If you have not already noticed there is a new layout. This is the third major release of GerritsenBeach.net and we are happy with the way our readers are using the site now.

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It has come to our attention that commenters who choose to comment with their real-names on the website are being targeted by local leadership for making comments.

Those being targeted are the ones who expressed concern over White Island. They are essentially being harassed. These people have received phone calls, been emailed, and approached over . . . → Read More: Retaliation is Alive and Well in Gerritsen Beach over Comments]]>

It has come to our attention that commenters who choose to comment with their real-names on the website are being targeted by local leadership for making comments.

Those being targeted are the ones who expressed concern over White Island. They are essentially being harassed. These people have received phone calls, been emailed, and approached over their comments. Instead of certain leadership answering questions or concerns, they are hostilely approaching people.

It is true that if you speak your mind you need to be prepared for the consequences and i’m not defending what any commenter may or may not have said.

We do however think it is wrong to be targeting any commenter instead of addressing their concerns.

For this reason “Anonymous” commenting is here to stay.

Why FREE? We want to help keep money in the community. What’s better than that!

Promote your company, a yard sale you might have, help wanted ad, . . . → Read More: Try the GB Classifieds]]> Going to every store on Gerritsen Avenue is time consuming and costly! But a FREE ad on our GB classifieds is so much easier and far reaching!

Why FREE? We want to help keep money in the community. What’s better than that!

Promote your company, a yard sale you might have, help wanted ad, anything you want with certain exceptions.

GB Classifieds
(347) 948-6584
info [at] gerritsenbeach [dot] net

Make sure to check in occasionally to the Community Calendar page to stay in the know!

Here is the deal: When GerritsenBeach.net wins and hits a thousand we will give a prize to a random follower of value. Sheepshead Bites isn’t giving out prizes!

Not sure what it will be yet but I . . . → Read More: Be Our Facebook Friend]]> GerritsenBeach.net is now in an undeclared war with Sheepshead Bites via facebook to hit 1,000 friend first.

Here is the deal:
When GerritsenBeach.net wins and hits a thousand we will give a prize to a random follower of value. Sheepshead Bites isn’t giving out prizes!

Not sure what it will be yet but I am open for suggestions.

Click Here to Be Our Friend

Last night I was able to attend the Hayes Family fundraiser to deliver  all donations received through the donation link we put up shortly after the fire.  I am very proud of everyone who donated either directly through the website or got the information on how to donate through the website.

With your help we raised . . . → Read More: Thank You from GerritsenBeach.net]]> Hello Readers,

Last night I was able to attend the Hayes Family fundraiser to deliver  all donations received through the donation link we put up shortly after the fire.  I am very proud of everyone who donated either directly through the website or got the information on how to donate through the website.

With your help we raised $2,087.65

There were a total of 41 donations from all different areas of the world including  Canada, California, Nebraska, Kansas, Florida, as well as New York. Donations ranged from as little as $5 to $250.

Thank you all for your generosity!  Gerritsen Beach Rules!

The Village Voice

[The Neighborhood Reporter] Gerritsen Beach Proprietor: Daniel Cavanagh GerritsenBeach.net

Daniel Cavanagh is Gerritsen Beach–born-and-bred, . . . → Read More: The Village Voice calls GerritsenBeach.net one of “Gotham’s Best”]]> The Village Voice gave a great write up about “18 obsessive, cantankerous, and unstoppable Gotham blogs worth going ape over”. We at GerritsenBeach.net are humbled by the headline and honored to be included with other great blogs.

The Village Voice

[The Neighborhood Reporter]
Gerritsen Beach
Proprietor: Daniel Cavanagh
GerritsenBeach.net

Daniel Cavanagh is Gerritsen Beach–born-and-bred, and he knows his deep-Brooklyn neighborhood is a mystery to most of us. Before he started blogging about it at GerritsenBeach.net in 2006, he says, “You’d only know it from its hate crimes, like maybe someone got killed somewhere else, and they’d say they’re from Gerritsen Beach.” He wanted to put out a more well-rounded picture, and show that Gerritsen Beach—and the surrounding south Brooklyn area, in general—is “a nice place with stupid problems, like any other part of the city.”

This he does: If there’s a Lundy’s being refurbished in Sheepshead Bay, or a big tree falls on Noel Avenue, he’s on it. Cavanagh also goes to precinct and community board meetings, and reports on and sometimes posts videos of them, which is a big deal around his way. “Community board meetings suck,” he says. “They’re three or four hours long. People come up to me and say, ‘I can’t go to these meetings—viewing your website and getting the breakdown is easier for me.’ ”

Cavanagh breaks stories: His 2008 coverage of black kids getting hassled on Manhattan Beach during a senior “cut day” at local high schools was followed days later by a story in the Post. He got no credit, though. “It’s their policy,” he shrugs. “I don’t complain a lot. I’m more interested in getting stories that the other papers don’t get.” And sometimes, Cavanagh is the story, as when Nobody Beats the Wiz founder Stephen Jemal came after him for publicizing problems with Jemal’s land development business—and an associate of Jemal’s hacked Cavanagh’s site. The Daily News picked that one up and interviewed Cavanagh.

Cavanagh says he’s “more a photo guy” and is thinking of taking writing courses to hone his journalism skills. We think he’s pretty well honed already. —EDROSO

Other Great Blogs!

1. [The Obsessive] – The Launch Box – Proprietor: Ben Heckscher – TheLaunchBox.blogspot.com
2. [The Exhibitionist] -Art Fag City – Proprietor: Paddy Johnson – ArtFagCity.com
3. [The Reader] – Emdashes – Proprietor: Emily Gordon – Emdashes.com
4. [The Neighborhood Reporter] – Gerritsen Beach – Proprietor: Daniel Cavanagh – GerritsenBeach.net
5. [Community Vent Coordinator] – BushwickBK – Proprietor: Jeremy Sapienza BushwickBK.com
6. [The Newshounds] – Bronx News Network – Proprietor: Jordan Moss – BronxNewsNetwork.org
7. [The Grumbler] – Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York – Proprietor: “Jeremiah Moss” – VanishingNewYork.blogspot.com
8. [The Good Neighbor] – The Lo-Down – Proprietors: Ed Litvak and Traven Rice – TheLoDownNY.com
9. [The Populist] – Queens Crap – Proprietor: “Queens Crapper” – QueensCrap.blogspot.com
10. [The Listener] – Brooklyn Vegan – Proprietor: “Dave” – BrooklynVegan.com
11. [The Historian] – Forgotten New York – Proprietor: Kevin Walsh – Forgotten-NY.com
12. [The Fans] – Faith and Fear in Flushing – Proprietors: Jason Fry and Greg Prince – FaithAndFearInFlushing.com
13. [The Downtown Translator] – Animal NY – Proprietor: Bucky Turco – FaithAndFearInFlushing.com
14. [The Aesthetes] – The House Next Door – Proprietor: Keith Uhlich – SlantMagazine.com/house
15. [The Transit Authority] – Second Avenue Sagas – Proprietor: Benjamin Kabak – SecondAvenueSagas.com
16. [The Local Girl] – New York Shitty – Proprietor: “Miss Heather” – NewYorkShitty.com
17. [The Diner] – Food in Mouth – Proprietor: “Danny” – FoodInMouth.com
18. [The Mom] – Ask Moxie – Proprietor: Magda Pecsenye – AskMoxie.org

What didn’t work out was the level of effort by some to find out the real identities . . . → Read More: You People Can’t Have Anything Nice. Comments Dropped.]]> After a week of experimenting with “Disqus” a new comment system… I wish I could say that it worked beautifully. Well, design and technically it did, everything was working and looking the way it was supposed to.

What didn’t work out was the level of effort by some to find out the real identities of current and past commenters. Which is unacceptable, but I am not surprised. The people who were attempting to find out the real identities of commenters are people who with the right information might retaliate.

Disqus allowed the ability to claim your old comments if you ever wanted to register. The feature effectivly linked all comments made either anonymously or using a real name. Every comment made under multiple names were listed and linked.

I have been saying it all along, anonymous comments are essential to this community website. However, the commenters must be protected from retribution of neighbors.

Sad.