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Posts Tagged ‘Brighton Beach’

Oct 24, 10:30 am: Last Chance to Stop Coney Island Concretewalk?

Posted in Redevelopment, tagged Boardwalk, Brighton Beach, Coney Island Boardwalk, Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance, Friends of the Boardwalk, Public Design Commission on October 23, 2011| 2 Comments »

Coney Island’s world-famous, 2.7-mile Boardwalk is listed among America’s Best Beach Boardwalks by the travel editors at National Geographic, Travel + Leisure and USA Today. Will it qualify for this honor if only four blocks in the amusement area remain wood and the rest is paved with concrete and plastic wood? A Parks Department spokeswoman told Brooklyn’s Courier News that concrete was chosen because it’s about $40 per foot cheaper than real wood.

The Bloomberg administration’s plan to pave the Coney Island Boardwalk will be voted on by the City’s Public Design Commission. A friend forwarded the info that the PDC hearing is at 10:30 am on Monday, October 24th. It is recommended that you get there at 10 am to sign in. “Please bring others if you can as this is our best chance to defeat this,” writes Rob Burstein of the Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance. The local Community Board voted 21 to 7 against the plan in May, but their vote was ignored because New York City’s CBs are advisory boards.

News stories about the Boardwalk redo gave the impression that the Public Design Commission vote was a foregone conclusion, possibly because the members are all Mayoral appointees. However, after reading the letter from Burstein and Friends of the Boardwalk’s Todd Dobrin, we took a closer look at the Design Commission. “The Gatekeepers,” a report in the Architect’s Newspaper, described the PDC as “little known to the public and a mystery even to many architects.” Commission members are a distinguished group including architects, artists and representatives of the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York Public Library. They serve pro bono. Hey, we think it’s worth a shot. It could be your last chance to save Coney Island’s Boardwalk from becoming a Concretewalk.

PLEASE SAVE THIS DATE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 24TH
WHERE: NYC PUBLIC DESIGN COMMISSION,
253 Broadway (opposite City Hall), 5th floor, New York, NY
TIME: TO BE ANNOUNCED AND FORWARDED

Dear friends and neighbors:

I’m writing to ask you to join us on Monday, October 24th, at the NYC Design Commission. There will be a hearing about the proposed plan to replace the iconic Brighton Beach and Coney Island boardwalk with concrete slabs. A small group of us showed up a few weeks ago to express our displeasure with this Parks Department’s proposal so the hearing was changed to the date above. This was so that the Commission could hear our objections regarding this plan for the boardwalk.

THIS IS OUR BEST CHANCE FOR DEFEATING THIS PLAN!We need a substantial number of people at this hearing to express their displeasure with the proposal. The people on this Commission have no idea what impact their decisions have on this community. As neighbors who enjoy the boardwalk and don’t want it turned into a sidewalk or driveway, I’m hoping to prevail upon you to join us and express your outrage at this horrendous plan. We all have too many responsibilities and too little time, but many of us are taking off from our jobs yet again in order to attend this most important meeting. Won’t you join with us? Your presence is important! This Commission is not an advisory body. They make the final decision as to whether or not this project goes forward. Please don’t let cynicism about the good it does to show up at a hearing such as this stop you from coming. It CAN make a difference! Look at what happened when enough of us showed up to object to construction of the proposed amphitheater in Asser Levy/Seaside Park. This Commission stopped the plan because enough community members showed up to object. Please support us and our community once again. Please attend and tell your friends and neighbors to join us!

The time on the 24th will be announced in the next day or two and I will forward it on once it’s been set. Thanks for your consideration and support!

Rob Burstein, Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance
Todd Dobrin, Friends of the Boardwalk

UPDATE March 7, 2012:

The next public hearing at the Design Commission is set for Monday, March 12. For more info, see the Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance’s new website.

UPDATE October 25, 2011:

Victory! ATZ is happy to report that the Design Commmission has stopped the Parks Department from going ahead with the concretewalk. NY1 covered the hearing — watch the video here. As Todd Dobrin of Friends of the Boardwalk says in the vid: “I think that it’s great that the Design Commission has come to the conclusion that more environmental and engineering studies are required before this project goes forward.”

Rest in Peace: Rabbi Abraham Abraham’s Synagogue Was the Beach

Posted in In Memoriam, News, tagged Bob Stewart, Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Ice Breakers, obit, obituary, Polar Bear Club, Rabbi Abraham Abraham, Winter Swimming Club on May 19, 2011| 9 Comments »

Rabbi Abraham Abraham & Bob Stewart of the Coney Island Ice Breakers, 2009 Mermaid Parade. Photo © me-myself-i/Tricia Vita via flickr

Rabbi Abraham Abraham, the leader of the Ice Breakers Winter Ocean Swimmers of Brighton Beach, died on May 18, according to club spokesman Bob Stewart. “The Rabbi,” as he was called by his fellow swimmers, was a longtime member of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club until the 1990s when he broke away after a dispute and formed a club called the Ice Bears and then the Ice Breakers. The funeral will be held on May 19 at 2 pm at Beth David Cemetery in Elmont, Queens.

The elaborately mustachioed and white-bearded Rabbi was a colorful Coney Island character famous for his daily swims and annual New Year’s Day Swim at Brighton 6th Street. The Ice Breakers boast of having the largest number of active swimmers over 70 years of age (10 swimmers) and four members over 80 years of age. Stewart estimates that the Rabbi was 83 or 84, though he would never admit exactly how much over 80.

Rabbi Abraham Abraham’s zaniest personal accomplishment was probably living in an ice house for 110 hours (Guinness record ID 12729 claimant 12524) on the beach. We’ll never forget his royal antics as King of the Mermaid Parade in 1999. He was so full of fun that he kept jumping out of his rolling chair to dance a jig, which is something we haven’t seen a king do before or since. Photographers loved him, of course. With his white hair and flowing beard, the Rabbi was probably the king who most resembled Neptune. In this 2009 video he extols the health benefits of eating organic kosher food and winter swimming in the frigid waters of the Atlantic.

In the above photo taken by ATZ at the 2009 Mermaid Parade, the Rabbi rode in a pedicab due to a leg injury from what he said at the time was a parachute skydiving accident. “But it was bone cancer,” Stewart reveals. “They removed his thighbone and replaced it with a titanium rod.” The next year, he was once again walking the length of the parade route.

“He’s such a positive guy,” says Stewart. “He called me two weeks ago and said, ‘Bob, I’m dying. I need to see you.’ So I went over to his house. And then he said ‘listen, do you think we can do one more gig before I die?’ Here’s a guy on his deathbed and he wants to do one more something–swim, Mermaid Parade…” They agreed to ride the pedicab again in the Mermaid Parade, which takes place this year on June 18th. “But we knew it was getting close, it was day by day,” Stewart adds. The Ice Breakers are planning to march in the Parade with a photo of their departed leader.

But was he a real Rabbi? “He was able to show me his credentials–his clergy documents,” says Stewart, a Brighton Beach native who took up winter swimming as a teen without being part of an organized group. After getting to know the Rabbi as one of “the beach people,” Stewart joined the Ice Breakers. The Rabbi will be missed. “He was a very happy-go-lucky guy who didn’t preach in any synagogue. His place to preach was the beach.”

Rabbi Abraham Abraham Rings the Dreamland Bell at the Coney Island History Project. September 13, 2009. Photo © Tricia Vita

Coney Island to Brighton Beach: Veterans Day Charity Open Water Swim

Posted in Events, tagged Brighton Beach, CIBBOWS, Coney Island, Open Water Swimming, swim race, Veterans Day on November 5, 2010| 1 Comment »

Ruby’s Bar and Grill has long been a gathering place for Coney Island’s swimmers. Saturday, which could be Ruby’s last day, is no exception. “We’ll be there after our race,” tweeted Jesse Lansner of the Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers (CIBBOWS). Tomorrow’s 11 am race is the group’s first-ever Veterans Day 5K, 1 Mile and 2 Mile Charity Swim.

Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers (CIBBOWS). October 24, 2010. Photo © Princess Polar Bear Capri/Capri Djatiasmoro via flickr

The event is a fundraiser for two organizations that serve veterans: Service Women’s Action Network and the Wounded Warrior Project. Registration to swim closed a few days ago, but info about pledging your support for Lanser and the other swimmers is available on CIBBOWS races page. More than 50 people have registered for the race. You may donate online or pay by check on race day before the swim.

Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers (CIBBOWS). October 16, 2010. Photo © Princess Polar Bear Capri/Capri Djatiasmoro via flickr

ATZ emailed Lansner to ask where the race starts and the best place for spectators to see the swimmers…

The swim starts at the Aquarium at 11:00 am. All swimmers will head towards the pier, aiming for the cross section near the end of the pier, so they will be approximately 150-200 yards offshore. The 1-mile swimmers will return to the Aquarium and exit the water. The 2-mile swimmers will continue to approximately Brighton 2nd Street, then turn around and return to the Aquarium. The 5K swimmers will also turn around at Brighton 2nd Street, then swim back to the pier again, and then return to the Aquarium and exit the water.

The best viewing options are between the Aquarium and the pier (or even on the pier), since that is the area that the swimmers will spend the most time in. Also, if you are by the Aquarium, you can see the swimmers enter and exit the water, and watch them shiver and dance around to keep warm.

CIBBOWS is a non-profit community resource for open water swimmers of all levels. The group sponsors Grimaldo’s Mile Race in June, the Aquarium 5K and 1 Mile in August, and group swims every weekend from April to November. For more information visit CIBBOWS website and the blog Salty Tales.