The East Hampton Town Police Department and the town's code enforcement officers issued 177 tickets for parking-related violations on Saturday, one day after summertime beach parking restrictions were put into effect.
The early implementation of beach parking regulations is an effort to limit crowds to ensure proper social distancing of six feet between individuals in order to prevent transmission of Covid-19.
The town also closed the unrestricted section of the Kirk Park parking lot in Montauk, limiting parking there to residents only, and restricted parking in areas of Montauk adjacent to beach or park accesses. The town announced last week that the sale of nonresident parking stickers has been suspended until further notice, and that expired nonresident stickers will not be automatically extended, as is being done for other town permits.
Increased monitoring by New York State patrol and parks officers at state parks in Montauk resulted in the closure of the parks when they reached maximum capacity.
"I am pleased to see the state increase its staffing and enforcement presence within parks under their jurisdiction in response to our requests," East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said in a statement issued on Tuesday. "The town will continue to seek compliance with social distancing guidelines and parking restrictions and consider further actions as necessary to protect public health."
Mr. Van Scoyoc has authorized police overtime that will enable four additional police officers and two additional Marine Patrol officers to be assigned on weekends.