West End Beautification

Join us this Saturday, May 17, for a West End Community Clean-up Day!

2014-05-13T12:03:00.002-04:00

May 17, 2014

Who: West End Residents

What: Spring Clean Up

Where: Corner of Oceanview & Maryland Avenue

When: 10am on Saturday May 17^th

Please join your neighbors, the West End Beautification Association, West End Civic Association and the City of Long Beach as we spruce up the West End in anticipation of Summer. We’ll be painting and planting the flower boxes on Oceanview, cleaning up our parks and picking up debris along the beach entrances.

What You’ll Need:

We’ll be supplying the paint, soil, plants, bags and gloves. You’re encouraged to bring along whatever you might have, as supplies are limited. And of course, dress to get dirty!

Not Much of a Team Player.

That’s fine. We know not everyone likes to work in groups. If this is you, you’re encouraged to simply pick up around your block or plant flowers in front of our house.

But I’m a West End Business. How Can I Help?

That’s awesome! You can play along too. Powerwash your sidewalk. Plant some flowers. Dress up your windows. The possibilities are endless. We’ll all be better off because of our collective efforts.

We’ll see you on Saturday! Any questions, email mcnallyjohn@gmail.com.

Click on below image for a printable flyer.

Community Day Flyer

Join us for a scarily good time at the playground!

2013-10-22T17:45:00.002-04:00

Trick or treat!

Your Opinion Matters! Help create the Beach NY Rising Community Reconstruction Plan

2013-10-08T13:14:00.002-04:00

We look forward to seeing you there!

DOWNLOAD INFORMATION/FLYER HERE.

A meeting of minds with Long Beach's Sanitation Inspector

2013-09-17T14:52:00.000-04:00

Keeping the West End commercial district clean has been the number one priority of WEBA since we
first made our case to the City Council in June 2011.

Armed with photographs of city parking lots filled with litter and broken bottles, commercial garbage piled high on the street through much of the day and litter rising ankle deep in the gutters, we urged the council to address these deplorable conditions.

We engaged the help of business owners through the Good Neighbor Award Program and gathered residents to participate in Tidy Day. But as every parent knows, there’s nothing like the threat of punishment to boost motivation.

Last summer, for the first time in Long Beach history, the city appointed a Sanitation Inspector.

Jamel Taylor is a product of Long Beach schools, a graduate of St. John’s University and a twelve year veteran of the Sanitation Department, having worked through the ranks from part time employee to his present position.

Last week, WEBA had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Taylor and discuss his responsibilities, his goals and how his new role has impacted the appearance of our community.

He described his responsibility as concentrating on “commercial voluntary compliance coupled with enforcement actions where appropriate” Failure to sweep sidewalks and gutters could result in fines up to $250.

Jamel Taylor being sworn into his post

While residents are also expected to comply with sanitation codes, Mr. Taylor addresses only “blatant infractions” that “compromise safety” among residents.

Over the past year, he has met with every Long Beach business owner at least once and distributed letters that detail code requirements pertaining to street sweeping and commercial refuse.

Despite these warnings, Mr. Taylor has issued fines to a number of West Beech Street businesses, some more than once. WEBA proposed a meeting with the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce to reinforce the sanitation message to members. Mechanical street sweepers are also part of the arsenal of Long Beach sanitation.

One of the vehicles was destroyed in the Storm so the usual five times a week protocol for Beech Street has now been reduced to three until a replacement machine is purchased. The cleaning is done at about 7:45 am but cars remaining parked on Beech Street can impact the coverage in cleaning the gutters.

WEBA brought up concerns about trash receptacles on Beech Street. Unlined receptacles emit unpleasant odors during the summer months and are quickly overflowing on busy streets. Mr. Taylor proposed monthly power washing and would consider recommending the use of liners during the summer months as well as adding more receptacles.

Some sanitation conditions are actually outside the realm of the Sanitation Department. For example, litter and garbage in the city-owned parking lots is the responsibility of the Street Maintenance Department. And Beach Maintenance is responsible for keeping Beach Park clean. But what about the weeds in the curbs and the litter around the beach entrances?

Weed removal at street curbs is conducted at least twice a year by Street Maintenance workers but, according to the Code of Ordinances, it is actually the responsibility of the property/home owner to keep the gutter (18inches into the street) free of weeds and sidewalks free of cracks.

WEBA suggested that the West End beach entrance attendants also be tasked with keeping the immediate area litter-free and periodically sweeping the beach entrance ramp to prevent sand build-up. This could be efficiently accomplished during the shift change.

Clearly the Department of Public Works has brought a Clean Streets initiative to the forefront both as a quality of life issue for residents and as an economic stimulator for the commercial district. In addition to the appointment of Mr. Taylor, we’ve noticed new trash receptacles chained within the city-owned parking lots and at beach entrances and a general attention to the appearance of the commercial district.

Jamel Taylor’s efforts have heralded a new era in the city’s commitment to the beautification of the West End. Residents are encouraged to contact Mr. Taylor directly with any specific concerns: jtaylor@longbeachny.org or by phone at 431-1000 extension 1011.

But each of us has a responsibility to keep our community clean and respect the rights of our neighbors to enjoy a clean environment.

Cigarette butts are litter and should be deposited in a receptacle, not in the street or around a tree bed.

Plastic bags of trash or pizza boxes should not be left on top of street receptacles preventing others from dropping trash in the opening.

Residential trash should be put out in plastic containers to avoid scavengers.

Litter is not a minor issue. It affects our taxes, our property values and our fragile ecosystem. We have struggled to rebuild our homes and our community. Let’s all do our best to keep it clean.

IN THIS POST: How would you make the West End more beautiful? and Car Wars

2013-08-31T13:25:00.000-04:00

YOUR INPUT IS NEEDED

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

For most of us, Super Storm Sandy has forced a substantial re-investment in our homes and in our community. Now, more than ever, property owners want to leverage that investment to ensure increasing property values and a comfortable quality of life.

A big part of that goal means creating a community with public spaces that are clean, attractive and well-maintained.

Over the past year, WEBA has met with representatives of the City several times and we are pleased with many of the improvements:

New trash receptacles in beach entrances and City-owned parking lots
The appointment of a Sanitation Code Enforcement Officer: Jamal Taylor
Regular cleaning of Beech Street City-owned parking lots
Approval of a 2013 Capital Improvement Budget to renovate West End City-owned parking lots

In addition, WEBA has:

Secured a $25K Grant from National Grid to support recovery of business district through purchase of banners and an installation of information kiosk on Beech Street
Continued Beech St. tree weeding initiative with help of a Comeback Crew and mulch from the City
Worked with local artist Lisa Be to secure approval for a colorful mural on the Maryland Avenue parking lot wall

Equally important to these programs, we have noticed that more and more businesses and residents are enhancing their streetscape appearance through landscaping and potted flowers.

While we celebrate these successes, we all agree that more is needed.

We have identified four priorities to put forth to the City for 2013/2014 but YOUR INPUT IS NEEDED.

The documented response from tax-paying West End residents is the key to getting the City to listen and implement these ideas.

Please look over the below survey and indicate which of the goals YOU find the most urgent. Mark “1” next to the highest priority,” 2” to the next highest, and so forth. Also, we'd like to hear what YOU would do! Please enter your own suggestion for enhancing the physical appearance of our community in the space provided. Help us to make Long Beach “The Beautiful City By The Sea."

Enter your response using the online form

Send your response to Ed Glister 80 Oregon Street, Long Beach, NY 11561

Email your response to westendbeautification@gmail.com.

Please respond by Sunday, September 15. We will post the results on our web site, www.westendbeautification.org and share them with City officials.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

CAR WARS

Something needs to be done!

Thanks, West End, for Voicing Your Opinion!

In 2008, the City of Long Beach and Level G Associates (an independent consulting group specializing in parking studies) conducted an evaluation of the West End parking situation, “to develop new parking management strategies designed to improve the Long Beach parking experience.”

The output was a Four-Point Strategy:

1. Increase the parking supply.

2. Enhance and encourage off-site parking and shuttle bus use.

3. Promote and facilitate expanded bicycle use.

4. Change parking regulations.(Establish Residential Parking Zones and fee-based parking on Beech St.)

To date, the only implementation of the 2008 Plan has been in private parking lot sharing and coordinating bus stop-fire hydrant placement to increase parking supply on Beech St. I give credit for the efforts put forth, but unfortunately, it’s not enough.

In late 2012, shortly before the storm, almost 200 West End residents responded to a questionnaire asking for their opinions regarding West End parking.

The response in support of Residential Parking Permits is overwhelming, with 189 supporters of residential parking (no negative responses), and with 75 respondents providing written, emotional commentary on the critical need for Residential Parking.

In the current post Sandy building boom, how will the huge increase in curb cuts affect parking for West End residents without driveways?

It’s time for a committee of residents, business owners, the City Manager and City Council to develop a pilot parking plan for 2014. We will share West End resident feedback with City officials.

And, since parking in residential areas will be challenged further due to new curb side cuts (FEMA housing impact) this issue becomes even more important.

We will keep you informed and seek your feedback and continuing vocal support in the future..

WEBA Press on the Beech St. Walking Tour

2012-06-21T17:52:00.005-04:00

We got some great press on the longbeachny.org site! Check out the article here, which talks about the walking tour of Beech Street that I went on last week with Long Beach City Manager, Jack Schnirman, Assistant City Manager Karri Mollet, and Deputy Public Works Commissioner Joe Febrizio.

Join us for the 2nd Annual Beautification Day This Saturday!

2012-06-20T13:41:00.002-04:00

Good, clean fun!

Got Ideas?

2012-05-17T23:36:00.005-04:00

The next great idea is waiting for someone to give it a voice...

Long Beach residents and others offer solutions to long-standing problems

All over Long Beach residents are expounding on the topic of “what should be done” on matters from fiscal deficits to resident parking.

Tuesday night’s City Council meeting drew such impassioned rhetoric that one of the attendees fainted away and was removed by stretcher, hopefully to let calmer heads prevail.

What is puzzling about the city’s call for suggestions is that a lot of the answers appear in documents already commissioned by former City Councils.

Need money? Are we being reimbursed by the County for the Point Lookout bus service? Should we review the lease for Waldbaum’s? Shouldn’t we try short term parking meters?

Between 2005 and 2009 the City has commissioned at least three major studies, the second two largely repeating much of the first. The Comprehensive Plan, adopted in Spring 2007 after a 15 month planning process, presented an exhaustive set of proposals designed as “an overall guide for the City’s growth over the next 15 or so years.”

Residential housing replaced Marina

While this esteemed group of engineers were preparing the first plan, the City received a grant to prepare yet another study, this one identifying the Brownfield Opportunity Areas (Bayfront Development) which was already extensively discussed in the Comprehensive Plan.

In 2008, the City Council hired a Parking Specialist to prepare a study that essentially repeated what the original engineers recommended in 2007.

So now that we are absolutely sure what we need to do, what are we waiting for? Some of the recommendations don’t require money, so let’s start there:

ZONING

The writers of the Comprehensive Plan addressed the issue of zoning within the first three pages. Why? Because it is one of the most important aspects of the character of a community.

And since the Long Beach Zoning Ordinance has not been comprehensively amended in 25 years this says something about our priorities.

Residential housing blocks
views to ocean

The city does not have a Site Plan Law so “applications for development or redevelopment are either deemed to comply with existing zoning and are issued a building permit or deemed to require a variance and referred to ZBA.”

Simply put, the lack of a Site Plan Law, Planning Board or “vision” for the city has had a devastating effect on the character and quality of life in our community, especially in the West End.

Here are two of the most egregious examples:

Allowing oceanfront residential housing to be built on the narrow street corridors “blocks public visual access and ocean breezes” for the entire community
Allowing residential housing to be built on the site of the former marina separates the West End community from “its most significant natural resource”

Now, in the wake of these tragic defamations of our community we are facing yet another challenge to our quality of life: the proliferation of three story homes being built on raw land.

With new FEMA regulations requiring living spaces to begin at least 7 feet above ground level, the fabric of life in the West End is poised to be changed forever.

Three level homes crowd
narrow streets

The overwhelming height of these newly built houses is literally blocking the sun and breeze for residents living on narrow streets.

WEBA is calling on the city to create a Planning Board as a first step to “reduce the need for variances and enhance implementation of city wide visual character improvement initiatives” We need a plan folks. Before it’s too late.

Follow www.westendbeautification.org for continuing analysis of how the Comprehensive Plan recommendations can improve the quality of life in our City by the Sea.

Knock, knock...Who's there?

2012-05-09T14:29:00.002-04:00

It’s the Sanitation Supervisor. No joke.

Commercial business owners on West Beech Street and throughout Long Beach will receive a visit today from a Sanitation supervisor. He will hand deliver a copy of the newsanitation pick-up times, now expanded to three times throughout the day.

Most importantly, the letter identifies a 30 minute window of time that refuse should be placed on the sidewalk for pick-up.

And in bold letters:

“Please be advised that any garbage placed out at any time not covered by the aforementioned runs will result in a code enforcement violation”.

Keeping garbage off the streets of our commercial corridors throughout the day can only enhance the quality of life for both residents and business owners.

West End Beautification Association (WEBA) extends appreciation to our new Public Works Commissioner, Jim LaCarrubba, for responding to our requests and making this happen.

Over the next few weeks, Mr. LaCarrubba will meet with the Chamber of Commerce to discuss additional sanitation codes up for resolution, as well as enforcement of street and gutter sweeping regulations. He emphasized that the new routes did not require any overtime.

Stay tuned for some “grate” news coming up next week…

Reading Between the Lines....

2012-04-24T23:24:00.001-04:00

Just for “fun” on a rainy Sunday I decided to flip through the 202-page proposed budget for the fiscal year 2012/2013 for the City of Long Beach. Mostly I wanted to find out the available funds for the stepped up sanitation proposals WEBA has been pushing and for the City’s planting protocol.

Now my husband is a CPA but my eyes glaze over when there’s more than 5 numbers on a page. There were a few things that caught my eye though; and it sheds some light on where the city, like the rest of us, is trying to stretch their limited resources.

Expenditure Detail

(click to enlarge)

Shade Trees and Beautification. Well, I didn’t need my husband to spell out this one. The budget ax felled the shade trees. .

The recommended budget?

Zero.

Beach Maintenance: The Beach Maintenance Dept. is responsible for the beach, boardwalk, comfort stations, beach access ramps and outside facilities such as MLK, Senior Center and West End Community Center. It is also responsible for planting “seasonally [sic] perennials, annuals, and shade trees for all the medians, malls, street ends and beach entrances.”

Well, we already know the story with the shade trees. The numbers for the Supplies and Materials for Beach Maintenance are generally comparable between last year and 2012, but be that as it may, does the number seem low to anyone else but me?

The flowers, mulch etc. plus all the other materials needed to maintain the outside areas of the entire city (other than the boardwalk) are only 3% of the Beach Maintenance budget! I would have to guess that the flower planting portion is less than half of that $55,000 number. Sad.

Street Maintenance: Ok, here’s the weird one: The Street Maintenance Dept. is responsible for maintaining all of the City of Long Beach streets. They repair potholes, lay asphalt, and do masonry repairs as needed. They also restore the street after a sewer connection has been installed from house to street.

The total budget for this department is a little over $2M. While the Supplies and Materials/Street Maintenance line items seem to have consistent responsibly reactive budgeting, the Street Paving and Street and Sidewalk Reconstruction budgets feature big donuts: zeroes all the way across the page.

Nothing spent since at least 2010 and nothing budgeted through 2013. Sounds like patching will continue as the answer to our pothole problems.

But here comes the good news.....

(Drum roll please....)

$30,000 in Sanitation Penalties.*

*This is on the revenue side.

Sounds like Code Enforcement is on the way!!

Yes, there are one or two items to either make me scratch my head or furrow my brow. But I’m going to focus on the one that make the corners of my mouth turn up. Let’s keep our fingers crossed, but I’m really, really optimistic that we will see a much cleaner Long Beach this summer.

Welcome to Spring….

2012-03-20T14:31:00.000-04:00

Today is the official end of the hibernation period for Long Beach. Intrepid residents have begun slipping onto porches and decks to enjoy their morning coffee. Neighbors stop to catch up on the news they missed through the winter months. Bikers and joggers have returned to the boardwalk.

In Spring we walk slower, to savor the fresh air that we missed during the months inside our sealed up home. We observe what we didn’t notice when the days darkened early and our heads were bent down against the cold.

So along with the daffodils and forsythia and budding branches, the litter, the weeds and the neglect are back in full view on West Beech Street.

But the purpose of this post is not to beat the drum about litter but to arm the residents with information about what the City Code of Ordinances says about it; who’s responsible for what and who to call when there’s a problem. Taxes in Long Beach are high enough so it’s more important than ever to make sure that we are getting what we pay for.

Our taxes are to be used, in part, to insure that the Code of the City of Long Beach is enforced, so don’t hesitate for a moment to call the departments listed below to voice your complaint or concern.

It's a win-win: your community will get cleaner and the city will receive much needed revenue from enforcement fines.

Sanitation Code Sec. 23

The sidewalks and curbs, or boardwalk adjacent to and abutting upon each and every commercial, mercantile, business or other establishment in the city shall be kept clean and clear of any trash, refuse or other debris by the owner, operator or licensee of each such establishment. Each owner, operator or licensee of a commercial, mercantile, business or other establishment shall sweep such sidewalk and curb, or boardwalk, and also the gutter and street area adjacent to the curb to a distance of at least eighteen (18) inches from the curb, before 10:00 a.m. each day that such business or establishment is open or operated. All sweepings and other debris shall be collected and removed to private containers* by such owner, operator or licensee.

*not swept into the sewers

Yes, this means that every store owner and property owner is required to sweep not only the sidewalk but the gutter, 18 inches into the street, every morning before 10am.

So, if you are walking down Beech Street at 10:30 am to get a cup of coffee and see discarded cigarette butts, bottles, or any litter or trash call the office of the Sanitation Commissioner, Greg Scott at 432-3132 and give him the address, the time and the condition of the offense. Or, take a photo and e-mail it to GScott@longbeachny.org.

In commercial areas, it shall be unlawful to place any garbage, refuse or ashes upon the sidewalk or street for collection, or to permit such material or containers to remain upon the street prior to 5:00 p.m. or after 10:00 p.m.

This one kind of confuses me. But I know that it means that you can’t leave a garbage bag on the sidewalk on Friday night for sanitation pick-up on Monday morning. Garbage must be put out in reasonable advance of the sanitation pick-up and the empty cans taken off the street immediately after the sanitation dept. emptied the cans. Sidewalks are narrow enough without having to navigate around empty garbage cans left out needlessly.

Any owner or occupant of lands fronting or abutting on any street, highway, traveled road, public land, alley or square, who shall omit to make, maintain or repair the sidewalk, curb and curbstone adjoining, fronting or abutting his land as provided and required by Section 256 and/or Section 256A of the City Charter of the City of Long Beach, shall be guilty of a violation punishable for each such violation as provided in section 1-8 of this Code. Each day such violation continues shall constitute a separate violation.

Don’t wait until you trip, call the Sanitation Dept. to report cracks in the sidewalk or unsafe sidewalk conditions. And that means controlling those nasty weeds that sprout through the concrete.

Corrugated boxes, cardboard, cardboard cartons, pasteboard or similar paper materials are to be broken down and tied securely with twine. Wire or plastic binding should not be used. All bundles should be not larger than thirty-five (35) pounds in weight or four (4) feet in length. The residential community will not be required to separate corrugated materials from their solid waste stream. This provision applies to all commercial, industrial and institutional entities within the jurisdiction of the City of Long Beach.

This one is pretty self-explanatory. There should not be a big load of empty boxes on the sidewalk ever. The boxes should be ALL flattened and tied with twine.

The overflowing trash receptacles and litter, beer bottles and other garbage that accumulates in the city-owned parking lots is the responsibility of Street Maintenance, not the Sanitation Dept. The Supervisor of Street Maintenance is Vincent Deale. His phone number is 431-7174.

Or again, take a photo and e-mail to VDeale@LongBeachny.org with date and address.

Lastly, for a broken window, or other unsafe condition of a building, contact the Building Dept. Commissioner, Scott Kemins at 431-1005 or SKemins@LongBeachny.org with address.

Remember, your taxes entitle you to a safe and clean community. Get your money’s worth. If you see something, say something. Don’t let negligent property owners ruin your Spring stoll.

West End Beautification joins the Long Beach Patch Blogosphere!

2012-03-14T17:57:00.000-04:00

WEBA is proud to announce that we will be guest bloggers on the Long Beach Patch, a site that has been a supporter of our efforts since Day 1 (Thank you, Joe!)

We'll be posting the links on the WEBA site, so be sure to check back often!

Check out our first post here.

Death of a Hero

2012-03-05T16:30:00.001-05:00

Death of a hero: James Q. Wilson

The cover of Saturday’s New York Times noted the passing of James Q. Wilson, a man whose name may not evoke an immediate reaction but whose work is the cornerstone on which West End Beautification Association (www.westendbeautification.org) was founded.

Mr. Wilson was a social scientist and Harvard researcher on the behavior of police officers and lawbreakers. He developed the strategy that formed the “quality of life” program that was used by Mayor Rudolf Giuliani and Police Commissioner Stratton in New York City. Wilson was also one of the authors of the “broken window” theory.

The theory “proceeds from the presumption, supported by research, that residents’ perception of the neighborhood is based not on whether there is actually a high rate of crime, but on whether the neighborhood appears to be well-tended –that is, whether its residents hold it in mutual regard, uphold the locally accepted obligations of civility and outwardly disdain the flouting of these obligations”.

Real estate agents listen up: It is not the crime statistics that tell the story of a neighborhood, it is a visitor’s perception of how the place looks.

Using a broken window as a metaphor, Mr. Wilson concluded that a broken window, left unrepaired shows that no one cares so when the next person breaks the next window it seems a bit less terrible because the level of neglect has already been established. It becomes easier and easier to continue into criminality and blight because each successive transgression, while seemingly harmless in and off itself becomes a growing pattern of neglect for which no one feels responsible but for which everyone is responsible.

The theory asserts that the solution lies in being intolerant of the “smallest illegalities” If arresting a single drunk on West Beech Street, fining a dog walker who doesn’t scoop the poop or every store owner who ignores sanitation codes seems harsh, failure to do anything about the mounting number of people who continue to flaunt the laws can destroy an entire community.

When WEBA filed for incorporation last Fall, our mission statement was to “improve the aesthetic quality of life in the West End community of Long Beach, NY” But since turning around a community takes a concerted effort by residents, businesses and the City, we began with simply planting flowers so that the neighborhood “appears to be well-tended” and shows that someone cares.

But, as a recent Vice Presidential candidate once colorfully noted, “you can put lipstick on a pig but it is still a pig.”

Please join us in our efforts to bring back a Code Enforcement Officer to the West End. Add your voice to the group of West End residents who brought their quality of life concerns to City Manager Jack Schnirman and the City Council at the Long Beach Listens meeting

Meanwhile, WEBA will honor the memory of James Q. Wilson by continuing our efforts to make the West End the best it can be.

There's a new sheriff in Dodge...

2012-02-19T13:45:00.000-05:00

West End residents are trying to bring together concerned neighbors to share ideas on how to improve the quality of life in our community.

For their first initiative the rapidly expanding organization is setting their sights on Irish Day and how to strike a balance to ensure that the festivities do not negatively impact local residents. The West End community has been trying to mitigate Irish Day issues for years to no avail.

But as anthropologist Margaret Meade has so eloquently stated: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world; indeed it's the only thing that ever has."

Fran Adelson, the new City Council President, has advised the group to attend the Long Beach Listens meeting on Monday, February 20 at 7:30PM at the West End Community Center (changed from the fire house due to better handicapped access)

WEBA is delighted that more and more West Enders are recognizing the need to create a meaningful voice for our beautiful community. Please attend the Long Beach Listens meeting to add yours.

Introducing the new West End Beautification Association logo!

2012-01-19T03:44:00.001-05:00

Today is my birthday and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than to introduce the brand new West End Beautification Association logo.

We are now an independent not-for-profit organization registered by both New York State and the federal government. We're ready to mobilize our neighbors and our City Council behind our initiatives for 2012:

Tree Grates
A Sanitation Code Compliance Officer
Street Sweepers (the human kind)

Here’s to a new start for the West End Beautification Association!

Thinking of Spring...

2012-01-16T21:37:00.000-05:00

Could it be that Mother Nature has mercifully given Long Beach a pass this winter after dealing her best shots in August and October?

Connecticut Ave. dunes

Last week’s mild temperatures have brought early thoughts of spring and many West Enders are beginning to cast a worried eye on the effect of the hurricane on our dunes and beach entrances.

Minnesota Ave. dunes

Minnesota Avenue resident Gemma Tansey (who submitted these photos) expressed her concerns to Councilman and fellow West End resident Mike Fagen.

Connecticut Ave. dunes

Councilman Fagen has confirmed that the planning has already begun. Meetings have been scheduled with the DEC and Public Works this week and the rebuilding and replanting will take place in the spring.

Connecticut Ave. dunes

So relax, root for the Giants this Sunday and we’ll keep you posted on the progress of the beach renewal.

Thoughts on the final day of 2011...

2011-12-31T11:17:00.001-05:00

“We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential."
–Ellen Goodman, journalist

I’m not sure at what point in lives we stop embracing the cinematic hype of New Year’s Eve, and start waxing philosophical about closing the chapter on another year passed.

Even though I can’t pin down the exact age this transition happened (though if I had to hazard a guess, I’d put it in the 20-30 years old range)…and despite the fact I admittedly struggle to even stay awake til midnight…even though I have zero clue what auld lang syne even means…there is still something about New Year’s Eve that will always have a certain introspective charm.

(I mean, if nothing else, it gives me carte blanche to indulge in the whole dramatic nostalgia thing without inciting exasperated head-shaking from my daughters!)

When I think about everything that’s happened this year, it reminds me of one of those days when I was younger, where somehow I could fit a week’s worth of events into the span of one evening. One of those days where the time continuum seemed to dissolve against the backdrop of youthful energy.

Similarly, I feel that while 2011 managed to fly by (what year doesn’t, really?), I marvel at how much transpired in the last 6 months alone.

When Judy Rudnic and I teamed up to start the West End Beautification Committee, we never expected it to elicit this much response from the community, but we have been delightfully overwhelmed by the generous support and selfless help from the West End community.

So as I spend the last day of 2011 reflecting on everything that has happened in the last year, there are certain things that come to the forefront of my mind…

Like Beautification Day, for one. I remember it being approximately 712 degrees outside. And I also remember how the summer heat didn’t deter the selfless volunteers who showed up to spend the day digging up the dirt at the tree bases that felt like solid rock due to years of neglect and planting flowers along Beech Street.

I remember Tidy Day on September 27—when families young and old plus resident and Legislator Denise Ford took brooms in hand and tackled the litter, discarded trash, and sidewalk weeds up and down Beech Street. Then the next day planting 100 mums donated by the AOH.

I remember when WEBA went from being a subcommittee of WENCA, to being its own incorporation. Of course, the separation from WENCA didn’t go as easily as one might have hoped (what break-up ever does, really?), but Judy and I realized early on that if we were to effect any change in the West End, that it needed to be done without the political motivations that often steer WENCA’s leadership.

(Unfortunately, the lovely West End Beautification logo that my daughter contributed to our cause, was lost in the metaphorical WENCA divorce proceedings. But just like Abe Lincoln wisely once said, “How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling the tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.” They can take our logo, but they’ll never take our spirit! Stay tuned for details on the launch of the new WEBA logo to symbolize the start of the new year!)

I remember how our diligence led to the city’s agreement to repaint fire hydrants. I remember working with Joseph Keller (Long Beach Patch editor) and meeting Anthony (Seabythecity.com editor), and more importantly, I think about their incredible support which has been paramount throughout the creation and development of WEBA.

And while Judy and I may have not won the Patch’s Person of the Year selection, just finding out we were nominated was touching beyond the telling of it.

It also made me realize that the need for revitalization efforts in the West End have not gone unnoticed. With the help of our team members, our neighbors, and this wonderful city itself, West End Beautification has gone from being a vision...and is on its way to being a reality.

We have been gratified by the overwhelming support of the West End residents. We look forward to joining with you over the year ahead to continue these revitalization efforts.

So, while I may not be the biggest fan of New Year’s Eve hoopla, joining with Judy Rudnic to form West End Beautification Association has allowed me to reflect on this year with satisfaction and look forward to 2012 with great anticipation and excitement.

There is a sense of renewal, strength, and resolve in our city. There is a reawakening in the West End of what our community can be.

Check out our calendar of events for 2012 and our New Year’s resolutions!

Long Beach Patch reports on the Good Neighbor Award

2011-12-14T21:49:00.002-05:00

Thank you (as always!) to the Long Beach Patch for their continued support and dedication to furthering the beautification of the West End! :)

Original article here.

West End Businesses Earn 'Good Neighbor' Grades

The West End Beautification Association recognized 64 West End businesses with two different honors.

By Emily Wood

Judy Rudnic, who works in lower Manhattan, wanted to bring programs implemented in New York City to the Long Beach community.

So in an effort to make the West End business district more attractive to both patrons and residents alike, she and fellow West End resident Mary Ellen Pollina kicked off their new “Good Neighbor Award” program this fall.

Rose & Eye displays its award in a window. Credit Emily Wood

The duo are co-directors of the West End Beautification Association (WEBA), formerly a committee of the West End Neighbors Civic Association (WENCA) that became an independent non-profit organization in October. The idea for the business beautification program spawned from several goals they identified at a prior WENCA meeting.

“We wanted to begin by focusing our cleaning and greening programs on the Beech Street commercial district,” Rudnic said.

The “Good Neighbor Award” program ran from Sept. 1 to Nov. 1, during which time businesses were monitored over three weeks and rated anonymously several times by volunteers using a criteria system. Some of the criteria included keeping sidewalks and nearby streets clean, covering garbage cans and removing weeds, among others.

The letter grade rating of Manhattan’s restaurants inspired the idea for the beatification program point system, Rudnic said. “We based our criteria only on streetscape considerations and primarily on Long Beach sanitation code requirements,” she said.

Each activity was assigned a number of points and businesses needed to obtain a minimum of 70 points — out of 100 — in order to qualify for the “Good Neighbor” award. To receive the “Good Neighbor Above and Beyond” award, businesses also had to maintain outside plants and an attractive window display.

Overall, 57 businesses got the Good Neighbor Award, with seven receiving the esteemed “Above and Beyond” award, including Shine’s, The Station for Hair, Rose & Eye, The Beach House, Gourmet Nuts n’ Sweets, Seaside Celebrations and Bahia Social Club.

Judy McBride, owner of The Station for Hair. explained that she has decorated her windows and tended to the garden outside her store for 22 years, so it was wonderful to be honored with the “Above and Beyond” award.

“If everybody does their part the entire community as a whole will look better,” she said.

McBride noted that the West End has seen other beautification efforts in recent years. “It has become a really nice part of town,” she said.

Michael Muratore, co-owner of Rose & Eye, with the recognition. He said that WEBA’s efforts to beautify the West End are a “great thing” for the area.

Pollina said she definitely thinks the project will continue to make the West End a better neighborhood. “Because it will unite the residents and merchants in one goal—to make our community the best it can be,” she added.

Rudnic said that local residents have “definitely noticed that the West Beech Street business district is getting more attention.”

“When people see that an area is cleaned and well-cared for, they will instinctively be more attentive to litter and picking up after their dogs,” she continued. “But we still have a long way to go.”

Litter Patter and the Scoop on Poop

2011-12-09T17:27:00.000-05:00

SeabytheCity.com recently ran a post (or, shall we say, a rant) on the litter and poop situation in Long Beach.

I say, “Welcome to my world!"

Back in July, Judy Rudnic and I presented a proposal to the City Council for two street sweepers (the human kind) that would cover W. Beech St. from New York Avenue to Nevada from Memorial Day to Labor Day from 7am to 4pm Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

(Full disclosure: Our original concept featured alternate side of the street parking, but we since backed off on that for obvious reasons.)

Street sweepers would be able to keep on top of the litter that accumulates on Beech St. all day during the summer months. Plus, it’s not just about the litter...

It’s keeping the garbage from piling on trash receptacles, sanitizing them, replacing the trash liners, (YES! We need plastic receptacle liners so that the trash cans don’t smell in the summer heat!), and removing errant cans and bottles from shrubs, walls, parking lots throughout the day.

When the Patch picked up this question on its site, several commentators remarked that litter free sidewalks are the responsibility of the property owners.

Yes and no.

The Long Beach City Sanitation Code requires that property owners sweep the sidewalk in front of their property and 18” in the street every day before 10am. Well, that may cut it after Labor Day, but even if every single merchant complied, I guarantee you that before High Noon; the West End would look like Dodge City again.

Not only that, almost half of Beech Street is fronted by city parking lots, a school, library, and empty lots. I want those streets clean when the taxpayers are out there waiting for a bus.

There’s nothing more disheartening than standing amidst cigarette butts and beer bottles when you’re on your way to work to pay the taxes to pay the sanitation dept.

West End Beautification Association (WEBA) presented two options to the City for covering the cost, because we certainly don’t want to go down a road that spells overtime:

Summer Specials: Grab two of those guys who are ticketing cars and hand them a broom and a rolling garbage can

Bill the Bars: Well, not just the bars. Lots of commercial districts, many in Nassau County (like Westbury, Great Neck, Glen Cove), have programs called Business Improvement Districts (BID).

A BID is “authorized under state law as a mechanism to provide general public improvements in downtown business areas, such as façade improvements, benches,…..A BID may levy an additional, mandatory tax on businesses that operate within a geographical area….”

Well, unless I lost you at mandatory tax, let me explain how our modified version would work: We estimate that the annual cost of the street sweepers would be approximately $11,500 for the season (2 men @ $12 per hour x 7.5 hours per day x 4 days a week x 12 weeks), plus equipment costs and insurance.

We’ve identified 34 businesses that sell food and/or beer and liquor. Within that number, 12 would be assessed $500 for the season (based on their size), and 22 would be assessed $250. And for that modest cost, we could all enjoy a clean, attractive commercial district!

Dropping litter, extinguishing cigarettes on the street, not picking up after your dog becomes easier when the streets are dirty to begin with.

Let’s stop this downward spiral now: take back our community’s dignity.

Get Beech Street clean and green and then step up police enforcement.

(Whatever happened to those two Segway vehicles that were donated to the LBPD?)

GOOD NEWS!

2011-11-19T13:33:00.000-05:00

Starting Monday, November 21, the fire hydrants in the West End will get a fresh coat of paint.

Supt. of Long Beach Water, Christopher Windel notified me this morning that workers will begin at Nevada Avenue moving east up Beech Street then to Park Avenue.

The state-of-the-art fire hydrant on Arizona Ave.

He anticipates all the hydrant painting will be completed by Thanksgiving.

Mr. Windel pointed out that a new, state-of-the-art fire hydrant has been installed at 38 Arizona and will be the future of the Long Beach water transmission system.

Our Supt. of Water is a true son of the West End. He was born in Long Beach Hospital and grew up on Wyoming Avenue. And now, he has given us one more thing to be thankful for this Thursday.

We are grateful to Mr. Windel as well as Public Works Commissioner Kevin Mulligan for their prompt, professional response to West End Beautification.

It's the little things...

2011-11-10T19:45:00.001-05:00

This week I noticed our Public Works landscape specialist, Kevin Colgan, planting beautiful white and purple decorative cabbage in the Virginia Ave garden and the Nevada Ave mini park.

It cheered me to see how this small improvement gave such a lift to these spots, but more than that, it was a sign that the West End is on the Public Works radar screen.

So while we have their attention: please, please paint our fire hydrants!!

One West End homeowner decided that the rusty, faded old fire hydrant in front of his beautifully remodeled home was unacceptable. So, he painted it himself.

And in that small gesture gave us one of the best examples of how simple attention to maintenance can drastically improve our streetscapes.

Walking the Beech [Street]... (PART II)

2011-11-07T10:00:00.034-05:00

Continuing the ideas discussed in this past weekend's post...

Here are a few ideas for consideration:

Proposed schematic for narrow sidewalks

Narrow sidewalks: let’s start with grates for under the trees. This will enable not only a few more square feet of walk able space but look neat, discourage dog pooping and create a safer walking environment (no ankle twisting when the concrete drops off into the tree well). City parking lot walls should be moved back to flush with the building line.

Where traffic light poles impede corner, extend the corner 4 feet into the intersection and move the pole. Yes, this sounds ambitious, but Beech Street still has lots of private resident side yards and without exercising eminent domain rights, the city has few alternatives to make the sidewalks ADA (Americans with Disabilities) compliant.

Unsightly sidewalks: Who ya gonna call: Gumbusters! Yes, there’s a cleaning process for removing gum and dirt and as for the cracked concrete and emerging weeds: property owner code compliance officers. This is a once a year project.

Commercial garbage: 2 options: either the City Sanitation pick-up schedule for Beech Street has to be moved to 7am or the commercial business owners need to hire private carters who will pick up garbage by 7am.

Litter, etc.: This is partly a code compliance issue and partly not. Let me explain: Unlike Park Avenue in the East End, Beech street has lots of area that is NOT fronted by commercial property: the library, the schoolyard, the city-owned parking lots. Not to mention lots of empty storefronts and one empty lot. In the off season, the streets are relatively clean.

But in the summer, it is impossible to keep up with the huge amount of cigarette butts (did you know that cigarette butts comprise almost 70% of all litter, more on that on another day) and trash that accumulates all day long. In September, West End Beautification launched a Good Neighbor Award incentive program to encourage business owners to comply with sanitation codes and present attractive streetscapes.

We also recommend summer street sweepers. (See our proposal here.) Specifically, two summer sanitation specials (not sanitation employees) who would work from Memorial Day to Labor Day, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 8am to 4pm.

Sweeping gutters, removing abandoned bottles, cups etc. from walls, bushes, parking lots, removing bags of trash piled on top of receptacles, wipe down trash receptacles (which, by the way, should have liners so they don’t smell in the summer heat.) The cost for this is estimated at approximately $15-$20,000 per year. More details on that to come.

Gathering place: The only place on Beech Street that offers any possibility at this time is the Welcome to Long Beach area on Nevada Avenue. I recommend a complete overhaul of that site (which is looking more than a bit tired since it was first dedicated almost 40 years ago.

New plantings, lighting, perhaps a small fountain, irrigation, benches, tables for playing cards or checkers, and pavers. Let people purchase pavers and benches for inscriptions to offset the costs.

Of course, while we’re dreamin, I’d like 2 bike bollards on every block, new trash receptacles with cigarette butt extinguishers on top and new cobblestone curbs.

Now, if I could just find a magic lamp…

Walking the Beech [Street] ... (PART I)

2011-11-05T15:45:00.002-04:00

I grew up in the Bronx and moved to the suburbs of Westchester and Rockland Counties when my children were born. But the allure of the big backyard soon gave way to yearning for the walks to the local deli, or to the bakery for the first fresh, hot rolls of the day.

Meeting up with neighbors, current or former classmates along the way and catching up with the family news. A vibrant commercial district is the heart and soul of a community.

And here in the West End, a clean, attractive, walk able commercial district is not just a dream, but a very real possibility. With a little vision, and support.

By all accounts, the West End is an ideal community: from any address you can walk to the Church, the Temple, the water park, the library, public and parochial schools and best of all, the beach., You can even walk or bike to the train that will take you into the heart of the greatest city in the world in less than an hour.

But West Beech Street is still a diamond in the rough, and here’s the rough:

Narrow sidewalks, complicated by poorly placed traffic poles and curb cuts discourage, no, preclude strollers and wheelchairs. In his book, The Great Neighborhood, Jay Wallsjasper said, “the true measure of neighborhood livability is whether senior citizens and disabled people can get around comfortably.”

Unsightly sidewalks, due to years of gum and dirt accumulation (wondered about those black polka dots?) cracked concrete and emerging sidewalk weeds

Commercial garbage crowding sidewalks into mid-morning to early afternoon, smelly in summer, unsightly and unsanitary all year round.

Litter, cigarette butts, cups, bottles lining curbs and clogging sewer grates.

Lack of important resident-supportive businesses such as butchers, gourmet grocers, bakeries, a bank, dentist, etc. Do you know that in the town of Westbury, LI, the Business Improvement District offers monetary incentives to quality businesses from other towns to open stores in their commercial strip?

Lack of cohesive design elements, like business signage (some businesses even suffer from identity crisis: the sign from the former business still remains! Who ya gonna call for this: zoning board? ) period street signs and lights with banners and hanging plants.

Finally: the lack of an outdoor neighborhood gathering place. Remember that photo of Denise Ford making a speech on 9/11 in front of the memorial garden set up in the corner of the Virginia Avenue parking lot? We need a place where neighbors can gather together comfortably to honor our heroes, light up the Christmas tree or Menorah, check a community bulletin board or sit on a bench to read a book and get some air. This is not a community of backyards. We need a place to relax or gather communally outside that’s not the beach.

So if part of the solution is identifying the problem we are halfway there.

Tune in tomorrow for a few ideas for consideration.

Introducing your West End Beautification Unsung Heroes!

2011-10-17T16:07:00.003-04:00

Unsung Heroes Pat Ripley and Butch Grier

Our community is a garden, and such gardens are not made,

By singing, "Oh, how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade.

-RUDYARD KIPLING

I’ve always felt that people come to Long Beach for its seaside charm…but they stay here for its colorful character.

I was reminded of this sentiment last June when we were looking for volunteers for our first Beautification Day. Pat Ripley regretfully was unable to attend but mentioned that she had been doing some work of her own to beautify Beech Street.

This was what drew me in...

But it wasn’t until I talked with Patricia Ripley that I realized how much she enriched the tapestry of life in the West End.

From the moment Pat and her husband Butch arrived at our meeting on their restored vintage Kawasaki Vulcan motorcycle, I knew that this family’s joie de vivre went well beyond their beautification efforts. These are the kind of neighbors that make our community sparkle that much brighter.

A green thumb from day one…

“My husband Butch Grier, myself, and our daughter Jeannie moved to Long Beach in 2002 from Manhattan. We searched for a town within an hour’s commute to the city, where our business is located. We wanted to be near the ocean. We looked at the Jersey shore, where I am from, but one day we drove over the Atlantic Beach Bridge and entered the West End, saw the beach and the kids playing in the streets and we knew that we had found our place.”

Flowers in bloom along stone wall on Vermont Ave.

That decision is one that has ultimately been a blessing for our community. It all started when they were landscaping their new home and decided to plant flowers in the empty spaces in the stone wall of the newly renovated Vermont Avenue parking lot.

“Butch filled in the space with wood and then soil and planted various flowers over the next few years,” Pat recalls.

“We found that geraniums were the hardiest and maintained their flowers the longest, so they became our choice.”

They then turned their attention to the two neglected planter boxes in the Virginia Avenue parking lot.

“This year we bought some very hardy rose bushes and they seem to be doing well. Every spring we supplement them with geraniums.” But she modestly won’t accept all the credit for this venture. “I got a lot of advice from our very talented city landscaper, Kevin, and am always in awe of his beautiful work.”

But Pat and Butch didn’t stop with flowers. Their green thumb extends to the thriving vegetable garden where they grow tomatoes, basil, zucchini, mint, peppers, beans… in a small lot donated by a neighbor, Nettie...all grown using their very own organically created mulch. “We share the veggies with Nettie, our son’s family and our friend Jill Hickey who helps us maintain the plot.”

Unfinished and undaunted…

Palm trees and planters

Pat’s beautification efforts are not limited to her own little slice of the West End. After the West End Library moved to it current location, “we thought it would be great to help beautify it by placing two planters with palm trees on the blank west wall. We have struggled with these palms which were chosen because they can survive in our climate.” However, climate is not their biggest challenge. Twice they have fallen victim to vandalism.

“It is our pleasure to help improve the landscape of the West End; we feel it is a very special place to live, and we want to show our appreciation in ways we can.”

And that is exactly why they are our West End Beautification Unsung Heroes.

The sky’s the limit…

Pat is also very involved in the International Dark-Sky Association, whose agenda is to make the night sky more visible to people by reducing light pollution. They encourage the use of hooded lighting for commercial, and residential lights as well as city lighting. It has been researched that light pollution is a source of stress and a quality of life issue. Towns who have changed their lights to have less glare and light trespass have clearer skies and the stars are once again visible.

“The builder of our new street, Joe Iorio, consulted with me and has now encouraged his new homeowners to use Dark Sky lighting and so fare everyone has done so,” Pat is pleased to report. “We are going to have Dark Sky street lights as well. It will be an example of what can be done to improve our living environment.”

But maybe even the sky isn’t the limit. Pat and her friend Jill are the “Boogie Board Broads” in the West End, spending every spare moment enjoying the ocean, wet suits and all.

Family above all…

Thank you from all of your West End neighbors!

Currently, Pat, Butch and Jeannie live on the new street in the West End, off of Pennsylvania Ave. Their son, Shayne, his wife Heather and their three children, Jackson, Ethan and Brooklyn moved up to Long Beach from Oklahoma four and a half years ago and they now live in Pat and Butch’s old house on Vermont. They welcomed their first native New Yorker, Griffin, in January.

Butch is a stuntman/actor, a Marine Vietnam veteran, and yoga instructor. Pat is a fitness instructor, who also teaches Feng Shui for the Department of Oceanside Community Activities and the Long Beach Public Schools Continuing Education program. On October 27, she will teacher her popular introductory Feng Shui course for the Long Beach Adult Education program.

As if all of this weren’t enough, Pat and Butch own and operate with their son, Shayne, Ripley-Grier Studios, the world’s largest rehearsal studio company, which is comprised of 52 studios in three locations in Manhattan.

Halftime Howie presents West End Beautification

2011-10-05T18:17:00.000-04:00