Community Corner

Nearby: Nearly Half of Jones Beach Visitors from New York City

Report details the diverse makeup of beach-goers at Long Island destination.

Story by Andrew Coen

Nearly half of visitors to nearby Jones Beach come from New York City, according to a new report issued last week by the Open Space Institute’s Alliance for New York State Parks.

Key findings of the study, which was conducted in July 2012, revealed that 49 percent of beach-goers at the Long Island destination reside in New York City with 31 percent coming from Nassau County and 5 percent from Suffolk. The New York City visitorship included 26 percent from Queens, 9 percent from Brooklyn, 7 percent from the Bronx and six percent from Manhattan. The report also showed that park visitorship, which numbered 5.3 million in 2012,  is ethnically diverse with 46 percent of patrons self-identifying as white; 33 percent as Latino/Hispanic; 10 percent as African American and 11 percent as “other.”

Follow Long Beach Patch on Facebook.

Find out what's happening in Long Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The findings of this report underscore the vast appeal of Jones Beach, both in terms of geography and ethnicity,” said Erik Kulleseid, executive director of the Alliance for New York State Parks. “It is remarkable how this magnificent park, after decades of social and demographic adjustments, changes in usage and challenges associated with its aging infrastructure, today remains true to its public access roots.”

“The core of State Parks’ mission is connecting New York’s increasingly urban and diverse population to the outdoors; to active, healthy lifestyles; to our natural and cultural treasures,” said Rose Harvey, commissioner of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. “The report demonstrates just how extraordinarily well Jones Beach is succeeding. Nearly nine decades after it opened, Jones Beach remains vital to the New York City region’s way of life.”

Find out what's happening in Long Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Kulleseid credited state parks officials for their hard work getting Jones Beach ready for the 2013 season after incurring significant damage from Hurricane Sandy last fall.

“Efforts to rebuild following Sandy were nothing short of remarkable,” Kulleseid said. “At the same time... Jones Beach remains in need of $50 million in repairs and updates not related to the storm. These findings indicate that continued public investment in Jones Beach is warranted.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here