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VOL. 34 NO. 32
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OFF E END R S 8/1 5
Is village next door ‘the new Hamptons’? Atlantic Beach residents say no, preferring a much lower profile By HERNESTO GALDAMEZ hgaldamez@liherald.com
Justine Stefanelli/Herald photos
Long Beach’s annual international Film Festival wrapped up Sunday after being extended for a day by rain.
Short films are in the spotlight on festival’s final night on the beach By ANGELINA ZINGARIELLO azingariello@liherald.com
The Long Beach International Film Festival has celebrated cinematic arts each year since its inception in 2012. Organized by the nonprofit Long Beach Film Institute, the event is dedicated to the art of storytelling through the medium of film. The festival gathers artists from around the world, boosting Long Beach’s cultural scene with its showcase of cinematic creativity. There were a few surprises this year, however, fueled by some controversy over the event’s sponsorship, and inclement weather. Equinor, the company hoping to build the
energy project Empire Wind off the coast of Long Beach, was the original headline sponsor of last weekend’s festival. The Norwegian energy giant had originally committed to spending $35,000, and its name was listed on festival promotional material and social media posts. But Long Beach residents left numerous comments on the city’s Facebook page, voicing their opposition to the company’s involvement. The City Council agreed, though not specifically about Equinor’s sponsorship. It sent a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul on July 17, stating that members were “fully in support of the necessary and urgently needed transition to renewable Continued on page 4
Thomas Tripodi, of Douglas Elliman real estate in Long Beach, gets calls all the time from potential home buyers. But in recent days, many of the calls, from media outlets as well as potential customers, have been inquires about one particular property in Atlantic Beach. “It’s kind of crazy,” Tripodi said, “and very interesting.” The home at 139 Bayside Drive has been on the market for a month, and it’s fair to say that it has attracted lots of attention. It’s a Miami Beachstyle house on a double bayfront lot with six bedrooms and six bathrooms, and its asking price is $11.5 million, a record for the village. The last time the house was for sale — for $2.33 million — was 2005, and it has undergone extensive renovations since then. Tripodi has been selling real estate since 2001, and has marketed many of the highest-profile properties on the 18-mile-
long Long Beach barrier island, which extends from Atlantic Beach to Point Lookout. He has said that the area has the potential to become “the new Hamptons,” and properties like the one on Bayside Drive are one of the reasons. “The exclusiveness of the people that come here, for sure,” he said when asked what sets Atlantic Beach apart. “The proximity to Manhattan. So instead of going to the Hamptons, you’re 28 miles from the city. If you want to take a train, you can take a train. If you want to drive, you can drive in about an hour. Or you can sit in traffic and go to the Hamptons or Montauk.” T he Villag e of Atlantic Beach has a permanent population of just over 1,700, but that number swells with the summer’s seasonal residents — as does the traffic, and the crowds at the beaches and the village’s beach clubs. After the New York Post published a story quoting Tripodi’s Atlantic Beach-Hamptons comparison last month, local feedContinued on page 18