After online criticism over the overgrown state of Seneca Lake State Park’s beach, park officials said broken grooming equipment was to blame, according to the Finger Lakes Times. The beach has since been freshly raked, though debris remains due to recent heavy rains.
Fred Bonn of New York State Parks clarified that swimming hasn’t been allowed there since 2018 because of consistently high bacteria levels. Contamination sources include goose droppings and runoff from the city’s wastewater system.
Despite the official beach closure, many residents still flock to Jennings Beach, an unsupervised private swimming area west of Lakefront Park maintained by local resident Tim Jennings.
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