Surfing Proposed for West End Beaches

The Long Beach Lifeguards are ironing out the details of a pilot program that would bring surfing to West End beaches this summer.

Some West End residents approached Paul Gillespie, chief of lifeguards, about opening the beaches to surfers in their neighborhood after raising the issue at a West End Neighbors Civic Association meeting in March. Gillespie and Richard Schuh, a lifeguard and beach supervisor, drew up a rough proposal and presented it at the civic association's April 27 meeting.

The tentative seven-week schedule calls for surfing Monday to Friday from 9 to 11 a.m. at Arizona Avenue beach, as well as an all-day beach that will rotate each week, both starting on Memorial Day weekend.

“What we’re going to do is create a rotating beach down in the West End, like we have at the center of town,” Gillespie said.

The rotating beach schedule will start at New York Avenue beach, the neighborhood's most eastern beach, and move west to each successive beach, ending at Maryland Avenue. 

Arizona Avenue will be designated as the everyday beach because it is considered one of the least busy beaches.

“I actually called three old-time lifeguards who worked on the west beaches and asked them what is one of the quietest beaches down there over the years, and they all agreed that Arizona was the quietest,” Schuh said.

He noted that a house that was knocked down on Arizona makes for a longer sidewalk and more parking spots for beach-goers.

Gillespie met with city officials after last week’s civic association meeting, after which he decided not to proposed surfing for the weekends in the West End, an issue he and Schuh had kicked around.

“We don’t want to infringe on everyone down here," Gillespie said at last week's meeting, "but then there’s other people who want the weekend because they come down with their kids and sit on the beach and watch their kids surf."

Schuh, who is also an assistant director of the junior lifeguard program, noted that the pilot program could be immediately cancelled if residents don’t like it.  

He and Gillespie said they first wanted to bring their proposal to West End residents to get their input before finalizing it. Originally, they had considered using Wisconsin Street beach as an everyday beach, but a resident of that street, Richard Papetti, asked that they reconsider that plan, “because of the handicap accessibility and bathroom and the numerous families with children that go there,” he said.

Linda Alper, a Pennsylvania Avenue resident, requested that they hold a citywide public meeting about the pilot program before finalized it. “When do we get voice our opinions on this,” Alper asked.

Mona Goodman, vice president of the City Council, suggested that Gillespie talk to the City Manager Charles Theofan about including the proposal on the agenda at one of three scheduled council meetings in May, two of which are budget hearings.  

Gillespie cited safety issues as one reason lifeguards would like to expand the surfing beaches to the West End. It would help spread out the surfers as more of them crowd existing surf beaches in the middle of town and on the East End, where two surf camps are held, he said.

“You know, you put 150 surfers on one beach, you’re going to have major accidents,” Gillespie said. “We don’t want people hurt.”

Gillespie talked about the growing popularity of surfing, especially in Long Beach, where he said the numbers of surfers could potentially double in five years. The sport no longer attracts mostly young beachcomber-types, he said, but also men and women alike from ages 25 to 50, including doctors and attorneys. Further contributing to the crowds are the increased New York City residents who rent boards from local surf shops and the closing of beaches at Jones Beach.

“Long Beach is getting a tremendous overflow of people,” he said.