The Seagull’s Nest is Being Demolished

“Raise  your hand if this is your first time here,”  Eddie Segall religiously started off his nightly sunset ceremonies at the Sea Gull’s Nest.  “Now raise your hand if this is your last time here,” Segall barked as 10’s of customers raised their hands in laughter, just as they had the night or the week before.  The joke never got old.

We’ve raised our hands, sung God Bless American along with a Kate Smith recording, honored our troops and first responders and watched the octogenarian Segall challenge much younger men to 50 push ups for the last time.

Demolition of the structure that was built in 1996 and never reopened after Superstorm Sandy started this morning.  A man on sight wearing a hardhat who asked not to be named said the demolition was contracted to take two weeks.  The man said he thought it would be done in a week.

The bathrooms, the lifeguard station and the patio will not be demolished, according to the employee.

Eddie Segall and his family operated the concession on Sandy Hook starting in 1962 when it was a State Park.  In 1996, the National Park Service, which took over the park in 1972, replaced The Nest, as regulars called it, an elevated wooden deck with trailers for bathrooms, with the “permanent” concrete structure that regulars hated when it was built but came to love.

MMM has contacted the National Park Service with questions about why the structure is being demolished and what the plans are for the location after the demolition is complete.  This story will be updated when we receive a response.