A Little Too Sandy
By Katie McFadden
The wooden boardwalk would never. Yes, living by the beach comes with the expectation of sand being pretty much everywhere. But this summer, Rockaway is starting to face a new issue as the sand is becoming more intrusive. With the construction of the new reinforced dune along the beach, bringing replenished sand to concrete boardwalk level, southern winds have brought the sand from the beach to boardwalk access ramps, into bike lanes and all across the boardwalk.
Boardwalk sand posts have become the new dog poop complaint on local Facebook groups like Friends of Rockaway Beach. Just about every other day, regular walkers, bike riders and beachgoers are sharing photos of sand-covered ramps and bike lanes, often met with sarcastic responses, as one local said, “Sand? At the beach?! I’m shocked, I tell you, shocked!”
Others point out how this wasn’t previously an issue with the wooden boardwalk, that provided slats for sand to fall through prior to it being destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. When the new boardwalk was built and completed in 2017, the days of the boards were gone, and Rockaway was left with a solid concrete promenade. Another new aspect brought to us by Sandy, as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plan, the construction of new reinforced dunes to prevent Sandy-like flooding by the ocean in the future, which began in late 2022, has left sand at the same height as the new boardwalk in many areas.
Many overlook the severity of this new phenomenon of several inches of sand blowing off the beach and on to the boardwalk and ramps. Some have responded with stories of wiping out off their bikes or toddlers falling off of scooters, when met with an unexpected sand pile on the boardwalk. For others who have mobility issues, or no choice but to be on wheels, the boardwalk and ramp sand has presented an extra level of difficulty to their everyday lives, when they simply want to enjoy a beach day or a stroll on the boardwalk.
As one such resident points out, Bridget O’Connor, who now lives as an amputee after an incident in 2019, and often utilizes a mobility scooter, “The sand on the concrete boardwalk is dangerous. The people who designed this new concrete walk and who did the sand replenishment should have thought of where the sand would be able to go if the wind moved the sand to the concrete. We need our boardwalk back.” O’Connor added that she has had some close calls with her scooter meeting the sand. “The sand has nowhere to go, Parks Dept. is short staffed, and it is dangerous for bike riders, for all of the people who use it to walk their dogs, go for a run, kids playing, and for people like me, who are disabled. I almost fell on my scooter trying to get over a pile of sand last week. The crowds of people walking and biking are allowed to be there, and so is anyone who wants to use it. There should have been a plan to deal with this unfortunate result of all the reconstruction after Sandy.”
For others, the intrusive sand brings back bad memories of the days and weeks after Hurricane Sandy. For those in the Rockaway Park area, who have homes that are close to the boardwalk, concerns are growing about the sand entering their properties and cars. “This particularly concerns me considering how close my house is to the boardwalk. This design is obviously flawed. But did they consider how close houses are uptown to the boardwalk? At least where there is Shore Front Parkway, they have distance between the boardwalk and the houses,” Maribeth Wheeler Finegan, who lives in the Beach 120s said. “After Sandy, when we did not have a boardwalk, my house and car got completely overwhelmed with sand. When I would get in my car and turn on the air conditioner, I would get pelted with sand in my face. There was sand in every crack of the car and every crack of the house. I know that is what is going to happen again.” For Wheeler Finegan, the new reinforced dunes are only just beginning to be built in her area, but she says her fears are starting to come true. “We did start to get sand last week. We came home from Las Vegas on Saturday and there was sand everywhere,” she said.
Others say it has become more intrusive, even along Shore Front Parkway, making its way past the boardwalk and into the many new parks and playgrounds, as NYC Parks staff attempt to keep up with the sand demand. “One Parks person was using a walkable blower two weeks ago, which threw sand into the exercise park,” one local said in a post on Friends of Rockaway Beach.
While it may be obvious that sand comes with the beach life, the obvious issues that have arisen in a post-Sandy Rockaway, are creating more and more problems. For Councilwoman Joann Ariola, it’s an issue that she’s reminded of daily as she’s tagged in each social media post regarding the sand, and regularly follows up by notifying the NYC Park Department. “Who builds a dune higher than the boardwalk, and expects everything to just be ok?” asked Councilwoman Ariola. “This is emblematic of the entire project here – short-sightedness that ends up causing our residents and visitors headaches with very little real benefit.”
NYC Parks attributes the issue to the new reinforced dune. “Recent sand replenishment and the reinforced dune construction underway at Rockaway Beach created a higher dune profile in order to provide enhanced storm protection,” a Parks spokesperson said. However, they’re hoping conditions improve when the dune project is finished. “As sections of the dune are completed, jute mesh, native plantings, and wood dune fence are being installed. As vegetation grows on the dunes more sand will be trapped, minimizing the amount seen on the boardwalk blown from southernly wind.”
In the meantime, NYC Parks has a dedicated task force to address the boardwalk and ramp sand piles. “Parks is assigning staff on a daily basis to clean the boardwalk with bobcats, blowers, brushes, shovels and brooms,” the spokesperson said. They advise anyone to contact 311 to report concerns with any Parks property. Councilwoman Ariola also advises residents to contact her office to report such issues at 718-318-6411.
Photos by Suzanne Campbell O’Rahilly and Maribeth Wheeler Finegan.
