Long Island’s Opening Up But It’s Beaches Are Still Prepping
After over a year long directive to stay masked up and socially distanced, the CDC said on May 13 that anyone who’s been fully vaccinated can now resume activities that were done prior to the pandemic. The masks can come off after two weeks of your last dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or two weeks after your Johnson & Johnson shot.
At Long Beach, people flocked to the boardwalk and to the sandy shores of Ocean Beach Park over the weekend where it looked like everything was back to normal. “It looks like the beach season is here,“ Richie Weinstein of Long Beach said.
The sense of normalcy brought on by the new CDC guidelines has garnered positivity among those walking the boardwalk. ”It’s liberating,” Ron Susser said. “I’m very optimistic especially for my town. We got a lot of summer people that are tourists, a lot of day trippers. Our restaurants need their help so I’m thrilled they’re back.”
Even though people can still soak up the sun on the boardwalk and on the sand, they’re still not allowed to swim. Ocean Beach Park will officially be open on May 29 when lifeguards will be on duty. “The preseason is weekends only up until the last weekend in June, then we begin seven days a week,” Joe Brand, parks commissioner of Long Beach said.
As masks start to come off, some people say it’s about time. “I’m tired of it,” Patty Sullivan said. “I’ve been vaccinated. I think it’s good if you’re indoors, but outside I don’t really think you need it.”
With masks off and crowds of people you have to wonder if everyone there was fully vaccinated. According to the New York State vaccine tracker website only 41.6% of New Yorkers have completed their vaccine series with the data counting up to May 16. In Nassau County alone, 47.5% of people are fully vaccinated as of May 16.
“Not everybody is and that’s the problem,” Sullivan said. “Some people just got one shot, are they going to go back for the other?”
The vaccination effort is seen by some as a success. “ More or less I think we actually did a pretty great job getting people vaccinated, practicing social distancing, keeping the masks on.” Susser said. “It’s not too much to ask people to help their neighbors.” Susser added, “Get vaccinated and come on out and enjoy the summer.”
While not everyone is fully vaccinated, positivity rates of the coronavirus have gone down substantially in the county. According to the New York Times, Nassau County is reporting an average of 101 cases per day, but this is a 49% decrease compared to the average two weeks ago. On May 16, Nassau County reported only 90 new cases, yet the county is still categorized as a high risk for those unvaccinated.
Still, New York is finally opening up. “Better late than never,” Valerie Augenthaler said. “I think we could’ve opened up sooner.”
Only a few weeks ago on April 28, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and State Senator Todd Kaminsky were on the Long Beach boardwalk asking for the state to increase capacity at beaches from 50% to 100%. “We are beach people,” Curran said. “”People go to the beach and support their local businesses. We need the beaches open 100%.”
Todd Kaminsky, who represents Long Beach as part of the 9th District of the New York senate, said “Last summer’s beach guidance is no longer relevant and should no longer be the rule of the day.”
A few days afterwards Governor Cuomo announced on May 3 that most capacity limits will be lifted on May 19.
The new guidelines affect most commercial businesses including retail, food services, gyms, and barber shops. The Long Beach boardwalk has restaurants located along the way.
One such restaurant is Beach Burger who were impacted by the pandemic restrictions. “Last year was definitely a major challenge,” Ralph Anselmo, owner of Beach Burger said. “The boardwalk here on Long Beach was closed for two and a half months, so we couldn’t even operate.”
When the Long Beach boardwalk opened back up in May 2020, pandemic restrictions brought about changes to it’s usual operations such as closing at 9 p.m. “We basically lost two hours a night in business,” Anselmo said.
Although an announcement has been made by Governor Cuomo over changes to capacity limits, Beach Burger has been left in the dark on how these changes affect their restaurant. “We actually haven’t gotten official word,” Anselmo said. “The city of Long Beach hasn’t told us that that’s the case, we haven’t heard officially from the board of health.”
Beach Burger sits right off the boardwalk allowing easy access for those who want to grab something to eat. While there is seating inside, a large majority of people eat outside. Regardless of the May 19 changes, Beach Burger will be playing it safe. “We’re all used to wearing masks so we’re probably going to keep it like that for a while,” Anselmo said. “We’ll take it day-by-day with that we want to be on the safe side. We don’t want to have any issues with any of our customers, or board of health, or the city of Long Beach.”
When beach season is in full swing, Anselmo wants it to be like the Roaring ‘20s. “We’re definitely excited to open back up normally and have some normalcy. See some smiling faces and serve up some good eats,” Anselmo said.
Restaurants weren’t the only ones affected by the pandemic. As the beaches were closed, the city of Long Beach got hurt financially as city manager Donna Gayden said the biggest impact from pandemic restrictions was the “lack of revenue.”
“What people should be aware of is the effect that the beach has on the local economy,” parks commissioner Joe Brand said. “It’s not just the revenue that the city sees a reduction with, you talk about small businesses, people that rely on the extra traffic of the summer months in order for their businesses to survive through the winter.”
After County Executive Curran and State Senator Kaminsky called for the full reopening of New York State beaches, Governor Cuomo said beaches and pools could be open at 100% capacity by July 4. When Ocean Beach Park starts it’s opening on May 29, the beach is capable of having 100% capacity.
“For outdoor activities there at the beach we can go 100%,” Brand said. “We just have to be able to create a safe environment of separation between people.”
The loss of revenue from the city’s perspective due to beach closures was around 1.4 million dollars. “If we’re able to open at 100%, we’re certainly banking on the fact that we’ll be able to recoup all of that revenue,” Brand said. “There were some slight adjustments with beach pass prices which will result in even a bigger increase for us.”
With a return to normalcy on the horizon city manager Donna Gayden had only one word to describe how she feels: Excited.
Joe Brand furthered that notion. “To say that last summer was trying or a tough environment to work in is an understatement,” he said. “We want people to come and enjoy this wonderful boardwalk and beach that we can offer to people.”
Entering the summer, the old normal is coming along the way for those who are and will be fully vaccinated. When the day comes when everyone is vaccinated and the coronavirus isn’t a threat, maybe everyone will be in as good of a mood as Richie Weinstein.
