Ferrying From Manhattan to Bare It All on the Beach SANDY HOOK, N.J. — In honor of Nude Recreation Week, traditionally celebrated after July 4, join us on the Wall Street ferry SeaStreak as it makes its twice-daily run to Gunnison Beach, the busiest clothing-optional recreation area in the nation, devotees say. Aboard on a Wednesday are Kassity Hu, 29, and Rochelle Rosen, 40, Internet marketing colleagues who no sooner found out on the Web about a nudist haven within sight of the Manhattan skyline and maintained by the National Park Service than they were game to try it. For someone in the fashion trade, Todd Thomas, 46, another day-tripper, has found a particularly liberating way to play hooky. Add Mike from Britain, a bond trader, and his American companion, Monica, in the hotel business — no last names please — who find the timing fortuitous. “June 2,” said Mike, “was a perfect time to be laid off.” Kelly O’Brien, a nurse, has worked all night and is ready for a nap on the beach, but at an adjacent one in what the park service calls a “clothed area.” “I’m kind of conservative,” said Ms. O’Brien, 22. “I like clothing.” Molly Rodriguez, 69, a retired real estate payroll manager, on the other hand, is not beachbound at all but on her way to Atlantic Highlands to house-sit for her daughter and son-in-law who are sailing their boat up to Connecticut. In any case, she would not be found anywhere near a nudist beach, she said, adding, “I can look at myself and get hysterical.” Long one of the New York area’s best-kept secrets, Gunnison Beach, on the upper end of this barbed peninsula jutting into the harbor at the northern tip of the Jersey Shore, has been a favorite of naturists, locals say, since Army troops at Sandy Hook’s historic Fort Hancock, and perhaps the redcoats before them, discovered the joys of skinny-dipping far from prying eyes.
Last update: 06-30-2008 20:33
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