Friday, March 6, 2015

Quirky artistic Rockaway bus shelters may be demolished

From DNA Info:

A historic bus shelter that survived Hurricane Sandy may face the wrecking ball to accommodate a new park and protective sand dune, according to a local civic group and the Parks Department.

The Parks Department plans to rebuild a greenspace destroyed by the 2012 storm near Beach 107th Street, called Sandpiper playground, a spokeswoman for the department said.

But they are also exploring the possibility of demolishing an adjacent bus shelter to fit the park and the dune, which is part of the push to protect the peninsula from future storms.

"The goal of the reconstruction of Sandpiper playground is to make it a more resilient facility and to include the recreational amenities that the community is looking for," spokeswoman Meghan Lalor said.

The shelter on Beach 107th Street features a group of surfers riding different waves, and is entitled "Surf's Up."

It and three others on Shore Front Parkway were designed by Robert Moses for the 1939 World's Fair, and renovated by artist Esther Grillo in 1997, according to a 2003 article published in The Wave.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

These should be preserved. Move them to another location if necessary.

Anonymous said...

LOL! Landmark them and move one to borough hall. It can sit besides that red bird #7 subway car.

Anonymous said...

Maybe Queens Historical Society will take it and tuck it in their archives. LOL!

JQ said...

I can't help but be reminded of the civic virtue statue the way this is being dealt. Here we have an artifact and tribute for the residents of the beach in addition to it being a memorial, and some bogus justification for destroying it for the parks department version of beautification and revitalization. And also protection, did they notice that the actual beach looks more like its made for dune buggies than it is for walking?

"The goal of the reconstruction of Sandpiper playground is to make it a more resilient facility and to include the recreational amenities that the community is looking for," spokeswoman Meghan Lalor said.

I wonder if Meghan notices the irony that this was the only thing that survived the most destructive storm in the city's history. And isn't it mortifying that there are hideous jetson style elevated enormous beercan hangouts that are looking worse every year and these officials think they are resilient?

It's peculiar that 3 years later sitting pretty there, the parks dept. think it's in the way now.

I am going to digress and make this about gentrification. The citizens of Rockaway better watch out, the plans the city has is to make this more of a resort and luxury town than an affordable place to live and relax. It usually starts with plans like this which some would consider innocuous.



Anonymous said...

Those shelters provide a lot of shady for people waiting and waiting and waiting in the sun for a bus. Where are they going to wait now? In one of those flimsy cemusa shelters that will absolutely be destroyed in the next storm?

Fuck city hall.

Anonymous said...

MOVE THEM !!
They are rare art and if scrapped will cost a FORTUNE to replicate. I'm sure some other city that gives a shit would pay big $$ for them.

Nobody alive could weld like that in 2015

Anonymous said...

Have any buses ever stopped at these bus shelters?

Anonymous said...

They should be saved and put somewhere else or removed and re-installed when the new park is finished.

Anonymous said...

Save them so the Rockaway drug dealers have shelter from the rain.

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