NEW CITY, NY – The following post was posted by Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann on his Facebook account.

This will serve as clarification. The Town of Clarkstown is NOT opening our parks this weekend as has been reported elsewhere. Much discussion has taken place and we have decided the risk is just too great to open at this time. I made this decision and then consulted with the entire Town board and the Superintendent of Parks and Recreation, all are in agreement now is not the time to open our parks. We have not set a date to open the town parks yet and will evaluate this going forward based upon empirical data that demonstrates that the risk of opening is not a danger to public health. We expect that the Governor will offer guidance on the actual plan when the State will start opening up and we hope it is soon.

Much has occurred and a lot of pain and hardship has been endured these past six weeks. While it would be great to open our parks the last thing I would want to see is a spike in positive tests and more deaths. Any town parks, when they open will have clear social distancing guidelines in place and staff available to enforce these. It appears that over two hundred Clarkstown residents and now over 500 Rockland residents have died as a result of COVID-19. The risk to opening all of our parks is just too great especially if staff is not available to enforce guidelines that in the past would never be a concern in ordinary times. Human beings are social animals and the temptation to violate social distancing orders is just too great so our town parks will remain closed. I as your Supervisor will not open our parks and facilities until I can insure that it is safe and that social distancing guidelines can be enforced–period.

Furthermore, as a point of clarification, the attached photo is of a support beam at Congers Lake that must be replaced. Given the shutdown, we have been doing inspections and repair work at some of our parks. You likely noticed that the water level at the Lake was lowered as we replaced a gate at the spillway earlier this week. While this was done we had staff do inspections and discovered that several support pylons are damaged including two bellow the water level. The above photo shows one that must be replaced. So even if the town board and I were of the opinion that the boardwalk should be opened it could not occur until this work is done. We will have a better estimation on the time required for that work to be completed and will let people know. Again NO Town of Clarkstown Parks are opening this weekend so please do not congregate at town parks these remain closed until further notice.

Finally, it is my understanding that Rockland Lake State Park and Nyack Beach State Park remain closed. Last week, I wrote again to the Governor and requested that Rockland Lake and Nyack Beach remain closed. Laurie Santulli County Legislator for the area and Karen Tarapata, Mayor of Upper Nyack, NY supported this request as did our State representatives. People should check with the State as to the status of Rockland Lake and Nyack Beach State park.