________________ LONG BEACH _______________
CoMMuNITy uPDATE Infections as of March 31
3,736
Infections as of March 24 3,659
$1.00
HERALD Also serving Point Lookout & East Atlantic Beach
Holiday event at Camp Anchor
Teemer named an All-American
Anissa Moore’s Easter message
Page 3
Page 16
Page 16
Vol. 32 No. 14
APRIl 1 - 7, 2021
Scoring points with kids at the MLK Center gram is growing. He is also an assistant basketball coach at Nassau Community College, and On Monday afternoon, Sharif an office manager at Five Loads Fordham was dribbling a basket- Food Service in Inwood. ball, as he has been doing in The center shut down shortly many other places for most of after the coronavirus pandemic his 42 years, starting as a teenag- exploded last March, and er, playing alone in the late-eve- remained closed for almost a ning hours under the half-light year. It has reopened, but with of a street lamp on a restrictions. Talks court in a gritty part between city and of Far Rockaway. center officials on Those practice expanding services sessions on the court c o n t i nu e. M e a n at P.S. 197 helped while, young people ear n Fordham a keep signing up for starting spot on the sHARIf Fordham’s sports storied Red Men bas- foRDHAM program. ketball team at St. But the road to Basketball coach John’s University, the center, on Riveronce one of the highside Boulevard, has est-ranked college squads in the been long and painful for Fordcountry. The Red Men made the ham. His life has included an NCAA playoffs both seasons 18-month stretch at a prison in Fordham played, in 2000-01 and Georgia for selling drugs, and 2001-02. then there was the death in 2019 These days, Fordham is a bas- of his son, Sharif Jr., 23, who ketball coach at the Martin was killed in an auto accident in Luther King Center in Long South Carolina. Beach, where he spends five Fordham graduated from St. afternoons a week teaching the John’s in 2002, and played for game to young people and talk- teams in the American Basketing to them about their lives ball Association, hoping to make beyond sports, as he puts it, and the NBA. the dark parts of his own life. But that year, he stepped out He has been at the MLK Cen- of a car and broke the fifth metater since 2005, and his sports proContinued on page 9
By JAMEs BERNsTEIN jbernstein@liherald.com
M
Courtesy Joe Abate
And they’re off! The city held its 59th annual Easter Egg Hunt on March 27, and kids got a chance to gather as many as they could as fast as they could — and meet the Easter Bunny.
Long Beach City Council considers raising beach fees By JAMEs BERNsTEIN jbernstein@liherald.com
With Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, less than two months away, the beach is on a lot of people’s minds these days. The Long Beach City Council held a work session Tuesday night, and much of it focused on the beach. Council members are considering raising beach fees to help make up for a deficit in the
last fiscal year amid ongoing financial woes. No vote was taken and no final decisions were made, but the matter is certain to come up at future meetings. “We know the beach is running a big deficit, and we can raise fees” slightly, council President John Bendo said. The council is also considering raising fees nominally on permits for contractors, building permits and other items.
But the beach and the 2.2-mile boardwalk are prime attractions for residents and non-residents alike. Bendo noted that beaches in the Rockaways are free, and that amenities like restaurants and grab-and-go places are popping up there. “It’s nice there now,” he said. City Comptroller Inna Reznik said that lower-than-normal Continued on page 4
y life took a turn.