________________ LONG BEACH _______________
HERALD Also serving Point Lookout & East Atlantic Beach
VoL. 37 No. 20
Possible LIRR strike by Saturday
City announces 2027 budget
Page 3
Page 5
MAY 14 - 20, 2026
$1.00
Munsterman is honored for his service to LBPD By AIDAN WARSHAVSKY awarshavsky@liherald.com
Courtesy Walter Munsterman
Walter Munsterman, third from left, is known around the Long Beach Police Department for his attention to detail and respectful attitude. After more than 30 years of service, he received a notable recognition.
Long Beach native Walter Munsterman still remembers going to City Hall in 1991 to take a civil service test to become a police officer in the city where he grew up. Over three decades later, he was honored on April 21 with the Nassau County Municipal Police Chiefs Association’s Distinguished Service Award. The award recognizes individuals for outstanding service and contributions to law enforcement and public safety in the county. Munsterman, 54, who has 31 years of experience, was nominated by Long Beach Police Commissioner Richard DePalma. “Walter has done such great work throughout his career that he deserved to be recognized,” DePalma said. “He’s an integral part of this department and a great leader. Munsterman recalled that his old friend Lauren Crane encouraged him to take the civil service test. In ContinueD on PAge 10
Settlement offered and refused, flags remain flying By CHRIS CoLUCCI ccolucci@liherald.com
Michael Wasserman, of Long Beach, has rejected a $50,000 settlement offer from the city, and so a years-long lawsuit over Wasserman’s public display of politically themed flags on his vehicles will continue. “With the court’s help, the parties reached a settlement,” Howard Miller, a legal representative of the city, wrote in a May 1 letter to U. S. Magistrate Judge James Wicks, of the Eastern District of New York, who is overseeing the case. “Counsel for the parties then
agreed to the specific language of a written settlement agreement. Unfortunately, Mr. Wasserman appears to be refusing to sign the settlement agreement.” In March 2021, Wasserman was issued a summons by the Long Beach Police Department for displaying multiple flags on a vehicle while on public roads — the decorations were predominantly political, displaying pro-Trump and anti-Biden sentiments and slogans. That May, Wasserman filed a $25 million lawsuit against the city, the Police Department and several individual officers, including Ronald Walsh, the police com-
missioner at the time. In March of this year, the all-Republican City Council unanimously voted to approve a $50,000 payment to settle the lawsuit. Wasserman’s attorney, Andrew Campanelli, said that his client believes he is being selectively prosecuted because of the political messages displayed on his flags, not for merely flying them. Campanelli claims that Wasserman is the only resident to receive a citation for violating Section 3-7, subsection D of the city’s code of ordinances since it was enacted in 1989. The statute states, “No sign shall be erected, affixed or
maintained within the perimeter of any public mall, or upon any public street or public property.” Section 3-3 of the ordinances denotes nine exemptions from the regulations, including, for example, flags and emblems of nations and religious organizations. “There is no question that the sign law is unconstitution-
al,” Campanelli said. “It actually regulates flags based on content, and you absolutely, positively cannot do that. The way it does that is, it imposes all these restrictions on signs — and it classifies flags as signs — but then it exempts from those restrictions a number of signs like signs for countries, signs ContinueD on PAge 9