Trump on the Ocean Rally at Jones Beach Will Have Some Opposition Voices

Wednesday’s on the Boardwalk in support of the long-stalled Trump on the Ocean catering hall project will also feature some opposition voices who feel a family style restaurant is better suited for the seaside location.

Longtime Nassau County civic activist Patricia Friedman, who has been one of the staunchest opponents to real estate mogul Donald Trump's proposed catering facility at Jones Beach, is planning to attend Wednesday’s 11 a.m. rally to state her reasons why the project should not be built. Friedman, 75, is in favor of resurrecting the Boardwalk Café, which sat on the site where Trump wants to build a 70,000 square-foot restaurant catering facility before it was demolished in 2004, and said a family style restaurant is better suited for Jones Beach. Friedman is also opposed to Trump on the Ocean because she does not feel the state did a fair bidding process for the open Jones Beach property.

Friedman said she plans to arrive with other opponents of catering hall project at the Jones Beach Boardwalk around 10 a.m. and plans to try and speak to Trump, who is scheduled to speak at the rally. She did not estimate how many opponents to Trump on the Ocean would attend.

“We will be at the rally to voice our opinion to anybody who wants to listen,” said Friedman, a Garden City Park resident who ran unsuccessfully for the State Assembly last year in the 21st district as a conservative candidate.

The Alliance To Revitalize Jones Beach (ARJB) scheduled Wednesday’s rally in an attempt to foster momentum for Trump’ proposed $30 million catering facility, which was first conceived in 2006 but has been held up in litigation the last five years. ARJB founder Rafe Lieber of Plainview, who worked as a legislative aide to former State Sen. Craig Johnston, said Friedman’s idea for a family style restaurant would not be as successful at Jones Beach as the high end catering hall Trump is proposing.

“I don’t think a family style restaurant would be as successful at Jones Beach,” said Lieber. “You need something special and unique in order to succeed at that site.”

Trump’s planned catering hall at Jones Beach first hit a snag when the New York Department of State Review Board rejected the proposal due to the plan's 26,710-square-foot basement, which they said could not be constructed in a flood plain. Trump proceeded to file multiple lawsuits for lost revenue from the project, which he had originally hoped to complete by 2009. The New York State Parks Department has said they are prepared to move forward with the project if Trump would agree to a compromise plan they approved in 2008 that would be roughly the same size but with a more limited use of the basement.

Some of the many elected officials and community leaders scheduled to attend Wednesday’s rally in support of Trump on the Ocean include Wantagh Chamber of Commerce president Christopher Brown, Nassau County Legis. Dennis Dunne, R-Levittown, and Hempstead Town Councilman Ed Ambrosino. North Valley Stream.