Kids & Family
New York Ave. Renamed 'Larry Elovich Way'
Street-dedication ceremony and 5K run honor former Long Beach Chamber of Commerce president Saturday.
It’s where Larry Elovich, an attorney and past president of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce who died last September, met his future wife, Helen, when as a patrolman he would allow her pedestrian infraction to slide if she gave him her contact information.
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A section of New York Avenue, at West Broadway and the start of the boardwalk near the West End, was renamed “Larry Elovich Way” on Saturday, when a new 5K run was held in his honor there.
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Elovich died of kidney cancer at age 77 on Sept. 21, 2012, and at his funeral at Temple Emanu-el his daughter, Lynn, called on city officials to rename New York Avenue in his honor, noting that it was where he worked as a patrolman and offered Helen an option: he would not ticket her for J-walking if she would give him her phone number.
Elovich’s daughter, Lauree, remembered her father’s dedication to physical fitness. “He woke us up every morning from the age of three and strongly encouraged us to get out there and go for a workout, go for a run, and after the run was over we would have us do abs, push-ups, squats. And we would cry but we would get through it. He would tell us that we’d have better days if we worked hard and tried.”Lisa, Lauree and their family vowed to remember him by holding the Larry Elovich 5K run on the boardwalk on the first Saturday of August, as a fundraiser for Long Beach High School students with outstanding athletic and academic abilities who are unable to afford college.
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On Saturday, public officials, including former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, Rep. Peter King, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, took part in the street-dedication ceremony to honor Elovich, a former Democratic Committee chairman in Long Beach. The event raised some $100,000 for the first scholarship that will be president at LBHS in May, according to Newsday. Jake Schlessinger, a recent Syosset High School graduate, was the first to cross the finish line.
Referring to Long Beach’s rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Sandy in October, Lisa said at Saturday's ceremony:
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