starting to get out of hand. there are i think three operating now and clogging up the surf beach at 67th with their soft top barges. do these guys have permits? pay taxes? can i open my own surf school for me and my friends and kick everyone off 'our' jetty? seriously, you guys who run these camps are the lowest of the low. you clog up the beach, create larger crowds and all for your own pathetic bottom line. get a real job, kooks
they def. contribute to the crowding down there. No real surfer would do this to their local beach breaks which are already crowded. You are right... they are really going overboard... I even see ads for them at bus stops... its ridiculous...
I believe that can't happen... I was down on the beach all day yesterday chattin it up watching my nieces and nephews play in the water... when a buddy of mine was telling me how his young kids are enrolled in the above mentioned surf school for 3 days of "surf camp".... the parents will funnel the money just as they would pay for soccer camp or the same for their kids to be in an activity... I had to bite my tonque when he was telling me this...
Good luck with that...last i heard this was a free country. As long as they're not breaking any laws, you're not going to be able to do much of anything to shut them down. You could check in to their status as taxpayers, but I imagine at least some of them are legit. You could try talking to them as a group and see if there is some compromise that can be made. As much of a nuisance as crap like this is, it's part of summer - 2.5 months a year, and then they're gone. My advice, surf early or surf late.
it's public property and there are laws governing it. ones like 'no tents on the beach' which the camps ignore. i'm no lawyer but i don't think i can go set up a soccer academy in central park legally.. i'd love for them to go away but i'd also like to know under what conditions they are operating their private business on property i pay taxes to maintain.
just incase you were not ticked off by them enough... here's a good site to check out. http://localssurfschool.com/
just called 311 and all the schools need is a permit and they're cool to do business. not sure if there's some kind of limit on how many camps can set up. i hope they're at least having to pay someone off for the permit.. that local surf school site just made me throw up in my mouth. words fail. :^( maybe we could set up a how hassle kooks school on the same beach and scare off some of their business?
honestly, the only thing to be done, which is sorely needed in the rockaway lineups... is to police the heck out of the breaks. that would mean that regulars/real locals get in people's face about dropping in and start learning the surf etiquette of a lineup. 90th street is no longer a viable surfbreak unless its real big and prevents the kooks from paddling out...
i agree completely but hate to beef in the water especially over slop but i'd hate all of the rockaways to get like 90th.. sigh, this is why i drink...
To me, the issue isn't even the surf schools. Yeah, they suck and cause crowding issues, but there's obviously enough demand to keep these guys employed, so you can't really blame them for satisfying the demand. The real issue to me is the lack of access for surfing in general in the NYC area during the summer months. If more beaches were open to surfers during the day, I don't think the surf schools would be such an issue.
i should have been clearer that this is my main gripe. yes, i personally hate surf schools for the pathetic no job kooks they are, but i support their right to exist. the problem is letting them set up on the one of the only two surf beaches in the area. it's not as big a deal when you can surf anywhere.
Yes, but surfing access was expanded in LB this summer (still sucks, but better than before). The schools are now operating on one of the "permanent" surf beaches and one non-surf beach (so the school has it's own beach). Thus, there are a couple of surf beaches with no surf schools.
What have you tried? Did you talk to the surf school about your concerns? If they need a permit to operate the business on public land, then some elected official oversees the permit process. Talk to them and let them know its causing problems. One last thing..."shut them down" is not the right message if you want to have your concerns taken seriously. Nobody wants to shut down a legit business. "operate their surf school in a less hazardous location" might be a more productive request. Good luck....when they paddle/wade out 10 soft tops thick on a decent peak its pretty annoying.
