Eclipse draws record crowds upstate New York, Long Island state parks, Gov. Kathy Hochul says

New York State officials reported record attendance Monday as skywatchers flocked upstate and to Long Island state parks to watch the solar eclipse.

Long Island state parks, including Jones Beach, Robert Moses and Sunken Meadow State Park, each saw more than 6,000 visitors Monday, the day of the eclipse, said Long Island State Parks Regional Director George Gorman.

Overall from April 6 to April 9, Long Island state parks saw an additional 36,000 visitors, about a 13% increase over the same period last year. 

“These were great numbers for April,” Gorman said.

The smaller Hallock State Park, which includes one-mile of beach in Riverhead along the North Shore, exceeded capacity Monday with nearly 1,100 visitors and the largest crowd the park had ever seen, Gorman said.

State park officials planned eclipse-related programming for Monday’s cosmic ballet, handing out a limited number of safety glasses to watch the moon obstruct the sun, reaching more than 90% totality on Long Island.

Statewide, parks attracted nearly 1 million visitors from April 6 to 9, as people headed north to view a total eclipse. New York State parks recorded a 45% increase over the same period last year.

“From majestic Niagara Falls to the mighty Adirondacks, New York was one of the best places on earth to witness this once-in-a-generation celestial event,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Friday. “We planned for more than a year to welcome a record number of visitors during the total solar eclipse, and those preparations helped this event go off safely and successfully.”

On April 8 alone, New York State parks saw more than 326,500 visitors, marking more than a 52% jump in attendance compared to last year.  Twelve upstate state parks reached full capacity, Hochul's office said.

Campgrounds opened early and were filled to capacity Sunday night and were nearly filled Monday.

The state recorded more than 5.5 million tolls on the New York State Thruway from April 5 through Tuesday, with the highest traffic Tuesday and more than 1.2 million tolls and a 21% increase from last year. Gas and service stations also doubled sales during the eclipse weekend.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.