Beaches across the region begin to open as NYC beaches remain closed
NEW YORK - People across the region who have been cooped up at home under stay-at-home orders for months now are definitely ready for some summer sun if the scene at beaches across the Jersey Shore is any indication.
If Memorial Day will be the main course, you could call the days leading up to it an appetizer as shore communities begin to slowly reopen. Some beaches are already allowing limited use with social distancing rules, while other communities are using what they are calling “Good Will Ambassadors.”
Other restrictions in place include no contact sports, frisbee or football, no arcades or rides on the boardwalk, and no fireworks or festivals.
Meanwhile, Governor Andrew Cuomo said that all beaches in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Delaware can reopen by Memorial Day but must limit capacity to 50 percent. Concession stands will remain closed and contact activities and sports are prohibited.
However, as beaches across the region open, New York City’s beaches will remain closed.
“We can’t have crowds, we can’t have gatherings, we have people going to the beach, we can’t have the boardwalk get crowded, we’ve got to protect against the problems that come with people being in too close proximity in this pandemic,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
His decision has faced criticism, however, with City Council Speaker Corey Johnson saying he isn’t ready to “give up” on the city’s beaches, adding that New Yorkers will flock to them no matter what and “would end up overcrowding other NY, NJ and CT beaches if we try to keep them closed.”
City councilmember Mark Treyger was also critical of the Mayor’s decision, saying the administration has no safety plan for beach communities and he has been asking for over a month.