Water access made easier with Newbridge Road Park's new entry point

If boat rides, kayaking with friends or other recreational activities on Long Island’s South Shore have seemed a bit easier this summer, credit may go to the opening of a water access point at a Bellmore park.

Newbridge Road Park’s water access point opened to the public June 15, connecting with another at Seamans Neck Park in Seaford, state officials said.

And it won't be the last on the South Shore. The access points at both parks are part of the South Shore Blueway Trail, a state and local effort to build more of the sites to increase offshore recreation and onshore economic activity, officials said.

"The South Shore Estuary is one of Long Island’s crown jewels, offering recreational opportunities, supporting public health outcomes and driving the Island’s tourism economy," New York Secretary of State Walter Mosley said in a news release.

"These ... water access points foster year-round recreational activity, while also leveraging continued economic growth in the region for generations to come."

The Newbridge Road Park project, which meets accessibility measurements within the Americans with Disabilities Act, cost $50,000 and received a state grant, officials said. The state hopes to build another in Mastic Beach.

Hempstead Town officials said the Newbridge Road Park water access point will likely be joined by others, including one at Inwood Marina. In choosing sites, town officials said they looked at places frequented by boaters as well as the area's physical attributes that might make it an ideal location.

Before the additional sites, Town of Hempstead Supervisor Donald X. Clavin Jr. said accessing the South Shore could be difficult and limited to a few spots. The additional pathways, including at Newbridge Road Park, he said, offer a chance to see the South Shore in a new way.

"Being able to go down there and launch a kayak from this location, or many of the others that are being created, it’s going to give people the opportunity to see and explore some of the beauty that really exists in the South Shore," Clavin said.

By Tiffany Cusaac-Smith

tiffany.cusaac-smith@newsday.com@T_Cusaac

Education: Howard University 

Tiffany Cusaac-Smith came to Newsday in 2023 after being a race and history reporter at USA TODAY, where she wrote enterprise and spot articles examining how the past shapes the present. Previously, she worked as the race and justice reporter at the USA TODAY Network of New York, covering issues such as criminal justice reform, housing, environmental justice, health care and politics. At The Journal News/lohud.com in Westchester County, she covered Yonkers, the state's third-largest city. She also worked at The Associated Press in Atlanta.

Honors and Awards: Criminal justice reporting fellowship with the National Press Foundation;  New York News Publishers Association award for distinguished investigative reporting;  Contributed reporting for Best of Gannett honor; Member of Table Stakes, a program funded by the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund and managed by the American Press Institute to transform local news.