember of Community Board 15. He is not; he is on the board of the MBCG for more than 30 years, and a member of MBNA and Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association. We apologize for the confusion.
Representatives of several community groups testified in front of Community Board 15 about their concerns to a proposed private marina development in Sheepshead Bay. The board unanimously agreed to send a letter of objection to relevant agencies urging further study.
The marina will be part of The Breakers, a 75-unit luxury condominium development at 3128 Emmons Avenue, the site of the former Palm Shore Club. It’ll feature 23 boat slips that the developer said is for the use of residents only. The pierhead-line would extend 94-feet from the bulkhead-line.
Below is a video of the three speakers who objected to the plans. The speakers, in order of appearance, are Jerry Borell, former commodore of Miramar Yacht Club; Kathleen Higgins, a member of Miramar Yacht Club; and Laura LaPlant, speaking on behalf of Kathy Flynn, president of the Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic Association.
The back of The Breakers, photographed in 2008 while still under construction
A proposed marina attached to The Breakers condominium development is sparking a discussion about Sheepshead Bay’s shrinking navigable lanes, and the project will be on tomorrow night’s Community Board 15 agenda.
The owners of The Breakers complex at 3128 Emmons Avenue (near Ford Street) submitted plans to the Department of Environmental Conservation to create a 23 slip marina as an accessory to the existing 75 residential units. The plans are to be reviewed and either rejected or approved by the department alongside the Army Corps of Engineers.
But the potential impact of a private marina on the local captains navigating the already clogged Sheepshead Bay is drawing the attention of the Community Board.
Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo said the project’s paperwork states that it will involve an excavation and fill in navigable waters.
“For me, that’s a red flag,” she said. “The bay is already narrowed by silt” causing some boats to get stuck in the muck during low-tide.
Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association will have its general membership meeting tonight. They’ll be discussing “specific problems relating to Manhattan Beach for the upcoming summer of 2010.”
As thousands of city dwellers descend upon the normally quiet neighborhood, Manhattan Beach residents continue to coordinate with poliice and city services to ensure traffic, parking, safety and security are all maintained. During the Memorial Day weekend, Coney Island beach was closed and an unusually high number or people turned to Manhattan Beach. Though the day was without incident, some say the area’s transit was stressed.
The MBNA will meet tonight at 8:00 p.m. at P.S. 195 (131 Irwin Street).
