Volunteers recently teamed up to clean debris left in Jamaica Bay by Superstorm Sandy.
Photo Courtesy of the Mayor’s Office of Recovery & Resiliency
Civic and environmental groups teamed up with volunteers from city agencies last week to clean Superstorm Sandy debris from Jamaica Bay in Broad Channel.
The Broad Channel Civic Association, American Littoral Society and Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers, and volunteers from the Parks Department and the Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency got to work behind a Cross Bay Boulevard home scheduled to be rebuilt through the Build It Back program. The point of access to the bay on the site became available after the damaged home was recently demolished.
The city Department of Sanitation provided the Dumpster for the cleanup effort.
“[Tuesday’s] project to help clean up Jamaica Bay is another example of Build it Back’s commitment to partnering with Sandy-impacted communities at all stages of the recovery process,” said Amy Peterson, director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations. “Good timing and community initiative came together: As a result of Build it Back’s recent progress, one of the lots on which we are rebuilding opens up to the bay in Broad Channel, and we coordinated with the Broad Channel Civic Association and the Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers to make sure they could get access before construction began. Together, we helped remove debris that washed up two years ago and freed up our Broad Channel wetlands for long-term restoration.”
By Michael V. Cusenza
