Gateway National Park/Sandy Hook Closes Amid Coronavirus Crisis

HIGHLANDS, NJ — On Tuesday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced the controversial decision to close all state and county parks in New Jersey. And on Wednesday, the federal government followed suit, announcing it is shutting down public access to Gateway National Park/Sandy Hook, as well.

"Effective immediately, Sandy Hook will be closed to all park visitors until further notice," said Sandy Hook officials in a statement Wednesday morning. "We will notify the public when we resume full operations and provide update on our website www.nps.gov/gate and social media channels @GatewayNPS."

Sandy Hook is part of the National Park Service, and is run by the federal government, similar to Yellowstone or Yosemite.

A spokeswoman for the park actually did not report any specific incidents of people congregating or coming too close together in the past few weeks at Sandy Hook.

"We are closing to be consistent with state and local closures," said National Park Service spokeswoman Daphne Yun. "There was also the fear that social distancing would become harder to maintain."

Murphy's order closed all state and county parks to further social distancing, but left municipal parks to the discretion of each town. However, some towns in New Jersey are even closing town parks: For example, Edison announced Tuesday night they are closing public access to all town parks, effective at sunrise on Wednesday, April 8.