Nobody cares about Midland Beach (anymore)

Midland Beach got shafted this week.

Their weekly protest barely got coverage in the local news even though, according to NY1, there were ‘hundreds’ of people there.

They had a few things going against them, it wasn’t as slow of a news day, but mostly the media is losing interest in this story because it isn’t going anywhere. Some people involved in this debate are genuinely concerned and they need to move ahead.

Here are some things the people of Midland Beach should keep in mind going forward.

1. The Archdiocese sold you out: You know this already, but it may sound refreshing coming from us. The only thing they ever gave a shit about was the $750,000 they were planning on pocketing from the sale of this building. They weren’t concerned about who was buying it, what they would do with it, or what the local community thought. They only wanted the money.
   
2. You need an alternative: You can not simply oppose the sale of a vacant building without proposing that something else be done with the property. A senior center, a parking lot, a strip club -- it could be anything. Without an alternative plan for the property the griping becomes suspicious, which leads us to the next point.
   
3. You’ve let the Islamophobes hijack the debate: This is easy to do, they are the loudest. But this issue could have been handled differently with a real focus on what injustices have already been done, and how to address them in the future. This silly talk of terrorists wanting to enact Sharia Law has only morphed the debate with silly caricatures of American flags vs people in headscarves. This is your neighborhood. You have every right to be concerned about the public spaces within it. If there’s no need to make it a religious issue why go there?