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
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