You can go for a walk if you live nearby, but don’t make a trip to NYC beaches anytime soon.
In a press conference earlier this week, a reporter asked Mayor de Blasio about the fences he said he’d be putting up to prevent New Yorkers from getting onto city beaches.
Though Governor Cuomo has allowed New York State beaches to reopen by Memorial Day Weekend, local beaches are controlled by the city government, and the Mayor has said they are not ready to reopen NYC beaches “anytime soon.”
He said the fencing was being “put in position” this week, but that he doesn’t want to “implement it unless we need to.”
“That’s not something I want to see happen, but this is about health and safety,” the Mayor said. “Everything’s about health and safety first. So, if we need to put up fencing, we will. But I’m giving people every chance to still enjoy what they can about the beach without going to the point that we have to take tougher measures.”
He clarified that people in the surrounding communities of beaches are welcome to walk on them, but there is no swimming, parties, barbecues, or sports allowed. He said if they see people starting to congregate and “turn it into something,” then they will give a few warnings, and if they aren’t followed, they will have to be stricter.
So, the city is making sure the fences are in position and ready to go if needed, but it will not be put up initially. They would cut off all entry points to the beach in question.
featured image source: Photo by Mehdi Benkaci on Unsplash