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Hurricane Earl has been downgraded to a Category 1 storm. Beaches around here were closed today, boats pulled out of the water in anticipation of the storm. But Earl has not kept New Yorkers from heading to the shores of Long Island, hoping to get in a few days of R&R this Labor Day weekend.

And among those vacationers are a number of members of the WNYC staff -- including our morning hosts Soterios Johnson, who is on holiday in East Hampton, and Richard Hake, out on Fire Island.

The East Coast is still on watch for strong winds and rain.