Chris Christie’s about to get beach-slapped!
Future New Jersey governors will be unable to shut down state beaches only to use them as private playgrounds — a la Christie’s infamous July Fourth weekend stunt — thanks to a new bill working its way through the legislature.
The bill — already passed by the Assembly and soon to be taken up in the state Senate — will keep state parks and other recreation areas open to the public for seven days in the event of a government shutdown like the one that saw Christie score exclusive access to the shoreline next to the governor’s mansion.
“Families were grossly inconvenienced by the unexpected government shutdown and that should never happen again,” said Democratic Assemblyman John McKeon, who sponsored the bill in the Assembly.
Garden Staters were livid when Christie was caught brazenly sunning it up at Island Beach State Park with a dozen family members and friends earlier this year — after he’d shut the state-run coasts to regular citizens amid a budget standoff.
To make matters worse, a day before photos of the beach-bum pol surfaced, Christie had lied to reporters that he didn’t get “any sun” that weekend.
Photos of the portly pol catching rays quickly went viral, and caused the unpopular governor’s approval rating to sink even further.
The images of the baseball cap-clad Christie lounging in a beach chair in a T-shirt, shorts and sandals quickly inspired memes and Halloween costumes.
But the bill isn’t a sure thing — the labor union representing many state workers, the Communications Workers of America, thinks it will make it easier for lawmakers to shut the government down because the threat of losing public parks won’t be a factor.
“We do think the parks are absolutely critical,” said CWA spokesman Seth Hahn. “But it’s not less critical than people doing unemployment benefits who have been laid off from their jobs.”
With Post wires