Long Island surfers’ group set up a safe and joyous environment for residents of Long Beach
Surfers know the joy — and fury — of the sea.
On Thanksgiving Day, a Long Island surfers’ group set up a safe and joyous environment for residents of Long Beach. The barrier island city — 25 miles from Manhattan — was inundated by storm surge during Sandy.
Surf For All turned the famous Long Beach Ice Arena into the city’s largest dining room for a Thanksgiving feast for more than 100 people.
Cliff Skudin, a third-generation surf instructor, put it this way: “Many of our neighbors are flailing as a result of the storm. This is not an ocean rescue, it’s a spiritual rescue.”
About 35,000 people live on Long Beach.
The rink was once a training facility for the New York Rangers.