CITY BEACHES WON’T REOPEN
FOR MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND
Coney Island Beaches and Boardwalk were crowded, with most practicing social distancing, but some
not, and some not wearing masks. They say they don’t need them if with family and not near anyone.
Mayor announces COVID-19
summer heat wave plan
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | MAY 22-28, 2020 3
BY TODD MAISEL
New York City’s beaches
will not be open by Memorial
Day weekend due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor
Bill de Blasio announced Sunday
.T
he beaches will remain
open for walking or sitting,
but no one — or groups — will
be able to congregate on the
shores.
“We didn’t make this decision
lightly and we are watching
the indicators — we will
be smart and careful about
this. We are taking it a week
and even a day at a time. So
maybe later in the summer we
will open, but we are not ready
yet,” de Blasio said.
The mayor warned, however,
that if New Yorkers fail
to comply with social distancing
regulations, stricter action
will be taken to block the
beaches off to the public — including
erecting 14 miles of
fence along the waterfront, if
necessary.
“We are always putting
health and safety first and
even though it is beautiful
weather, we will be smart
about what we allow and don’t
allow,” the mayor said.
COVID-19 cases continue
to drop across the city, but de
Blasio made clear at his Sunday
press conference that no
one wants a resurgence of the
virus that would force more
draconian measures to be implemented.
“We are the epicenter of
the crisis and opening the
beaches for Memorial Day is
not the right or safe thing to
do,” he said.
The city is now training
lifeguards for when the beaches
do open to swimming, but
added measures would have to
be taken to assure continued
social distancing.
To enforce the rules, the
NYPD has partially restored
the special police detail to
Coney Island Beaches as a result
of demand and requests
from elected officials, but will
resist giving summonses, officials
privately say. Instead,
they and Parks Enforcement
Officers will distribute masks
to the public and encourage
safe practices.
Normally, 150 officers are
assigned to beach detail for
Memorial Day, but instead,
sources say only 50 will be
assigned to augment precinct
personnel at the beaches
throughout the city to save
money.
Their numbers have been
increased by hundreds of
school safety agents who are
now assigned to parks and
beaches because schools are
closed. Officers were already
involved in one water rescue
and a safety agent was bitten
by a dog on Saturday.
Some police officers privately
expressed concern that
unarmed school safety officers
would be ill-equipped
to deal with large gatherings
and potentially armed gangs
that are expected to descend
upon waterfront communities.
Gang-related violence
has been spiking throughout
the city and account for the
rise in homicides.
Social distancing and gatherings
are still banned in New
York State, but how people
interpret that and how it’s enforced
are spotty at best.
With Memorial Day a week
away, the Coney Island Beach
and Boardwalk were still busy
on Saturday, with most people
maintaining social distance
on the beaches. Some people
disregarded the gathering
guidelines on the boardwalk.
A few boardwalk concessions
were open for take-out,
though in some cases, social
distancing on the lines was
disregarded.
Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park
opened two food concessions,
with restrictions on the lines
and every employee wearing
masks and gloves. Deno’s
Sweetshop within the amusement
park opened this week,
gates allowing for long lines to
socially distance safely.
Ruby’s bar was serving
beer for takeout and Nathan’s
opened their food concession
on the Boardwalk. Several
other concessions were preparing
to open for takeout,
including Tom’s on Stillwell
Avenue.
Tony Scotto, an operator of
the Wonder Wheel, was happy
that at least concessions were
able to do business, but he
wants to see more.
Scotto says the city should
allow them to reopen the 150-
foot Wonder Wheel, which has
been giving a vista view of the
city since 1920 and designated
a landmark in 1989.
“Here’s a message to Mayor
de Blasio — stop putting
everybody out of business —
you’re hurting people and taking
food off people’s tables,”
Scotto said. “I’m sorry for the
people who are sick and dying,
but the thing is they should
open up with regulation —
people should wash their
hands and wear masks — if
people are sick they shouldn’t
come here. People should have
the choice of opening up. If
people are afraid to come to a
park, they should stay home.
Let’s say you are the owner
and you don’t want to open up
because you might get sick —
that should be a choice — this
is America.”
Photo by Todd Maisel
Visitors were sitting on the
beach, mostly together with
families, with some small
groups of friends sitting or in
some cases, playing volleyball
between themselves.
“We are just keeping to
ourselves. Is it the smartest
idea? I don’t know, but we had
to get out,” said Aaron Collins
of Brighton Beach, who went
swimming in the shallows
with his friend’s daughter
Alexia Greve, 7.
“It’s awesome,” the young
Alexia Greve, a resident of
Astoria, Queens, said after a
quick dip in the still cold waters.
People were playing music
on the boardwalk, some dancing,
but maintaining distance
and wearing their masks.
BY ALEJANDRA O'CONNELLDOMENECH
The heat is coming and
Mayor Bill de Blasio finally
released a plan Friday
on how to help New Yorkers
stay cool during the
city’s notoriously sweltering
summers.
The first phase of the
city’s COVID-19 heat wave
plan, is to spend $55 million
to distribute 74,000
air conditioning units to
low-income systems with
22,000 of those units to be
installed in New York City
Housing Authority homes.
Priority will be given
to those that are deemed
the most in need by the
Department for the Aging,
the Human Resources
Administration, and the
Department of Housing
Preservation and Development,
said de Blasio.
“We know some people
bear the brunt in the
heat,” said de Blasio. “It’s
the people that can’t leave
their home, even if they
wanted to because of disability
or challenges….
certainly mirrors a lot of
what we are seeing with
the coronavirus but the
heat has particular elements
that allow us to
hone in on those that need
help the most.”
The second phase is
to provide 450,000 lowincome
New Yorkers with
summer utility bill subsidies
which are usually
about 20 to 30 % higher because
of air conditioning
use, the mayor said. The
city will also petition the
Public Service Commission,
which regulates electric,
gas, water and telecommunication
business,
to double their current
commitment to subsidies
summer bills and increase
customer benefits to $160
over the summer.
De Blasio added that
his administration would
urge the state to allocate
its share of national energy
assistance from the
federal CARES Act for the
summer months.
Social distancing measures
will be placed in
the city’s cooling centers
and the Parks Department
will create “misting
oases” to cool park-goers.
The city is developing a
plan to open up some fire
hydrants to provide some
relief from the heat on
certain blocks.
/QNS.COM
