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ION ERTY TAX REDUCT THE LEADER IN PROP
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Tax Reduction Grou
Vol. 37 No. 6
FEBRUARY 5 - 11, 2026
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g Beach, NY 11561 | 0:
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L.B. lifeguards investing in beach safety pickup trucks to support land operations. The proposal to acquire the Saying “Long Beach is a WaveRunners, for a total of just beach community” is like say- over $35,500, was approved at a ing “There’s some sand on the November council meeting, and shore”: It’s a glaring under- funded by the city lifeguards’ statement. Not only is the city machinery and equipment budget. The two new closely associated personal watercraft with waves, water will replace two of and warm weather, the three units curbut the beach and rently owned by the the boardwalk are city, which have inherent parts of outlived their usecity life — even in fulness. February, when the Chief of Lifeg round remains guards Rich Borhidden by piles of awski reinforced snow. how important the The City Council watercraft are, sayunderstands that ing, “Last year we wh i l e t h e b e a ch had 25 after-hours closes for the offsearescues, and jet skis son, that doesn’t were involved in mean the city’s prosome of them.” fessional water-resThough the older cue team — more RICH BoRAwSkI craft are also Wavethan 150 paid ser- Chief of Lifeguards Runners, Borawski vice people includused a more coming life guards, EMTs and officers — treat the mon, catchall term popularized winter as a four-month-long by Kawasaki and its Jet Ski. vacation. The council recently “During our lifeguard hours on authorized the purchase of two high-surf or high-rip-current 2025 Yamaha WaveRunners to days,” he said, “we put both jet facilitate lifeguard activities on skis in the water to patrol. the water, and also agreed to They’re invaluable.” buy two Nissan Frontier 4x4 Continued on page 14
By CHRIS ColUCCI
ccolucci@liherald.com
l
Courtesy Francesca Garguilo
James Finch, far right, will turn Country Boy over to Jackie, Frank and Francesca garguilo.
Country Boy Bakery owner retires after 42 years By AIDAN wARSHAVSkY awarshavsky@liherald.com
When James “Jimmy” Finch started working at Country Boy Bakery in 1984, the entirety of his baking experience was a pilot program at BOCES. Now, at age 58 and with over four decades of much more practical experience, he is retiring. Starting at 18, Finch learned from Country Boy veterans like Mark Albert, Ralph Giunta and Toney Steinway. He described Albert as a mentor, and said that Steinway helped him learn how to work in the back of a bakery. “They took the time with me,” Finch said.
“They knew it was something that I wasn’t just playing around with.” In 1995, Finch purchased the bakery, on East Park Avenue, from Albert, at a time when the business was growing. Many Jewish families were moving to Long Beach, Finch explained, and while Country Boy already had some Jewish customers, they were looking to attract more with a wider range of kosher options. “It was an opportunity to expand our clientele,” Finch said. He regularly reminded his staff that they all shared a common goal to make the workday enjoyable, just like their products. DurContinued on page 11
ast year, we had 25 afterhours rescues and jet skis were involved in some of them. They’re invaluable.