Will surf be up for Long Beach contest?

Thus far, the weather's been cooperative for building the small city of tents, cabanas and stages that will support next week's surfing competition in Long Beach. Organizers would prefer a hurricane.

"At this point there are four hurricane systems backed up in the Atlantic," Quiksilver Pro New York producer Luke Watson said. "That's the biggest part of any surf event -- we have to play with Mother Nature and sometimes she doesn't play back the way we want."

What they want are swells of at least 3 feet and offshore wind to cut clean, smooth waves, he said. Swells Sunday were in the 1- to 2-foot range with forecasts later in the week of more than 2 feet, according to swellinfo.com.

The Long Beach event, the first of its kind on the U.S. East Coast, starts Sept. 1 and runs through Sept. 15, with the surfing competition held on the four days with the best waves. A variety of other events, including skateboarding, music and fashion, will take place the rest of the time.

Preparations for the festival site near the Allegria Hotel at Broadway between National and Riverside boulevards is progressing as planned since work started Aug. 1, Watson said. About 200 people are working to get the large white tents, glass-sided VIP cabanas, locker rooms, concert stage, skate park, motocross compound, and an 11,000-square-foot merchandise tent set up.

As more tents go up, so does the excitement and concern about the event.

Rich Copertino, 22, of Rockville Centre, works during the summer as a security officer for Long Beach, usually patrolling the boardwalk.

"Alcohol will probably be the biggest problem," he said, but he's thrilled something of this magnitude is coming to Long Beach, especially because professional skateboarder Tony Hawk is scheduled to appear on Sept. 3.

"People should be excited regardless," said Justin Mayo, 20, a Long Beach security officer who lives in Floral Park. "It's making a lot of money for the city."

Astrid Spina, of Bellmore, and Leona Graup, of Manhattan, walked along the boardwalk Thursday afternoon when they noticed the new, freshly painted cabanas where empty beach used to be. They stopped to ask Copertino what was going on.

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Spina said. "Anything that brings people into the area is fabulous. It would be good for the economy."

Resident parking during Quiksilver surf contest

The City of Long Beach has created resident-only parking areas for the week of the Quiksilver Pro New York surf competition.

A temporary parking tag or annual parking sticker will be required to park in the following areas Sept. 3-11: Penn Street, Broadway and Shore Road between Magnolia and Monroe boulevards; all boulevards; and the south side of Beech, Olive and Walnut streets.

Temporary signs will be posted along the resident-only parking areas. City officials are also asking residents to park their vehicles in their driveways.

Applications for parking permits, available online at longbeachny.org/cityclerk, will be accepted by mail until next Monday or in person at the Office of the City Clerk, 1 West Chester St., Room 307, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday. The office also will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, and staff members will be at the farmer's market in Kennedy Plaza on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information, call the City Clerk's Office at 516-431-1002.

-- AISHA AL-MUSLIM