BOOGIE BAN LIFTED IN NYC Community pressure causes NYC Parks Dept. to reinstate bodyboarders' rights in Rockaway Beach By Matt Pruett

Published: August 20, 2014

August 20, 2014 Views: 6,163







BOOGIE BAN LIFTED IN NYC Community pressure causes NYC Parks Dept. to reinstate bodyboarders' rights in Rockaway Beach..





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Related The ban lasted just a little longer than Paul Caperna's tuberide. Because bodyboarders weren't about to take it laying down. Photo: Matt Clark



This Monday, Surfline published a news piece sourced from the Rockaway Times and Gothamist about the NYC Parks Department’s banning of bodyboards on all New York City beaches,



But after some intense pressure from the local community, bodyboards are back on the menu at Big Apple beaches. As of 6pm Wednesday, Surfline received this message from Eddy Pastore, Chairperson of the Rockaway Beach Civic Association's Parks Committee, who has been leading the charge against the boogie-board ban.



“I spoke with the President of the Rockaway Beach Surfing Association and she said I should give you a call. The ban has been lifted. They got word of us having a protest, we contacted some news organizations and, amazingly, we got the word that the ban has been lifted. They said they’re going to re-look at it after the season and come back next year with a decision. We just want to make sure that it’s a decision we’re hoping for.”



“You always were allowed to use boogie boards, as far as I know after years of coming to Rockaway; in fact, last year when we didn’t have the sand on the beach you couldn’t go in the water without a boogie board. So it’s kinda crazy where they even came up with this and why. They [NYC Park Dept.] couldn’t actually answer why. There were several different reasons that were floating around, but we never got an official word.”



*You can read the story about the original ban But after some intense pressure from the local community, bodyboards are back on the menu at Big Apple beaches. As of 6pm Wednesday, Surfline received this message from Eddy Pastore, Chairperson of the Rockaway Beach Civic Association's Parks Committee, who has been leading the charge against the boogie-board ban.“I spoke with the President of the Rockaway Beach Surfing Association and she said I should give you a call. The ban has been lifted. They got word of us having a protest, we contacted some news organizations and, amazingly, we got the word that the ban has been lifted. They said they’re going to re-look at it after the season and come back next year with a decision. We just want to make sure that it’s a decision we’re hoping for.”“You always were allowed to use boogie boards, as far as I know after years of coming to Rockaway; in fact, last year when we didn’t have the sand on the beach you couldn’t go in the watera boogie board. So it’s kinda crazy where they even came up with this and why. They [NYC Park Dept.] couldn’t actually answer why. There were several different reasons that were floating around, but we never got an official word.”*You can read the story about the original ban here

namely Rockaway Beach. Thecalled this “the first time in history that an ocean-facing international city has banned the outright use of boogie boards.”Either our bodyboarding brethren are louder and larger than we thought; or our beach-access freedom fighters are more diverse and engaged than we thought. Either way, this story generated a unexpectedly substantial amount of traffic and comments- most of which admonished the reactionary measure in general, and Parks Department Rockaways Administrator Jill Weber in particular, as the decision didn’t even consider bodyboards as recreational watercraft floating an international sport/ subculture of passionate, skilled and dedicated watermen- but as “floatation devices.” Once two children were sucked out to sea in Bertha storm surf, the boards themselves were swiftly 86ed by authorities.