Ad hoc bus stop seating expanded!

The ad hoc seating area on 11th Street has been upgraded and is regularly used!

New Rockaway benches cause skin cancer concern

From DNA Info:

The Parks Department is proposing building "tanning tables" on the new Rockaway Boardwalk, but the idea has locals seeing red over concerns about people spending the night, improper use by skateboarders and the risk of skin cancer.

The beach furniture, with chaise lounges, was proposed after members of the city’s Public Design Commission told officials they didn’t like the concrete benches initially planned.

Instead, they wanted something more “beachy,” according to an official from the Parks Department.

Designers went back to the drawing board and came up with the wooden tanning tables, along with chaise lounges that are similar to ones already in place at Beach 15th Street in Far Rockaway and at Hunters Point South Park.

But board members said they were concerned the tables would be misused by everyone from skateboarders to people looking to sleep on the beach.

They also were concerned about promoting tanning, which raises the risk of skin cancer, and voted against the plan when it was first presented in June, and at Monday's parks committee meeting.