Long Beachers Flash Colors After Al Qada Leader's Demise

Some Long Beachers hit the city streets on Monday to display or wave American flags and post newspaper headlines of Osama bin Laden’s death hours after President Obama confirmed the news late Sunday night.

Peter Gale and James Tolfree lined up several American flags along the railings at Lafayette Boulevard boardwalk around 9:30 a.m. on Monday. Gale, a retired FDNY firefighter, and Tolfree, who was born on Flag Day (June 14), are known to post Old Glory on the boardwalk and bay park each July 4 and September 11.  

Later on Monday, Tolfree parked his vintage pick-up truck, painted red with Coca~Cola logos on the doors, outside Lola’s restaurant, where the Long Beach Waterfront Warriors held a fundraiser for wounded veterans. Tolfree posted on the windows the front pages of newspapers featuring large photos of bin Laden.

Peter Velez, an immigrant from Puerto Rico, heard the news when he woke up Monday morning. He took out his American flag, donned a stars-and-stripes shirt and walked the streets of Long Beach. As he proudly waved his flag on West Park Avenue outside City Hall, at about 5:45 p.m., some passing motorists honked their horns.

“It’s so nice to be an American,” said Velez, who recently moved to Long Beach from Freeport. “And it’s so nice to see people honking their horn.”

On Sept. 11, 2001, he was in his native land watching the terrorist attacks unfold on Good Morning America, knowing his sister worked at the World Trade Center. It turned out that she was not in the towers that day, and two years later Velez visited her and Ground Zero.

“I’m just so happy [he’s] dead,” Velez said, using choice words to describe bin Laden.

Emma Gilroy, a seventh grader at Long Beach Middle School, who was hanging out with her friends at Kennedy Plaza. walked over and asked to wave Velez's flag, She said she had watched news coverage of the events all morning before going to class at Long Beach Middle School.

“I learned about it a lot at home and at school,” she said about 9/11. “ … People should be glad that he’s dead.”

* This story was updated from the original.