New York State legislators vote to fund parks and sites.
The John Jay Homestead will remain open.
For Immediate
Release
Contact: Eileen
Larrabee
May 28, 2010
Dan
Keefe
518-486-1868
State
Parks
Welcome Visitors for Memorial Day Weekend
Commissioner
directs
staff to open the gates to all facilities
immediately
Urges
New Yorkers to
take full advantage of wonderful system of parks and historic
sites
State
Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commissioner Carol
Ash
today directed agency staff to open the gates at all state parks for the
Memorial Day weekend and expeditiously get campgrounds, golf courses and
historic sites into full operating status.
"The
agency
staff is thrilled to get back to doing what they do best – which is
running the
finest state park system in the nation. I know that New Yorkers across
the state
worked very hard to support their public parks over the last few months.
Now I
hope they will get out and enjoy these beautiful places this Memorial
Day
weekend and throughout the upcoming season," Ash said. "I am grateful to
Governor Paterson and the Legislature for finding a way to fully open
our great
park system this summer, which was an extremely difficult challenge in
this
struggling economy."
Ash
said
staff will immediately reopen gates to parking lots and unlock the
facilities to
make them available for normal day-use activities, including picnicking,
hiking,
cycling and fishing. Other amenities will become available over the next
few
days as workers who have been reassigned return to their regular work
sites and
normal levels of seasonal park workers and lifeguards are
hired.
To
coincide
with the full opening of the state park system, the holiday weekend also
marks
the beginning of a new summer campaign to encourage New Yorkers to visit
their
state parks and historic sites and take full advantage of the more than
213
properties across the state. The initiative will utilize the agency
website, www.nysparks.com, as well as
Facebook and Twitter.
Beaches and
pools:
Park beaches
and pools are expected to open on-schedule. Beaches and pools open
between
Memorial Day weekend and late June. Efforts are being made to open all
facilities on schedule.
Campgrounds: Fifty-five campgrounds encompassing 9,400
campsites, cabins and cottages are open for the season. Ash noted that
those
campgrounds are 85 percent booked for the Memorial Day weekend. At 11
other
campgrounds, with about 285 sites, park managers will take immediate
steps to
comply with health and safety regulations to allow the campgrounds to
open for
visitors. Reservations at Canoe Point, Cedar Island ,
Eel Weir, Hunt’s Pond, Keewaydin, Macomb Reservation, Mary Island , Max
V. Shaul, Newtown Battlefield,
Oquaga
Creek and
Rudd Pond
will be
accepted beginning Friday, May 28. Check the agency website for
campground
availability. Reservations are accepted for campsites and cabins from
one day to
nine months in advance of the planned arrival date by calling toll free
1-800-456-CAMP or online, www.nysparks.com.
Ash
noted
that there are over 74,000 campsites, cabins and cottages reserved for
nearly
313,000 nights so far for the 2010 season, a level that is slightly
ahead of
last year's record pace. Advance reservations at state parks campgrounds
have
been steadily increasing in recent years.
Historic sites:
Tours at historic sites shut by the
fiscal
crisis will resume the week of June 6, but the grounds will be open for
Memorial
Day weekend.
Golf: Bonavista and Springbrook Greens golf
courses will open on or about June 7.
Riverbank State Park:
The park
will
return to normal operating hours of 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. beginning this
weekend.
The outdoor pool will open on schedule on June 28. Senior classes will
resume at
a date to be determined.
Park
visitors are advised to call the parks directly for information on the
availability of specific services. Information on each of the 178 state
parks
and 35 historic sites operated by New York State Office of Parks,
Recreation and
Historic Preservation is available at www.nysparks.com.
