Ryan Spadola says he’s never seen the Asbury Park boardwalk look so empty.
On warm days, people normally spill out of restaurants and bars. There would be a line at the taco stand and people scattered across the beach as music blared from different corners of the boardwalk.
“It's super eerie,” Spadola, 22, says as he looked around the shuttered boardwalk, blocked off with barricades. “The vibe is completely different.”
Asbury Park is one of many towns that have shuttered their boardwalks or closed off access to their beaches as the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps through the state. But with Memorial Day less than two weeks away and the summer tourism season right around the corner, many of the towns and businesses that dot the New Jersey coastline are preparing to reopen for what's sure to be a most unusual summer.
The Asbury Park boardwalk was closed but the beaches are still accessible in certain points.
Some beaches that closed about a month ago, like Seaside Park, have finally cleared away the barricades blocking beach access.
"To have the beach open like this is great," Seaside Park local Sharon McConnell, 73, said last week as her grandchildren played in the sand. "They can't go to any playgrounds. So it's limited in what they can do."
McConnell noted even before the beach reopened, she was seeing more cars coming over the bridge and onto the barrier island that's home to Seaside Park and other beach towns. As the weather warms up, those itching to get out are looking for a place to go trying to sort out the patchwork of what’s open and what’s closed along the Jersey Shore.
On a recent day in May, there were only a few families scattered across the sand — someone reading a book on a chair, a couple from North Jersey celebrating their two-year anniversary with their dog, and seasoned surfers like 63-year-old Scott Constantine.
"Surfers always call it the coconut telegraph," he said. "You know when the waves are coming. You know, beaches are open."
Mayors on the shore say they need uniform guidance from the state around things like regulating public restrooms, parking lot capacity and how to control the crowds on the state's normally-packed beaches.
"Is the population on your beach going to be the same as normal or will it be reduced?" Seaside Heights Mayor Tony Vaz asked. "Until you know that, it’s hard. It’s going to be different."
Vaz was among the first to shut down his beach and later the town’s iconic boardwalk. Vaz is reopening both on Friday although he's banning stationary activities on the beach like sunbathing and swimming.
"I would hate to have my beaches open and have 2,000 people come down for the day ... and then 14 days later we hear out of 2,00 people, 200 got sick," he said. "That would kill us."
While it's up to mayors like Vaz to decide whether to open up their beaches and boardwalks,Governor Phil Murphy has banned large gatherings and closed amusement parks and other non-essential businesses.
The boardwalk at Seaside Heights was closed last month. Mayor Tony Vaz says he plans to reopen the boardwalk on Friday but it will still be up to Governor Phil Murphy to decide when non-essential business can reopen.
Joey Thompson would normally be handing out quarters to kids at Lucky Leo’s, a Seaside Heights arcade. Now he’s drinking coffee outside his shuttered workplace and has no idea when he’ll be back at work.
"We're waiting on the governor to open the businesses," Thompson, 49, said. "Doesn't matter whether they open the beach or boardwalk. What are you going to do on it?"
Sandy Hook in Monmouth County, which is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, is also open again for passive recreation only.
The state Division of Travel and Tourism projects a 25% drop in visitors to New Jersey this year and a 30% decline in spending, totaling about $31 billion. The four counties that make up the shore account for about half of the state's visitors and half of tourist spending, according to the report.
Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron, who recently reopened his boardwalk, thinks his city will be OK if most businesses reopen by July.
"What we lose maybe in June ... we’re going to pick up in September and October because frankly the weather is nicer in September and October," he said. "Memorial Day weekend is a big weekend, but then it dies until end of June, Fourth of July because traditionally the kids are in school."
But a huge part of reopening is also regulating people. Can one really rein in behaviors and crowds that are a quintessential part of summer at the shore?
Spadola says he accepted the reality that Memorial Day and the rest of the summer will be different.
"Last year I was at Osprey, which is a bar; it's closed for the entire season," he said. "That's what I was planning on doing, going to a bar, drinking, bar hopping around. But I guess, I don't know, maybe a house party."
Even when things open up, he won’t be cramming into bars anytime soon.
"These beaches become flooded with, like, all New York license plates," Spadola said. "I don't really want to be in a bar or place with a lot of people that are from the city right now. I would never say that because I love New York City and I'm always there [but] that's like the main center of where this is happening."
His sister, Krysti Spadola, owns her own hair salon, which is currently closed per Murphy’s executive order. But she says it’s time for the state to trust small businesses like hers and the mom-and-pop operations along the Jersey Shore to take their own precautions.
"They can be open but just, like, regulated," she said. "Just to get things going and moving."
Driving along the shore workers are spotted installing new hotel signs while others paint the trim on their business. But there’s no sizzle of funnel cakes, no sounds of arcade games and no buzz from overflowing bars and restaurants.
And even when those things return, this year, summer on the Jersey Shore may not sound the same.
