Will the Jersey Shore be Ready for Summer of 2013?

Will the hard-hit Jersey Shore be open and ready for the Summer of 2013?  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says he expects to see a "liveable Jersey Shore" by the Fourth of July.  Normally, Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of the summer season at the Jersey Shore.

"Every business will not be reopened, every home will certainly not be rebuilt, every amusement will not be repaired or replaced - but some of all that will be done," Christie said during Townsquare Media's Ask the Governor program.

Christie says the beaches will be open for swimmers and sunbathers and that the boardwalks will be rebuilt in Seaside Heights, Belmar and Point Pleasant.

"Now there won't be every amusement rebuilt by that time," Christie cautions.

Bringing up the Casino Pier in Seaside Heights as an example, Christie said he was told that half the pier would be up and running for this summer, but the other half "where the roller coaster went into the ocean,"  probably won't be ready.

Will Tourists Head Further South?

"We don't know what's going to happen at the other end of the Seaside Heights Boardwalk at the Funtown Pier, whether they're going to rebuild it all, or whether they're going to want to do something different over there," Christie said.

The governor speculates that tourists might head further south in New Jersey down past Atlantic City toward Ocean City and Wildwood where the Sandy damage to amusements was less severe.