Town Says ‘Nyet’ to Russian Request for Free Beach Passes

A decades-long “good neighbor” policy that granted more than 100 free beach passes each summer to Russian diplomats and their families has come to an end in one suburban New York town.

Oyster Bay officials say if residents have to pay for access to the sand and sun, then so do the emissaries from Moscow.

One of two Long Island retreats for Russian diplomats working at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan had been located in the town until December, when the Obama administration ordered it shut in response to alleged Russian hacking in the 2016 presidential election.

There have been reports that the ouster may be reversed under President Donald Trump, but local officials say their decision is based only on local concerns.

“Our decision has absolutely nothing to do with anything that is going on in the federal government,” insists Joseph Saladino, who was appointed Oyster Bay town supervisor earlier this year. The Republican is seeking election to a full term in November. “If our residents have to pay, they have to pay.”

Oyster Bay, a township of nearly 300,000 people east of New York City that was once home to President Theodore Roosevelt, has four beaches on both the Atlantic Ocean and Long Island Sound. Residents can pay a $20 daily fee for access to any of the beaches or buy a seasonal pass for $60. Fees for non-residents range between $50 and $60 a day, and some are open to non-residents only on summer weekdays.

Since the days of the Soviet Union, the town has provided free beach passes to the diplomats, ostensibly because of their presence at a mansion in Upper Brookville called Elmcroft. The house originally had 27 rooms and 11 baths and was once the home of a former New York governor, Nathan Miller.

The Obama administration had claimed the Cold War-era estate, along with one in Maryland, were being used for intelligence activities.

When the town received a request this spring from the Russians for 116 free passes, Saladino said he responded, “Nyet.”

Saladino’s decision appears to be playing well with locals.

“We’re paying, why shouldn’t they?” said Susan Carfora as she arrived with a friend at Tobay Beach, the largest of the town beaches that sits on the Atlantic Ocean just east of the famed Jones Beach State Park.

“I don’t believe in special privileges for anybody,” added Roseann Celauro.

This article appeared in print on page 4 of the June 16th, 2017 edition of Hamodia.