File photo.
A stricter enforcement of an 11-year-old ban on jet skis in Jamaica Bay has some business owners frustrated about the consistency of enforcing that law.
Since 2001, it has been illegal to ride a jet ski in Jamaica Bay. According to John Warren, spokesman for National Parks Service, the ban protects the fragile ecosystems and wildlife that exist in the bay.
The watercraft can also cause erosion on saltmarsh islands, Warren said.
But Mike Bulzomi, owner of Sea Travelers Marina in Brooklyn, and Anthony Stallone, who owns Jetty Jumpers, a jet ski tour company also in Brooklyn, both say that the law has been inconsistently enforced since the ban was created.
Bulzomi said that, up until this year, he has not seen anyone get a warning or a ticket for riding a jet ski on the bay since around 2003 or 2004.
He said that the ban does not make sense because there are boats that use the bay and jet skis don’t produce as much pollution as a boat would.
“If you stay in the same passage that a boat stays in, what’s the difference?” said Bulzomi, who has owned Sea Travelers Marina for 16 years.
He added that he now often finds himself with empty docks because people don’t want to risk getting a warning or a ticket. It costs about $850 dollars to rent a dock space to ride a jet ski at his marina.
As for Stallone, who has owned Jetty Jumpers for 15 years, he said that he’s seen park police sitting outside waiting for people to come back from the water to give them either a warning or a $75 ticket. He added that they would also take away a rider’s license if he or she gets too many tickets.
Stallone said that if police are nearby patrolling the water, riders aren’t allowed to leave the marina, which forces him to shut his business for the whole day.
He added that he disagrees with the ban and he doesn’t think it’s hurting the ecosystems in the water.
“It’s being in the middle of the ocean, there’s no way its ruining the wildlife,” Stallone said. “It’s just another way for them to make money.”
In response to their complaint about not enforcing the rule, Warren said that he didn’t have any information on how much it’s being enforced this year compared to other years since the ban was created, only to say that it’s “irrelevant” because the rule is in place and should be adhered to.
“If people violate it, it doesn’t make it okay because there’s a perception of lack of enforcement,” he said. “This is for the protection of the environment.”
Warren did not provide information to The Forum before press time about how many tickets have been issued so far this year as compared to last or about the number of tickets you can get before you lose your Jet Ski license.
By Luis Gronda
