By Danny Teigman
Combined daily and seasonal ticket sales from May 1 through Labor Day reached $1,955,000. Last year the city raised $1,785,000 and only $1.6 million in 2004. Funds generated from combined LIRR/beach pass tickets are estimated to come in at $300,000 beating out the average of $250,000. Beyond good weather, city Manager Edwin Eaton attributed the summer's success to the growing buzz that Long Beach has over surrounding beach communities.
"I think over the last couple of years, people have really discovered Long Beach and its proximity to Manhattan," he said. You just walk off the beach and in 15 minutes you're in a restaurant and then you jump on the train and in a little more than an hour you're home."
The news was looking positive last week when Eaton said that some of the mid-season numbers were already outstripping last year's pace. From May 1 through July 16 the city collected $1.2 million in seasonal ticket receipts. In a typical season, those numbers are closer to 900,000 up to that point. Although stormier, the second half of the year still featured four and-a-half out of seven sunny weekends-a factor critical to beach attendance. Even when tropical low Ernesto threatened to wash away the Labor Day holiday, the sun unexpectedly returned on Sunday and Monday, leaving people in brighter spirits and more willing to open their wallets for one last hurrah.
High attendance this summer along with an average May and June next year means that the city stands to close out its 2006-2007 fiscal year ending on June 30 with a $200,000 surplus over what has been budgeted. However, no one will be receiving any rebate checks, said Eaton, as some of the money, if it materializes, will likely go toward New York State retirement expenses which are now under budgeted by several thousand dollars.
In addition to good weather and a positive vibe, Lieutenant Michael Tangney who oversees the training of the 24 summer add-ons said that his department has worked diligently to prevent people from jumping over the boardwalk, sneaking onto West End beaches or multiple guests re-using the same pass. However, he did admit that some unscrupulous people do get through.
West End citizens have periodically raised concerns at their monthly meetings that their neighborhood continues to catch kids sneaking onto the beach, leaving their garbage everywhere and not paying. "The people on New York Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue still say that a lot of people would walk past the [ticket takers]," said Rich Papetti, a Wisconsin Street resident.
Papetti said he did not notice any visible increase in the number of patrols or specialists. "On the beach it was pretty much the same," he said. "You saw the patrol go by in their car and you saw the specials walking back and forth on the West End a few times."
But he added that he heard less complaints from people about not being able to purchase tickets at the booths, a sign which to him indicated that the season was running more smoothly than in years past.
"It seemed like a nice summer, we had nice weather and everyone seemed happy on the beach," he said.
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