Photo Credit: Harbor Experience Companies
Think your beach isn’t exciting enough to attract visitors? Well, think again. Making your beach the place to go can be done with minimal effort. “All you have to do is give people the space and not get in their way,” advises Tom Fox, President and CEO of Harbor Experience Companies, who has three “manmade” beaches at his Water Taxi locations at Long Island City, South Street Seaport and Governors Island in the New York Harbor area. Built on vacant parking lots (yes, you read that right), the beaches are created with some imagination and thousands of tons of sand, leveled to roughly 6 inches deep.
“Each of our locations has a beach where we have taken in hundreds of tons of sand for people to hang out and enjoy the sun,” says Fox. Participants are only permitted to bring water onto the property. All food and other beverages must be purchased from the Water Taxi Beach’s themed restaurants and bars. People also can enjoy plenty of sand and sunshine as well as volleyball, ping-pong and concerts.
“Nothing is fancy. It is all temporary, there is no major construction,” says Fox. “The bars are trailers. The kitchens are trailers. It is a nomadic park, if you will, as it can be moved from place to place.” For the last six years, the Long Island City location offers beach-time fun on its 44,000 square feet, including three volleyball courts, two bars and a grill that focuses on grilled chicken, ribs and award-winning hamburgers. Group activities include DJ concerts and volleyball leagues.