The June 26 reopening of Westchester County”™s Saxon Woods Park and Sprain Ridge Park pools and the reopening of the Tibbetts Brook and Willson”™s Woods Park pools on July 3 means something more than just the ability for county residents to cool off while gaining some aquatic exercise. It also means vendors are getting back to business so that people can enjoy taking a break from swimming and settle in with a hamburger and soft drink or even a salad and a sense of something close to normalcy.
The Playland pool, which is due for renovation, will remain closed this summer. The amusement park at Playland will remain closed this season because of COVID-19, while the boardwalk, beach and miniature golf course will be open.
“We work very closely with all of them,” County Parks Commissioner Kathleen O”™Connor said about vendors conducting business within the county parks. “Needless to say they”™ve been champing at the bit to get back into the ability to work. We have designed all the social protocols for them following the department of health, county department of health, and they”™re very agreeable.”
While it had been decided to limit attendance at the pools to 50% of normal capacity, sell wristbands in advance for two daily swimming sessions, require social distancing or the use of masks, add staff for extra cleaning and disinfecting and limit admission to Westchester County residents, some procedures for customers of vendors were still being formulated when O”™Connor and other county officials gathered at Saxon Woods pool in White Plains on June 25 to discuss the openings.
“Nobody can wait on line and in clusters. It will either be separated or we might be going to numbers where you make your order, you walk away and then they call number 13 and you go,” O”™Connor said. “They”™re willing certainly to follow (the procedures) and if they don”™t there will be consequences but they”™re all anxious to do the right thing and we work very closely with all of them.”
Ben Boykin, chairman of the County Board of Legislators. Photo by Peter Katz
Ben Boykin, chairman of the County Board of Legislators, noted, “Westchester County has 18,000 acres of parklands that we own. We”™ve got six golf courses, we”™ve got the five pools, four are going to open this year, we”™ve got the South County Trailway, we”™ve got the North County Trailway that thousands of people enjoy.”
When the Business Journal asked County Executive George Latimer about the loss in revenue the county has seen, not only from the parks and pools but in general due to the COVID-19 situation, he said, “While we”™re opening up the pools pretty much on time and we”™ve done very well at the golf courses … we”™ve lost the revenue stream at Playland already for what amounts to a month and a half and we”™re going to lose that and some other parks revenue streams.”
Latimer said that an important part of the reopening process, whether for the county”™s parks and recreation facilities or private businesses is peoples”™ comfort levels.
“Some number of people are still not comfortable interacting yet in the society. We”™re seeing a rise in ridership on Metro-North but it doesn”™t look anything like it did a couple of months ago,” Latimer said. “This slow opening is not just what government does but how individuals themselves feel about their level of comfort.” He said that when the county announces the reopening of pools or other facilities it tries to make people aware of precisely what it is doing in the name of public health and safety.
“Through our department of economic development … we work with local businesses so that every store you walk into that”™s now open has a certain protocol. You”™ll see splash guards that you never saw before. You”™ll see little things on the floor that tell you where you should stand when somebody”™s standing proximate to you. You”™ll see masks on, you”™ll see hand sanitizer opportunity everywhere you go,” Latimer said.
“We have to open these things as prudently as we can and at the same time people have to have confidence that we”™re not doing it recklessly. Therefore, you should feel comfortable in engaging in it and we do see a big uptick in the economy of Westchester County,” Latimer said.
He said that a prime example of the economy coming back can be seen on Interstate 287. He said that in the beginning of the shutdown to deal with the pandemic virtually nobody was on the road but that”™s now changing and traffic is on the rise.
While enforcement of regulations governing the business reopening and the use of social distancing and masks by the public has been delegated by New York state to the local level, Latimer said that the county”™s enforcement measures are designed to promote compliance rather than to take punitive steps against offenders.
“We expect our parks personnel and our police personnel to engage with people in a positive way, in a positive demeanor, and encourage them to put the mask on, encourage them to socially distance, encourage them to depart the facility when it”™s time to close the facility for sanitization. And, so far, I think we”™ve gotten pretty good compliance.”
As a lifelong Westchester County resident who has watched and admired the thoughtful and methodical approach that County Executive Latimer and Legislature Chairman Boykin utilize when making decisions, I feel confident that they have the health and safety of our residents and visitors as a chief concern. i have followed Mr. Boykin’s service in the White Plains Board of Education, then on the White Plains Common council as well as Mr. Latimer while he served on the Rye City Board when he represented my community in the County Legislature and in both the State Assembly and State Senate. With their experience in the private sector as well as education and government service , they have a good understanding of how to address the challenges that Covid has brought to our neighborhoods, our institutions, our schools and the activities that have made Westchester a special place to live. I am sure that they and Parks Commissioner Oconnor will monitor the impact of the virus just as Governor Cuomo did when he gave us calm and medically based guidance on how we could flatten the curve on this virus.