# "Get the Hell off Island Beach State Park" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 5, 2017, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536 "2017-07-05T13:00:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/21 "2017-07-06T01:07:13Z")
You think the Governor had no part to play in the State not having a budget? ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/22 "2017-07-06T01:10:18Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Be honest. > What would have been your reaction if Obama or Clinton had done the same thing? Did what? Close the beach? What would my reaction be if Obama, or Clinton, had not closed the beach? I would wonder why so many people are blaming Obama/Clinton for closing the beach when it appears that they didn’t close the beach. I would also wonder why so many people still believe the initial reports from the lame street media. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/23 "2017-07-06T01:15:24Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > You think the Governor had no part to play in the State not having a budget? Do you think the legislature had no part to play in the State not having a budget? Isn’t passing a budget one of their primary duties? At any moment I expect the lame stream media to remember the role that the NJ legislature played in the closing of NJ parks. But I’m not holding my breath or anything time consuming. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/24 "2017-07-06T01:16:33Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Did what? Close the beach? What would my reaction be if Obama, or Clinton, had not closed the beach? I would wonder why so many people are blaming Obama/Clinton for closing the beach when it appears that they didn’t close the beach. I would also wonder why so many people still believe the initial reports from the lame street media. I wonder why you continue this charade of pretending to not understand the question? No one is fooled. Or are you truly that stupid? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/25 "2017-07-06T01:19:33Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > lame street media. My god, you’re an idiot. That’s the reaction you’re looking for, I assume. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/26 "2017-07-06T01:20:58Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Do you think the legislature had no part to play in the State not having a budget? Isn’t passing a budget one of their primary duties? > > At any moment I expect the lame stream media to remember the role that the NJ legislature played in the closing of NJ parks. But I’m not holding my breath or anything time consuming. Thanks for not answering my question. I can’t say that I’m surprised. Fucking idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/27 "2017-07-06T05:06:30Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I am too and I get it. They closed the beaches, meaning they had State Police _turning people away_, but this asshole goes and uses one as his private park. Exactly. > Check out this photo. Just look at it. Consider how busy that beach would be were it open. Now consider that Chris Christie is sitting there, soaking up the sun, after being at least partially responsible for the shutdown. The optics are not good, to put it bluntly. When your actions as governor ruin a vacation weekend for thousands of people, _you don’t then claim special privilege to avoid getting yours ruined in the exact same way_. It’s not illegal, obviously, it’s just a colossal dick move. > [@running\_coach](#): > > **Be honest**. > What would have been your reaction if Obama or Clinton had done the same thing? Bolding mine. Might as well tell a quadruple amputee to climb a flight of stairs. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/28 "2017-07-06T09:47:12Z")
I didn’t take it as giving the _appearance_ of shutting down the beach for his own private use. Not at all. It’s the _reality_ that his actions fucked up a LOT of people’s weekend plans, but he just blithely went ahead with his own. Remember that it wasn’t just the state beaches that were shut down. All of the state parks, forests, and recreation areas were shut down too - and NJ has a wealth of them. All sorts of people people who planned to go hiking, boating, fishing, camping, biking golfing, picnicking, and countless other things had their weekend plans destroyed. Liberty State Park and the ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island were shut down too! Visitors from all over the world were affected. Never mind all the police who had to work extra hours keeping people away. But what did Chris Christie care? Let them eat cake indeed. (I live in New Jersey. I am currently in Berlin, Germany. This story is being reported here by BBC International! The traction that this thing is getting is unbelievable. ) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/29 "2017-07-06T12:06:57Z")
As **Lord Feldon** pointed out in this thread ( [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=830333](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=830333) ), it’s even worse. Despite \*\*Isilder[/b}'s assertion that the state park closure didn’t affect residents whose houses were grandfathered in prior to the Park establishment: > [@](#): > > Howard and Betty Height are not the governor, but they have a house on Island Beach State Park. > > So do five other families. > > But while Gov. Chris Christie and his family tanned, the other families burned – with anger. > > The other Island Beach residents were ordered out of the homes Friday night under the threat of arrest. They packed up and drove off, right past the governor’s summer retreat, its lights ablaze with activity. > > The other Island Beach residents pre-date Christie by a half-century. They were grandfathered-in back in 1953 when the state bought the island to make it a park. > > There were about 100 such beach shacks back then and the state reached a lifetime lease agreement for the owners and their descendants. > > … > … > > They are strictly seasonal, getaway bungalows tucked behind dunes and hidden in the forest of dwarf cedars and pines, and thickets of bayberry, beach palms, and, yes, crazy amounts of poison ivy. > > They pay $1,900 a year but get no services or utilities. Electricity comes from gas generators or solar panels or propane. They carry in their own drinking water. They do their own spraying for the uncontrollable mosquitoes and green and black flies. > > It’s roughing it, for sure, but it’s home for the summer - at least for vacations. > > So Howard and Betty Height were surprised when park police knocked on the door Friday night and told them they had to scoot. > > “They’re good guys,” Howard Height said. “They were just doing their job. But they said if we weren’t gone by midnight, we’d be arrested.” > > On Friday, the Heights and other families had received calls saying the park might close but lease holders could come in, limited to two people per house. Only they couldn’t stay – the police booted everyone out. ---
**Author:** ![Crybaby\_Boobie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crybaby_boobie/32/545_2.png) [@Crybaby\_Boobie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crybaby_Boobie)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/30 "2017-07-06T12:43:22Z")
I would also like to point out that the budget crisis was entirely of Christie’s making. He decided that the budget needed to have a clause in it where the state would recapture funds from Horizon Blue Cross to pay for his opioid treatment program. Horizon (and pretty much everyone else) disagreed. He had to cave in on it before the 4th. So not so much tone deaf as deaf from shooting a gun too close to your head with no ear protection on. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/31 "2017-07-06T12:46:52Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Did what? Close the beach? What would my reaction be if Obama, or Clinton, had not closed the beach? I would wonder why so many people are blaming Obama/Clinton for closing the beach when it appears that they didn’t close the beach. I would also wonder why so many people still believe the initial reports from the lame street media. Yeah, sure. Consider a hypothetical situation during the Obama administration where Congress didn’t raise the debt ceiling, say, and therefore a spending bill wasn’t passed and the federal government had to shut down essential services. Then, say, the Obama family took a trip to a national park that had been closed to the public. You honestly expect us to believe you would have said, “Eh, the media is blowing this out of proportion. The President has the right to go to that park. The shutdown is Congress’ fault, after all. Let’s get back to the real business of governing.” Ha. We all know you and the other usual conservative suspects on this board and elsewhere would have had an absolute hissy fit. You would have freakin’ lost your minds with outrage. And I suspect that despite your earnest denials, you know that would have been your reaction, too. I can handle a lot of anti-liberal, anti-progressive, anti-Democratic points of view. But for the love of Goldwater, the blatant hypocrisy is just too much to bear. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/32 "2017-07-06T13:00:51Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > Yeah, sure. > > Consider a hypothetical situation during the Obama administration where Congress didn’t raise the debt ceiling, say, and therefore a spending bill wasn’t passed and the federal government had to shut down essential services. Then, say, the Obama family took a trip to a national park that had been closed to the public. Does [golf](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=19864121#post19864121) count as a “park”? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/33 "2017-07-06T13:26:44Z")
Just a thought, unrelated to the main thrust of this thread, but that last one I posted got me thinking. I’ve ridden my bike up and down Island Beach State Park from one end to the other a few times. You kind of get the impression that you’re riding down a thin strip of sand with beach grass and plants between you and the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Barnegat Bay on the other, with no a whole lotta anything else. I know about the Ranger stations and some other buildings (including what I suppose is the Governor’s Mansion), the Aeolium (a cute little museum), and the Services building at the public beach. But I sure as heck didn’t know about those grandfathered cottages inside the Park. Don’t recall seeing them or any access roads to them off that one main drag down the middle of the Park. ---
**Author:** ![Celidin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Celidin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celidin)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/34 "2017-07-06T13:31:24Z")
> [@Crybaby\_Boobie](#): > > I would also like to point out that the budget crisis was entirely of Christie’s making. He decided that the budget needed to have a clause in it where the state would recapture funds from Horizon Blue Cross to pay for his opioid treatment program. Horizon (and pretty much everyone else) disagreed. He had to cave in on it before the 4th. The Horizon bill was a separate piece of legislation. In early June, Christie decided he wanted $300 million for his opioid treatment stuff, but also the bigger piece of the bill that kept getting missed since it got tied to the budget was that it would force Horizon to become the “insurer of last resort” for NJ … which drove them to insolvency the last time that was tried (in the 90’s) and had the larger Blue Cross organization saying they were going to disassociate from Horizon should it happen. Keep in mind Horizon is the main health insurance for about 1/2 the population of the state. Since Governor “Senior Summer” Christie didn’t really do anything with this until June, and since the U.S. Congress is busy fucking up healthcare anyway, and since it just made sense to wait and discuss the Horizon bill on a separate timeline that wasn’t tied to the budget deadline of June 30th, Speaker of the Assembly Prieto basically said “look, let’s get the budget done first, then we can talk about your Horizon bill”. (Aside: it should be noted at this point that both of the major-party candidates for Governor - Dem. Phil Murphy and Repub. Kim Guadagno [Christie’s Lt. Gov] - said they weren’t in favor of the Horizon bill and would push to overturn it in ~6 months when they were sworn in.) Christie said “Uh-uh no way, pass my Horizon bill or I veto the budget!”\* There was arguing. The NJ Senate kowtowed to Christie and passed both, but there was a showdown in the Assembly… Speaker Prieto didn’t let the Horizon bill go to the floor for a vote and put up the Budget instead. About a 1/3 of the assembly voted for the budget (mostly Dem), about a 1/3 voted against (mostly Repub), and the 1/3 who were supporting Christie were flat out abstaining, meaning the budget didn’t get enough votes to pass or fail. Thus limbo. Thus posturing. Thus Governor “F 'em all, I shoulda been president” Christie’s “This facility is closed because of this man \. Call him: \” posters on all state facilities. Thus Christie’s tone-deaf trip to the beach … while the Senate and Assembly leadership were in Trenton trying to do deals. “Run for governor, and you can have a residence!” Indeed, Mr. Christie. Indeed. You jackass. - Technically he threatened to line-item veto about $300 million of education and other democratic-project funding ---
**Author:** ![Celidin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Celidin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celidin)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/35 "2017-07-06T13:33:48Z")
Oh, lordy. Then there’s this today: Speaker Prieto says “Anyone who contends Governor Christie is an honest man has spent too much time sitting in the sun with him or in traffic on the George Washington Bridge." Christie apparently line-item vetoed things he was expected to leave in based on the deal, because why not? It’s obvious Christie literally doesn’t care about NJ at all anymore. > **[Prieto Claims Christie Broke Budget Promise](https://observer.com/2017/07/prieto-claims-christie-broke-budget-promise/)** > > Prieto said Christie broke his word on the budget deal that ended a three-day state government shutdown. Christie’s office denied the claim. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/36 "2017-07-06T13:36:27Z")
-Screwing people out of planned holiday getaways/vacations/plans. Check. The hell with them. -Threatening to arrest people, IN. THEIR. HOMES. if they do not vacate. Check. Only a handful. Who cares? -Throwing in overtime pay to insure these things happen. Check. Not my problem. -Making it more difficult for beach/shore businesses to actually DO business on the busiest holiday of the Summer season. Check. They’ll forget after awhile. -Appearing as a power mad asshole, giving double middle fingers to everyone I’m not related to. Priceless. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/37 "2017-07-06T13:36:53Z")
Maybe he was paid to do this by the writing staff of _SNL_ because they were running low on ideas for an upcoming show. You can’t make this stuff up, even in New Jersey, Dr. Feder! ---
**Author:** ![Crybaby\_Boobie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crybaby_boobie/32/545_2.png) [@Crybaby\_Boobie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crybaby_Boobie)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/38 "2017-07-06T14:11:17Z")
[![](https://a.disquscdn.com/get?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FDEAE-9HXcAAe5VI.jpg&key=Szdd971tnCJkY1xwZP37ww&w=600&h=611) ](https://a.disquscdn.com/get?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FDEAE-9HXcAAe5VI.jpg&key=Szdd971tnCJkY1xwZP37ww&w=600&h=611) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/39 "2017-07-06T14:52:39Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Maybe he was paid to do this by the writing staff of _SNL_ because they were running low on ideas for an upcoming show. You can’t make this stuff up, even in New Jersey, Dr. Feder! Nahhh! SNL is on hiatus until the Fall. By that time, most people who aren’t in NJ will have forgotten about this. They’ll be concerned with the World War starting in Korea or the Russian takeover of Amazon dot com via hacking or something else. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536/40 "2017-07-06T15:14:48Z")
> [@Uncle\_Jocko](#): > > …Consider a hypothetical situation during the Obama administration… No. If things were different, things would be different. People chose to act as if the NJ Legislature or the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey doesn’t exist. Their choice. Haters gotta hate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/get-the-hell-off-island-beach-state-park/790536.md?page=3)