Meet Frank Dikranis, Long Beach's new corporation counsel

Frank Dikranis is a long-time Long Beach community member. And he’s not just a community member — he’s a heavily active public servant. Now, he’s taking on a new role, as the city’s corporation counsel.

Dikranis was appointed earlier this month.

Dikranis, 75, is a member of the Ancient Order of the Hibernians, Knights of Columbus and Long Beach Lawyers’ Association. He’s operated his own private practice since 1988 and served as Long Beach city court and Nassau County family court judge from 2009 until 2019. Prior to opening his practice, he served as the assistant district attorney for the Nassau County District Attorney’s office.

He grew up in Queens, and in 1970, while a member of the New York Police Department, moved to Long Beach for the summer. He never left. He ultimately retired with the rank of detective. After retiring, he began running two businesses in town.

“One was called Sophie’s, and then I named it The Saloon,” he said, “which is still currently a pipeline restaurant. “I also had the little deli which was next door. I ran both of those for about eight years.”

He ran the businesses from 1979 to 1987, selling them when he became the assistant district attorney.

Dikranis has known City Council President Brendan Finn for quite some time. He said they’re good friends and, now, they’ll be working together. While working together, Dikranis has some ideas of what he wants to accomplish.

“What I’d like to do is function more economically,” he said. “Spend less money, if possible, to avoid as much litigation as possible. No reflection on anything past, but I think a good healthy dose of common-sense heads off a lot of that litigation and if we try to be reasonable and figure things out, maybe we can spend less and make a better quality of life for the city. That’s the plan.”

He said being a former city judge will aid in his new role because he can see the court’s point of view a lot of times. He thinks the courts, the District Attorney’s Office, the police department and the corporation counsel’s office should all have good communication. That way, if there’s a problem, it can be talked about it and resolved, he said, and it solves a lot of problems that could occur later on.

He said the city is also going to revise some of the paperwork and they have some good ideas brewing that he thinks the city can benefit from.

“I’ve seen a lot of changes,” Dikranis said of being a 23-year Long Beach resident. “I’ve seen some changes for the good, some not so good. But I think everybody likes to live here. If you want to live here and you want it to stay nice, you’ve got to fight for it, to work for it. I think that’s what we should do.”