By Sarina Trangle
After New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser described Bay Terrace as a soulless neighborhood fit to spawn the notorious Wolf of Wall Street, the Bay Terrace Community Alliance demanded an apology.
So far, the civic association’s request has gone unanswered.
In her Dec. 8 column, Peyser wrote that Bay Terrace helped transform Jordan Belfort, who served 22 months in prison for securities fraud, into one of the most notorious Ponzi scheme beneficiaries.
“But he can’t shake Bay Terrace, which helped mold an upwardly mobile middle-class kid into an amoral, drug-loving crook,” Peyser wrote, before quoting Belfort as saying “‘there’s something in the water there.’”
Peyser, herself a product of Bay Terrace, described a childhood marked by a restlessness that drove many of her peers to use drugs. This environment could explain Belfort’s trajectory, Peyser wrote.
The community greeted her theory with derision.
The Bay Terrace Community Alliance released a statement condemning the column, demanding an apology from Peyser and asking the Post to retract offensive portions of the piece.
“The assumption that people who live in Bay Terrace turn out to be ‘amoral, drug-loving crooks’ is completely outrageous and offensive. Ms. Peyser might be writing that of an evaluation of her own flawed character, but it’s certainly not true of the majority of people,” the civic association’s statement said.
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Bay Terrace in zip code 11360 was 18,884. The media household income was $79,553 and the average home value stood at $506,400.
The Bay Terrace Community Alliance also found Peyser’s description of the neighborhood as an intellectually deficient, “soulless collection of identical six-story, red brick co-op buildings and attached garden apartments” offensive.
Warren Schreiber, president of the civic association, said the community’s rigorous schools, scenic parks, bay vistas and welcoming attitude was lost on Peyser.
“We are a middle-class, family-friendly community,” said Schreiber, who has lived in Bay Terrace for about 25 years. “The reporter didn’t really do any research or had some personal grudge against the community.”
Belfort has made headlines recently as Paramount Pictures prepares to release a movie based on Belfort’s biography, “The Wolf of Wall Street,” starring Leo DiCaprio, on Christmas Day.
Belfort chronicled his rise from selling Italian ices in college to bilking millions from investors at the Stratton Oakmont investment firm in the 2008 memoir.
The convicted felon-turned-motivational speaker did not respond to an inquiry about his perspective on growing up in Bay Terrace.
Peyser did not respond to a request for comment.
Reach reporter Sarina Trangle at 718-260-4546 or by e-mail at strangle@cnglocal.com.
