Beloved Long Island beach will be closed for swimming this summer due to erosion

A beloved Long Island beach is losing its battle with erosion.

The brutal winter took out much of Southold Town Beach's sand and parking lot, forcing the North Fork gem to close for swimming this summer. Officials said there's not enough sand left for lifeguards.

Winter storms left its gazebo teetering, 50 feet of asphalt crumbling, and a dramatic 6 foot drop down to the sand.

Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski said erosion is getting worse and putting more sand on the beach doesn't help.

"We lost a lot this winter," he said. "Every storm now comes and hits underneath the parking lot and undermines it, and then the parking lot collapses ... Trying to work with Mother Nature, and we're just in the way here."

He's planning immediate repairs to prevent climbing and driving on the crumbling shoreline, and so walking on the beach will be safe.

Krupski said he doesn't just want a Band-Aid, he wants a long-lasting solution. County, state and federal help is needed to elevate adjacent County Road 48, one of the only ways out of Greenport.

"We want to kind of do it once in our lifetimes, and hopefully it will hold up," he said. "You don't want to spend a lot of money on something that's not gonna be good for decades."

For residents who live on the thin spit of North Fork land between Long Island Sound and the bay, repairs are a must.

"Now that the beach is closed ... I lack words," resident Vinnie Gallipani said. "It's one of the beautiful things. My grandkids come out, we go up, and we take a walk on the beach."

"It's gotta get fixed. If that don't get fixed, we might not be here," resident Dominick Riccoboni said.

Any long-term fix has to take into account rising sea levels. The beach's parking lot already floods, and in 20 years, the water is projected to be 16 inches higher.