Writing the following article was of particular interest to me because I really enjoy riding my bike down in this area — specific path: down either Riverside or East River Park, over the Brooklyn Bridge, south on Adams or Jay Street, west on Dean Street, through/around the western bend of Prospect Park, out the southwest exit and down Ocean Parkway till I hit the Coney Island boardwalk. And the best part of the boardwalk is, of course, Ralph’s Italian Ices.

Turning back to this story, I’d like to thank Marty Markowitz for giving me a half hour of his time on the phone.

Song And Dance Over Brighton Beach Concert Band Shell

An artist’s rendering of the proposed band shell at Asher Levy Park. At issue in the controversy is a city law that prohibits amplified sound within 500 feet of religious institutions.Courtesy Brooklyn Borough President’s Office

by Sharon Udasin
Staff Writer

Members of two Brighton Beach shuls just want to be able to hear themselves pray. 

And they say the Brooklyn borough president’s plan to erect a 5,000-seat amphitheater in their neighborhood’s 22-acre green refuge — Asser Levy-Seaside Park — will soon impinge on their right to daven in peace and quiet.

The two synagogues, Temple Beth Abraham and Sea Breeze Jewish Center, are each within a few hundred feet of the proposed band shell, and their leaders are urging thousands of Brighton Beach-Coney Island residents to protest the project.

In January, Borough President Marty Markowitz launched a $64 million campaign to overhaul the current playground with handicap-friendly equipment, build a new irrigation system with flood-free walkways and most controversially, replace the veteran concert venue with a state-of-the-art covered band shell. 

A neighborhood legacy that dates back to 1875, Asser Levy park was named for the first Jewish policeman in North America — a Portuguese man who had fled from Brazil to New Amsterdam back in the mid-1600s. Markowitz hopes that the renovated music space and playground will revitalize the park, which in his opinion has become under-utilized in recent years. 

“Asser Levy will remain a park,” Markowitz told The Jewish Week. “First and foremost it is a park. There has always been a band shell there, what we’re doing is bringing the band shell up to date.” Continue reading…