The Suffolk County Supervisors Association is joining three Nassau County town supervisors in an effort to explore how they can coordinate summer programs and facilities across 13 Long Island towns without jeopardizing public health.
The Nassau/Suffolk Joint Summer Operations Task Force was established to offer hope for the upcoming tourist season, albeit one unlike what Long Island's residents and visitors are accustomed to. The working group will explore coordination of public health messaging, such as consistent social distancing guidelines, as well as policies and synchronized opening -- and possible re-closing -- timelines for beaches, parks, playgrounds, and other facilities, so as to prevent a surge in crowding at one location when others are closed. Best practices for potential activities are meant to ensure that the safest approach is applied uniformly across the Island.
"I think we all know this will be a summer like no other," East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said during the group's videoconference on Friday, "but I know that if we work together, and cooperatively and responsibly, we'll be able to enjoy many of the things we are so enamored with here, living on Long Island."
"It's going to be different," said Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer, who is the chairman of the supervisors association. "But it's got to be different to protect everyone's health and safety. . . . It's about you, your neighbor, your relative, somebody who would be negatively impacted by what you do" with respect to measures to prevent the further spread of the novel coronavirus.
The supervisors set a May 18 goal to issue joint guidelines to be agreed upon by all the towns, allowing the group to consider the latest research on outdoor virus transmission while still allowing for planning and staffing before the start of the summer season. The final determinations of the task force will be shared with County Executives Steve Bellone of Suffolk and Laura Curran of Nassau, and forwarded to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's office for approval.
"As everyone knows, the beaches are an integral part of culture here on Long Island and especially here in East Hampton," Mr. Van Scoyoc told his colleagues. "We have a seasonal economy, and our ranks swell considerably in the summertime under normal conditions. Obviously, that situation occurring with the backdrop of a pandemic poses all sorts of other problems. Our densities go up during summer, but density is what this disease thrives on. So we're going to have to be really careful and pay attention to how we increase densities and to do so in a way that keeps the public safe." It would be unfair for everyone to remain indoors throughout the summer, he said, but "we don't want to have to pull back from the gains that we've made" in stemming transmission of the virus.
"What one town does will affect another," said Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, "so if one town closes their beaches, another town will then absorb all of that and have a tougher time managing people in a safe way." He said that Southampton officials also hoped to keep beaches "up and running to the greatest degree possible" and are studying how to do so, including proposals to reduce parking and otherwise limiting access.
Mr. Van Scoyoc added that "We have to be very careful and pay attention" to data on further transmission during a resumption of activity. "We'd love to be able to open up our beaches," he said. "We're looking to see how we can do that in a way that's safe and responsible and doesn't put at risk those wonderful frontline health care workers who have done so much to protect us all."
--
This article has been updated since it was originally published on May 2, 2020.