Sandy's wreckage closes most LI state parks
Citing safety issues in the aftermath of the superstorm Sandy, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation announced Wednesday the closing of most Long Island parks.
The closings are the "result of various safety issues including loss of power, hundreds of fallen trees and thousands of hanging tree limbs, severely eroded beaches, as well as inaccessible and damaged boardwalks, all of which are potentially harmful and dangerous conditions to park visitors," the state agency said in a news release.
The release also said the condition of some park roadways, many of which are impassable after the storm, and the eastbound lane of the Ocean Parkway, which has collapsed, limiting access to South Shore beaches, were factors on the closings.
Included among the closed parks are:
Bayard Cutting Arboretum
Belmont Lake State Park
Brentwood State Park
Brookhaven State Park
Caleb Smith State Park Preserve
Camp Hero State Park
Captree State Park
Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve
Cold Spring Harbor State Park
Connetquot River State Park Preserve
Gilgo State Park
Heckscher State Park
Hempstead Lake State Park
Hither Hills State Park
Hither Woods State Park
Montauk Downs State Park
Napeague State Park
Nissequogue River State Park
Orient Beach State Park
Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park
Robert Moses State Park
Sag Harbor State Park
Shadmoor State Park
Trailview State Park
Valley Stream State Park
Walt Whitman Birthplace
Wildwood State Park
