Coronavirus lockdown: Florida CEO pleads for mayor to ‘open the private beach’ in front of his condo
A Florida CEO fed up with his city’s decision to close beaches during the coronavirus outbreak is calling on its mayor to “open the private beach” outside of his waterfront condo so he and his wife can “stay healthy and alive.”
Thomas Madden, who runs the TransMedia Group public relations firm, made the plea to Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer in an open letter published in the Boca Raton Tribune.
“Many of us confined to our oceanfront condos need to exercise daily to stay fit, which means we need to walk or jog on what is our front yard, our wide empty beach,” Madden wrote. “Our gyms and pools are closed. We’re confined to our apartments where many of us don’t have Peloton bikes or Nordic Tracks to spin ourselves silly."
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“For many of us condo dwellers, we have no place to exercise, but on our beach, but police keep chasing us, telling us the beach is closed and ordering us off the beach immediately,” he continued, adding that he and his wife are feeling like "Bonnie and Clyde" when they "sneak out for a short brisk walk along the shore."
“Mayor, you can keep the public beach closed where people just congregate and lay together on blankets and chairs, but why not open the private beach in front of our condos for exercise so we can stay healthy and alive?” Madden ultimately asked.
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Palm Beach County, where Boca Raton is located, said last week that its orders “to close public and private beaches, parks, boat ramps, and public and private golf courses, as well as non-essential businesses, remain in place.
“The decision to maintain these closures is based on science and data of the coronavirus,” it added.
As of Thursday, those measures remain in effect.