
Fears of holiday crowds at LI beaches stemmed after Curran, de Blasio speak

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday at City Hall where he announced city beaches will remain closed for the Memorial Day weekend. Credit: Mayoral Photography Office / Ed Reed
Long Island leaders' frustration with an order keeping New York City beaches closed for the Memorial Day weekend ebbed somewhat Monday after Nassau County Executive Laura Curran spoke with Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The announcement by de Blasio Sunday about city beaches remaining shuttered during the three-day holiday weekend sparked concerns among Long Island elected officials that Nassau and Suffolk would be overrun with beachgoers. Curran’s spokeswoman Christine Geed criticized the closures Sunday, calling the decision “irresponsible and shortsighted."
But at a news conference Monday after she spoke with de Blasio, Curran said she understood "his reasoning about the city's continuing pause on beaches."

Beachgoers at Lido Beach on Monday. Credit: Newsday / Alejandra Villa Loarca
“It is up to the municipalities to enforce the 50 percent and to keep people safe and I understand this can be challenging in more densely populated places," Curran said. "So I respect his decision. I also understand that as hard hit as we have been on Long Island, that New York City has really been the epicenter of this crisis.”
De Blasio’s move met with resistance Monday night from Republicans in the Nassau legislature.
A news conference is scheduled for Tuesday in which they will discuss a bill for consideration Wednesday at an emergency meeting that would restrict use of county beaches to Nassau residents.
"Mayor de Blasio’s decision to keep New York City beaches closed, contrary to the actions of New York State and the surrounding states, could inundate Nassau County and Town of Hempstead beaches with an influx of additional beachgoers, thereby frustrating social distancing safeguards that are in use at Nassau and Town of Hempstead beaches," Republican Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello said in a statement.
Also Monday night, state Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach) expressed reservations over potential large groups of beachgoers from the city.
"The men and women I talk to who are preparing the beaches for 50 percent capacity this week are upset," Kaminsky said. "They are concerned about a multitude of city residents flocking to their beaches."
He said the solution is for de Blasio to make at least some city beaches available for more than just walks.
"The issue is to have the city open up beaches to its residents so we can do this with proper social distancing," Kaminsky said.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced last week that beaches in the state can open Friday, the start of the Memorial Day weekend, but only at 50% capacity. Barbecues and group sports such as volleyball remain forbidden.
At his daily news briefing Monday on the COVID-19 pandemic, De Blasio said the city will install fencing to limit access to Rockaway Beach, Coney Island and other popular summer destinations over the weekend if visitors violate social distancing regulations. Residents who live close to the shore are welcome to visit city beaches, de Blasio said, but other activities are forbidden.
“If you want to walk on the beach, fine, enjoy that, but no swimming, no lifeguards, no parties, no barbecues, no sports,” de Blasio said. “It is just open space that you can walk on, take it in and then get back home.”
Freddi Goldstein, a de Blasio spokeswoman, said the mayor is concerned about dangerous overcrowding on buses and the subway system from riders heading to city beaches.
“Unlike many other beaches around the state, New York City beaches are primarily frequented via public transit, which doesn’t allow for social distancing as easily,” Goldstein said.
Separately, De Blasio said Monday that many commuters have grown uncomfortable taking mass transit to the city, and he encouraged companies to develop alternatives to trains, subways and buses for their employees.
The mayor's commuting recommendation came four days after New York Stock Exchange President Stacy Cunningham announced in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that NYSE employees using subways, trains or buses will not be permitted on the trading floor. Cunningham said the NYSE will reopen on May 26.
De Blasio said he understood Cunningham's concerns but "if everyone starts turning to cars, that would create a whole new problem.”
“It is a legitimate point, that companies should think about ways of creating alternatives to get people around,” he said.
Transportation consultant Sam Schwartz called the NYSE ban on using public transit “discriminatory” and said it is not unsupported by the data. He noted that only 14% of the city’s transit workers have tested positive for coronavirus antibodies, compared with 20% of city residents.
Schwartz acknowledged that many workers will continue to fear taking the subway and said large companies will develop plans for shuttle and other mass transit alternatives as they did after the 9/11 attacks and superstorm Sandy.
De Blasio also reminded city motorists Monday to move their vehicles this week. Alternate side parking regulations, suspended since March, resumed Monday so the Department of Sanitation can give city streets a clean sweep.
The rules will be suspended Thursday in honor of the Feast of the Ascension, a Christian religious holiday, before resuming Friday. The city will again suspend parking rules from May 25 to June 7, de Blasio said.