Preparations have been underway for days as Long Island gears up for the prestigious Ryder Cup at Bethpage State Park’s Black Course.
The biennial event begins on Friday. It’s expected to draw 250,000 people to Nassau County, and every one of them could be a customer, according to County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
“We anticipate that there will probably be over 100,000 people who have never been to Nassau County before,” Blakeman said at a news conference Monday in Farmingdale. “So this is a chance for us to show off our great restaurants, our great shopping, our beautiful beaches, our beautiful parks, our amazing museums, and our hospitality.”
He projected the economic boost to the regional economy could top $150 million.
Matt Cohen, president of the Long Island Association, said there’s another benefit.
“There's really an intrinsic value,” Cohen said. “There’s something that you can't put a number on in terms of having hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world, watching Long Island, watching Nassau County, seeing what we're all about, seeing what we can offer, attracting them to come here, to visit here and shop.”
Other preparations include extra Long Island Rail Road trains, road closures, readying Jones Beach for parking and bus transportation to the golf course, and security.
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said security measures will be even tighter on Friday, when President Donald Trump is expected to attend.
“We're going to have a lot of security measures in place, so it's going to slow it down a little bit getting into that park,” Ryder said. “So get there early.”
