SUMMERTIME
De Blasio throws cold water on hopes
Mayor Bill de Blasio said opening city beaches was “not in the cards” because of COVID-19.
Bill de Blasio File photo
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COURIER L 2 IFE, MAY 22-28, 2020
BY JESSICA PARKS &
TODD MAISEL
As cooped-up Brooklynites gaze out
their windows at the full-fl edged summer
season descending upon the outdoors, a
cadre of southern Brooklynites are calling
for a safe reopening of the city’s beaches —
claiming that the threat of the novel coronavirus
won’t be enough to stop a parade
of beachgoers from plunging toward the
sandy shores.
“Unless you’ve got soldiers with machine
guns standing outside NYC beaches,
people WILL go to the beaches this summer,”
tweeted Bay Ridge Councilman Justin
Brannan. “It’s about having a plan to
mitigate disaster.”
State Senator Diane Savino, whose district
includes Coney Island, fears keeping
beaches closed and without lifeguards
will lead to a spike in preventable drowning
incidents.
“Lifeguards are essential or people
will drown,” she said on May 15 — two
days after a good samaritan saved a young
woman from nearly drowning in the frigid
Coney Island waters.
One Coney Islander claimed that the
local beach provides ample space to move
about while maintaining six feet of separation,
and argued that cordoning off the
sand would simply lead to larger gatherings
on the boardwalk and other public
spaces.
“This is our backyard and nearly three
miles long! There’s plenty of space, especially
on the West end of Coney Island for
social distancing,” said Brian Granoff.
“Asser Levy Park and the Boardwalk have
already been much busier than normal.”
But despite their pleas, Mayor Bill de
Blasio on May 17 offered little hope that
beaches would return in time for the summer
season — saying the coastline would
be reserved only for activities where you
could guarantee social distancing measures
were followed.
“You want to walk along the beach,
or sit on the beach for a while? Fine,” he
said. “But No swimming, no parties, no
sports, no gatherings.”
Hizzoner said that police would be at
city beaches to enforce physical separation
and mask usage, and threatened to
have the city’s Parks Department seal off
the entrances to the city’s beaches if overcrowding
were to occur.
“We’re going to give people a chance to
get it right…but if we start to see a lot of
violations of those rules, up will come the
fences, closing off those beaches,” he said.
“No one wants that but we’re ready to do it
if that’s what it takes to keep people safe.”
Park employees were already assessing
plans to erect fences at all entry points
in Coney Island on May 18, and said that
fencing will allow them to control how
many people enter the beach at any location.
To enforce social distancing measures,
the NYPD will boost the beach detail to
100 offi cers, authorities said, while a small
group of School Safety Offi cers who will
man the entrances of the boardwalk.
The Parks Department will also deploy
its own enforcement offi cers who will also
distribute masks and will help oversee the
beach entrances.
It’s not just the beaches that de Blasio
is most concerned with, but rather the
transportation to and from the beaches
— where New Yorkers would be confi ned
to small, enclosed spaces on trains and
buses.
“I don’t want a lot of people on a train. I
don’t want to allow people on buses going
to orchard beach,” he said. “I want us to
recognize we still have to fi ght back this
disease.”
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