Concerned about the potential impact on the Bayshore region’s economy of a prolonged closure of the Sandy Hook Gateway National Recreation Area, Senator Joe Kyrillos, R-Monmouth, has introduced a resolution calling on the federal government to make reopening Sandy Hook a priority.
“Sandy Hook sustained enormous damage during Hurricane Sandy along with the homes and businesses of Bayshore residents,” Kyrillos said. “But there is more devastation in store if this economic engine for our region is not restored and reopened in time for the 2013 tourism season.
“The Sandy Hook Recreation Area is the source of millions of dollars of economic activity every year and an affordable summer getaway for tourists from near and far who will lose out on a treasured summer tradition if it is not reopened. We cannot afford to lose the economic activity generated by Sandy Hook as we seek to rebuild our shoreline,”
he said.
Sandy Hook Gateway National Recreation Area is federally owned property that is maintained and operated by the National Park Service.
In the resolution, Kyrillos said: “The enormity of the damage to the area is such that without concerted effort and prioritization of restoration of this national recreation area over the next four to five months, the Sandy Hook Gateway National Recreation Area will not reopen for its economically crucial summer season, and potentially tens to hundreds of millions of dollars will be lost to the local and state economies.
“At this time when the State was just beginning to crawl out of the depressed economy of the past decade, the continued closure of the Sandy Hook Gateway National Recreation Area through the summer of 2013 would newly cripple and devastate the economy of Monmouth County and the surrounding parts of the State and New York State.”
