Neponsit Residents Demand Action on Riis Porn
By Katie McFadden
“The People’s Beach” is getting a little too personal. Bay 1 at Jacob Riis Park is not a nude beach. However, put “Nude beach NYC” in Google and Jacob Riis Park is the first result to pop up. Some folks who frequent Bay 1 have not only been taking full advantage of what they believe to be a nude beach, but some have taken it a step further, engaging in lewd and sexually explicit behavior in front of all other beachgoers on Bay 1 and those on the city beach at Beach 149th, including families with children. After seemingly little enforcement, Neponsit residents have had enough.
Historically, full nudity was tolerated at Bay 1 in Riis Park, especially in the 1960s and ‘70s. However, the days of Bay 1 functioning as a nude beach legally ended in 1983, as a New York Times headline noted, “Nude Sunbathing at Riis Park is Banned by New State Law.” As New York rolled out laws against public nudity on June 3, 1983, Riis Park was cited as an example of areas that would be impacted by those laws. However, if you ask Google, and without signage at Bay 1 stating otherwise, some are under the impression that anything still goes.
Yet Riis Park’s Bay 1, an LGBTQ+ friendly area, remains subjected to New York State laws regarding public nudity and lewdness. In New York, it is legal to go topless in public spaces. However, dropping bottoms is another story. Under NY Penal Law 245.01, a person can be charged when they show their private parts in public, a violation punishable with up to 15 days in jail, a fine of up to $250 and it stays on your record for a year. Under Penal Law 245.00 a person can be charged with public lewdness if they intentionally expose their private parts in a lewd manner in a public place, including acts such as masturbation or beyond. This is a Misdemeanor B, punishable by up to three months in jail, a fine of up to $500 and a permanent criminal record.
However, several frustrated Neponsit residents recently reached out to The Rockaway Times after saying their calls for enforcement are not being adequately answered, as the instances of severe nudity and lewd behavior on Bay 1 have not only been increasing but encroaching onto the family-friendly city beach. Along with video and photographic evidence, they explained some of the recent activity. Beachgoers have seen full nudity, with folks exposing their genitals, to more extreme behaviors including people engaging in manual stimulation of themselves and others, oral sex and anal sex, in view of other beachgoers, including children.
Some neighbors said it has increasingly gotten worse in recent years, as the boundaries between the city and federal beaches have disappeared. For as long as 100 years, a fence had separated the two beaches. The origin of the fence is unclear, but some believe it was originally erected as a barrier between the public and contagious patients of the Neponsit Home when it was used as a tuberculosis hospital in the early 1900s. In 2011, Hurricane Irene tore the fence down and it was never resurrected. Residents rallied for the return of the fence in 2012, but at the time, neither the NYC Parks Department nor the National Park Service expressed interest in putting a fence back up on their properties. Following the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects in this area, the boundary has become even more unclear. The former jetty had continued to serve as a natural barrier between the two beaches, but that began to change when the jetty was reconstructed last summer, and this summer, following sand replenishment on the Riis Park side of the beach in April, much of the jetty has been covered, directly connecting the city beach with The People’s Beach.
The connection has led to nude and lewd behavior taking place at Bay 1 to be in full view of neighbors at Beach 149th, but the activity has also spread to the city side of the beach, with some engaging in the behavior on the rock jetty despite the “Keep Off Jetty” sign. “It’s a stage. You can’t make the rocks your bedroom. I’m not a prude, but I have a 13-year-old daughter that’s never even kissed a boy and she’s seeing oral sex on the beach. That’s not cool,” a Neponsit resident named Christy told The Rockaway Times. “A few days ago, there was a man walking around completely nude on Bay 1, in view of three little girls under the age of six. A neighbor went up to him and told him to go behind the rocks or put his bottoms on. It’s like they don’t care,” another Neponsit neighbor named Amanda said.
The residents say they’ve contacted authorities when such incidents happen, but the response has been subpar. “Sometimes the response time by the U.S. Park Police is 45 minutes,” one resident said. “The police ride over, tell them to put their pants on and then leave. Why don’t they hang out there?” Christy said. Others say they have been threatened and intimidated after calling police.
“There was a woman intentionally exposing her genitals. It’s almost as if they want you to see so you move down, and they have more beach. They have photoshoots on the rocks, oral sex, completely naked, it’s porn in daylight. I called police on this woman, and they came and I walked over to them and she must’ve seen me go over to them. They told her and a man to put their bottoms on and then the cops left. Next thing I know, she came over to me and started harassing me. I was afraid. I wound up leaving,” a Neponsit woman said.
“Nobody is addressing the problem. It’s like they’re afraid to make an arrest. They’re afraid to tell people to stop exposing themselves and having sex in front of children. It’s insane,” a Neponsit resident said.
In 2016, the U.S. Park Police made national headlines for arresting a man for public nudity at Bay 1 on July 4. The story went viral as video showed four police officers carrying the man off the beach as he screamed “Help me,” leading NPS and USPP having to defend their actions of enforcing the laws in wake of pushback from the LGBTQ+ community.
While Neponsit residents have been displeased with the lack of action by law enforcement, representatives from NPS and USPP were at the Neponsit Property Owners Association (NPOA) meeting on Tuesday to hear concerns. Some residents suggested that the laws should be enforced with repercussions such as summons’ or arrests and that there should be a consistent presence of an officer, from at least 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. Others suggested a barrier should be put up to once again to separate Bay 1 from Beach 149th Street. Others recommended that signage be put up to remind people that Riis is not a nude beach. As a start, Jennifer Nersesian, superintendent of Gateway National Recreation Area, said NPS is doing outreach to LGBTQ+ organizations to send out their own reminders. USPP Lt. Mark Reeves also committed to having patrols on Bay 1 for the busy Labor Day Weekend, but residents are hoping for more.
“The end of summer is coming. I know this will go away for eight months, and I’m afraid we’ll come back and start back at square one. None of us want this cycle to continue,” Joe Sollecito, director of the NPOA said.
“We want to be at a different place with you at the start of next season,” Nersesian said.
Residents are advised to report nude and lewd behavior to the U.S. Park Police by calling 718-338-3988.
