Ariola Calls for a New Administrator for Rockaway’s Parks and Beach
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By Katie McFadden
“I think Rockaway deserves better than Eric Peterson,” Councilwoman Joann Ariola said of NYC Parks’ Rockaway Administrator. As summer nears its end and Ariola, civic members and local residents have seen the diminishing quality to Rockaway’s beach and parks, Ariola reached out to The Rockaway Times to address concerns and suggested that it’s time that NYC Parks brings in a new administrator.
After former Rockaway Administrator Portia Dyrenforth took on a new position in September 2018 and a long search, Eric Peterson, a Yale graduate from Brooklyn, was named Rockaway’s Administrator in March 2019, bringing with him 20 years of experience in various roles at the NYC Parks Department, and taking on the tough role of overseeing Rockaway’s seven-miles of beaches, its boardwalk and the city’s many parks and playgrounds on the peninsula and in Broad Channel.
However, after more than a year of receiving complaints from constituents about various issues concerning Rockaway’s parks and beaches from complaints about garbage, to overgrown grass, sand on the boardwalk, an amphitheater where some guests abuse permit privileges with louder than permitted sound, and more, all things overseen by Peterson, Ariola is suggesting that it may be time for him to move on. “Sometimes a person has really reached a point in their position where they get burned out or they lose interest in what they’re doing and that’s when a person should go on to something else,” Ariola said.
The suggestion comes after Ariola’s office has repeatedly been contacted or tagged in social media posts about various issues regarding the beach and boardwalk. Ariola says that Peterson has a reactive approach and only seems to take action after her office contacts him and puts pressure on. “Anything that gets done is only subsequent to a call from our office and complaints received. It has never been worse than it has been this summer. This summer has been atrocious. He didn’t do any premaintenance to any of the mobimats, especially in Belle Harbor and Neponsit, most of the ADA compliance ramps have over seven inches of sand on them, and again, were not cleaned unless I physically went out there and stood there and waited for crews to come, especially on Beach 94th Street. People deserve better than reactive work, I’ve gotten nothing but pushback, lip service, arrogance and flippant remarks from Eric and none of the work is getting done,” Ariola said.
A recent email to The Rockaway Times from Fred Rodriguez, a local resident who utilizes the Rockaway Freeway Dog Park, seemed to reiterate Peterson’s habit of responding to things reactively. “For weeks now, the dog park has been overrun by mosquitoes, posing a significant health risk to both dogs and humans alike. The infestation has escalated to the point where the park is nearly unusable, and we believe this crisis is directly tied to the poor maintenance practices of the NYC Parks Department,” Rodriguez said. “After escalating the issue to our local councilwoman, Selvena Powers-Brooks, the Parks Administrator has finally scheduled the grass to be cut tomorrow, August 16. The community is now calling for the resignation of the Rockaway Parks Department Administrator due to their continued neglect and disregard for public safety.” Rodriguez included a paper trail of emails dating back to June 5, warning Parks of the dog park issues.
These complaints also come after Ariola has held or attended meetings, where issues with the beach and parks have been discussed, with the most recent hot topic being the aggressive use of the new Beach 94th Street amphitheater, which opened before summer 2023. “Ahead of the summer, the Community Board had a meeting with Eric Peterson where he brought a list of permits they gave and CB14 went over it, and they had their own list of bad actors from the previous seasons, so they had a conversation about how they could give permits going forward, and then they never heard from Eric again and he continued to approve permits without any notification to civic associations, Community Board or our office. Some of the guests here were in serious violations of their permits. Some have been putting up blow up structures that needed a generator, where you’re not allowed to have a generator on site, and they’re using additional structures like speakers with the wrong voltage, so they brought in generators to power these enormous speakers, and people who live on Beach 94, 95, 96, their houses began to literally shake and they can feel it in their entire bodies. Our phone began to ring as these events have been happening day and night. I had a conservation with Jackie Langsam, Queens Borough Commissioner for Parks, and we found that permits were given for four hours but by 11 p.m., the music was still going and no personnel from Parks was going to check to see that they stopped playing. It’s so unfair to the people that live there and something that was supposed to be enjoyable, has become such a nightmare for them in the summer.”
As a result, Ariola recently held a meeting with Langsam, Iris Rodriguez-Rosa, First Deputy Commissioner for NYC Parks and the Rockaway Beach Civic Association. “Everyone really confirmed what I had been sharing with them, and we took a vote of no confidence for Eric Peterson and strongly recommended to the commissioner that he be let go or reassigned because he did not have any real compassion for the people who were having their lives intruded upon by this music,” Ariola said.
At the last 100th Precinct Council meeting on July 31, Ariola says Parks Enforcement Patrol officers were asked to speak and many issues came up. “Previously we had a conversation with Eric and said to him, ‘if PEP is going down the beach and they see garbage or someone spending the night or music that’s too loud, what do they do?’ He said they only take care of their task. They can witness something else, but they can’t address it. So we brought the same question to PEP and one of the officers said the only thing standing between them and doing their job was Eric Peterson. They felt they had no support from Eric when it came to shutting down a permitted vendor in violation of a permit. Eric has said out loud at an event going on after hours, ‘What’s wrong? Relax and enjoy the music.’ His arrogance has gotten the best of him, and he’s lost his ability to maintain and supervise the people who work for him.”
John Cori, who sits on the Parks Committee for Community Board 14 and was at the Rockaway Beach Civic meeting, says he’s been sounding the alarm on Eric Peterson since the winter. Cori regularly shares video and photos of the conditions of Rockaway’s park areas, showing garbage and overgrowth in parks, and videos he’s taken blocks away, demonstrating how loud the sound can be from the amphitheater. “I had asked the Community Board to have a letter written, with unanimous approval, to the Parks Commissioner, reminding Eric that he works for Rockaway and needs to respect our wishes and listen to the ideas of the community and that was last winter,” Cori said. “I send emails once or twice a week since he’s been here and they fall on deaf ears, so when I raise holy hell at a meeting and call him out, he says he didn’t know about it. Eric’s a liar and talks through his butt.”
All of these allegations come after a story in the July 19 issue of The Wave newspaper, detailing an accident Peterson allegedly had with two bicyclists on July 11. “Rockaway Parks Administrator Eric Peterson was traveling eastbound on Shore Front Parkway in a Parks-owned electric utility cart on Thursday, July 11, shortly before 11:30 a.m., when he collided with two male bicyclists traveling westbound in the bike lane on Beach 84th Street,” the article read. The two bicyclists ages 60 and 61, were transported to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore with minor injuries.
The Rockaway Times reached out to NYC Parks with details of all of these accusations, asking for response. The only issue they addressed was the amphitheater, saying, “Working with the community is core to NYC Parks’ mission. In Rockaway, we regularly meet with the local community board, civic association, and elected officials to foster constructive dialogue and ensure equitable access to the amenities in our parks. We are aware of noise complaints around the new amphitheater at B 94th Street and are working on solutions which will allow us to closely monitor activities at this space while still providing the cultural events that this space was intended to host.” Since that RB Civic meeting, PEP officers have been seen on site at the amphitheater to make sure sound is not being amplified beyond what is permitted.
Rockaway has seen many additional challenges in recent years that were not a factor when Peterson first took office in 2019, that have made overseeing the peninsula, a more complicated job. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ construction of the reinforced dune only began in 2022, a project that has created larger issues with the new dunes being built to the same level of the boardwalk, making it easier for sand to blow on to the now concrete promenade. Several new parks have also opened in recent years. In 2023 alone, six new playgrounds and Parks facilities have opened, many along Shore Front Parkway. Parks has also been faced with new challenges such as a major lifeguard shortage, resulting in beach closures beyond the Army Corps construction areas. Additionally, NYC Parks has faced steep budget cuts in recent years. For instance, in their Fiscal Year 2025 budget, the City reduced NYC Parks’ budget by $37 million from the current budget. NYC Parks’ budget only makes up 1% of the city’s total budget.
Despite these new challenges, Ariola says Peterson has an expectation to rise above them. “He is not managing. As manager, he has to learn to do the best with what he has and get the job done, even with cuts. You have to prepare for things, and he still had to get the job done. There were cuts across the board in the budget. He might defer to cuts, but what it comes down to is, you’re not doing your job,” Ariola said. “I also work with Portia in Forest Park and Joe Mauro in Howard Beach, and we don’t see these issues. Portia takes care of things and is proactive and I expect the same from Eric and we’re just not getting it. I’m hoping that Eric is reassigned and we’re able to work with someone that would like to do the best for the Rockaway peninsula.”
