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Paint the town red: The singers in “Under the Streetlamp”
will serenade Brooklynites with doo-wop music, at
On Stage at Kingsborough on Nov. 9. Eric Morgensen
Full harmonic
Retro band will croon hits of the 1950s
By Ben Verde Oh, what a night!
The retro rock ’n’ roll group
Under the Streetlamp will bring
its throwback tunes and shiny suits to
Manhattan Beach next weekend for an
evening of doo-wop, soul, and golden
oldies. The brightly dressed four-piece,
performing at On Stage at Kingsborough
on Nov. 9, will perform a set jammed
with hits from the middle of the 20th
century, in hopes of taking audience
members back to the carefree days
of their youth, said one of the band’s
founding members.
“It’s an opportunity for the audience
to forget their troubles and remember
where they were when they first heard
it,” said Shonn Wiley.
The band’s four vocalists, including
Wiley and his bandmates Eric Gutman,
David Larsen, and Brandon Wardell,
say that they aim to please baby boomer
music lovers by focusing on chart toppers
from their youth, including Elvis, Beach
Boys, Tom Jones, the Beatles and Roy
Orbison. Fans of those artists have few
options in live entertainment, said Wiley.
“If you look at the modern
entertainment industry, they’re really
underserved,” said Wiley.
Each of the singers has appeared
in various musicals, both on and off
Broadway, but the first time their paths
crossed was in 2011, when they were each
cast in a Chicago production of “Jersey
Boys,” the musical dramatization of the
rise to fame of Frankie Valli and the
Four Seasons. The performers worked
together so well that they decided to
break off and form their own show. They
decided on throwback tunes because they
all shared the same nostalgia for the
music of their parents’ generation, said
Wiley – “That music was the soundtrack
to every car trip,” he said.
The band is named for the Brooklyn
phenomenon of 1950s doo-wop groups
harmonizing under streetlamps, but they
also draw on the music of later decades.
A different member takes the lead for
each song, playing to their strengths
for the corresponding genres. Larson,
a tenor, covers most of the rock songs,
while Wardell, who Wiley describes as
having “incredible range,” handles the
older crooner tunes.
Between the four leads, who are
backed up by a full band, the show covers
a wide range of popular music, pulling
from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, said Wiley.
“We have a pretty eclectic evening of
music planned,” he said.
Under the Streetlamp at On Stage at
Kingsborough 2001 Oriental Blvd. at
Oxford Street in Manhattan Beach, (718)
368–5596, www.onstageatkingsborough.
org. Nov. 9 at 8 pm. $34–$39.
Your entertainment
guide Page 45
Police Blotter ..........................8
Wellness ................................. 39
Letters ....................................34
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COURIER L 2 IFE, NOV. 1-7, 2019
Locals are furious that $4.5 million in state resiliency funds were not dedicated to storm preparedness. NYC Department of Parks and Recreation
AT LEAST IT LOOKS NICE
Locals slam city for spending resiliency funds on cosmetic Manhattan Beach Park upgrades
BY JESSICA PARKS
The city spent $4.5 million in
state resiliency funds on a Manhattan
Beach park — while doing
next to nothing to enhance
the playground’s storm preparedness
— and local civic
gurus blasted the Parks Department
for squandering an
opportunity to safeguard the
neighborhood.
“Nothing — not one thing
has been done,” said Manhattan
Beach Community Group
President Judy Baron.
In the wake of 2012’s devastating
superstorm, Governor
Andrew Cuomo funneled more
than $4.5 million to Manhattan
Beach Park through the
state’s New York Rising Community
Reconstruction Program,
which called for the installation
of fl ood barriers and
backup generators in Sandywrecked
communities.
However, the city’s Parks
Department is using the funds
to erect a new entranceway,
repave the promenade surrounding
the park, and create
pathways through a memorial
garden dedicated to former
Manhattan Beach Community
Group President Dana Borell,
and locals remain just as vulnerable
despite the massive expenditure,
according to Baron.
“Adding concrete to the
Memorial Garden is unnecessary
and helps no one survive
the storm,” said Baron. “Fixing
concrete is wonderful but
it doesn’t keep water out of our
homes.”
A spokeswoman for the
Parks Department, Anessa
Hodgson, refuted Baron’s
claims, saying that the new
concrete paving would “absorb
the storm surge,” thereby improving
resiliency.
And even as Park workers
labor to wrap up construction
of the Manhattan Beach
Park upgrades by 2021, the surrounding
areas remains woefully
unprepared for the next
Sandy. The state allocated $9
million in resiliency funding
to benefi t Sheepshead Bay, but
the city has refused to communicate
with local representatives
regarding how that money’s
being spent, according to
the Chairwoman of Community
Board 15.
“I don’t see any difference,
none whatsoever,” said Theresa
Scavo. “I haven’t seen a
thing.”
In the months following
Sandy, residents of the hurricane
impacted neighborhoods
met with city offi cials in an
effort to kick-start dozens of
storm-resiliency projects in
the area. Among the numerous
proposals developed during
those sessions included
the installation of check valves
to prevent sewage backup in
homes, solutions for safeguarding
the Manhattan Beach Bathhouse
against future storms,
and modifying a local facility
for use as a “one-stop-shop”
for information and resources
during emergencies.
However, at a so-called “Climate
Resiliency Townhall”
meeting at Kingsborough Community
College on Oct. 21, locals
expressed concern that none of
these projects had enjoyed any
substantial progress in the last
seven years, with one man asking
where the money went.
“We were supposed to have
sewer check valves put in and
a whole array of things which
all never took place,” said one
Judy Baron slammed the city for
spending resiliency funds on park
upgrades. Photo by Jessica Parks
Gerritsen Beach resident who
declined to provide their name.
“Money was allocated to the
community.”
State Sen. Andrew Gounardes
— both at the meeting
and when reached for comment
— vowed to seek out answers regarding
the state of resiliency
in Sheepshead Bay and Manhattan
Beach, but a representative
said that his offi ce had no
information by deadline.
Representatives from the
Governor’s Offi ce of Storm Recovery
did not a return a request
for comment by deadline.
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