Yesterday, May 8th 2008 at around 12:50 p.m., there was a fatal motorcycle accident right outside the Kingsbrough Community College campus at Oriental Blvd & Irwin St.
A current student was killed while possiby speeding on his motorcycle.
Posts under ‘Manhattan Beach’
Manhattan Beach Meeting Video
Entire Meeting
Presidents Speech
[video]http://youtube.com/watch?v=OqfXByQI3qg[/video]
Principals Speech
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSsidLR71uE[/video]
Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
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The Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association (MBNA) held its first meeting at P.S. 195 and was well attended by 150 to 200 people. After a brief introduction by the president Alan Ditchek he introduced Brooklyn district attorney Charles Hynes. Hynes welcomed the group and introduced a speaker to talk about teen online safety.
Although the Online Safety presentation was informative and interactive, you usually don’t see these kinds of speakers at local civic meetings. The presenter who usually goes to schools and talks to children was now talking to an audience where the average age was in the 50’s. People were commenting that their children are now in their 30’s. It was still a good source of information. I was glad to draw a laugh as the one guy in the back with his hand raised for having a myspace page. (Oh and next time set the laptop resolution, not the projector resolution set before you begin.)
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NYPD 61 Precinct Captain Georgios Mastrokostas was there to re-introduce himself to Manhattan Beach and to briefly talk about his summer patrol plans for the community and to wish the new group good luck.
Now came the real introduction from Alan Ditchek: he thanked Ira Zalcman for dismissing him so he and others can start this new group. He then went on to talk about his qualifications to be president, commenting about how long he’s been in Manhattan beach and his memories of the area. He also said he wasn’t going to have any secret meetings, no back door decisions, no clicks, and no verbal intimidation
Afterwards P.S. 195′s principal, Arthur Forman, sang the theme song to Mr. Rogers, which I’m not going to lie was a bit creepy. He congratulated the new group for striving to maintain the beauty and character of the neighborhood.
Councilman Mike Nelson said multiple times that there were 350 people in attendance, which is not close at all to the actual number. I counted at around 155 with maybe 175 at its peak. It’s very clear that Councilman Mike Nelson is very much a part of this new group, organizing the meeting and even thanking his wife for being apart of it. He stated that he will be going to both community meetings as much as his schedule permits.
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Everyone was sworn in by Councilman Mike Nelson. Members of the MBCG board include Alan Ditchek, Ron Biondo, Al Smaldone, Albert Hasson, Edmund Dweck, Michael Troupt, Vicki Klur, and Arthur Gershfeld. There are 13 total board members but I’m missing 5 because I have no idea how to spell their names.
Dozens signed up for the new group at the end of the meeting.
The Manhattan Beach Community Group had a prepared response:
The Manhattan Beach Community Group (MBCG) is your neighborhood group for the past 67 years that has been fighting to maintain the beauty and character of your neighborhood.
We want to continue to make Manhattan Beach the safest, cleanest and best neighborhood to live in.
All you have to do is mail us a check with your name and address for $25 payable to MBCG at 214 Beaumont Street.The Greater our numbers the Greater our voice.
Links
Consider Joining a “New Group†in Manhattan Beach
There are flyers circulating around Manhattan Beach announcing the formation of the new group. Here is one:
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The Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association is scheduled to hold its first meeting at P.S. 195 on April 7 at 8 p.m.
Here is an article from the Brooklyn Eagle
Bay News: Manhattan Beach Schism
Here is an article covering the formation of the new Manhattan Beach group. Im glad they aren’t called the Manhattan Beach Civic Group and are called the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association, makes things less confusing.
Détente is dead in Manhattan Beach.
A disgruntled faction of Manhattan Beach Community Group (MBCG) members announced this week that they have decided to break away from the 67-year-old organization and form a new civic of their own.
The Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association (MBNA), as the new organization is being called, is scheduled to hold its first meeting at P.S. 195 on April 7 at 8 p.m.
More Here – Bay News
Manhattan Beach Community Group: We are the main game in town
Although the formation of the Manhattan Beach Civic Group was not discussed during the Manhattan Beach Community Group’s meeting, it was allude to by the President Ira Zalcman, of the community group by saying: “We are the main game in town, we are strong, we will do well. ”
I spoke with Ira Zalcman briefly about the formation of this new group, and he makes it very clear that the new civic group is for development and zoning changes while his group is for maintaining the beauty and character of Manhattan Beach. While Ira expects that this second rival group might agree and disagree with his group on some various community issues, he ultimately believes that whatever happens, that its for the betterment of the community as a whole.
Ira also clarified the recent news on the community’s group on not accepting renters. That was done after the lawsuit, to put everyone on a level playing field with votes, and to make sure another lawsuit would not happen.
It seems now that the goals of both groups are going to be concentrating on increasing membership. The 40 year old Manhattan Beach Community Group certainly has a head start, with 400 Households (about 800-1000 members).
The Manhattan Beach Civic Groups first public meeting will be April 7th @ P.S. 195 in the auditorium.
Until April…
Manhattan Beach a Community Divided, New Group Forms
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Manhattan Beach now has two community groups. The new group is called the Manhattan Beach Civic Group, which will be headed by the Vice Chairman of Community Board 15, Dr. Alan Ditchek. The existing group is the Manhattan Beach Community Group, which is headed by Ira Zalcman.
When we last heard from Manhattan Beach, the Manhattan Beach Community Group stopped accepting renters and only counted a single house as one member. Before that, this group voted out Dr. Ron Biondo, the former president of the Manhattan Beach Community Group. Following his loss Dr. Biondo sued to challenge the election, which may or may not have been dropped.
Since the election there has been rumblings of starting a new group, but never anything official until now.  The Manhattan Beach Civic group has sent out mailers and there are flyers circulating announcing their first official meeting for April 7th in the P.S. 195 auditorium.
Communities that have more than one group usually work together but these groups will obviously not be working together on all issues. They will most likely have completely conflicting agendas. The Civic Group will be focusing on starting new developments and changing zoning to allow larger homes and developments. The existing Community Group has always been focused on maintaining the existing zoning and keeping development in check.
The Manhattan Beach Civic Group having an “open membership,” allowing anyone to join, could be bad for the Manhattan Beach Community Group, which might find that their rival group has more members sooner than later.
The Manhattan Beach Community Group will be having a meeting Wednesday March 19th at Kingsborough, if you’re from Manhattan Beach or want to check it out, come down.
Manhattan Beach Group Now Blocking Renters
I know I promised a Manhattan Beach story only if they were under some sort of monster attack but here is some Manhattan Beach news.
Coming in via Anonymous email:
The Manhattan Beach community group has is now blocking any renters from being active members in the group. Which is leaving us without a say in our own community. It is completely unfair and I’m hoping someone will take notice.
These amendments have already passed and it looks like they are becoming more of a property owners association. It still seems unfair.
Update Coming in via Anonymous email: (at least there is cake)
This vote took place @ the last meeting, Feb 27, Kingsboro faculty dining room, where the next meeting will also be, on Mar 19, under the stewardship of new President Ira. The vote passed by a better than 2/3 majority. There was some 10 min of debate, but the room was mostly concerned with the possibility of : a.) someone paying the $25 per address dues to enroll every apartment dweller in MB as a member of MBCG, who might then try to change the summer parking rules. The number $6000 came up, so you do the math… I think this scenario is pretty far fetched. Even if you could bribe everyone to come to a meeting, how do you insure they vote the same way?
But the real fear in the room was : b.) we don’t want to be sued!! They believe only homeowners have a financial stake in the neighborhood, and so have a greater interest in the issues facing MB. Since last Dec., when one faction of the board served papers on the other board of directors over accusations of attempting to rig the vote w/ ballot box stuffing, the whole focus is ‘ how do we cover our asses from lawsuits’? The bylaws were changed after lawyers reading the existing bylaws suggested they be reworded to prevent future attempted vote tampering. The idea was, that from any given household, anyone with a $25 membership, even your pet Targ, could have a vote.
The internal division over this event has meant a power shift, the dissolution of the ‘quality of life’ committee (responsible for graffiti clean up & sanitation issues), as well as snippy exchanges and hostile snarkiness replacing civil discourse. But of course, you witnessed this firsthand last year, when they turned on you personally. The bad news is that the group is now turning on itself. The good news is that @ the Kingsboro faculty dining room, there’s free coffee & cake!
Manhattan Beach Videos
I found two interesting videos of manhattan beach, Its not a monster attack but they are still interesting. The first is a video update of the Manhattan beach meeting, and the second is a 1940s video from Manhattan beach
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJPDg-lJGpY[/video]
This is a video all about 1940 scantly clad woman lifeguards.
They definitely seem to have more lifeguards back then we do in the summer.
Some strange things to note:
The whole thing is sexist. The guys that are training the lifeguards are kind of creepy. The Narrator is also saying things like “This is a company anybody would love to inspect”
Manhattan Beach to Defend Itself from Itself redux
The election results are in and: Ron Biondo 48, Ira Zalcman 110. Ira Zalcman is the new president of the MBCG. Congratulations.
I’m not going to give a run down about the meeting. I will let Gene Berardelli from SBPB Civc give you the run down below this post.
There is some new “Only in Manhattan Beach” news to report. Everyone was served! Ron Biondo, Al Smaldone and another community member are plaintiffs in a suit against Ira Zalcman, Francene Olk, Shari Thalier. Although im not sure what for, because if its about the election, it might not matter. The votes that they were arguing about in the past wouldn’t have toped Ira’s 110 votes tonight.
Also, I am sorry to say that this isn’t over for Manhattan Beach. There is word that members of the group that have lost these elections might be starting be starting a new group, to continue their agenda. I had a whole bunch of jokes planed for this new group, like slogans and group names but I don’t want to be named in a suit. Who’s going to volunteer in the community anymore, if when there is a disagreement they are served with a lawsuit.
To the Manhattan Beach residents, im not going to mention again this lawsuit again, unless it grows legs and starts attacking the city. This is now a personal matter between multiple parties.
To everyone else including Gerritsen Beach and surrounding areas, I know this manhattan beach stuff was/is a bit much but I promise im going to lay off the Manhattan Beach news for awhile, unless of course a monster starts attacking them.
In other news there were people that thanked me and others for helping to bring attention to their local politics and there were some that probably wanted to tell me off but didn’t, so to both sides thank you.
Heres to no monster attacks!
Here is a photo gallery from the meeting.
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Manhattan Beach to defend itself from itself
It never ends….
A notice went out for a Board of Directors meeting scheduled for Monday December 2nd, days before their election is to be held on Wednesday. The Agenda is to discuss paying for a lawyer against imminent litigation by Dr. Biondo and the impeachment of Dr. Biondo.
Dr. Ron is going to go to court to stop his group from holding elections unless 67 new members are allowed to vote in Wednesdays election.
This isn’t anything too major…yet. There will be more to come on from Wednesday meeting. How come our local politics cant be this interesting.
[Photo courtesy of lectroidmarc/flickr]
Manhattan Beach Racism: Dont be a Racist in Email
Thats it, I cant deal with Manhattan Beach anymore. I lie, this stuff is great:
For the first time in over 30 years, there will be an election for president of the Manhattan Beach Community Group on Dec. 5, 2007. Under normal circumstances, an individual is nominated by the group and serves as president, which is an unpaid position.
The president of the Manhattan Beach Community Group doesn’t wield much power. Most call the job a ‘nothing position.’ Even with the group’s support, major policy changes need to be approved by the community board, the city council, borough president or mayor. Community groups are just a minor player in that process. But this ‘nothing position’ has sharply divided the community and turned two friends, Dr. Ron Biondo and his vice president, Ira Zalcman, into political rivals. Both candidates have dirt on the other because of their history of working together in the group. Members of the group showed derogatory emails sent by each candidate, Biondo’s hotter than Zalcman’s.
Manhattan Beach President to Take His Own Group to Court
Dr. Ron Biondo has sent a letter to Manhattan Beach Community Group Board members announcing his intentions to take his group to court if the group does not accept applications for membership, by Tuesday.
The MBCG is about to be sued and a restraining order will be issued on their elections until the treasure duly processes all the new members dues. Bottom line in reagrds to the law you follow what is written not some crazy bigots archane customs.
He’s going to sue his own group because the group decided not to accept a influx of member applications right before this election. It has been their custom for member applications not to be accepted after nominations have been made, in an effort for voting to be fair.
If he sues his own community over a volunteer position he will be drawing a large media attention and they don’t react well to the attention. I know that first hand.
Dr. Ron might like his power as president, he might even think hes the right person for the job, but he will drive a bigger wedge in his already cracked community. Is that worth it? This is already getting ugly.
I know all local politics get heated but this seems like an over the top attempt to keep your power.
Manhattan Beach Too Hot to Handle
Manhattan Beach is a small, quiet neighborhood with tree-lined streets and large homes. But it is also a political hotbed. The entire neighborhood is fighting amongst itself over a variety of conflicting positions on local issues. You wouldn’t expect people to be fighting with each other in a “nice” neighborhood. You would expect them to be a strong, unified political district.
A couple of things are going on that have caused a commotion with Manhattan Beach residents. Dr. Ron Biondo is up for reelection as president of the Manhattan Beach Civic Association and there are groups within the community determined to stop Dr. Ron from being elected. Dr. Ron lost favor in the community with some negative comments about beach goers over the summer.
Manhattan Beach to Block Dr Rons re-election
Poor Dr Ron.
With the Manhattan beach civic association elections going to be held in November, we hear that there are two groups within the community nomination committee that are going to block Dr. Biondos re-election.
If you remember, Dr. Ron got himself in a bit of trouble within the community and mass media back in June for his comments about some beachgoers, calling them “thugs†amongst other “ideas that are in play†.
It looks like some in the community are mad as hell and are not going to take him anymore and some are aggressively acting on blocking his re-election, including a word of mouth smear campaign, and possibly through one or more petitions.
