Point Pleasant Beach Boardwalk Reveals Re-Opening Plans

Plenty of shore towns had some sort of re-opening over Memorial Day Weekend, but missing from the list was Point Pleasant Beach. The town had already stirred up some controversy when they sent parking passes to residents, and it was an interesting choice for them to stay closed while other towns welcomed tourists.

Now, in a statement on Facebook, the Borough of Point Pleasant Beach announced their "broad" re-opening plans!

Here's the main details of the plan:

• The boardwalk and northern beaches will be open on Friday May 29th.
• All barriers on the boardwalk will be removed.
• The Point Beach PD will increase their numbers, and be at full seasonal strength within a few weeks.
• Private businesses will provide "social distancing ambassadors" along the portions where they service customers.
• Hand sanitizing stations have been set up at every beach access point.
• Rides, games and amusements remain closed by order of the Governor.
• Restaurants will be open for takeout only.
• Parking restrictions will be partially scaled back to allow for private and public lots to be opened starting May 29th. The following Friday, June 5th, they will be repealed completely.
• The inlet parking lot will return to normal operations effective Wednesday, May 27th. Guests must maintain a proper 6 foot distance at all times while fishing or conducting other activities.
• These measures are subject to change.

Honestly, I think this is a pretty solid plan. It's a bummer that rides and games won't be open, but it's totally understandable. There's really no way to sanitize a boardwalk ride after every rider, so for the time being, those rides will have to stay inactive. The games are pretty much the same, and I wouldn't want to handle the same basketball or watergun or whatever thousands of other people have touched.

All restaurants are still only doing take-out, so it makes sense that boardwalk eateries could do the same. Most boardwalk food is designed for take-out anyway, so it'll be easy to just grab a slice or a cheesesteak and continue walking around.

Growing up in Brick, the Point boardwalk was a go-to, so I'm happy to see them take steps back towards re-opening.