Boat speeds in Oyster Bay Harbor limited during July Fourth

Boating speed limits in Oyster Bay Harbor will be reduced to 5 mph on the evening of July Fourth under an executive order signed by Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino.

“I urge our residents enjoying Oyster Bay Harbor to stay safe and slow down while celebrating this July Fourth holiday,” Saladino said in a statement.

The executive order, signed last week, expands the 5 mph speed limit — which regularly applies to operating boats within 200 feet of the shoreline, docks, floats, rafts, moored vessels or channel systems — to the entire harbor from 6 p.m. to midnight.

The speed restriction is intended to deal with an anticipated increase in boat traffic in the harbor as people gather to watch the holiday fireworks display. Those fireworks are scheduled to be launched from a barge in the harbor off Cove Neck at 9 p.m. The town’s bay constables will be “out in force making sure all boaters and personal watercraft operators act responsibly,” according to the executive order.