LI towns emphasize safety as beaches open

A long line of new posts, running more than a half-mile along the ocean in Montauk, is greeting beachgoers this weekend -- a new "keep off the sand" area that could save someone's life, officials said.

It's an attempt by East Hampton Town to keep a clear path for a rescue vehicle to get from Kirk Park Beach to Edison Beach as quickly as possible to aid swimmers in trouble.

"It gets really crowded on this one stretch of beach," said John Rooney, the town's parks and recreation chief. "It's much easier if we keep this lane cleared."

Beach safety has received a lot of attention in the town since the drowning last August of a 45-year-old mother from Old Brookville. She was pulled away from a beach in Amagansett by a riptide.

The town has also changed its emergency dispatch procedures to streamline response. Village dispatchers receiving 911 calls will now immediately send first responders to the scene instead of taking the information and calling town police, who would take the information again and then notify emergency responders.

As Long Island's public beaches open for the season this weekend, every town recommends that people swim near a lifeguard -- flags are usually posted to define the protected area -- but not every beach has one. In East Hampton alone, there are about 150 roads that end at a beach, and most have no lifeguard protection.

"It's the unprotected beaches where we have some trouble," said East Hampton Town Police Chief Edward V. Ecker Jr.

East Hampton flies beach warning flags to warn of dangerous water conditions. This year, the town plans to start flying warning flags under the U.S. flag at village greens in Montauk and Amagansett.

Southampton is placing colored and numbered tags at oceanfront areas every 1/10th of a mile, from the Brookhaven Town line to the East Hampton Town line.

Town Councilwoman Nancy Graboski noted that people who called for help had trouble giving their location. Now by providing a tag number and color the town computer will pinpoint their location.

"You will see a marker every 528 feet," she said. "If you get a fish hook in your toe and dial 911, they will ask: 'Do you see a marker?' "