Suffolk County

For one thing, with twice the wetsuit and twice the respiration, you get twice the exercise, which means you feel twice as relaxed afterwards. And the beers that night are twice as refreshing.

It's also less crowded. And offshore longer. Less traffic. More parking. But mostly, it's because of moments like the 00:47 mark.

For this reasons and many more, New Jersey surfers like Sam Hammer and Mike Gleason don't just tolerate wintertime on the East Coast, they actually prefer it.

Beach 87th St. / Surfing After Sandy is the story of surfing and recovery at the closest wave to New York City. Focusing on the stories of two surfing families that weathered Hurricane Sandy and are now rebuilding their lives and homes in Rockaway Beach, Beach 87th St. exposes the depth of the damage and the strength of the local surfing community. A film by writer-director team Jesse and Lukas Huffman, which includes image contributions from the East Coast's most talented surf media creators; Mikey DeTemple, Nick Lavecchia, Joe Carter, and Ryan Struck.

Rob Machado surfs New York for the first time during the Reef tour in July.

NYC Regulars Paul Treacy, Shayne Boyle and Jimmy Dowd plus a few visitors brave rough city streets and 38 degree water to score some tube time and carve into the late March urban juice.

New York may not be anyone's idea of Surf City, but when the right conditions come together on Long Island -- like they did on February 4th -- you'd be hard pressed to find more perfect beachbreak tubes. Who needs Puerto Rico? Just strap on the 6-4-3mm and some mittens.

Hurricane Katia peaks with offshore winds for a Slater/Wright showdown.

Hurricane Katia continues to pump out high performance waves for New York.

Hurricane Katia continues to produce head-high high performance surf for R2 surfers in NY.

Hurricane Katia delivers chest-high surf for the first day of competition in New York.

Balaram Stack holds his own and takes the win at his home break.

Leif Engstrom punts and spins in the Big Apple State.

Balaram Stack and friends score fun surf at home in New York.

An inside look at Long Island's occasionally epic surf. Click here for the full Spot Check.

The NY sandbars come alive after a 3 week flat spell.

Click here for the story and photos on this swell.

Leif, Nick, Wade, and Austin enjoy some fun, mid-July waves in Montauk

Hurricane Alberto made its way up the coast and snuck into some out of the way spots in New York. Leif Engstrom, Jason Hewitt, Austin Eckardt, Nick & Jesse Joekel get some.

A few longboards enjoy some playful surf before summer kicks in.

This last round of swell swept up the East Coast and brought some spring fever and loads of frothing barrels to New York.

With not a tourist in site, Long Island in the winter is a wonderland of big, cold waves. Here are some highlights from the season so far.

More cranking surf from the gritty shores of New York.

Glassy, clean and barreling. New York comes alive this past May and Chris Martin, Sean Killarney, Justin Schwartz, Mike Machemer were there pulling into one grinding tube after another.

April fires off lined up dredging tubes within view of the NYC skyline. An anonymous crew reap the benefits of local knowledge.

NYSEA and Transition Productions team up to produce the first ever New York surf thriller: "Empire Now" Using the landscapes and culture of New York, this new film combines a fasts paced thriller with high action surf. With a mix of surfers from every beach in NY, Montauk to Rockaway "Empire Now" embodies the care free personalities of the NY surf community. Starring many of New York's premiere surfers including Kurt Rist, Leif Engstrom, TJ Gumiela, Brian Pollak, Will Skudin, Balaram Stack, Zack Dayton, Tyler Maguire, Cliff Skudin , Dylan Stott and many more. Guest appearances from NYSEA friends Garret Mcnamara, Kealii Mamala and Tamayo Perry. The thriller focuses on a magic treasure chest that reveals hidden surf talents. Sharing the chest with each other and tackling all obstacles along the way. The surf sections of the film jump around from NY, Hawaii, Indonesia, NJ, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua and Tahiti.With aerial surfing, tube riding, big wave paddle ins and giant slab tow ins "Empire Now" showcases a full variety of New York surfers pushing the limits. Directed by JR Jensen, Visual Effects by Frankie Principe, Produced by Will Skudin and Kemp Curley, Photography by Grant Monahan

A Pleasant Surprise offers an honest look at the talents of a select group of surfers who live in a truly special part of the United States. Almost three years in the making, this film documents a world of contrast as daily changes in weather and waves prove to be all part of a larger picture; thumping beach breaks, cold water, and quick tropical storms are just a fraction of what you will find. Brought to you in Super 16mm, A Pleasant Surprise allows for the full beauty of this region and its surfers to be realized.

What's a bender? A heavy string of nights and days that turns into a long run. A mix of good times, tired eyes and sore bodies involving happy moments, sad moments and angry moments, but when it's over you will have one hell of a time explaining how it all went down. That's pretty much how it all went down during a recent three-week run of waves in New York. It was a bender, albeit a healthy one, and one to remember. This clip will help keep those memories alive.

Nic Vaughan is a twenty-two year old from LA. Which may come to surprise you because he charges pretty hard. Whether it's paddling into bombs at Jaws, or pulling into drainers in Mainland Mex this kid sure does handle himself well in the big stuff.

The first Episode of Let's Go Surfing with Johnny and Kalani. The boys hit New York and Kalani enters a pro contest riding a hot pink Odysea Stump. Then Johnny decides to do a quick strike mission to New England in search of the 50 year swell.

Leif Engstrom rips summer swell in New York while his 'eye in the sky' nails the shot.

Aritz Aranburu documents his courageous efforts to surf New York's frigid waters.

From gangsters to Pro Juniors in New York, follow Conner and Parker around the city.

Part 4 of 4. The longest paddle.

In "Searching For Montauk" the cameras follow Hi Shred Producer Jake Burghart from the online forecast site Surfline to the surf as he races against the clock to get out to Montaulk Beach to find the unprecedented surf that is being reported. How unprecedented? Mike the forecaster from Surfline doesn't think given the location that he has ever before put a good-epic rating on the forecast and he's calling for it to be upwards of 15 feet. After a quick stop at Mollusk Surf Shop in Brooklyn to drop some money down on a new board we jump in the trusty van and follow Jake on his surf mission.

Check out:
Part One, Part Two

Part 3 of 4. Trumped by waves and briars.

In "Searching For Montauk", cameras follow Hi Shred Producer Jake Burghart from the online forecast site Surfline to the surf as he races against the clock to get out to Montauk to find the unprecedented surf that is being reported. How unprecedented? Mike the forecaster from Surfline doesn't think he has ever before put a good-epic rating on the forecast here and he's calling for it to be upwards of 15 feet. After a quick stop at Mollusk Surf Shop in Brooklyn to drop some money down on a new board we jump in the trusty van and follow Jake on his mission.

Check out:
Part One, Part Two

Part 2 of 4. The biggest breakers the East Coast has ever seen.

In "Searching For Montauk" the cameras follow Hi Shred Producer Jake Burghart from the online forecast site Surfline to the surf as he races against the clock to get out to Montaulk Beach to find the unprecedented surf that is being reported. How unprecedented? Mike the forecaster from Surfline doesn't think given the location that he has ever before put a good-epic rating on the forecast and he's calling for it to be upwards of 15 feet. After a quick stop at Mollusk Surf Shop in Brooklyn to drop some money down on a new board we jump in the trusty van and follow Jake on his surf mission.

Check out:
Part One, Part Two

Part 1 of 4. Gearing up for the swell of the century.

In "Searching For Montauk" the cameras follow Hi Shred Producer Jake Burghart from the online forecast site Surfline to the surf as he races against the clock to get out to Montaulk Beach to find the unprecedented surf that is being reported. How unprecedented? Mike the forecaster from Surfline doesn't think given the location that he has ever before put a good-epic rating on the forecast and he's calling for it to be upwards of 15 feet. After a quick stop at Mollusk Surf Shop in Brooklyn to drop some money down on a new board we jump in the trusty van and follow Jake on his surf mission.

Check out:
Part One, Part Two