Some beaches in New York opened this Memorial Day weekend to kick off the summer season, with social distance rules and capacity restrictions in place.
All New York state beaches that opened were limited to 50% capacity. Many local officials on Long Island went further, and restricted beach access to nearby residents only. That’s because New York City officials decided to keep their beaches closed.
New York State Senator Todd Kaminsky represents several beach communities on the South Shore of Long Island.
“The second the city beaches are open again – New York City beaches that is – the beaches on Long Island will open right up again. It's just really hard to do social distancing on a really crowded beach.”
Kaminsky says poor weather this weekend helped to keep beach capacity well below the 50% cap.
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