Thursday, October 1, 2026
Long Beach resident Elliot Zuckerman recalled how, 30 years ago, a mother approached him about helping her blind child fulfill a wish: to learn how to surf.
“We devised a way to teach this child how to surf and ever since then, it’s been non-stop,” said Zuckerman, founder of Surf2Live, considered one of the top surf schools in the country, and Surfer’s Way, a non-profit organization that provides surf instruction to children with special needs, including those with autism. “Some of these kids have never smiled — ever — yet when they get on a surf board for the first time, they’re smiling,” Zuckerman said.
“He really represents what this community is all about,” said Larry Elovich, chairman of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, who presented Zuckerman with the organization’s 2010 Man of the Year award at its 47th annual dinner dance at the Sands in Atlantic Beach last Sunday.
The event drew close to 600 people, including U.S. Rep. Peter King, former Sen. Al D’Amato, Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg and state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. They joined chamber officials such as Warren Vegh and Michael Kerr in lauding the evening’s honorees.
“He would use his surf school to help children,” Elovich said, adding that Zuckerman found a way to give back to the community.
Zuckerman was one of four honorees from Long Beach: Petrey Real Estate’s Jennifer Bartko was named Merchant of the Year; Dr. Ashok Bhatt, director of psychiatry at Long Beach Medical Center, was given the Professional of the Year award; and City Council President Thomas Sofield Jr. received the Edmund A. Buscemi Public Service Award, in memory of the city’s former police commissioner.
Sofield, a 1983 graduate of Long Beach High School and an attorney with a degree from the Hofstra University School of Law, is a former state assistant attorney general and was elected to the City Council in 2003. “I endeavor to fill his shoes,” Sofield said upon receiving the award, adding that fellow honorees such as Bartko, Zuckerman and Bhatt have worked to make Long Beach “a great community.”
