Cooper's Beach in Southampton to get Wi-Fi

Pretty soon, residents can check out favorite websites on laptops or get messages on smart phones while working on their tans at Cooper's Beach in Southampton.

At a trustee meeting last week, officials approved the cost of implementing Wi-Fi at the village's main beach.

The service should be available by Memorial Day, said village administrator Stephen Funsch.

In addition to the convenience for sun worshippers, it also allows the village-owned concession and beach pavilion to start taking credit cards.

The cost to the town will be about $140 a month, which will drop by $20 a month next year.

Hamptons.com, a website dedicated to life in the Hamptons, will pay an additional $100 a month to add a live-stream feature to its beach camera, Funsch said.

Nicole Brewer, executive editor of the site, said the joint venture will also allow her company to install a more technologically advanced camera that can be managed remotely. The cam has become very popular, said Brewer, noting that a woman who lives in Palm Beach but is originally from Southampton calls to tell her when the camera is not working properly.

"When someone is stuck in their cubicle in Manhattan . . . they can now see our beautiful beaches from the computer," Brewer said.

George Gorman, spokesman for New York State Parks, said state beaches do not have Wi-Fi. Verizon said it has no access to its Wi-Fi on Long Island beaches, but the Town of Babylon has an expansive network of Wi-Fi at its town beaches.