Obituary

Stanley Fleishman, longtime Long Beach community leader and booster

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Stanley Fleishman, a longtime chairman of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors, who was known for his community leadership, sense of humor and instrumental role in convincing the New York Rangers to practice in Long Beach in the early 1970s, died on Friday at age 89 in Boca Raton, Fla.

“He did a lot for the business community — we started the arts and crafts fair on the boardwalk with the Lions Club,” said Fleishman’s longtime friend, Bob Carroll, president of the Long Beach Lions Club and the former superintendent of the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation. “Everybody knew him, he was a friendly guy. He had a big, very positive impact on Long Beach. He was a very philanthropic guy.”

“My father was the happiest man,” Randi Fleishman, of Lido Beach, told Newsday. “Wherever he went, he made people laugh. He was never half empty, he was always half full. Everything had to be good.”

Stanley “Rockets” Fleishman was born in Long Beach and graduated from Long Beach High School in 1947, where Carroll said he was a star athlete on the track team and is on the school’s Wall of Fame.

“He ran the 100 and 220 yard dash, and he played football as well,” said Carroll.
“He called everyone ‘Rockets,’” Stanley’s longtime friend, former chamber President Michael Kerr, said of how Fleishman earned his nickname. “‘What’s doing, Rockets,’ he’d say. And the name just stuck. I lost a true friend for over 45 years, and it was a pleasure to work with him not only in the chamber but in the Lions Club.”

“Stanley was a true inspiration for the entire Long Beach community and a driving force for the chamber of commerce,” Nassau County Comptroller Jack Schnirman, the former Long Beach city manager, said in a statement. “He was a fountain of wisdom who was full of terrific humor and tremendous positive energy. ‘Rockets’ presence will be greatly missed.”

Also known as “Mr. Long Beach” and “The Great Baldini,” Fleishman was well-known magician who regularly entertained members of the Lions Club, as well as his three grandsons, Sam, Noah and Julian, and elected officials like former U.S. Sen. Al D’Amato, Carroll and others said.

“He took some courses for that and would do a performance for the Lions Club once a month,” Carroll recalled. “He was very good, like a professional, and a very humorous guy — he was very funny.”

Fleishman served as chairman of the chamber’s board for over 30 years. He and his close friend, the late Larry Elovich, a former chamber president, took over an ailing organization and turned it around during a tumultuous time in the city, particularly in the 1970s and ‘80s. Fleishman and Elovich helped attract new businesses to the city.

“When the chamber was going through hard times years ago, Stanley was instrumental in convincing Larry to become president,” Kerr said. “He thought Larry was up and coming, involved in politics and knew the city, and they did amazing things with the chamber.”

The Fleishmans were a prominent family in town. Stanley’s father, Morris, was a Russian immigrant who went on to become a City Council president and successful business owner, and Fleishman also took an interest in local politics and civic affairs.

“One of Stanley’s biggest questions when he’d call from Florida was, ‘What’s going in City Hall?’” Kerr said. “He was supportive of the Democratic club and candidates, but he would cross party lines and support Republican candidates as well.”

“Stanley was loved by everyone,” said former City Court Judge Roy Tepper, a lifelong friend. “He had a legendary sense of humor. More than anything, he was a kind and caring person, and he will be truly missed.”

After Fleishman left the Army in 1953, he and his brother, Norman, ran Fleishman Automotive, a successful automobile dealership on Long Beach Boulevard. In 1980, he sold the business and retired at age 51.

“He loved golf, family, the beach and this town,” Randi said in an email. “I called him Mr. Long Beach and he was.”

Fleishman is a past president and chairman of the Lions Club. For over 40 years, he was a member and chairman of the Long Beach Recreation Commission. He was instrumental in the construction of the Ice Arena, tennis courts and playgrounds throughout the city. Carroll said that he and Fleishman helped secure an $8.5 million grant from Nassau County to refurbish the recreation facility and boost programs and services.

“He got a lot done,” Carroll said. “He brought the Rangers to Long Beach. Stanley was friendly with Emile Francis, the former coach, who lived in Long Beach. Stanley was a big hockey fan — he used to go [to Madison Square Garden] a lot with Francis and myself.”

The team practiced in Long Beach from 1974-78, and left an indelible mark on the community, Carroll said.

Fleishman was also active in nearly every civic organization in town, including Temple Emanu-El. He doted on his wife, Fran, and his children and grandchildren.

“We would walk up on the boardwalk,” Fran Fleishman told Newsday, “and he would just be in all his glory, look at the ocean and look at the sand and say, ‘Still a nice place to live.’”

Along with his wife, daughter and brother, Fleishman is also survived by his stepdaughters Sari Botton, of upstate Kingston, and Amy Goren, of Lido Beach, ex-wife Gloria Neu, of Bayside, and his three grandchildren.

Services were held Thursday at Gutterman’s funeral home in Rockville Centre. Donations can be made to the Stanley Fleishman Memorial College Scholarship fund at Long Beach High School.