Photo: Andrew Mills / Associated Press

Governor Dannel Malloy gets a tour of the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk from President and CEO Jennifer Herring to promote state tourism destinations.

Governor Dannel Malloy gets a tour of the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk from President and CEO Jennifer Herring to promote state tourism destinations.

A boardwalk accesses the beach from the parking area at Silver Sands State Park in Milford, Conn. on Thursday, May 18, 2017.

A boardwalk accesses the beach from the parking area at Silver Sands State Park in Milford, Conn. on Thursday, May 18, 2017.

Visitors cool off in the Housatonic River at Indian Well State Park in Shelton, Conn. on Wednesday, July 6, 2016.

Visitors cool off in the Housatonic River at Indian Well State Park in Shelton, Conn. on Wednesday, July 6, 2016.

Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, Conn. June 23, 2017.

Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, Conn. June 23, 2017.

Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, Conn. June 23, 2017.

Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, Conn. June 23, 2017.

In this Sunday, July 2, 2017, photo, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, right, uses the beach with his family and friends at the governor's summer house at Island Beach State Park in New Jersey.

In this Sunday, July 2, 2017, photo, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, right, uses the beach with his family and friends at the governor's summer house at Island Beach State Park in New Jersey.

Malloy: Christie a bully for closing the beaches

A political line has been drawn in the sand this summer, with the governors of Connecticut and New Jersey taking opposite sides on whether to keep state beaches open during a budget impasse and throwing shade at each other.

Connecticut still has no budget agreement, but Democrat Dannel P. Malloy signed an executive order last week to avert a government shutdown and keep state beaches and parks open for now.

Contrast that with Republican Chris Christie, who basked in the sunshine with his family at a New Jersey state beach over the weekend that was closed to the public because of a budget standoff in Trenton.

By July 4, a budget deal was in place and the beaches reopened, but not before Christie became an internet meme inspiration and got a sunburn from critics, including his longtime adversary Malloy.

It turned out to be a whale of a story, Malloy told Hearst Connecticut Media Thursday. Ultimately, I thought it was a bullying type move. We should not try to punish our citizens for ... governments failures. (Christie) can read from whatever governors (manual) he reads from. I dont know why punishing his citizens was deemed an appropriate way to put pressure on anyone.

Christies spokesman Brian Murray said Malloy is hardly in a position to be telling New Jerseys governor how to run his state.

As Governor Malloy drives GE to Massachusetts and Aetna to New York due to eight years of his failed tax-and-spend policies, he should probably focus on emulating New Jerseys success with an unemployment rate nearly a full point lower than Connecticuts, Murray said. Despite his misguided comments, we would be happy to give him a seminar on how to grow an economy rather than destroy jobs, as he has done for his entire tenure as governor.

The animosity between Malloy and Christie has defined their overlapping tenures, with Christie campaigning for Malloys GOP opponent, Tom Foley, in 2010 and 2014, when Christie led the Republican Governors Association. Malloy is the current head of the Democratic Governors Association.

From whose state has a better business climate to gun control, the gubernatorial adversaries have clashed early and often, which made the following observation from Malloy Thursday about the budget impasse in New Jersey a rare cease-fire.

Now Ill give him credit. They got a budget, Malloy said.

Connecticut lawmakers arent scheduled to reconvene until July 18 for a special session to try to close a $5 billion, two-year budget deficit. Admission and camping fees collected at Connecticut parks and beaches, Malloy said, are enough to sustain state-run recreational facilities. State beaches were such a popular destination during the weekend, the governor said, that they reached capacity early in the day.

Tess Marchant-Shapiro, an associate political science professor at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, said the image of Christie frolicking in the sand will be remembered more than the governors ability to consummate a budget deal.

Christie did manage to parlay (the beach closure) into an agreement this week, which was astounding to me, Marchant-Shapiro said. Certainly, I think Malloys strategy was wiser.

Christie and his family were photographed from a plane by NJ Advance Media Sunday on an empty beach in Berkeley Township, where there is an official summer residence for the governor at Island Beach State Park. Christie has said the residence is separate from the park and that he didnt use any state services there.

But Marchant-Shapiro said Christies response to reporters when questioned about the visual of the first family of New Jersey having the beach all to itself didnt help the governor.

That line that he made, Well if you want to be on the beaches, why dont you run for governor? Thats just not a politic thing to say, she said.

As for Malloys holiday weekend, he said it was no day at the beach.

If I was gonna go to the beaches, I would have tried to go to New Jersey, he said, sarcastically.

nvigdor@hearstmediact.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy

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Malloy: Christie a bully for closing the beaches - CT Post