Notablog

Song of the Day: Manhattan Beach [YouTube link], composed by John Philip Sousa, was written in 1893, as a tribute to Manhattan Beach, which—for those not in the know—is located in Brooklyn, with the Atlantic Ocean to the south and east, Sheepshead Bay to the north, and Brighton Beach to the west. At one time, the beach was part of a larger seaside resort, established by banking and railroad magnate Austin Corbin, which drew tens of thousands of visitors to its hotels, horse racing and cycling tracks, and nightly fireworks displays. Corbin was a noted anti-Semite, who barred Jews from the resort. It is not without some irony that today Manhattan Beach is home to a sizable Jewish population and to a moving Holocaust memorial. I spent many summer days with my family on this lovely beach. Yesterday, to greet the glorious Summer Solstice, I headed down to the Sheepshead Bay-Manhattan Beach community and photographed some of its sights to prepare the third in my series of “I Love Brooklyn” slideshows. As part of my Ninth Annual Summer Music Festival, this video features the Sousa march played by the Warner Bros. Military Band, conducted by the legendary Henry Mancini. Enjoy!