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New Curfew Rules Are In Place At Troubled Plumb Beach Site Three weeks after the death of Michael Sandy, the Brooklyn man lured to Plumb Beach for gay sex then was robbed and struck by a car after being chased onto the Belt Parkway when he tried to escape his assailants, State Senator Carl Kruger announced new nighttime security measures at the isolated parking area he has long called a "snake pit of drugs, sex and other illegal activity." The initiatives were announced following a recent meeting at the site that Kruger called to remedy the continuing problems at Plumb Beach. Attending with the senator were Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Julius Spiegel, Barry Sullivan, the General Superintendent of Gateway National Recreation Area, Captain Vincent Stella, commanding officer of the 61st Precinct, and others from concerned agencies. In the wake of Sandy's killing, the Democratic state legislator called for an extension of the 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. curfew at Plumb Beach and stronger initiatives to "keep out those who are there for no good reason." Kruger said the new regulations will require the gates at the entrance to the Plumb Beach parking area to close at 6 p.m. "Better and stronger reinforced gates," Kruger said, "will deter people from breaking the locks." In ad-dition, he noted, signs will be erected to clearly indicate the area's changed closing hours, which will be in effect from October through April. Furthermore, Kruger said appropriate positions at the site are being evaluated for eventual installation of high-tech video surveillance cameras and expanded decoy operations have already commenced. Kruger first made public the problems at Plumb Beach back in 2002, in the wake of a fatal stabbing at the notorious Plumb Beach parking area. Despite the "overall success" of the original curfew, Kruger said the "terrible and avoidable tragedy" of Michael Sandy's death indicated that "more needs to be done" to help secure the area. When Sandy died on October 13, several days after he was attacked and wound up in a coma at Brookdale Hospital, charges against the three suspects - John Fox, 19, Ilya Shurov, 20 and Michael Timmins, 16, all of Sheepshead Bay, were upgraded to murder by the Brooklyn District Attorney's office after the trio was initially booked for assault, robbery and gay-bashing. Police said that the suspects lured Sandy to the Plumb Beach site after an online chat. After police thoroughly checked Sandy's computer and cell phone records, it led them to the suspects, who were taken into custody on October 10. Over the years, law enforcement officials have made many arrests for public sexual conduct and other violations at the problem parking area.
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