By Donald Wittkowski
Anthony McCaul, a Norwich, Conn., resident who was visiting Sea Isle City on Labor Day, struggled to feed a dollar bill into a parking kiosk on the beach block of John F. Kennedy Boulevard.
At first, the kiosk seemed to accept the slightly wrinkled bill, but then it spit it out on the ground, causing McCaul to frown.
“Try it again,” urged McCaul’s aunt, Karen Kuzer, of Fort Myers, Fla.
McCaul picked up the dollar bill and inserted it into the kiosk a second time. A few seconds later, it accepted the money and gave McCaul a parking stub.
“Hooray,” McCaul said with a mock cheer.
Starting Tuesday, though, drivers no longer have to feed the parking kiosks or meters in Sea Isle. As it does every year, the city stops charging for parking after Labor Day, giving everyone a money-saving perk heading into the quieter off-season months.
Sea Isle spokeswoman Katherine Custer said City Council passed an ordinance a few years ago rolling back the parking charge after Labor Day as an extra incentive for people to continue visiting Sea Isle during the fall.
But that’s not the only freebie after Labor Day. The beach tag requirement is also lifted after the holiday. Access to Sea Isle’s 4.5-mile shoreline will now be completely free until beach tags are required again next summer season.
Kathy McFarland, one of the city’s beach tag inspectors, said her goodbyes to sunbathers on Labor Day, her last day of work for the summer season.
“We’re packing up early. We had a half-day today,” McFarland said as she prepared to leave her post at the entrance of the JFK beach at around 12:45 p.m.
Labor Day traditionally signals the end of the summer tourism season. However, Custer noted that Sea Isle remains popular after Labor Day with vacationing young families whose children are not yet old enough to attend school.
“It’s a common thing that we see this time of year,” she said.
In addition to Sea Isle’s free parking and free beaches, vacationers enjoy discounted rates on rental properties and bargains at local stores during the off-season, Custer pointed out.
The post-Labor Day slowdown also allows local residents to enjoy Sea Isle’s beaches, Promenade, restaurants and other attractions without having to contend with the heavy crowds of tourists.
Steven Conte, who is originally from Sea Isle and now lives nearby in Petersburg, said once most of the tourists clear out after Labor Day weekend, that’s when summer traditionally begins for the locals.
“Since we’re locals, it will be nice to get back to some normalcy for us. September is when our summer starts,” Conte said on Labor Day while enjoying Sea Isle’s beach with his wife, Maureen, and their 3-year-old daughter, Genevieve.
