FI Faces Increased Security Measures
Volume 49, Issue 6
By David Crohn

Fire Island is a refuge from so much of what ails us in urban life—the crowds, sticky city heat, noise, traffic. But the reality of today’s unpleasent world permeates everything, even our breezy, sun-soaked getaways.

Fortunately, most of the changes that have happened since the London bombings have been behind the scenes. Local officials, including police and the U.S. Coast Guard, have increased their presence over all major public thoroughfares.

The 2002 Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA), signed into law by the president in response to Sept. 11, determined that our ports are our weakest link. It established a special scale, a set of Maritime Security Levels—officials call it MARSEC—that correspond with the federal Homeland Security Alert System. Since July 7 the Suffolk County Coast Guard has been at Level 2, also known as High, or Orange.

MARSEC Level 2 brings practical guidelines to bear on that vague but handy catch-all, “extra vigilance,” seemingly custom made for times like this and invoked again and again.

There are random searches, heightened alert for suspicious looking people in heavy clothing not suited to the beach, and more cops in plainclothes and in uniform, as well as extra shifts for bomb squads.

“ Long Island’s proximity to New York City requires heightened security and added diligence in protecting the population,” said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer.

The additional measures are a comfort for most, even with the extra hassle of having a stranger paw through your weekend tote, looking for explosives made of sunscreen or wrapped in a towel. After all, it’s not like going to JFK, and many Fire Islanders come from a place that’s been at Orange for years.

The major ferry companies that serve Fire Island—Fire Island Ferries on the west end and the Sayville Ferry Company in the east—are eager to comply with the Coast Guard’s regulations, but adjusting to the “new normal” can put a strain on business. There are thousands of round trips to make over the summer and every employee, from captains to cashiers, are part of the effort.

“[It’s] a bummer because it slows things down—we’ve always been accustomed to just getting you on and off. We have to increase the hours of employees just to make the boats run on time,” Sayville Ferry Company President Ken Stein said. He added, “it’s not business as usual anymore.”

An unfortunate fact of life now is that Fire Island passenger ferries, with all the “extra vigilance” of their staff and their unlikely position as soft targets, remain ill-equipped to handle a serious incident. And no one wants to see guns while on vacation, so employees are unarmed.

One Fire Island regular, Jeff Goodman of Cherry Grove, addressed a painful and unspoken reality, saying, “I’m willing to give up conveniences to feel more secure. But these people have no equipment and training to do the job Homeland Security is asking them to do. To search people’s bags when they can’t do anything about it—besides notify the authorities—is just fool’s logic.”