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.”

Rage against the Rockaway Beach restoration

 

Impunity City 

From what it looked like on the first 90 degree day of the spring on the week before the “official start of summer” this Memorial Day weekend, the possible was achieved. For the fences that were supposed to deter people from going on the shore that were there for their safety were torn apart and beach combers made do with what little space on the sand there was.

The beachcomber rebellion was most glaringly apparent by B 91 street where the temporary summer shut down of the beach began. Two large stop signs were pried off and fencing was cut off to prevent access to the citizenry for their safety.

 Heading down the ramp towards the perilously eroded shore was a sight to behold as people made do and set up their places with what little sandy real estate they can find under the omnipresent cranes and some plows left behind for the continuing reconstruction of the shore to save the peninsula from being submerged.

Rockaway's long belated and selective resiliency concern

Impunity City 

 Climate change was somewhat kind to New York City this year compared to the devastation that continues to happen in other states and nations with tropical storms, hurricanes and tornadoes and the apocalyptic hell fires that are happening frequently in California;  although with the exception of the remnants of Hurricanes Henri and Ida causing record amounts of water vomiting from the sky which led to destruction and sad deaths of the city’s lower income citizens here. Mostly because of the record heat NYC has received this year, with the hottest July on record, this mild weather has also led to what will sure to be the warmest October in this city in 2021, which comes to mind the last time summer stuck around for another month in 2012 when the pleasant weather gave way to the kraken that was Hurricane Sandy a few days before Halloween.

 Sandy laid destruction and death of her own in a 24 hours across the coastal towns and areas and updated flood zones of the five boroughs, notably in Rockaway Beach where she destroyed the entire boardwalk 9 years ago. But with funding from FEMA,  it took a few years to build another boardwalk, this time with rebar and concrete to replace all the wood that was reduced to kindle and also billions of pounds of sand for dunes. This led to longer treks to find some real estate to lay your towels and coolers down on the beach, but at least it provided protection from the hostile waters of the Atlantic that has been rising and eroding the shores of the peninsula for years before that bitch Sandy arrived.

 And nigh a decade later, Rockaway Beach’s shore is in dire straits again. Most evident on the most conveniently accessed and popular beach area at Beach 98 st., the boardwalk entrance ramp to the sand is more fit for kayaking than a path for sunbathing.

 

There's a #ClimateCrisis issue going on at Rockaway Beach, where a boardwalk entrance to the sands is daily submerged by the ocean

And the dunes protecting the boardwalk and the streets have been totally destroyed

This isn't a beach, this is a pier pic.twitter.com/AioJqwuaxZ

— This is JQ LLC (@ImpunityCity) July 26, 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coastal erosion at Rockaway Beach has got menacingly worse

CBS New York

It’s not summer just yet, but one Queens community is fed up that nobody seems to be stepping-up to help in the year-round fight to save its beaches.

Residents say it’s been one broken promise after another to alleviate erosion on Rockaway Beach.
The Rodkin family were out for a winter walk along the concrete near the sand Friday afternoon. They’d have rather been strolling on the beach, but it’s been closed for months.
 
“Break’s my heart,” Alice Rodkin said. “My mom brought us here as kids. We can’t even enjoy our own beach.”
 
People who live nearby say the sand should be much higher than where it is, but rapid erosion means you’ll need to jump more than four feet to get from the boardwalk to the beach.

 Last spring, Cori said the erosion was “by far the worst” it had been. Fast forward to 2019, and the dunes are nearly half the size they were last April. He’s been fighting for the city and federal government to install barriers like jetties and rock groins to help protect the beaches as they’ve long promised they would.
 
“The Army Corps of Engineers said they’d be there in 2018 to tell us the plan,” Cori said. “Not even a word.”

 The federal agency says it’s working to make sure the area gets the most “effectively designed plan to reduce flood risk and combat erosion.” The city says its understanding is that should start late 2019.

This is a lot worse than what I saw last October in that same area.

 If only the city would heed it's own warnings from their lame art installation.

Update:

Here's a video of the ocean hitting the boardwalk entrance that reporter impressively jumped from.