N.J. State Shutdown Has No Effect On Ocean City Beaches: Officials

OCEAN CITY, NJ — The beaches in Ocean City will remain open during the current state shutdown, officials clarified Sunday afternoon. The current shutdown only impacts state-controlled beaches in state parks.

Gov. Chris Christie's order late Friday night to shut down government operations included all state parks, forests, historic sites and recreation areas. Any public events in any of these areas have been canceled. Double Trouble State Park in Bayville is also closed. State park police will continue to patrol these beaches.

Please visit the New Jersey State Park & Forestry website http://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/ for any updated information.

Christie has blamed the closure on the state Assembly speaker, saying that Senate Democrats have been willing to strike a deal with him to end the impasse.

Democratic Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto said he was working to prevent what he considered a "Christie tax" on the state's largest insurer that he said could lead to higher premiums for people in the state.

See related: N.J. Government Shutdown Continues As Christie Faces Backlash