Beachgoers, golfers split on state park fee hikes

Delightful as the weather was, early-season beachgoers at Sunken Meadow State Park were less than delighted about state park fee increases that began taking effect Saturday.

On the other hand, golfers at state fairways - who also will face increased fees starting Friday - seemed to take the pending hikes in stride.

At Sunken Meadow, Patricia Rogers, 45, of Dix Hills, was in a bathing suit and tanning on a bedsheet along with two friends.

"The price is already ridiculous. How about the people that come here just to walk for a few hours? They have to pay $10 just to walk?" she said, referring to increased in-season per-vehicle fees at state parks with beaches. "Buying a gym membership is cheaper."

Commack resident Bill Richards, 20, who was in swimming trunks and playing soccer with three friends, was livid.

"It is ridiculous and it is absurd that park prices are so high," he said.

Faced with a proposed $29-million cut in its budget, the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation hopes to raise $4 million from fee hikes.

The cost per vehicle of getting into certain state parks on Long Island without beaches that have begun charging for the season jumped to $8 Saturday from the previous $6.

The fee will rise to $10 at parks with swimming areas once lifeguards are on duty. That means Memorial Day for state parks including Jones Beach, Robert Moses, Sunken Meadow and Hither Hills, said George Gorman, deputy regional director for Long Island state parks.

Other parks with swimming areas will begin charging the $10 fee the third weekend in June, when they bring lifeguards on. They include Orient Beach, Heckscher and Wildwood, Gorman said.

At Bethpage State Park's famous Black Course, the cost of a round, or 18 holes, will rise by $15 when it reopens for the season April 13. A round will cost $75 on weekends, up from the current $60, and will go up to $65 during the week from the $50 golfers have been paying.

On Friday, meanwhile, the fees at the Bethpage's four other golf courses and at other state golf courses on the Island will increase as much as $3 a round.

The main parking lot at Bethpage was full Saturday, as hundreds of people took advantage of warm, sunny weather to hit the fairways, site of the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Open tournaments.

Joe Fanara, 53, of Holbrook, a regular at Bethpage with a handicap of 3, said that even with the extra expense, playing there will be worth it.

"As long as they don't back off on the maintenance and continue to keep the courses the way they have been for the last year now, I don't have a problem with the increase," Fanara said as he prepared to tee off on the Red Course.

- With Lauren Cioffi