Are you ready for summer in the city?
The calendar may claim June 21, but every New Yorker knows summer really starts on Memorial Day weekend — when the beaches open, the ice cream trucks multiply and people start wearing flip-flops on the subway (which is never advised).
Naomi Geraghty, of Fort Greene, is among those New Yorkers braced to battle gridlock and stomach high gas prices to get out of town for a few days.
“Every Memorial Day we go upstate and we rent a house with friends,” she said while shopping at Fairway in Red Hook. “We’re buying a bunch of stuff to grill and snacks for the kids … It’s like the perfect start to summer.”
Others, however, are happily staying put.
“We are going to go to the beach. They love the beach,” said Cici Ponce, of the Bronx, as she watched her 3-year-old triplets Chelsea, Charlotte and Celeste Alequin run on the sand at Orchard Beach on Wednesday.
“We’ll do the beach, Frisbees, whatever I can do to keep them active,” she said. “If it rains, I don’t mind getting a little wet.”
The weekend weather forecast — steamy temperatures and rain — may not be picture perfect, but city officials still expect the city’s 14-plus miles of beaches and numerous parks to be packed.
“We are expecting a big crowd,” said New York City Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver. “If the water is warm enough, they will be in the water. Even if it’s not warm enough, New Yorkers are pretty resilient and they will be in the water anyway.”
The city’s eight beaches open Saturday, and lifeguards will be on duty from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Sept. 9. Silver said people should never venture into the water unless a lifeguard is on site.
“We want people to have fun, but be safe,” he said.
That includes taking advantage of free 30 SPF sunscreen available at all city beaches via dispensers near restrooms.
Silver has been celebrating around the city this week, but the reception might be a little chilly when he gets to Rockaway on Friday. The city announced earlier this week it was closing the popular strip between Beach 91st Street and Beach 102nd Street due to erosion.
“It was a very difficult decision but it is for their safety,” Silver said.
Drivers getting ready to hit the road should make sure they have more than just a full tank of gas, said Robert Sinclair Jr. of AAA Northeast.
He said recent AAA surveys have shown 64 million American drivers cannot afford an emergency repair of $400 and one third put off performing routine maintenance on their vehicles.
“I worry that if they try to hit the road with poorly maintained vehicles, they may wind up by the side of the road, a very dangerous place,” Sinclair said.
While Memorial Day has become a celebratory event, it’s also an important time to remember the city and the nation’s fallen heroes. Ceremonies and parades around the city, from Inwood to Bay Ridge and out in Little Neck, plan to do just that. The Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society is also looking for volunteers to help wrap more than 50 trees in Forest Park with red, white and blue ribbons and American flags on Saturday morning.
The practice, recently revived by the group, started after World War I when residents planted pin oak trees in the park to honor 70 local residents who lost their lives in what was supposed to be the war to end all wars.
“We’re doing our part to remember and honor those residents of Woodhaven who lost their lives 99 years ago,” said Ed Wendell, president of the Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society. “Their memories live on in these trees.”
With Alison Fox
