Community Corner

Billy Crystal Helps L.B. Rebound with New Basketball Courts

Hometown celebrity announces at ribbon-cutting event that he has more projects in the works for the city.

More than 100 youths did their best impressions of Carmelo Anthony during a shoot around on the orange-and-blue rubberized basketball courts at Long Beach Recreation Center on Sunday, when Billy Crystal returned to open the two new courts as part of his hometown’s continued efforts to rebuild after Hurricane Sandy.

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The ribbon-cutting ceremony included Nancy Lieberman, a former WNBA star and Olympic silver medalist, who teamed up with Crystal and his wife, Janice, to donate the funds to build the new DreamCourts that bear their names. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and several city officials and community members turned out for the afternoon ceremony.

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Crystal, who grew up in a home on East Park Avenue with his brothers Richard and Joel that sustained minor flooding during Sandy, told the crowd he spent much of his childhood playing basketball nearby and dreamed of hitting buzzer-beating shots for the Knicks, according to Newsday. “They could use us, actually,” the celebrity said of the Knicks who have struggled through their first six games this season.

Lieberman told News 12: “I want to be part of people’s lives and inspiring them.”

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In June, Crystal and Janice announced their plans to build a DreamCourt in Long Beach when Crystal and fellow celebrities donated $1 million to the city for its post-Sandy recovery efforts, with a portion of the funds reserved for the basketball courts.

While Crystal shot some hoops on the DreamCourts, which the Utah-based Connor Sport Court International rebuilt at a cost of $83,519, he announced that he has more programs are in the works for Long Beach.

“There are five or six programs that are now pretty much fully funded that we’re going to be announcing as they roll out,” Crystal told Newsday. “When they become a real reality, then we’ll have more events like this throughout the next year. And it’s very promising things that I think the city will be very happy with. … Some will be very visible and some will be helping the infrastructure of the city recuperate and get stronger so if something else happens, we’ll be more ready for it.”

Earlier this year, Crystal and Janice assisted in replacing books at Long Beach Middle School.

"You could see Billy's love for his hometown," said Long Beach photographer Carl Caltabiano, who took snapshots of the ceremony and posted them on Patch. "It was in words and in his actions. He's still a Long Beacher at heart." 


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