Monday, January 18, 2010

Rehabbing Rockaways' beaches

From the Times Ledger:

After being hit hard by Hurricane Ida and other storms, Rockaway Beach will be getting an emergency infusion of sand from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the city Parks Department, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Forest Hills) said last week.

“The decision by the Army Corps and city Parks is not a permanent fix, but it is the first step in securing the safety of Rockaway Beach and its residents,” Weiner said in a statement. “We can’t stand idly by while these important parts of the city’s coastline erode before our eyes.”

The work is scheduled to begin next month and be completed by April 1, according to the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Army Corps of Engineers and the Parks Department will dredge sand from the Rockaway East Inlet to start off the work, Weiner said. Parks agreed to pay an extra $1.5 million to place 150,000 cubic yards of dredged sand between Beach 81st and Beach 110th streets in Rockaway, where visitors flock in the summer to swim, the congressman said.

Eight feet of sand was lost from Rockaway Beach during Hurricane Ida and other storms, Weiner said.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Residential buildings do not belong between a beach and a bay on a narrow penninsula that would be challenging to evacuate.

Anonymous said...

as can be seen here, http://www.urbanhabitats.org/v02n01/images/3centuries_fig5.jpg . The Rockaway Peninsula was a barrier island not a peninsula per se. Barrier islands are by nature ephemeral and adding sand is probably only delaying the inevitable.

Anonymous said...

Let nature reclaim the Rockaways.

Klink Cannoli said...

Anon wrote:
"Let nature reclaim the Rockaways."
=============================

And so it shall...

As conscientious stewards of the earth, it behooves the human species to make use of and maintain its habitat for its survival in a respectful and judicious manor. However, to stand idly by as nature encroaches on our habitat is fool hardy and would deserve our own extinction. Let's not forget the totality of "nature" does include the human species and our ways of survival.