Nassau County beaches have remained open throughout the coronavirus pandemic, but on Wednesday the county’s legislators approved a bill to limit access to Nickerson Beach and all other Nassau beaches strictly to county residents.
The measure passed by an 18-1 emergency vote, according to county officials.
“With Nassau beaches open with limited capacity a small fraction of New York’s eight million residents could overwhelm our beaches and barrier island roads,” Nassau County Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) said. “It is important that Nassau residents have access to the beaches they pay taxes to maintain.”
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, a Democrat, expressed support for the legislation.
“There is no summer on Long Island without the beach, and now more than ever our shores will serve as much-needed relief for residents looking to beat the heat,” Curran said.
Curran said beach officials will be checking licences of residents before they enter the beach in order to keep the state-mandated 50 percent capacity.
Curran, who first made the announcement on Tuesday, said the decision was made after speaking to New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he would allow Nassau County hospitals to conduct elective surgeries and ambulatory care in the ongoing mission to begin phased reopening throughout Long Island.
Cuomo made the announcement at Northwell’s Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset on Tuesday. He previously announced that the state will allow elective outpatient treatments to resume in hospitals and counties without significant risk of a surge in the coronavirus.
Fifty counties throughout the state are permitted to perform elective surgeries as of Tuesday. Cuomo advised residents to not delay in seeking medical treatment for any illness or injury.
“Anyone who needs health service should get it,” Cuomo said. “There’s no reason not to go to the hospital. No reason not to go to the doctor’s office If you have an issue, get it tested, get it resolved.”
Curran sent a letter to Cuomo on Sunday, imploring him to allow the county to provide elective surgeries.
Cuomo also spoke of the progress that Long Island has made in achieving five of the seven metrics required to begin phased reopening.
As of Tuesday, seven regions had achieved the required metrics to begin phase one of reopening, which includes opening construction and manufacturing functions with low risk, so long as the health trends continue to meet the guidelines.
“Long Island is making great progress,” Cuomo said. “Long Island, we were losing about 100 residents per day. We’re now down to about 13 per day.”
Curran called on Cuomo and state officials to reclassify certain services as essential while the county and the rest of Long Island work to achieve the final metrics in order to begin phased reopening.
Curran, along with the county’s Economic Advisory Council, suggested that services such as residential construction, curbside retail, health care, and some private, nonprofit gardens could be reclassified to aid in the reopening of the region.
The suggestions came in the latest interim report conducted by Curran and the council.
“Over the past few weeks, we have seen the re-opening of marinas, golf courses, and auto sales by appointment,” the report said. “Given the positive boost these announcements have had on the collective spirit and vitality of our economy, the Council wishes to recommend the following additional businesses/industry sectors as ripe for consideration.”
The council suggested permitting residential construction since standardized operations and safety protocols exist in the construction industry in both the public and private sectors.
The report said that reclassifying residential construction as essential would be followed by deeming unoccupied and secure private construction sites and solar power installation projects as essential. According to an economic overview of Long Island conducted by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the construction industry added 17,600 jobs in 2018, a 27 percent growth rate from the previous year.
According to the report, retail would be conducted as a curbside service to allow main street stores and malls to sell goods by appointment.
“The Nassau IDA has engaged businesses of all sizes and sectors – from Main Street shops to real estate developers – to identify their needs to ensure our businesses and downtowns can emerge as strong as possible as the County implements the state’s reopening plan,” said Richard Kessel, chairman of the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency.
The council also suggested that reopening nonprofit gardens such as Old Westbury Gardens would offer outdoor enjoyment for the public.
