A week ago we announced the NYC Beach Bus’s return for the season, and now we have to announce its non-return. Per a post on the company’s website, “NYC Beach Bus shuttle service will be temporarily suspended for the summer.” Beach Bus is still offering private shuttles for b-day bashes, “corporate outings” and other events but us plebeians are SOL.
The reason for the suspension is “tightened regulations and other unique challenges that have made it difficult to operate” as a seasonal business, according to the website post. It is “in the interest of growing our service,” that NYC Beach Bus has chosen not to run this summer.
We spoke with NYC Beach Bus co-founder Scott Lebowitz about the summer suspension and he told us the company made the decision after deciding to close up shop at their Brooklyn office and move to Manhattan. “The last two years we were working on building some software development and we just couldn’t focus on it and do the busses so we’re choosing to do the software development,” Lebowitz told us, referring to NYC Beach Bus’s innovative booking system, which was made “in-house, from scratch.”
Lebowitz elaborated on the “tightened regulations” portion of Beach Bus’s decision to not run busses this summer, saying the company had faced some bureaucratic harassment from the Department of Consumer Affairs and decided to sort it all out now while finishing their software.
In the winter, Lebowitz reassured us, their Snow Bus will be back doing pickups at the usual locations. And once the company settles in Manhattan, they’ll maintain their Brooklyn pickups.
Unfortunately, this does mean Brokelyn’s raffle for Beach Bus tickets is off, but our two lucky winners (who we’ve contacted, check your email) will instead receive one random Thai import of their choosing from the Beach Bus’s shop. Not quite a trip to the beach, but it’s quite literally something!