Samaritans save 4 of 6 LI parks from closing

Four of six Long Island state parks set to close Monday will remain open thanks to last-minute donations from corporations and nonprofit groups and maintenance by a mountain-biking club.

But the state's budget crisis will still claim all of Brookhaven and most of Nissequogue River state parks, because no one has come to their rescue.

The parks saved by donations are Orient Beach and Caleb Smith. The mountain biking club, CLIMB, saved Trail View and Cold Spring Harbor by agreeing to take over all maintenance.

With no budget in place, the state parks agency said Friday it would proceed with closing 41 parks and 14 historic sites Monday to save $11.3 million, as proposed by Gov. David A. Paterson.

Eileen Larrabee, spokeswoman for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, said the agency decided to close the parks now because "warmer weather is upon us" and staff needs to be reassigned to those parks that will open to get them ready for the summer.

The decision infuriated Assemb. Steven Englebright (D-Setauket), chairman of the parks committee. "That they're doing this without even consulting the legislature is very troubling," he said. Englebright is sponsoring a bill to force the governor to keep the parks open until the budget is resolved and the same bill is pending in the Senate.

"I think it's a shame that after we went through so much to get it open to then see it close," Cathy Sosik, president of the Ridge Civic Association, said of Brookhaven State Park, where she hikes. "It's really a low maintenance park" with minimal facilities and staff.

Parks regional director Ronald Foley said discussions with potential donors have been going on since the governor's proposed budget was released but commitments did not gel until this week. "For the people of Long Island and the park-using public, it's terrific that these corporations and organizations have come forward," he said.

Connetquot River State Park Preserve was to close weekdays but now will stay open all week because of a donation.

Nissequogue will be closed except for two marinas, which have to open as a result of litigation by yacht clubs previously based there, he said.

Linda Arymn, senior vice president for corporate development for Bethpage Federal Credit Union, which is already the primary sponsor of the Memorial Day weekend air show at Jones Beach, said the company decided to bail out Caleb Smith State Park in Smithtown "to keep a local park open for the residents of the communities that we serve."

CLIMB president Michael Vitti said the group helped create the Nassau-Suffolk Greenbelt Trail that runs through the two parks and has done upkeep ever since, so it won't take much more work to maintain them without state help.

Parks closed and saved.
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Closed:
Brookhaven State Park.
Attendance last year: 6,693
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Nissequogue River.
Attendance last year: 87,516.
Park closed except for the two marinas. But public will not be prohibited from the entering the grounds. The five full-time staff members will remain to operate the marinas but no seasonal staff will be hired. There would usually be six seasonal staffers working in April and May.
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Saved:
Caleb Smith
Attendance last year: 30,690
Donations will allow park to remain open five days a week, the current schedule, and flyfishing and school programs that were halted April 1 will resume.
Donations: The Foundation for Long Island State Parks, $35,000; Bethpage Federal Credit Union, $25,000; Friends of Caleb Smith, $15,000 tentatively promised.

Orient Beach
Attendance last year: 111,160
Donations: New York State Parks Fishing Advisory Board, $25,000; another $50,000 is expected from two corporations but details not worked out.

Connetquot River
Attendance weekdays last year: 101,005
Donations: New York State Parks Fishing Advisory Board, $15,000.
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Cold Spring Harbor and Trail View,
Attendance last year: 151,438 and 111,068, respectively
Will remain open because mountain biking group CLIMB will take over all maintenance.

Beach fees increase this year from $8 to $10 per vehicle when lifeguards are on duty.

At “flagship” parks — such as Bayard Cutting Arboretum, Belmont Lake, Bethpage, Captree, Caumsett, Connetquot, Hempstead Lake, Montauk Point, Planting Fields Arboretum and Valley Stream — entrance fees jump from $6 or $7 per vehicle to $8.

Golf fees at the Bethpage Black Course rose by $15 per round. Other courses at Bethpage, Hither Hills and Sunken Meadow increased up to $3 per round.

Jones Beach July Fourth fireworks canceled.

All state park pools would not open unless Legislature restores funding.