Stamford Smokers Don't Make Waves at Beach

STAMFORD, Conn. — Like many in Stamford, Bob Accurso enjoys going to the city’s beaches. At the beach, Accurso occasionally lights up a cigarette if the people around him don’t mind.

“If someone says something, I just move somewhere else,” he said as he basked in the sun at the beach at Cummings Park.

Another man who sat off by himself smoking a cigarette by the lifeguard shack at Cummings expressed similar views. “If people were around I wouldn’t smoke,” said the man, who did not give his name. “I wouldn’t want to invade their privacy.”

The two people seem to share the opinion most smokers do, David Flynn the head lifeguard at Cummings said.

Although people are allowed to smoke on the beach, Flynn and the rest of the guards occasionally receive complaints. The guards ask the smoker to either move or to stop. The smoker usually agrees to one of the requests without complaining, Flynn said.

Cigar and cigarette butts are often left on the beach, and people complain about the litter, Flynn said.

“The butts are the main complaint. People throw them everywhere,” Flynn said as he watched over a few people swimming Tuesday afternoon. The Stamford beaches are routinely swept by the city, but the butts do not get picked up in the process, Flynn said.

A poll on Topix asking people whether they would be in favor of banning smoking on the Stamford beaches, 65 people voted, with 32 strongly in favor and 28 strongly against. The poll first appeared in February. 

Do you think people should be allowed to smoke at the beach? Why or why not? Please share your opinions below and add to the conversation or send them to reporter Anthony Buzzeo, tbuzzeo@TheDailyStamford.com. 

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