QNS
Rockaway Beach is whole again.
Mayor Bill de Blasio joined elected
officials at Beach 94th Street Tuesday to announce the sand restoration
operation mounted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was successful.
Now, the popular stretch of the beach
from Beach 92nd Street to Beach 103rd Street, which was closed all last
season due to erosion that made the area unsafe for swimming, will be
open in time for Memorial Day weekend.
“For New Yorkers, summer means
Rockaway Beach. That’s why I could not be happier to announce we will
have the entire beach open in time for the Memorial Day weekend,” de
Blasio said. “I want to thank all the stakeholders who came together to
make the hopes of so many New Yorkers a reality.
We could not have done
it without your partnership.”
The Corps dredged the East Rockaway Inlet and pumped the sand two and a half miles west where bulldozers restored the beach.
“Getting tons of sand onto Rockaway
Beach in time for summer, and avoid a repeat disaster of prime time
beach closures, required every level of government to dig in deep,”
Senator Charles Schumer said. “And using the sand from the East Rockaway
dredge was a win-win plan because it keeps open a vital channel and all
of Rockaway Beach.”
The closure last summer hurt
restaurants and bars in the neighborhood such as Connolly’s, Bungalow
Bar, Community House, Thai Rock and Uma’s.
“This is great news, not only for the
residents of the Rockaways, but also for the local business owners who
suffered because of last year’s beach closure,” Councilman Eric Ulrich
said. “I am looking forward to a wonderful beach season where people
from all over the city can enjoy Rockaway’s beautiful beaches.”
In 2013, the Army Corps of Engineers
placed 3.5 million cubic yards of sand on Rockaway Beach following
Superstorm Sandy but infrastructure was never constructed to keep it in
place. The New York District is awaiting final approvals from USACE
headquarters for the Rockaway and Jamaica Bay Reevaluation Report, which
will authorize construction of erosion control features such as jetties
and new groins at federal expense.
So they added tons of new sand from dredging the east side of the shore without protection again. I give this replenishment 70 days until it gets devoured by the ocean.
