Beekman Beach is again open for limited use, but that means not for swimming. The Town of Oyster Bay has rescinded their closing of the beach long favored by local residents, as shown by their response to its closing on July 17. Following an article about high coliform counts, mostly after rainfalls, the town closed the entire beach area. When residents came out to bemoan the closings the town took another look at their decision and opened it on Sept. 1.
Paul DeOrsay, Friends of the Bay executive director, explained getting to where they are now, “was a good decision and a good process.”
He explained that the town held a meeting with the stakeholders including the WaterFront Center, Friends of the Bay and Sagamore Rowing and representatives from the town’s parks department, public works, safety officers and environmental people.
“The public outcry nudged the town into really looking into this to see what they should do. It’s very complicated and involves regulations from the state that appear vague,” said DeOrsay. “But Beekman Beach is not a swimming beach. It has no lifeguards, is not monitored for bacteria and is not certified as a swimming beach.”
But, he said the town has approved launching small watercraft there and sitting on the beach.
“So we are back to where we were, but know a little more than we did that it is not for swimming. Roosevelt Beach, 100 yards away is appropriately monitored and certified and has lifeguards.”
It has bathrooms, picnic tables and a working concession during the summer season.
“It would be nice if we could find out how the bacteria count varies and how it gets into Mill Creek that empties into the Mill Pond. There are a lot of different sources,” DeOrsay said, explaining that the housing around the Mill Pond are hooked into the sewer system. “It could be all the waterfowl that visit the Mill Pond. The trouble is there are a lot of possible sources and it is hard to track them down.”
The Mill River watershed is quite large and there are many opportunities to pick up bacteria from the intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals as the water flows toward the river and then the bay: birds, horses, dogs and humans (via inadequate or malfunctioning septic systems) can all contribute.
He said while FOB is not an official group to find out what is happening there, “We may be able to do a little to help figure it out.” Their water quality monitoring is an official and sanctioned project, he added.
“At least we have Beekman back. The town didn’t realize how much people cherish that beach. It was good when people spoke up and that the town responded,” said DeOrsay.
Cameron Jenness, WaterFront Center education director, is also appreciative about the opening of the beach.
“We do programs for youth from kindergarten to high school and even colleges use Beekman Beach for their programs,” said Jenness. “So it is great that kids and parents can continue to learn as much as they can about the ecological system that is here in Oyster Bay.”
DeOrsay added, “It was also important to the Sagamore Rowing Association. The Oyster Bay high school team had to carry their large shells a long way to the water and across a road with traffic. With Beekman open again, it’s a short hike.” [If you have never watched the crews handling the boats, it is an awesome sight as they haul the long light boats and cumbersome oars.]
Beach History
The Oyster Bay Enterprise-Pilot, in the April 12, 1979, issue ran a short article titled, “Beekman Beach Closes.”
It said, “Beekman Beach in Oyster Bay will not open to the public this year, according to Tom Gallahue, commissioner of the department of parks. He said insurance reimbursement for a fire last winter that destroyed the rest rooms and concession stand at the site is not enough to rebuild that facility and, as a result, the beach will not open this season. He said there are no plans to re-open the beach because of the vandalism that regularly occurs there and because Roosevelt Memorial Park beach, located immediately adjacent to Beekman, can easily take the crowd that used Beekman Beach.”
This reporter was at Beekman Beach one spring during the 1980s, when a young father confessed that he was one of the teens who foolishly set the concession on fire. He said he was truly sorry they did that, especially now that he had a child of his own to bring down to the beach.
The Galasso family ran the concession at Beekman Beach. T.D. Galasso remembered that his father ran the stand there and at Roosevelt Beach. “I went to school at St. Dominic’s with Commissioner Gallahue’s son. They lived in Hicksville. We sold hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cream, soda in a cup and beer. [It was a different world in those days.] The only seafood we sold was a frozen lobster roll that we heated up in a French fryer.”
Curtis Ridolf, who grew up in East Norwich remembers, “Bags of potato chips, hot dogs and ice cream in a cup with a wooden spoon… and some soda.”
Galasso added that it was the loss of the bathroom that forced the closing of the beach. This reporter recalls being told it would cost a great deal to rebuild the facilities and open the beach. At that time there was no talk of the reverta clause in the Beekman Association deed to the township that states the beach should be a place for passive recreation.
There was a first aid station where lifeguards would provide Band-aids for little feet cut by sharp shell fragments or broken glass. It was the 1970s and the beach was usually littered with broken beer bottles and it seemed as if breaking bottles was a teenage sport. [This was long before recycling became popular]. Many mothers took on the responsibility of walking the beach doing cleanups as part of bringing their kids there to swim, dropping the broken glass into wire trash baskets. They also dug the seaweed into the sand with their toes, to make a prettier beach.
Oyster Bay Town Historian John Hammond remembered why people loved swimming at Beekman Beach. He said, “The water was deeper at Beekman Beach. It went down fast and you were quickly in the water. If you went to Roosevelt Beach, you had to wade out to swim.”
Additionally, the ground underfoot was slippery silt that one’s feet fell into. It was ground that only a clam could love.
