Superstorm Sandy continues to plague Jersey shore, poll finds

NEW YORK -- The effects of Superstorm Sandy plagued New Jersey throughout the summer, according to a poll released Wednesday that showed 38% of state residents who visited the Jersey shore spent less time there than they expected.

The poll, conducted by Monmouth University and the Asbury Park Press, said that 1 in 6 New Jersey adults who normally spend time at the Jersey shore during the summer did not do so this year. Of those who visited the state’s summer resorts but cut their stays short, nearly half cited worries that the seasonal businesses they counted on would not be open.

The Jersey shore also was hurt by the weather. June was exceptionally rainy, and July was unusually hot. Among the poll respondents, 22% said the weather was a major factor in their decision to shorten their visits to the beach.

“A combination of unpredictable weather and assumptions about business closures seems to have depressed the number of potential day-trippers,” said the Monmouth University Polling Institute’s director, Patrick Murray.

The wariness comes despite an aggressive campaign by state tourism officials in the aftermath of Sandy, which hit Oct. 29, 2012, and left many of the waterfront towns that depend on summer tourism in ruins. The storm damaged or destroyed 346,000 homes in New Jersey and forced the closure of casinos, including those in Atlantic City, for up to a week.

Many of the hardest-hit towns were inaccessible for months as their damaged infrastructure underwent repairs, deterring would-be visitors.

One person who did not need a poll to tell him it was a less-than-great summer was Nick Dionisio of Seaside Park, a tiny community whose boardwalk was wrecked by Sandy. Dionisio’s Park Seafood restaurants were wiped out by the storm, and again on Sept. 12 when fire devoured much of the boardwalk and businesses that had just begun recovering from Sandy.

“A weekend this year was like a weekday last year,” said Dionisio, whose ability to reopen his eateries after Sandy was hampered by infrastructure problems. He was not able to begin serious renovations until May because it took that long to get gas and water services restored.

Summer came, but the visitors did not.

“It’s great they had the boardwalk up and running,” he said of the post-Sandy efforts that enabled the arcades, eateries and amusement park rides to operate through the high season. “But without the people who live in and visit these communities, nothing moves forward.”

The poll, conducted Sept. 6-10, surveyed 783 adult New Jersey residents. Its margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

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