Jones Beach July 4th: Not Going To Happen
This is sad. We go every year and it's not going to happen this year.
I guess we shouldn't be surprised considering New York State supposedly came close to shutting down. It's been a tradition for many Long Islanders and as I was searching on Google for other July 4th events, there were hardly any.
Gov. David A. Paterson tried to revive the show on Monday 6/14/10, a month after its cancellation for money and staffing problems.
Here is what was said and the reasons why the show has been canceled. Understaffing is one problem:
State parks officials even told business owners around Jones Beach that the show could return, and soon after many believed the show was back on, said Kathy Heinlein-Risi, president of the Captree Fleet, which was organizing charter boats to watch the fireworks show from the water.But by Tuesday evening, administration officials decided it couldn't be done, said spokesman Morgan Hook."We've turned over every stone," Hook said. "The money is just not there."The cancellation should bring more attention to the Fourth of July pyrotechnic show over the Great South Bay near Patchogue, organized by Fireworks by Grucci. The Captree Fleet and other businesses have begun making arrangements around that show. A more insurmountable problem than funding was staffing, said Assemb. Steven Englebright (D-Setauket), who followed the discussions. The number of state park police and rangers, who patrol Jones Beach and other state grounds, has fallen from 117 in 2004 to 85. The agency has gone without a police academy class for three years.Corporate sponsors had stepped up to pay for the Jones Beach show, but officers couldn't be trained fast enough to provide adequate security, Englebright said."I think [the administration] came close to going to a thumbs-up," Englebright said. "But at the final moment of decision, I think they felt there would be a real downside."
The Jones Beach July Fourth fireworks display won't take place this summer, state parks officials reiterated - even if Albany restores cuts to the parks budget.
The state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation stated in February that it was canceling the 15-year-old show because of a shortage of state park police officers to patrol the event. The agency issued a statement to reaffirm that decision so potential sponsors and parkgoers can plan accordingly. The cancellation is tied to ongoing state budget problems that have eliminated a park police training academy class for three years in a row, said Ronald Foley, the agency's regional director. He added that even if additional funds were found, there isn't enough time to set up an academy class to train new officers by July 4.
The number of park police and rangers on Long Island has fallen from 117 in 2004 to about 85 now. "Because there've not been any graduates for three years, we haven't had any means of dealing with attrition, and the park police force is down and stretched thin," Foley said. "So we don't have enough officers to handle an event like that on what is typically one of the busiest days of the year."
Foley said the agency cannot shift park officers from other regions or obtain help from other police forces on July 4 because that's a day when "everybody else is busy, too." Donald Lavarge, president of Local 2796, New York State Parks Police Officers Union, said: "We are understaffed. If these large events need to be canceled to protect the public safety and officer safety, we support that."
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