Local pols break ground on Coney Island resiliency project

Some Coney Island residents were treated to more than just dinner and a movie this Valentine’s Day.

Instead, elected officials stood on the sands of Seagate on Saturday, February 14 and broke ground on a multi-million-dollar project they say will greatly protect the coastal community’s shoreline.

Part of the city’s comprehensive citywide resiliency plan, the $35 million Coney Island beach project will see the construction of a series of T-groin rock jetties west of West 37^th Street, and will also include dredging sand from the Rockaway inlet for use as beach fill.

Officials say the project will prevent further erosion, a problem that has plagued the shoreline since 1992, and has only worsened in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.

“I am proud to finally break ground on this long-awaited and much-needed Army Corps project in Coney Island, which will replenish and repair this treasured beachfront area,” said Senator Charles Schumer who, with the help of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressmembers Jerrold Nadler and Hakeem Jeffries, secured $25 million in federal funding for the project in the Superstorm Sandy Supplemental bill. “We have the federal dollars, we have the plans and now, we will finally have the protection project.”

The venture is the first Project Partnership Agreement approved by the Army Corps for a Sandy recovery project in New York.

“On behalf of the residents of Sea Gate, I am excited and relieved that this project is moving forward,” said Councilmember Mark Treyger who joined Assemblymember Alec Brook-Krasny, New York City Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency Daniel Zarrilli, and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joseph Martens in celebrating what he called a “vital” piece of the ongoing recovery. “This will greatly improve the peninsula’s ability to withstand future storms and minimize the impact on nearby homes.”

Brook-Krasny agreed.

“Recovering is only half of the effort needed to restore our homes and businesses; we must also place an emphasis on preparedness, so that we are equipped to deal with such events in the future,” he said.

The project is expected to be completed by summer, 2016.

Updated at 4:00 p.m. to include corrected information about the project’s specifics.