Lone bike rider in Cape May. Look familiar? 3/18/20 Internet photo.
From the Asbury Park Press:
Gov. Phil Murphy told second homeowners on Saturday not to ride out the coronavirus pandemic at their summer houses on the Jersey Shore.
“I urge those who have homes at the Jersey Shore to NOT go to them at this time,” Murphy tweeted on Saturday. “The local infrastructure, especially the health care infrastructure, is not prepared for the influx of part-time residents. Please stay at your primary residences.”
The same issue came up for Manhattanites who went to the Hamptons to do their social distances, and now they are wiping out food stores and threatening the small hospital there.
From the Phildelphia Inquirer. (below)
“MARGATE, N.J. — The Pennsylvania plates parked around Casel’s Market all weekend and on through the week told the tale: Shoobies think the New Jersey Shore is a nice place to ride out the coronavirus pandemic.
“But Shore elected officials (and lots of locals) do not agree. Wildwood is even considering closing its boardwalk to discourage visitors, Mayor Pete Byron said Tuesday.“The summer condos on my street in Wildwood look like an early May weekend,” noted one local resident, Christina Sweene
.
“I don’t want to offend our second-home owners and our taxpayers, but this is really not the time,” said Mayor Beth Holtzman of Ventnor, where many out-of-towners could be found (sort of) hunkering down in their second homes, but also outside coffee shops and on the Boardwalk.
“The only way the curve is going to flatten is for people to stop moving.”
“Some second-home owners say Shore store clerks have been asking for their zip codes and ‘when they hear Pennsylvania become very cold and dismissive.’ Thornton stressed that it was more than just wanting to make sure locals could find enough chicken in their off-season supermarkets.”
KARRIN ALLYSON: