Long Beach police prepare for Long Island Pride events

Long Beach police are preparing for a large turnout at the 27th annual Long Island Pride celebration this month, amid residents’ concerns about crowds, traffic, safety and other issues.

Police Commissioner Mike Tangney declined to offer details about security measures for the Pride on the Beach event, set for June 9 to 11, but said that the Police Department has been working regularly with “high-ranking” officials from the New York City and Nassau County police departments, as well as state and Metropolitan Transportation Authority police.

“The New York State Police intelligence unit is [providing] strategic statements and risk assessments for me on a weekly basis, so we have a lot of things in place,” Tangney said at the May 16 City Council meeting. “I do believe that we have adequate resources.”

The event, organized by the LGBT Network, is expected to attract about 10,000 people over the weekend. It will include a Rise with Pride parade, a 5K race and a family fun run on the boardwalk, a beach concert, a boat parade in Reynolds Channel, a Shabbat service, a beach party, a fashion show, a market fair with hundreds of vendors, a cabaret night at the Long Beach Public Library, a memorial paddle-out, programs for LGBT youth, and a Taste of Long Beach and other events aimed at driving visitors to local shops and restaurants, organizers said.

It was announced last month that singer Rachel Platten, best known for her 2015 hit single “Fight Song,” will headline the Pride on the Beach concert on June 11.

“We have a command post that’s going to be set up with state-of-the-art equipment and positioned very closely to the event,” Tangney said. “We’ve been holding four meetings a week minimum with Pride [organizers] to discuss communication and safety and the like, and I feel we are prepared going into this.”

The parade on June 11 is expected to draw 5,000 to 7,000 participants, and is the official solidarity march for the tri-state area. It will coincide with a national LGBT march in Washington that day, and will mark the one-year anniversary of the attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., where a gunman killed 49 people.

“My biggest concern is that it’s on the same weekend as the Pulse massacre in Florida, and in law enforcement, copy-cats and other people trying to make a statement do concern us,” Tangney said. “We are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

City officials have said that preparations for the event began shortly after it was announced last year.

“We are working with all of our police partners in the metropolitan area,” he added. “There will be a very obvious security presence throughout the entire event. I’m very confident that this will be a safe, orderly event and proper resources will be deployed.”

Tangney said that the event is being billed as “family-oriented,” and added that he believes the delay in securing a headliner for the concert will lead to a lower turnout than originally expected that will be “a lot more manageable.”

Tangney said he has been in talks with South Nassau Communities Hospital, a sponsor of the event, to prepare for any medical emergencies. He added that in addition to Long Beach Fire Department personnel — with assistance from nearby departments — the LGBT Network is also bringing its own medical staff and private security.

“Generally, our event is very low-key in comparison to Irish Day — this is going to seem like nothing, from what I hear in Long Beach,” said David Kilmnick, a Long Island Pride co-founder and chief executive officer of the network. “I think people should be prepared to see a diverse group of families and other people that are marching and showing their pride and speaking up for the many different issues that unite us as a community. I think it will be something fun to watch, and important as well.”

A number of residents asked City Manager Jack Schnirman about sanitation, overtime and other costs associated with the event. The LGBT Network was awarded a $300,000 grant by the state’s Empire State Development agency to promote out-of-state tourism and marketing for the event, and Kilmnick told the Herald last month that about half of that would be used to cover municipal services.

“The city will track its expenses … and we expect reimbursement,” Schnirman said.

Tangney recently updated residents at a West End Neighbors Civic Association meeting, and the group’s president, John Bendo, said that while many people support the event, they expressed concerns about security, crowds and parking.

“I think people are generally supportive,” Bendo said. “They’re just concerned about logistics and crowds, and there were some questions about whether they would be selling alcohol on the beach. And the security concerns now — it’s going to be the one-year anniversary of Orlando — are copy-cats or an anti-gay person deciding to do something with that size of a crowd.”

The LGBT Network will have a special restricted-access VIP tent, which will charge a $75 entry fee, June 10 and 11 that will include beer and wine service.

Officials said that many parking locations have been secured, including fields in Point Lookout, Lido Beach, the Long Beach middle and high schools and Oceanside High School. Free shuttle service will be provided to downtown Long Beach throughout the weekend by the LGBT Network.

“All parking ordinances will be enforced,” Tangney said.

City Council Vice President Anthony Eramo said that booths selling beach passes will be set up at the Long Island Rail Road and other areas stations. “Every opportunity we have where there’s a crowd of people to sell beach passes to try to mitigate traffic, we are consciously doing,” Eramo said.