New Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver, left, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, and Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder gather for the official opening of Rockaway’s beaches last Friday. Although Sandy recovery work is ongoing, most beaches will be open and accessible this summer. Photo courtesy NYS Assembly
As the summer season officially began in Rockaway, and beaches opened to thousands of sun-seekers over the weekend, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Rockaway Park) announced help for residents concerned about future natural disasters akin to Sandy was on its way.
Following a push by the two lawmakers, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced last week it will provide $5 million in federal funding for 200,000 cubic yards of protective sand placement at Riis Park – something elected officials and residents have said has been desperately needed following Hurricane Sandy.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently replacing sand lost between Beach 19th and Beach 149th streets, but a major gap in protection remains at Riis Park, Schumer and Goldfeder said. In March, the two legislators called for this project to be approved and funded.
“This federal funding is terrific news for residents on the Rockaway Peninsula and the millions of New Yorkers who visit Riis Park beach because the project provides sand placement at a location where there is currently a major gap in protection,” Schumer said in a prepared statement. “Sand placement at Riis Park will help ensure that visitors can enjoy a world-class beach, and residents in this community are not left vulnerable in the event of a future storm.”
Goldfeder praised the federal government for greenlighting funding that will provide the sand for which residents have long advocated, noting the depletion of sand makes Rockaway residents and businesses far more vulnerable in the next major storm.
“I commend the DOI for making the safety of our families a top priority and providing adequate protection for our beaches,” Goldfeder said in a prepared statement. “Rockaway is only as strong as its weakest beach, and I applaud Senator Schumer for his continued advocacy to assist our families in the aftermath of Sandy.”
The Army Corps of Engineers has already provided 3.5 million cubic yards of sand to city beaches in Rockaway and is in the process of building a dune and sand replacement between Beach 19th and Beach 149th streets.
Rockaway residents have also lambasted the city for not rebuilding the famed Rockaway Boardwalk quickly enough, with many criticizing the city’s stated goal of completing a five-mile stretch of the structure that was wiped out by Sandy by 2017. Along with being an iconic structure that has drawn people to Rockaway for decades, the boardwalk, like the sand, serves as a protective barrier for homes during storms.
A number of area leaders, including Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and Schumer, have advocated for a faster repair process, and newly-appointed Parks Comissioner Mitchell Silver said during the opening of Rockaway’s beaches last Friday that he would try to accomplish an end date sooner than the 2017 goal.
Construction began last month on the Rockaway boardwalk, and April’s work was the launch of the first portion of the $274 million boardwalk reconstruction project, for which there are three set phases. The first phase, which is slated to be completed by Memorial Day 2015, includes rebuilding the boardwalk from Beach 86th Street to Beach 97th Street.
Neighborhood leaders have slammed the 2017 end date, with many in Rockaway saying they feel as though it’s representative of a general dismissive attitude government has had for the peninsula in the wake of Sandy.
“Long Beach got its boardwalk back with emergency funding – Rockaway could’ve done the same thing,” John Cori, co-founder of the Friends of Rockaway Beach, said in a previous interview. “Someone decided instead to build these lifeguard shacks. That’s what you chose to do instead of rebuild the boardwalk?”
Last year, the city spent about $105 million to place bathrooms and lifeguard stations along city beaches, including in Rockaway, Staten Island, and Brooklyn – and the move was panned by a number of civic leaders, like Cori, who said the areas were in far greater need of other resources following the devastation wrought by Sandy.
By Anna Gustafson
