Long Beach
HERALD Also serving Point Lookout & East Atlantic Beach
library to open this saturday
Food distribution site opens in l.B.
tribeca Festival at the beach
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Vol. 31 No. 25
JUNE 18 - 24, 2020
$1.00
Budget passes; incumbents win Long Beach Library spending plan is approved as well port, and added that it was nice to finally have closure and breathe a sigh of relief after Gov. By a count of 3,865 to 1,441, Andrew Cuomo extended school residents approved the Long board elections an extra week. Beach School DisAs the coronavitrict’s $145 million rus pandemic continbudget for the 2020-21 ues, Ryan said, it will school year on Tuesbe interesting to see day night. how much state aid The spending plan Albany offers next is about $3 million year. Early prediclarger than this tions are that it could year’s budget, and be cut by as much as comes with a tax levy 20 percent. He added increase of 1.81 perthat it would be vital cent, which is below to have enough fundDennis ryan the state cap. ing to meet students’ Incumbent Board essential needs. of Education Trust“I think the most ees Dr. Dennis Ryan important thing is and Maureen Vrona keeping the integrity were re-elected to of the academics and three-year ter ms, doing it in a finandefeating challengers cially stable way,” Alexis Pace, Perry Ryan said. The disBodnar and Pamela trict is headed in the Banks. Ryan and right direction, he Vrona garnered 2,762 said, and he urged maureen Vrona a n d 2 , 1 8 2 vo t e s, the board to continue respectively, while to maintain high Pace received 1,813, Bodnar, 1,692 standards when hiring adminisand Banks, 845. trators and staff. Ryan described the turnout as Ryan also stressed the impora “vote of confidence for the dis- tance of “giving people a sense trict and school board.” He said of hope and doing right by parthat the election was a more reliable estimate of community supContinued on page 7
By DarwiN YaNEs dyanes@liherald.com
Courtesy City of Long Beach
Celebrating Flag Day Nassau County Legislator Denise Ford, far left, Long Beach VFW Commander Dan McPhee, City Council President John Bendo, School Board Trustee Anne Conway and Councilman Mike Delury at a Flag Day ceremony on June 14.
Edwards Blvd. will be remade for walking and bicycling By JamEs BErNstEiN jbernstein@liherald.com
Come this fall, the City of Long Beach will start looking a little more green. The City Council Tuesday night voted to complete an agreement with the New York State Department of Transportation by naming John Mirando, Long Beach’s commissioner of public works and a former city manager, to be a “responsible local official” to oversee a $1 million project to transform Edwards Boulevard — a gateway to the beach
and the downtown area — into a more pedestrian- and bicyclefriendly thoroughfare. The state DOT had requested that the council name a local official to the post. Mirando, who a few months ago stepped aside as city manager, said he had “stepped up” to volunteer for the position to oversee what is called the “Downtown to the Boardwalk: Resilient Connectivity.” He was replaced as manager by Donna Gayden, a municipal financial expert. Long Beach received the state
DOT grant several years ago. Mirando said that all paperwork should be completed over the summer, and work could begin in October, “if not sooner.” The project involves building green infrastructure, improving traffic safety and enhancing the city’s downtown. Projects receiving awards throughout the state were chosen through a competitive solicitation process and rated on criteria that included public benefit and community support for the Continued on page 7