Christie Sand Sculpture Puts Final Mocking Touches On Beach Closure Anger

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NJ — First it was the beach chair meme that conquered social media. Now, a sand sculpture is delivering the message one last time.

A day after Gov. Chris Christie was mocked on social media over photos that showed him and his family enjoying Island Beach State Park while it was closed to the rest of the beach-going public, a sand sculpture mocking the beach chair photo has drawn plenty of attention in Seaside Heights.

Photos of the sculpture, which depicts Christie sitting in his beach chair, his head turned to his left, wearing the baseball cap that his aide said meant the governor didn't get any sun, made the rounds late Tuesday. It shows a shark emerging from the waves, and a sign on Christie's right says "BEACH CLOSED."

The sculpture, toward the north end of the Seaside Heights beachfront, was a final statement from angry residents and beachgoers who were barred from accessing the beach to sunbathe, fish or otherwise relax at Island Beach State Park until Tuesday as a result of the government shutdown Christie ordered due to the budget impasse.

Christie, meanwhile, took to the sand with his family from the governor's residence on the state park, sparking outrage when photos taken by NJ.com showed the outing.

READ MORE: Christie Beach Photo Spawns Epic Internet Memes

Christie has defended the outing, saying it was planned well before the budget impasse, and flew back and forth between Trenton and the state park while budget negotiations continued.

NBC 4 New York reported that dozens of beachgoers snapped photos with the Christie sand sculpture, which was later turned into something resembling a starfish with eyes by the end of the evening Tuesday.

Though the budget was finally passed late Monday and signed by Christie, allowing Island Beach State Park and nearly two dozen other state parks to reopen for July 4, the majority of those speaking out over the weekend said the damage had been done to small businesses that rely on the weekend revenues and to family and group outings that were disrupted. That included a group ofCub Scouts from Tinton Falls who were kicked out of Cheesequake State Park, ending a planned camping trip early, because of the shutdown.

"We had 15 families with 25 kids total, with kids in first through fourth grades," said den leader Andrew Spears. "There's a significant amount of planning that goes into something like this. All the families had paid in advance and we had reserved a campsite months ago for their big trip. We already bought all the food, too."

PHOTO by Dave Bobal, used with permission