Long Beach, Long Island swell. Photo by ASP.

Most people may not realize this but there actually is a strong, core surf culture in and around New York City, spearheaded by the diehards who surf the cold Atlantic off Long Beach, Long Island, NY. In an effort to recognize surf culture in the Northeast, particularly with NYC urbanites, the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) and Quiksilver announced today the launch of the $1 million-dollar Quiksilver Pro New York event, set to take place on Long Island’s Long Beach from September 4-15, 2011.

This event will be the 6th stop of the 2011 ASP World Tour and the first time for an ASP World Tour stop on the East Coast of the Untied States.

“When I was young, I remember some great waves on Long Island with my brother Sean and our friends,” said Kelly Slater, 10-time ASP World Champion. “I’m really looking forward to being in New York. This event itself will be unique and kind of an unknown for us and bringing the ASP tour to Long Island should be fun cause there’s a big surf culture there already and some great surf shops.”

“We are beyond excited to host the biggest pro surf event in the world on Long Island this September,” said Bob McKnight, CEO of Quiksilver. “There has always been a huge contingent of dedicated surfers and surf enthusiasts on the East Coast and they will now get a chance to watch the world’s best surfers in Long Beach. We are also bringing the best and brightest Quiksilver, Roxy and DC athletes to New York City, the largest media arena in the world, for twelve days of surf, skate, BMX, fashion, art and music that will bring incredible global attention to these phenomenal athletes and the action sports culture and lifestyle.”

What’s also quite remarkable about this event is the $1 million purse -the largest in surfing event history. The Quiksilver Pro New York now caps off the Quiksilver Global Series which includes the Gold Coast in Australia and France.

Interestingly, Surfline.com also conducted a 15-year wave study for western Long Island, NY to predict upcoming waves for September.

“This was a very fascinating study,” said Sean Collins, Chief Forecaster and President of Surfline.com. “The surf climate in Western Long Island is greatly affected by the underwater Hudson Canyon offshore, which can turn average surf into very high quality surf comparable to many of the best surf spots in the world on the right day. We are also in a La Nina year, so we expect the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season to be a little more active and hopefully we can score great surf with the world’s top surfers in one of the best cities in the world.”