Attendance at city beaches took a dip this year as New Yorkers enjoyed a fall-like summer season.
Overall attendance for 2017 was 14.7 million people compared with 15.9 million in 2016, according to estimates by the city Parks Department.
Although it’s unclear how significant a factor the weather was in fewer people flocking to the shore, it certainly didn’t help.
“It wasn’t as hot as last year,” said Jay Engle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “It was markedly cooler than previous seasons and there were fewer 90 degree days.”
Sun worshippers still made their way to Coney Island and Orchard Beach, however, which boasted higher numbers than last year. Coney Island was the top city destination for beachgoers with 6.6 million people — up from 6.4 million last year.
Rockaway beaches ranked second with 5.1 million visitors, down from 6.7 million in 2016 and 7.7 million in 2015.
The Queens peninsula has been transformed into a haven for surfers and foodies in recent years with the upgrading of concessions and addition of surfing beaches. By comparison, in 2010 only about 1.6 million people visited the beaches in Rockaway.
About 1.9 million people this year made the trek to “The Riviera of New York,” as Orchard Beach was called when it opened in the 1930s. The Bronx beach hosted about 1.7 million visitors last year.
Sand-lovers also took advantage of beaches in Staten Island’s Midland, South Beach, Wolfe’s Pond and Cedar Grove. Midland drew 346,000 visitors, the most in the past three years. About 334,610 people went to South Beach, up from 217,820 last year.
