Thanks for this, Jim. My only quibble with what you’ve said is that the change was in requiring a permit year-round. Previously, birders could use the lots from mid-November through mid-March without needing a permit. No birds are nesting then, and one assumes that the nude beach is fairly empty. 🥶 I’ve rarely seen surfers or anglers out there in winter, and the lot has never been full. I understand the need to restrict the crowds during beach season, but the decision to exclude birders in February seems arbitrary, especially on non-holiday weekdays. Dawn
Sent from my iPhone > On Feb 3, 2022, at 10:21 PM, James Minor <w2...@optonline.net> wrote: > > Apologies, I had tried to respond when this first came out but wound up only > replying to just Anne. > > Some things to add - Beach 223 st. lot/aka Fisherman's lot, Yacht club, Riis > landing and the lot adjacent are permit only, all day. Only other restriction > in the rest of Jamaica Bay Gateway is the lot under the bridge on the Floyd > Bennett side. And this is for Dawn to Dusk, otherwise need the permit. Not > sure how bad enforcement is this time of year, but when I did a trash > collection run before the snow came at the yacht club and I did get checked > out. Didn't speak to the individual but believe he was there account of a > resident calling it in. They will sell permits sometime in the early Spring, > check the website or Facebook page. Don't wait to get it, as they will shut > down when a certain amount are sold. The last two years have been insane > for parking and I've lost track the amount of times I had to walk through > Breezy Point village to get to the dirt road. The requirement for fishing > tackle, etc. is for the off-road permit, and that is to ensure have the > things needed to get on and off the beach, shovel, jack, toilet, etc. There > has been intense pressure over the years to restrict access to some of these > areas by area residents and the compromise to allow anglers only, so it's not > just pressure from this fishing groups. > > The issue that caused the change was on account of a huge surge of beach > goers that started during the pandemic. I don't know what caused them to > seek out this area but from what I was told it was written up somewhere in > the magazines/internet and all of the available lots will fill up immediately > all over Ft. Tilden and Breezy as soon as it's warm up. Another draw is a > unauthorized nude beach at Tilden. A lot of birders used to have no problem > parking close to the bird watching platform over Battery Harris in Ft. > Tilden, but since the pandemic the parking has been nuts all over Tilden, and > I find I usually have to park near the artist colony or rugby fields and cut > across the Nike Base area to get to the platform or the beach. I have to > disagree about Beach 223 lot being empty, even after the close of Striped > Bass season (Dec 15), the lot is frequently full. And a lot of it is folks > looking for Hedwig's relatives when reports are posted online this time of > year. While I'm not there every day, I do rotate around the various spots > in J-Bay Gateway and can speak recently of how crowded B223 gets. > > Except for one group way out east, I don't know of any fisherman group > looking to block others from accessing the beach, rather they just want the > rules enforced so there's a chance that there's parking when the beach season > starts. This is NOT to block birders, stargazers, etc. but rather folks > looking to skirt getting on the beach at Riis, etc. The biggest fishing > group at the moment is LIBBA (LI Beach Buggy Assoc) and they have worked with > stargazers, surfers, metal detectors and others who enjoy the beach to > protect access for everyone. They only thing they're trying to stop is the > speeding, camping and partying that is an issue out east. There is a few > small groups in the area that do work with Gateway as volunteers and have > some voice, but it's more about preserving access, and also cleaning up after > the season. While I don't speak for any of the groups, I would say work with > them and reach out to them, we share the same love of the area. When I meet > folks getting the permit or out on the beach, I ask what brings them to the > beach, and the vast majority are young adults just looking for the beach. To > me, some are future birders or folks who will love one of the last open areas > in NYC. Don't hesitate to get the permit, and then come during the beach > season, and you'll see how many "fishermen" are actually there. And I'm not > a member of LIBBA or any of the fishing groups, I do belong to the South > Shore Audubon society (Nassau County). > > It's a long walk from B223 to the jetty, and frequently the area from the lot > to the end of the dune line floods (just like the West End of Jones Beach) so > be ready for that. Hope to see you on the beach! > > Best regards - Jim Minor > > > -- > > NYSbirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L > 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
