The June 2010 Property Owners was interesting – The Precinct was not able to attend nor was Lew Fidler and Alan Maisel, so their announcements are postponed until next month.
Like many times before (here, here,etc) the meeting discussed “GerritsenBeach.net” again. A GBPOA member brought up that he wants the GBPOA Board to take up the matter of changing the bylaws to close the meeting excluding the public, specifically targeting GerritsenBeach.net and Our News. Their argument boils down to that Gerritsen Beach was one a quiet neighborhood and that what goes on here is no ones business and should not go outside of the boundaries of the neighborhood.
The newspaper Our News apparently was also thrown under the bus during the discussion. Some members want to keep the newspaper out as well because it is no longer “Our News” and is distributed outside of the community.
Some GBPOA members who actually wrote the bylaws were in attendance and they stated (much to their dismay) that the organization is intended to be open to the public. Despite that statement the Property Owners promised to look into the matter at their next board meeting.
Interestingly enough their one argument to close the meeting to the public is actually two arguments because they don’t want to see any Gerritsen Beach news published at all in any media whatsoever and that somehow closing the meeting would prevent other news from “getting out”.
Wherever you stand on the matter it would be nice to see some more people at the meetings, come to the next meeting!
If they close the meeting to the public, what's the point in having them at all? I thought the Property Owners was a group that met to discuss things that were going on in the community with the community. If they close the meeting to the community, how does the community voice its opinion on any matters? Are we to assume that the Property Owners will share the same opinions as the majority of the community?
How does a person become a member of this committee anyhow? Maybe I'll run…
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Aren't the board meetings private and the general meetings open to the public? What are we as a community afraid of letting others know? We've been written up in the NY TImes, the Daily News and other papers. We are a community in the city of New York, not an isolated island.
Secrecy is not good for any community. Open and free access to information within and without the community is our right as American citizens.
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I'm not taking sides, just a couple of questions: Are these supposed to be "community" meetings open to ALL or a group of property OWNERS who pay, albiet very small, membership DUES? Wouldn't it then be exclusive (i.e. private) to owners and members, not also open to passerbys or renters in the community?
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Renters are allowed to be members of the property owners.
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[...] not only attacked GerritsenBeach.net on Wednesday, but proposed barring all reporters and uninvited guests from attending the [...]
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"But I decided to venture into the tick-filled taint of Brooklyn and see for myself just how unwelcoming it is." – Nice guy
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The comment made that Property Owners should be a private meeting like the Masons or The K of C it flawed. Neither the Masons or the K of C meetings make decisions that directlly affect the citizens of Gerritsen beach, granted they do wonderful things, but they dont affect all of us like property owners can. And this whole stopping the disemination of "pictures" from Our News outside the community is nuts! Whats next? building a gated wall, fitted with barbed wire at Allen avenue? Gerritsen Beach WAS great years ago when the "weeds" were our "weeds", and it WILL continue to be great as changes occur, people resistant to that change are most definately part of the problem.
On a brief side note…. Joel should stand up more for his journalism, I respect that he never showcases any bad stories, thats his perogative, and it gives his paper its personality. But there is no reason why he cant distribute his paper outside the beach. He has done good for this community and shouldnt let people take pot shots at him at the meetings. Just my opinion….
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From the Sheepshead Bites article..
"…the group is not a non-profit; it receives no public funds. It’s a hybrid of civic organization and corporation; it raises money through programs and membership dues and even owns property.
Just as Knights of Columbus or other fraternal organizations are not required to have public meetings, GBPOA is within its rights to shut the doors. Members have asked for a vote, and it may come up at the next meeting when they have a quorum."
Looks like the cameras may be out of at least the private meetings. I can't see them stopping the cameras when elected officials are present however as I beleive that automatically makes the meeting 'public'.
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Our News is being attacked? God forbid anyone from Marine Park finds those hot card party pics! And the bulldog cartoon, it's over! Game over!
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Maybe those members of GBPOA who wish to keep Gerritsen Beach private could get together on a Saturday afternoon with shovels and saws and separate Gerritsen Beach from the mainland. Get a bunch of boats to pull it away from Whitney Avenue and voila, Gerritsen Beach is now protected from the invasion of outsiders.
This is a real concern. After all 6 billion people read Gerritsen Beach.net. And that cannot be a good thing. Betfore you know EVERYBODY will be coming by to visit.
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We just hate to see it go down the tubes the way Sheepshead Bay has, that's all Lisanne(?)
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In Sheepshead Bay we have a lot of experience in extracting ourselves from the worst aspects of being visible to the rest of the world. We exploit such exposure when all else fails.
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I am not connected in any way to GB.net or Our News nor am I a member of the GBPOA Broad. I am, however, a dues paying member of good standing in the Association. I find the recent events at the Property Owners meeting to be disturbing. Some members, John Walsh in particular, is a champion of negativity and anti-community. His personal agendas are getting in the way of a free and open exchange of opinion and ideas. He sits on the sidelines taking cheap shots and continually disrupting the meetings with his objections to cameras and local newspaper reporters in the room, making it seem they’re a threat to our national security.
Does he think we’re so inept and so uneducated we can’t think for ourselves?
What’s the problem John?
The more people know about their community, the more people can get involved in the day-to-day activities which enrich the lives of everyone here.
How is that bad for our seaside paradise John?
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Hey Junior,
I could assure you my tracks are flat and straight and I’m running on a full head of steam especially when it comes to figuring out people like you….. Too obvious.
You said you have “No objections to GB.net, just his style and methods”… what exactly does that mean????
Sounds like a contradiction to me. Let’s see, you don’t mind having him in the room as long as he’s not allowed to do or say anything????
Wasn’t it you Mr. Walsh that first objected to having him in the meeting room at all?
Didn’t you disrupt the meeting in front of members and guests to announce your displeasure with GB.net? Shouldn’t the matter of GB.net been discussed privately to get other board members consensus about your concerns before you made it public? Or is it… what’s good for you must be good for the world?
Wasn’t it you who incited other members of the board about this issue resulting in one of the members getting up and leaving when GB.net started to film while you set quietly in the corner smirking?
Yes I do go to meetings and my eyes are open and my ears are clear. I believe you, on the other hand, don’t have our community’s best interest at heart.
Case in point: when a board member who volunteers to run the community garden virtually begged for help from other board members to mow the lawn, you declined, stating that you didn’t have the time because you had to tend to your own garden……..“Right George”
P.S. Sorry, you won’t be getting any juvenile insults like the one you directed towards me, mainly because I stopped using such infantile language in the sixth grade.
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Dear John,
OK, enough of the "dog and pony show".
I probably came on a little bit too strong.
You see I have this anger management problem that I've been trying to control for years and although I try very hard, I just lose it when someone makes a disparaging remark about my trains.
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Love trains—during my High School years had a layout with a friend of mine, of HO trains—8'x24' with a seperate raised 4'x8' for a rail yard with a round house—when we graduated Joe joined the Marines and while serving 5 1/2 years of active duty, his uncle took an ax and saw to the layout—his reason or excuse "we had grown up"—I'm still juvenile when it comes to trains.
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Excuse me but if you read the comments people are against the closed meetings & keeping secrets. Want to talk bias? How biased is it to call an entire community of people – most of which are trying to stand up for themselves – a bunch of Nazis? First you say GB should dig itself away & then you say you're "very embarrassed to say that i own property in this bias community where everyone thinks their sh*t dont stink". So do you not live in the beach but only own property? If you hate it so much sell your property – then you don't have to deal with us Nazis anymore.
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You are an instigator, a liar, and guilty of your own false accusations. “Nazi” is such abused label, its pathetic. People have lost respect and perspective in society, as well as, on the left and the right of politics. The handful of very old property owners want the cameras out, they’ll eventually learn to adjust or the next generation will soon come along and things will change. This is a beautiful community tucked away in a little corner of Brooklyn, New York – it is a not a Nazi enclave you imbecile.
There are some legit reasons to keeping things on the DL a bit. For example, I think GB is one of the best kept secrets in terms of home prices and how much land you can get for your money. I don't necessairly want a bunch of "outsiders" moving in and quickly building huge structures for rentals and such and mucking that up. That has nothing to do with Nazism, Racism, or any other ism. Most people moving in are respectful of what they've moved into and have improved the look of the community, property values have gone up as homes have been renovated. But its a delicate balance, so that you dont flood a small place like this with investors who ONLY see the potential profits and not a legit community.
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Tom i have been living here in the beach for about 2 years now and have had quite a few instances with people that have the same characteristics that you described. I had a party for my 4 y/o son back in march and had people driving in from all over NY. When my wifes sister arrived out our home she was surprised by the experience she received from a fellow resident when asking for directions. The two men she asked were surprised at why she was even in our neighborhood. What threw her over the edge was when they told her they would only give her directions to leave the beach. This is just disgusting. This behavior needs to stop and it needs to stop now! Please lets be respectful of outsiders and make everyone who visits our community feel welcomed. TY
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There may be a few idiots like those two "men" at the beach but for the most part this is a very friendly and welcoming neighborhood. It is family friendly, quiet and clean and most definitely a part of Brooklyn, NY. I'm proud to live here and I apologize for those two clowns.
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Why do you feel the need to apologize for other peoples actions? You don't even know if this story is true. It is at best one-sided. You have no idea how these "visitors" presented themselves, yet you are apologizing for something you are hearing from a 3rd party. Stop believing the worst you hear about this community & put a band-aid on that bleeding heart of yours. People want to move here because it is not like other NYC neighborhoods & then get uptight when they see why GB has remained GB. Snivel elsewhere.
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I have lived in GB for 10 years now and I still feel like an outsider.I pay all my dues property owners, GB cares support the vollies.When they have a fund raiser I contribute. I depend on Our News and Gerritsen bch.net for all the news good and bad.Because if something bad happens in my area such as a robbery or cars broken into it helps me to be more alert for myself and my neighbors.So I am grateful for these media outlets.As to why I do not attend meetings.It is because when I first moved here I attended 2 meetings and felt totaly unwelcomed.Not one person said hello to me or introduced themselves.I felt very uncomfortable.I love GB I think it is very beautiful with it's parks and trees.But I found out very quickly that it is clickish.If you are not born and breed here you are an outsider.
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I don't attend the meetings because it's just on a bad night for me, I appreciate Dan's efforts to make the meetings available for those who can't attend.
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no1s buisness that we live here? no1 knew about thins neighborhood? would u like us to live under a rock
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One step forward, 10 steps back! That's what it looks like from down here. When my grandparents had their home built in GB many yrs ago there was a gate at the beginning of the ave. Do you want that? Stop acting like condo commandos. Our property owner meetings were open but to vote you had to be a paying member. sure there was jealousy and oneupmanship but not to this extent. My dad was one of the GB Globe photogs and he took pics of the good,bad and ugly. Irma Stiffesen even wrote a short story "fictional" about the goings on in the beach without negative fanfare. As far as GB once being better, that's hogwash. It's always the same, with the addition now of folks from all over. 2 summers ago I brought someone from new york city. As we weaved thru the courts he called it "pleasantville" and had a wonderful time at a close friends home. Though he looked and acted different than us he was soon part of the group. Prejudice means pre judging. Give your neighbor, news reporter, photographer and so called bad kids a chance befor you judge them. Include their input. Don't be so proud like BP and open you eyes and ears to all suggestions, criticisms good and bad before you destroy a great neighborhood.
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As an afterthought, you guys in GB are so lucky to have a Danny Cavanaugh, you need more young adults like him in the neighborhood.
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Thanks for the posts Peggy. I am not usually a fan of the posts by people who left, but still want to put in their 2 cents, but I'll give you a pass. ; ). Our fathers must have known each other, mine was on the board back when Kiddy Beach was founded and the GB Globe was THE newspaper. Somewhere, I have a copy of "Parcel A", Irma Stiliffsens book. (I think that was the name of it) Too bad so many have left, why did you?
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My parents retired to fl. and a few yrs later mom passed. Dad was lonely and so we moved down. but I visit every yr. Next time I'll go to a GB property owners meeting. I am a past treasurer(had lots of help from leone)so I think that may give me admittance lol. ps I have lots of the old Globes.
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Thanks, all you folks…
I had no idea that such a place a Garrisen Beach existed until I found this website.
I am a property developer and I have been hoping to expand my business, preferably in a unique area of New York or Brooklyn. Now that I know about Garrisen Beach, it seems to be an ideal place to continue our operations. Not generally known, out of the normal paths, and small enough to have tight controls.
My company is socially conscious, having always included low rental housing for the homeless in our developments. We build anything between five and ten stories with the lower two stories generally allocated to low rental tenants. We are also in favour of ethnic diversity and maintain that policy in selecting tenants for our developments.
So I will be coming to Garrisen Beach soon to scout out potential locations for a new development or two. For references, I will be glad to offer tours of our recent developments and renovations in the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn.
I am greatly in favour of keeping these minutes open by posting the agenda and minutes on this website. From our corporate pint of view, we like to know who is in favour of our projects and, perhaps more importantly, who is opposed. We have always found that open discussions are convenient ways to reach a reasonable consensus in a timely manner.
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LOL – that's hilarious.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Is it???
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Quite. Its satire of the finest kind. I hope.
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It's satire…of the retatrded kind. It is an assinine attempt to stir the sh&t. The Beach is the beach & will be so for the foreseeable future. This is probably the last neighborhood in all of NYC that great grand-parents, grandparents, fathers & children ALL still socialise with people that they grew up with. STILL in the same town! Call it racist, closed in, unwelcoming, whatever you want, but this is the best place in the city & if you don't like it, try moving back your home town that is longer there. Shut up & adapt, don't try to change us!
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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You don't get it. It's a parody on the kind of people who would come into the community and ruin it. Sure, it's poking light fun at the fear. But the very things you have to say about your community is the very reason why you have little to fear from such people. So appreciate the joke with a sigh of relief.
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I believe there is a building code in gb, no more than 3 feet high lol
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I don't need to apologize, I felt like apologizing. I apologized not on behalf of all Gerritsen Beach but for me as one representative of this "family friendly" neighborhood as I described it and find it to be. She's a resident and her sister felt insulted and offended, I'm sorry she felt that way. Like I said, this is a great neighborhood. We also know we have our share of knuckleheads, I have no reason to doubt her hurt feelings so I'll gladly provide the band aid. You're one to talk with your own assumptions "…then get uptight when they see why GB has remained GB". Please.
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This was actually in in response to anonymous on June 7, 2010 at 10:20 pm below…
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Ok I've read and have seen enough of this rediculous bantering back and forth! My family lived in Gerrittsen Beach for over 100 yrs, and I still have family there. From the very beginning, Gerrittsen Beach was always a proud community and always took care of any problems that arose. Never did we have the Vandalism that goes on there now. Never did we have the robberies that go on there now. Everyone knew back then that you didn't shit where you eat! But yes, times have changed, and yes it is YOUR own children doing these acts. If Gerritsen Beach.Net is a way to make you all realize this then I applaud their actions! Instead of closing your eyes to what is happening around you, you should act on what is being reported there! Back then we didn't need a news paper or camera to let us know what was happening. We opened our eyes and saw it and we acted accordingly.
Face it, everyone already knew about Gerrittsen Beach way before GB.net started reporting about the community. What GB.Net is doing now is trying to make all of you aware of what is happening, and trying to get you all DO something about these problems, not just sit around and try to figure out how to ban their attendance at what always an open meeting to all. It disgusts me to see and hear what is going on there and no one doing anything about it. I am sure ALL my relatives that lived in Gerrittsen Beach are rolling over in their graves! Wake up people and realize that people are shitting where you all eat!
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