Critics of Truck Beach posted this photo on safebeach.org along with a caption which states, “Is this what you pay taxes for? To have our beaches trashed and blighted? Would you take your kids here?”A New York beach that’s been opened to trucks for decades has nearby homeowners taking legal action in an effort to shut it down to vehicle traffic.
A coalition of concerned residents in the Hamptons has started a petition, a website and will be attempting to get a court this June to shut down Truck Beach, a 4,000-foot section of Amagansett beach that’s usually teeming with trucks in the summer.
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Critics contend on safebeach.org that truck traffic is dangerous to beach-goers, destroys the dunes and leads to illegal behavior, including the use of firearms, fireworks, public urination and defecation. Truck Beach is compared unfavorably on safebeach.org to Daytona Beach, where vehicles are also allowed to drive on the beach.
“Congested Daytona-style beach driving and parking, keg parties and primary dune destruction on infamously nicknamed ‘Truck Beach’ threaten the safety of East Hampton children and families,” safebeach.org states.
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Those who want to keep Truck Beach open contest their critics’ claims and say that their decades-old tradition poses no danger.
“These are people who have been here for generations,” Nicole Castillo told The New York Post. “We go with our children. It’s an insult to suggest that we are exposing them to danger.”
Homeowners in the area believe they own access rights to Truck Beach and are hoping that the courts will agree. They suggest relocating Truck Beach to a nearby state park or two miles away to an uninhabited area of the beach.
East Hampton Town officials are rejecting homeowners claim to the beach and may condemn the property to prevent a land grab.
As of Friday, a YouTube video posted by safebeach.org had garnered over 43,000 views.
