Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said citizens with a lot of time on their hands and a desire to commune with nature are concentrating too much on Chestnut Ridge Park and causing crowds that are not praciticing social distancing.
The county executive said large crowds are showing up around the casino area, neglecting other and larger sections of Chestnut Ridge and many other county parks. Poloncarz warned he does have the power to close the gates and send everybody out of the park.
"We're just asking people to utilize common sense. There's lots of other parks out there. Pick a different park to go to. I do not want to have to close the park. We do need to have them open, so people can have some outdoor recreation and activity," he said.
"We're just saying, don't do it in large groups and, if you can, avoid a crowded location, because there's lots of other parks that we have that are hardly having any attendance. And that's why I want people to try out the different parks we have."
Poloncarz sids the county has 10,000 acres of parks scattered across Erie County and they can absorb many people looking for a break from everything that's going on.
