In the wake of last month’s announcement by Quiksilver that the Quiksilver Pro New York would not return to Long Beach this year, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called on the company last week to bring the event back to the city.

Quiksilver and the Association of Surfing Professionals announced Dec. 16 that the event, which drew an estimated 100,000 spectators to Long Beach, would not be returning to the East Coast as part of the 2012 ASP World Title Series, due mostly to budget issues.

In a letter to Quiksilver President and CEO Robert McKnight, Gillibrand expressed her disappointment with the company and urged it to rethink its decision and to include a stop in Long Beach on the 2012 world tour.

“I encourage you to reevaluate your decision to not include Long Beach in the 2012 competition, and to work closely with my office to discuss how to add Long Beach back to the upcoming year’s schedule,” Gillibrand wrote. “I hope that together we can work to put this event back on the schedule, offering Quiksilver an ideal location for the competition and opening up additional economic opportunities for the greater Long Island region.”

In November, the ASP International released its schedule for this year’s World Tour, which kicks off in Australia in February. Its 11 stops included the Quiksilver Pro New York in September, and ASP officials said that Quiksilver had not indicated that it planned to move the competition elsewhere on Long Island.

Last month, however, ASP International media spokesman Dave Prodan said in a statement that while the 2011 competition was a “fantastic event with excellent waves” and “tremendous local support,” the ASP understood “the factors leading to Quiksilver’s withdrawal of the New York event from the 2012 schedule.” Prodan did not elaborate.