A Long Island town is threatening legal action over a beach on Fire Island, as residents in Brookhaven claim they are being discriminated against and denied access by the village of Bellport. NBC Greg Cergol reports.
People are getting fired up over a Fire Island beach dispute — and there is nothing ho-hum about the accusations being lodged regarding Ho-Hum Beach.
The Long Island beach is only accessibly by boat and is only open to residents and their guests. But one town is threatening to take legal action, as the supervisor accuses the other town of illegally restricting access, alleging that it comes down to race.
Ho-Hum Beach is a small strip of sand in the village of Bellport, but the town supervisor for Brookhaven argued on Tuesday that Bellport Village is making a concerted effort to keep people from the beach.
"You owe the people behind me an explanation. The children of the people behind me who were not able to go to the beach," said Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico.
An NAACP official said that there has been "a premeditated exclusion to people like myself."
Dorothy Jackson says she’s been denied access to the Village of Bellport ferry that takes people to Ho-Hum Beach. She lives in neighboring North Bellport, a predominantly Black community.
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"I literally cried when I got home and sat in my driveway," Jackson said.
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After Panico's implications that the efforts were based on race, the mayor of Bellport Village fired back — saying race has nothing to do with it.
"Our criteria for ferry ridership is you have to be a resident...We don’t want to limit the kind of people here. It’s village residents that pay for these amenities," said Mayor Maureen Veitch. "Frankly, I’m not allowed to give taxpayer amenities away. It would be illegal."
While anyone is allowed to visit the beach, the town states that because the ferry is paid for by taxpayer money, only residents can use it.
There is now a a free boat service being provided by Brookhaven bringing others to the beach, allowing some to discover the hidden gem for the first time.
"We almost didn’t want to come today because we were scared people would be unkind," said Theresa Yanni, a longtime North Bellport resident.
The boat service began earlier in the week, but Bellport Village immediately issued a notice of violation, saying the town failed to secure a permit for the boat service.
"It does feel like a discrimination thing. They’re scared of getting the wrong kind of people over here," said Yanni.
Officials from the village and the town said they're willing to sit down to work out a compromise, but that has yet to happen.
