Swimming banned in Riis Park because of shore erosion

 

The Wave

Bay 1, a section of Riis Park Beach will be closed to swimming access, which is anticipated to be the case for the remainder of the season. 

“Beach erosion has created unsafe conditions along the Bay 1 waters and eastern beach, exposing deteriorating wooden groins and other structures. The exposed structures could be dangerous to swimmers. The closures will be adjusted as necessary but is anticipated to remain in place for the rest of the summer,” the National Parks Department said in a Statement. 

Bay 1, the beach closest to Neponsit, is a highly trafficked beach, and is also an NYC LBGTQ historic sight, as it is considered as a safe haven for that community.

“We want to make sure that our visitors are able to enjoy this space safely. The hazards are not always visible, especially at high tide, which is why swimming is not allowed in Bay 1,” said Jen Nersesian, Gateway superintendent. “We know how important this area is to the LGBTQ+ community of NYC and are pursuing long-term options so that this beach can be enjoyed for many summers to come.”

Frank Charles Park still remains in bad shape

  Hi Crappy, it was three years ago when I sent you an expose on Frank Charles Park and the lousy jog the National Park Service(NPS} does there . I also wrote to NPS and the local papers and contacted the local politicians about the conditions there.Well nothing has changed, we see the same dead trees and dead branches directly above where people walk and sit. The bathroom only takes one man and one woman at a time in a park that has a playground, tennis courts, ball fields, picnic tables and a beach. The beach accumulates trash everyday from the tides and from some beach goers and needs to be cleaned on a regular basis. The beach has serious erosion and picnic tables there are unusable.

 

 

 

 

  Why have these conditions been allowed to continue for so long? The NPS says they are underfunded and understaffed. The politicians say they know there are problems and will see what they can do. Why can't obvious safety problems like dead trees be at least addressed? If someone is killed or injured and sues for millions of dollars where is the money going to come from ,us the people who pay taxes. Howard Beach is a nice community and I'm sure people pay plenty of taxes and this is New York the biggest city in the USA so why are we not getting treated better by our government?

 

 

  
  The National Park Service has shown they cannot operate a community park at the standards the NYC Parks can and should turn over control of the park to the city.NYC Parks are usually well maintained and they are have more experience with operating a park and have created many beautiful parks within the city.

 Hope it doesn't take someone dying before something is done but sadly that seems to be.