‘Clothing Required’ Signs Go Up On Fire Island

Times, they are a-changin'. As is the dress code on Fire Island, at least officially. Signs reading “Clothing Required” have appeared on the Carrington Tract of beach between Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines, more commonly referred to as the “Meat Rack”, leaving visitors to wonder if they had been stripped of their longstanding freedom to sunbathe nude.

According to the Fire Island Q News, however, Chief Ranger John J. Stewart of the Fire Island National Seashore, when questioned about the new signs responded, “Although nudity on the beaches of Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines is in violation of the New York State law, U.S. Park Rangers will only educate and enforce this policy on federal property. They will not enforce it in front of any of the communities.”

So, this would seem to be the opposite of a government cover-up.