This weekend’s storms sparked by Hurricane Ida battered the Plumb Beach coastline, leaving a trail of destruction and providing fuel for a new wave of jurisdictional battles between NYC Parks Department and the U.S. National Parks Service.
The tale of devastation was drawn in the sand, as rubble from the bike path dotted the shore, carving lines to the water. Trees lay like fallen solders, their sides partially submerged and their roots reaching into the air. The water clawed sand out from under roots and rock, leaving everything without ground to stand on. In all, as the hurricane swept up the northeastern coast, it pushed back Plumb Beach’s protective break-line several feet, felling dozens of trees, and crumbling about 100 yards of the bike path.
Bikers, bird watchers, and dog walkers were forced to walk in the grass alongside the Belt Parkway on Monday, as NYC Parks Department finished putting up fencing and caution signs along the path, declaring portions of the beach closed for safety reasons.
We’ll be checking in with Parks Department and local leaders to see what Plumb Beach’s future holds. But we expect some quarreling over responsibility to emerge as city, state, and federal authorities figure out who should foot the bill, as parts of the area are maintained by the NYC Parks Department and other parts belong to the U.S. National Parks Service. Still, the damage may present an opportunity to shore up the beach and consider better protection for the already at-risk highway, currently threatened by erosion.
To see the extent of the damage, browse the gallery below:
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Community Board 15 received a call from the Parks Department and we were told the bike path is closed due to the amount of damage caused by the storm. Again the question, who is responsible for the much needed repairs. This bike path has been in disrepair for a few years. Minor patches have helped keep the path open but now the damage can not be fixed by a few patches. The entire shoreline must be reconstructed before the Belt Parkway starts showing similar signs of erosion.
This has happened before, and it will happen again. The question is whether there is any way of protecting the area before something happens.
I suppose it is more dramatic to talk about Hurricane Ida hitting NY rather than another nor’easter but the fact of the matter is that the storm that damaged Plumb Beach was a nor’easter and not a hurricane. According to NOAA, Ida ceased to exist as a tropical storm after it landed in Louisiana. This may only sound like a technical matter but NYC is much more likely to suffer from nor’easters than hurricanes, which as demonstrated, can be equally damaging. The fact that the hurricane season is ending and the nor’easter season is starting should give warning that nor’easters are just as damaging and, of course, can spawn blizzards.
I like blizzards.
I took a video at plumb beach and the concrete from the rest rooms is broken up on the beach.
I also went to reis where the water was up to the esplanade.
In rockaway some waves breached the cement walls on the south side actually onto the street.
The belt parkway will have to be elevated. It is the only long term answer.
And not long term enough.
Fighting mother nature (the monster we have made her) is a losing battle.
Why can’t home owners in these areas get flood insurance you ask?
And we bought Coney Island.
(ISLAND)
Plumb Beach was originally an island. Perhaps this is what happens when you close off the natural flow of water.
And yes, so was Coney Island.
While it wasn’t Hurricane Ida that actually hit us the Nor’easter WAS made up of the remains of the storm. It was the same low pressure system.
Oh, my goodness. This is a lot of damage. Those pictures really helped me understand what has happened. Please tell me that there will be immediate action taken at a high level of importance. This is very serious.
It’s happened before. It will be repaired. I just wish that there was a way to keep it from happening again.
There is but it’s very very expensive. The amount of money it would take to replenish the sand AND figure out a way to control the water level as naturally as possible would take hundreds of millions of dollars.
I don’t think thats going to happen till we hit another golden age in the area. Till then they are just gonna keep patching it up.
Arthur B- Nor-easters are usually triggered by low’s coming up from the gulf, hurricane or not, into particular condition on the east coast. Nor-easters are cold core systems as opposed to warm core tropical systems. Conditions were such that a nor’easter was going to develop and the energy from Ida did help it along. Bottom line is that nor-easters are storms in thier own right.
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