During summer months, the villages on the east end of Long Island, New York, collectively referred to as the Hamptons, are common summer retreats for New York City’s upper crust – think opulent soirées, rosé shortages, and you start to get the picture.
On Saturday, though, officials of the village of Southampton stunned the local and seasonal surf community after moving to enforce a draconian forty-year-old ban on the sport along certain beaches.
Village code reportedly stipulates that from June 15 to September 15 surfing is prohibited along two popular stretches of beach from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Violators could be fined up to $1,000, according to a petition started on Change.org over the weekend.
“Many of us surfers were told by the police that they would tell us to get out of the ocean and give us tickets if we went in,” writes Chloe Kimball who started the petition. “This understandably caused disruptions and concern among those of us who love the sport.”
On Sunday, surfers gathered at Agawam Beach for a scheduled “surf-in.”
According to reports, the mayor of Southampton calls himself a surfer and was recently made aware of the provisions in the village code. He told local outlet 27East.com he plans to address the ban in the next board meeting.
At time of publication, the petition has garnered over 5,400 signatures.
