The Brooklyn Standard

This article appeared in the 10 December issue of The Brooklyn Eagle.

Efforts to turn the embattled Brigham Street lot in Sheepshead Bay into a green space began to bear fruit this week as the district’s first community-born park project got a crucial boost.

New Yorkers for Parks named the two-acre plot – the only remaining undeveloped land on Sheepshead Bay’s north shore – its Community Design Program project for 2008.

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The empty lot at Brigmam Street in Sheepshead Bay.

Just when the embattled community group in Manhattan Beach thought their troubles were over, a lawsuit was filed in the wake of an already contentious presidential election.

“You know one thing I have to give people credit for is that they came out to vote,” incumbent president Dr. Ronald Biondo said before the votes were tallied.

With 158 member households voting in an unusually packed auditorium at P.S. 195, Biondo lost Wednesday’s election to challenger Ira Zalcman, his vice president, 110 to 48.

“We really got sanity back,” said Zalcman following his acceptance speech, “and now we can look to the future.”

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Still photos courtesy of Dan Cavanagh at GerritsenBeach.net

Many residents hoped months of mudslinging and name-calling would end Wednesday after the Manhattan Beach Community Group elected its next president. Instead, a suit was filed in the wake of the elections that promises to further embroil community leaders – perhaps even creating a splinter civic association in Manhattan Beach.

Ira Zalcman, newly elected president of the Manhattan Beach Community Group, received applause after his acceptance speech.

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