Long Beach hopeful about new president

Residents voice support for Biden administration

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Ava Lithgow, 15, was sitting in her history class at Long Beach High School on Jan. 20, intently watching the inauguration of President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

A smile broke across her face as the new president took the oath of office. But she had smiled even more broadly moments before, when Kamala Harris, the former U.S. senator from California and the first woman and first person of color to be elected vice president, stepped up to the podium at the Capitol.

“I felt hopeful that in 2021, we might be able to turn this country around,” Ava said. “Kamala Harris is such a wonderful woman. We’re off to a good start.”

In interviews across the barrier island, there was a sense of excitement about a new beginning, and in many cases, sighs of relief that former President Trump, who promoted the false narrative that the 2020 election was fraudulent, and in his last days riled up a crowd of supporters who sacked the Capitol, is gone.

Local residents said they liked Biden’s even-handed tone, and the rows of American flags planted outside the Capitol in place of a crowd that could not attend because of the coronavirus pandemic, and they were thrilled at the poise and poetry of 22-year-old Amanda Gorman, a Harvard graduate and the youngest inaugural poet ever.

“It was like waking up on a sunny day after a maelstrom of storms,” said Joe Smith, a clinical psychologist who works in Long Beach. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn the tide in the direction of progress.”

Jimmy Hennessy, a Republican and a spokesman for the party in Long Beach, said he was hopeful about the future with the new administration.

“He’s talking about healing,” Hennessy said of Biden. Hennessy — who in 2003 was elected to the Long Beach City Council, upsetting Joel Crystal, the brother of Hollywood star Billy Crystal — is a history teacher at Hewlett High School.

Trump, Hennessy said, “was talking to his base, but he couldn’t control his mouth. He needed to shut up and do the work of the people.”

Hennessy said he had voted for Biden.

Still, many who were asked for their comments said they worried about another insurrection like the one that erupted Jan. 6. Smith said that some hard-core Trump supporters had felt “marginalized” and “ignored” over the years, and came to believe conspiracy theories about Democrats and the “deep state.”

But, Smith said, many could come to realize the reality of the election given time, and appreciate actions taken by the Biden administration, such as increasing unemployment benefits, extending food stamps and focusing on creating jobs.

Some said they wanted a return to what they called “normalcy” in the White House, and peace in the land.

“I’m hoping that Martin Luther King’s dream is finally realized,” said James Hodge, chairman of the MLK Center in Long Beach. “He wanted people to be judged not by the color of their skin, but by their character.”

Hodge said he was “thrilled” to see Gorman on the podium, who described herself in her poem as “a skinny black girl, descended from slaves and raised by a single mother.”

“I want the Biden administration to be like a rainbow,” Hodge said. “It would be beautiful.”

Ian Danby, chairman of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, said he hoped Biden would unify the country. But, Danby added, “I hope he doesn’t raise taxes on small businesses.”

Anissa Moore, a former City Council president and now a communications professor at Nassau Community College, said there had been a lot of discussion among her students about the inauguration and the new administration. “My students are really excited,” said Moore, who is also a community activist. “My students see it as a brand new day.”

But, she warned, “We don’t want to demonize the half of the country that voted for Trump. I think we’re quickly getting to that point.”

Susan Gordon Ryan, a former regional director of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, said she was impressed by the organization of the inauguration, particularly the planting of the American flags as stand-ins for a crowd unable to assemble.

“It was just a beautiful day,” Ryan said. “I’m just hoping for a return to normal. The last four years have been utter chaos.”

Her husband, Francis X. Ryan, who worked for Gov. Mario Cuomo in the 1980s and early ’90s, said, “Clearly, the new president set the right tone when he said, ‘My whole soul is in this.’ He wants to heal the country and govern.”

Ryan said that one of Biden’s most important tasks is to immediately deal with the coronavirus pandemic, which has taken more than 400,000 American lives.

Sam Pinto, a community organizer, said he was thankful that Biden had nominated Marty Walsh as labor secretary. As the mayor of Boston, Walsh made worker safety a priority, and took strong steps to deal with the pandemic.

“I’m really excited that Joe Biden will be successful,” Pinto said.