Long Island To New York City: Stay Off Our Beaches!

LONG ISLAND, NY — Municipalities across Long Island have passed resolutions this week that close their beaches to non-residents. It's a move designed to keep New York City residents off Long Island sands.

While beaches across the state are opening this weekend for Memorial Day, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he will not be opening the city's beaches. That led to many Long Islanders worried about a flood of city residents crowding the beaches — and possibly bringing the coronavirus with them.

As beaches reopen, they are doing so under new guidelines in the age of the coronavirus: capacity at all beaches is being limited to 50 percent. Beachgoers are going to have to maintain social distancing from people who don't live with them, and they're also going to have to wear face masks when walking around.

With the reduced capacity at beaches, many Long Islanders were worried that a flood of city residents would block them out from being able to get to their own beaches.

It was a concern that many politicians heard and echoed. Across Long Island, municipalities passed resolutions that would restrict beaches to residents only.

The Town of Hempstead, the Town of Oyster Bay, the City of Long Beach and Nassau County all passed measures banning non-residents from accessing their ocean beaches. Suffolk County and its townships took similar measures.

The restrictions do not apply to state parks, so anyone can still access Jones Beach, Gilgo Beach and Robert Moses Beach. They also do not apply to private beaches, but it is still unclear when and how they would be able to open.

"It’s a shame Long Island has to turn away city beachgoers to protect its residents and ensure safe beaches, but until the mayor gets his act together and makes his own beaches safe, that’s the only responsible move," said State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, who represents part of Long Island. "As soon as New York City does the right thing, Long Island should welcome back its neighbors as long as safe volumes can be maintained. That would be best for Long Island businesses and in the spirit of our state."

Many of the municipalities that passed the measures said they would be lifted when New York City opens up its beaches, which would decrease the likelihood of city residents flocking to the Island for sun and surf.

In advance of the beach season beginning, all of Long Island's towns and its two counties came together to create a cohesive plan to keep beaches safe this summer. The plan includes social distancing measures, new signage at the beaches and patrols to make sure the policies are being observed by beachgoers.