Easter on Long Island: A Jones Beach sunrise service and a vintage auto show in Garden City

The sun had yet to appear above the horizon early Sunday, and a half-moon still hung over the Atlantic Ocean as people began arriving at Jones Beach to celebrate Easter and what the faithful believe to be the resurrection of Jesus.

Gathered at the beach for a Long Island Easter tradition dating back at least six decades, people unfolded beach chairs and sat in clusters, facing the ocean. A cross made of two branches lashed together with rope was planted in the sand.

Sunday across Long Island and the world, worshippers gathered for Easter services on the Christian calendar’s holiest day.

In Garden City, hundreds lined Franklin Avenue, decked out in their Sunday best for another type of holiday celebration: the village's annual Easter vintage car show, which included some autos affixed with bunny ears.

Ralph Pascullo, 72, of Stewart Manor, owns a 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport — a perfect fit for the show.

But on Sunday, he opted to participate as a spectator.

"Because then I can’t sit here and see all the other cars go by," Pascullo said, seated in a foldable chair on the corner of Franklin and 10th Street, flanked by his family, with his ruby Cavalier King Charles spaniel on his lap.

"That’s the part I enjoy," he said.

James Lynch, 59, also of Stewart Manor, started attending the auto show in 2023. His mother had died the previous year, and he was looking for a new Easter tradition.

"We used to always spend Easter together," Lynch said. "She’s getting a kick out of this. I’m sure she’s looking at this like, ‘You’re ridiculous.’ ”

Lynch pointed to a 1959 C1 Chevrolet Corvette.

"You come to see people who spend a lot of time and a lot of money making that looking as good as it can be," he said of the Corvette and other cars in the procession.

Out at Jones Beach, Barry Giaquinto said he and his wife, Lorraine, left home in Massapequa so early "the dogs were still sleeping."

The couple has been coming to the sunrise service for about a decade, usually with other family members. This year, the family is "spread around" in other places. But "we kept it going," Giaquinto said, adding that the couple was glad to be there on "an unusually beautiful day."

One family from Baldwin — Yasmin Young-Wells, her husband, Samuel, and daughters Taylor and Sterling — waited as the sound system was hooked up and tested. They have been attending the sunrise service for more than 20 years, Yasmin said, ever since Taylor, now just about to graduate from law school, was 2 years old.

Ordinarily the family attends services at the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Elmont, but "our church is crowded on Easter," Young-Wells said. It was easier to bring a toddler to the beach. The beach service became an annual event, even as the girls grew old enough not to squirm. Young-Wells said they all appreciate that the service includes "different denominations, and they rotate the minister every year."

The Easter sunrise service at Jones Beach is an annual tradition organized by the Long Island Council of Churches. This year, the service was led by the Rev. Janice Moore, who is the pastor at the Community Presbyterian Church of Malverne.

As the sun came up and seagulls floated on the breeze, the congregants sang "Amazing Grace" and a few other hymns, led by soloist Soh Young Lee-Segredo.

Moore gave a brief sermon on the theme of love. "Without love, we are empty," she said, but "love flows like the waves and always returns."

A bucket was passed for offerings (all donations bound for the emergency food pantry in Freeport, run by the Council of Churches). Volunteers distributed Communion wafers and juice in tiny travel packs. (One large dog accompanying his humans begged for a wafer but was disappointed.)

A final hymn — with the lyrics simply "Alleluia" — and the people began drifting away across the beach.