Addabbo calls for action now at Rockaway Beach opening

On Friday, May 25, State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. participated in the opening of the beach season for the Rockaways during a ceremony with members of the NYC Parks Department, other elected officials, and the community.

Although it should have been a day of celebration, it was marred by the city’s recent decision to not open an 11-block stretch of the Rockaway beaches — from Beach 91st Street to Beach 102nd Street — because of a public safety hazard due to beach erosion.

Residents of the Rockaways and advocates for having the beaches remain open came out to the ceremony and were very vocal about how these closures, which will affect not only the residents and visitors of the Rockaways, but the local businesses that depend on the summer season. Many carried signs demanding that the proper steps be made to open the closed portion of the beaches.

“At Friday’s opening of the beach season in Rockaway, the message was made loud a clear, that the people deserve to have all beaches open and we need sand replenishment now,” Addabbo said. “I would like to thank the advocates who showed up at the ceremony. I appreciate the NYC Parks Department Commissioner Mitchell Silver’s commitment to work towards urging the US Army Corp on Engineers to provide the sand needed to open the beaches for this summer season, not in 2019 or 2020. It’s unacceptable that the first beach a person sees as they enter Rockaway from the bridge at Beach 94^th Street is closed.”