When I decided that I wanted to be a journalist, I had one goal in mind – getting my first article published. Just as a stockbroker wants to make his first trade, or a doctor wants to perform his first surgery – getting published for the first time would signify that I am indeed a member of The Fourth Estate – and that I had an article, in print, under my belt.

My first article was published October 13, 1994 in The Brooklyn Skyline. It was titled, “B.I.G. Town Hall Meeting Decries Loehmann’s Plan.” The story was about the Bay Improvement Group’s attempt to try and stop a Loehmann’s Shopping Center from being built on Emmons Avenue, a street that was declared a “Waterfront Special Zone,” meaning that the only type of buildings that could be erected along the Avenue had to be small – keeping with the area’s theme of a fishing village.

The story was written by myself and Bradd Beck, my dear friend that I lost to cancer in January of 2001. Having no experience at writing a story, we did the best we could, and handed in this:

B.I.G. Town Hall Meeting Decries Loehmann’s Plan
By Paul Wein and Bradd Beck

Many residents of Sheepshead Bay came out to express their concerns about the future of their community at the Bay Improvement Group’s town hall meeting held Tuesday night at the Golden Gate on Knapp Street.

The main topic of discussion was the planned development on Emmons Avenue slated to house a Loehmann’s Department Store.

After three years of studying the project, developer Anthony Clamenza was denied a variance to build by the Board of Standards and Appeals last January, but the case was reopened in May after several new ground-boring tests.

Steve Barrison, president of the Bay Improvement Group, criticized the decision to reopen the case.

“They did 55 borings and didn’t find anything that made the property unique, three years later, they did three more and now they find these are different?” Barrison asked.

In 1973, the area surrounding Sheepshead Bay was declared a Waterfront Special Zone, specifying that everything in the area must be water-related and small scale, said Barrison.

“Loehmann’s doesn’t belong there…It’s 500 percent over the zoning,” Barrison said. “Loehmann’s is holding up Sheepshead’s waterfront.” Clamenza could not be reached for comment before press time, and Loehmann’s had no comment.

When asked about the case, Deputy Mayor Fran Reiter said, “I am not an engineer, so I’m going to leave this to others for more expert than I. All I know is that the process is working properly and they will either be granted the variance or they won’t, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

But to Rose Burns, that is not enough.

“They want to do to Sheepshead Bay what they did to Coney Island,” Burns said. “Sheepshead Bay is part of me – I’m going to fight for this community.”

Barrison feels the politicians are somewhat at fault for the length of this process.

“Mario Cuomo should realize that his reelection is questionable right now…where is Mario? He’s got to show visibility and he’s got to show it now.”

Arda Nazerian, spokesperson for the governor, disagrees. “Governor Cuomo has visited Brooklyn on numerous occasions and met with Brooklyn residents,” she said.

As residents at the meeting called on Councilman Anthony David Weiner to intervene in the Loehmann’s plan, he was quick to respond. “I feel my record of involvement should be clear to a person who has seen my involvement first-hand,” Weiner said. “The reason the variance was held up is because the process is a lengthily one. If you look at the record of the BSA, you will see that when there is not a consensus, some things take longer.”

Among the other issues discussed Tuesday were the Adopt-A-Highway program, in which area residents sweep up highway underpasses and remove graffiti from subways; and the Arts for Transit program through which a 120-foot mural will be placed in Sheepshead Bay at the corner of East 15th Street and Sheepshead Bay Road with a dedication ceremony to be held on Wednesday, November 16.

The editor of the paper was very happy with it and ran it, along with two other stories that we wrote – one entitled, “Dennis Vacco Take AG Campaign To Brooklyn,” and a sidebar story called, “Burstein Responds To Campaign Rally” – both of which were about the race for Attorney General. When the paper came out, Bradd and I were both elated – because as of that day – we were published journalists.

As the years went on, I began to build a career in journalism, which took me from one newspaper to another – and up the journalistic ladder. From my beginnings as a Contributing Reporter for the Skyline, I rose to become, in 1997, the youngest Editor-in-Chief in the State of New York. Following that, I became the Assistant Publisher of The Brooklyn Eagle – a paper that was first published in 1841 and once had, as Editor-In-Chief – poet Walt Whitman. I thought, at the time, that I had found my career, and that journalism would be what I would do with my life until the day I retired…

…then I was offered a position in the Giuliani Administration from Cristyne Lategano – the mayor’s Communications Director – and decided to leave journalism and become the Press Secretary for the New York City Department of Buildings.

For five years, I stayed in politics, going from the DOB to the Office of Emergency Management, where I worked as a Public Information Officer through the events of September 11th. After my tenure there was over, I went to the Taxi & Limousine Commission, where I was the Executive Director of Public Affairs – a job I held until April of 2004, when I decided to begin doing freelance marketing and graphic design. When I began to work for myself, I noticed that most of the work I was producing was, coincidentally, newspapers. From The Pulse, which was the newspaper for the Brooklyn Board of REALTORS, to the Taxi Insider, which was a trade publication for the taxi industry, to a newspaper for both Fillmore Real Estate and Elite Home Sales, to prominent real estate firms in Brooklyn – it hit me one day that I was subconsciously returning to my journalistic roots. So, I decided that it was time to return to The Fourth Estate full time, which I have now done – as Editor of The Nassau Herald.

Ironically, my first paper as Editor of The Nassau Herald was published on October 13th – eleven years to the day that my first article was published in the Skyline. To me, that is a clear sign that I was meant to return to journalism, and to my first career choice. I have always loved being a journalist and seeing my articles in print – and now that I am once again where I belong – I plan to do what I set out to from the beginning – retire as a journalist, and a member of The Fourth Estate.