SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

The Parks Department planted approximately two dozen new trees along Emmons Avenue west of Ocean Avenue this week, as the city moves to complete the final phase of a decade-long rehabilitation of the waterfront.

The $460,000 project, funded by Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, will continue throughout the spring. On the checklist for beautification are:

• repaired sidewalks
• covered trash bins
• new trees, with granite block pavement in enlarged tree pits
• new curb cuts
• fresh paint on the Bay’s railing
• blue concrete and matching artistic design elements previously installed near the piers, from Ocean Avenue to East 27th Street
• 1964 World’s Fair-style benches

When construction is finished, the Emmons Avenue street-scape will have seen a complete overhaul over the last decade. Repairs began in 2003, when the city installed new antique-style lights along Emmons Avenue and Shore Boulevard. In 2006, the city completed a similar renovation to the current one, from Ocean Avenue to East 27th Street, adding new benches, sidewalk designs, tree pits and more.

Cymbrowitz, in a press release, said that the improvements will help the community continue to recover from Superstorm Sandy.

“Beautifying Emmons Avenue is part of the larger mechanism of long-term recovery,” Cymbrowitz said. “Trees represent new life. They’re meant to last, and so is Sheepshead Bay.”

Who left their ugly RV on the beach?

We’ve received a lot of e-mails these last few days about what’s going on at Brigham Street, south of Emmons Avenue. The stretch of street that abuts the waterway was been closed off by police, and cranes, barges and construction equipment have taken up the space since Monday.

No, it ain’t the beginning of Brigham Street Park. You’ll have to wait a few more years for that one.

The answer lies in a post we did a few days ago where we updated about the new Brighton Beach and Coney Island bathrooms. In it, we also included the schedule of street closures that goes along with it. Among the closures:

Brigham Street South of Emmons Avenue from midnight Monday, May 6, to 6 a.m. Friday, May 10.

That’s because the new stations arrive in one piece. That’s right – huge, truck-sized structures – barreling through New York City’s streets. That, understandably, didn’t seem like such a good idea to local planners. So, instead, the structures arrive by barge, are lifted off it by a crane, placed onto a truck, taken to their location, lifted off the truck by a crane, and installed on the concrete piles already installed – much to the chagrin of local residents.

Brigham Street appears to be the area planners identified as the best, most accomodating option to make that first move from barge to truck. So that’s what all the commotion is about.

Oh, and the bathrooms have arrived. The one at the top of this post was placed on Brighton Beach this morning, and photographed by reader Ira Rubinsky. Nope, that’s not an abandoned RV on the beach…

Here’s the view of the crane at Brigham, as seen from the Breakers:

Photo by Albert

Source: NYC Dept Parks and Recreation NYC Dept Parks and Recreation

The planned $2 million futuristic steel bathroom stations set for the beaches of Southern Brooklyn have been delayed. The New York Daily News is reporting that the new bathrooms, which faced a torrent of criticism from residents of the Oceana condominiums (50 Oceana Drive West) will be put on hold until further notice.

When asked about exactly when the new bathrooms will be arriving, Arthur Pincus, a spokesman for the Parks Department, told the Daily News that, “I do not have a tentative new date.”

This begs the question as to why the bathrooms, which feature modern amenities and were designed to handle extreme weather, are being delayed. Did the Parks Department bend to the will of the angry protests from Oceana residents who didn’t want their luxury ocean views spoiled by the 12 foot high facilities? Right now, no one knows for sure because the Parks Department refused to elaborate on the delay.

Activists were displeased when the Parks Department decided to replace the wooden boardwalk on Coney Island with a cement and plastic one. Now, six months after Superstorm Sandy battered our shores, the New York Post is reporting that residents and business owners are complaining that sand is accumulating on the new boardwalk.

The barrage of sand upon the historic promenade has been so terrible that the city has been forced to assign extra workers to keep shoveling it back on to the beach. Boardwalk preservationists are blaming the new cement base for all the extra sand.

“With cement, there’s nowhere for the sand to fall through. There’s no doubt the new surfaces are causing the sand to pile up like never before…This is what you get when the city decides to make changes without doing a proper environmental review,” Todd Dobrin, president of the Friends of the Boardwalk and a candidate for City Councilman Domenic Recchia’s seat in the 47th District, told the Post.

Residents, including Maureen Masterson, 32, were also angry. While trying to maneuver her two-year-old daughter’s stroller through obstructive piles of sand, the Bensonhurst mother expressed negativity over the situation.

“This is horrible. It’s like Sandy never left,” Masterson told the Post.

The encroaching sand isn’t just bad for people trying to walk on the boardwalk. As sand accumulates, it starts blowing in people’s faces, which the city has been vigorously trying to prevent by wetting the sand down.

Local business owner Dennis Vourderis, co-owner of Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park, told the Post that the sand has never been worse. It is “even piling up in the amusement district — which still maintains a wooden boardwalk,” he said, blaming the extra sand on Sandy “pushing it closer to the boardwalk and making it ‘finer’ so it blows more freely.”

“This is the worst we’ve seen it,” said Vourderis, who recently put up netting outside Deno’s to block sand from damaging his rides’ motor systems. “We have to shovel all week just to be ready for the weekend.”

For its part, the Parks Department is blaming Mother Nature and isn’t accepting the idea that the new boardwalk has anything to do with all the extra sand.

“Sand will accumulate on a boardwalk without regard to the decking or the foundation,” the Post reported Parks Department spokeswoman Meghan Lalor as saying.

Source: Igor Khodzinskiy via Daily News

As the city rushes to repair the beach and boardwalk after Superstorm Sandy in time for Memorial Day, Brighton Beach and Coney Island residents are getting fired up over late night construction, and now they’re planning a protest.

The city is making repairs to the boardwalk and beach, as well as improvements like three new public restrooms and lifeguard stations. But residents say that work, including thunderous pile driving, is being done as late as 3:00 a.m.

Daily News reports:

“It’s this constant banging deep into the ground. It’s like a boom sound,” said Marian Rosenfarb, 79, who lives a block away from the beach. “With this noise I don’t know if I’ll reach 80.”

Rosenfarb says the vibrations from the construction causes her building to shake. the noise is impossible to drown out, she added.

… Three new buildings are being constructed along the boardwalk, at West 2nd St, Brighton 2nd St. and New Brighton St.

The modern modular structures – which are also being added in Queens and Staten Island – will replace old lifeguard stations and public bathrooms that were destroyed during Hurricane Sandy.

All three stations will be wheel chair accessible, designed with green features like solar power and skylights, and constructed above flood levels.

Pile driving into the sand is expected to last until next week and the new structures should be completed by the start of beach season.

“Work is going on 24 hours a day in order to finish the project as quickly as possible,” said spokeswoman Meghan Lalor.

“While we acknowledge that this may present an inconvenience, we ask for the community’s patience while this important restoration work is being done.”

Residents, though, are not happy with mere acknowledgement. They want the city to cut out the late night work, and the noise it generates.

Neighbors in the Oceana condominium complex (50 Oceana Drive West) are organizing a rally this Sunday, April 7, at noon on the boardwalk at Coney Island Avenue. The rally isn’t just against the construction; the residents of the posh complex are hoping to kill plans to install a new public bathroom in what they claim is their yard.

“No one ever gave a thought that there is no need to build yet another filthy anti-sanitary condition in our front yards. In the past this bathroom attracted many strangers and caused much destruction to the neighborhood,” resident Ella Rabinovich wrote to Sheepshead Bites.

Residents have also organized a petition, which they’ve sent to the Parks Department. Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz also sent a letter to the Parks Department in opposition to placing the bathrooms by Oceana.

Source: h-bomb via Flickr

Earlier this month we reported on plans by the Parks Department and the National Parks Service (NPS) to introduce more tourist-friendly elements to Jamaica Bay, like bike rentals and food concessions. Now it looks like the Parks Department and the NPS have announced three Requests for Proposals (RFPs) that further detail their plans to attract more visitors via a press release.

The leaders behind this effort cited the success that the Rockaway Beach Club has experienced since their introduction of diverse food carts and offerings.

“We are excited about this opportunity to partner with the City to expand visitor services at our beaches through the wonderful food found in New York City’s mobile food trucks,” said Linda Canzanelli, Superintendent of Gateway National Recreation Area. “Expanded opportunities for biking, canoeing and kayaking are great ways to help everyone experience America’s great outdoors and the wonders to be found around Jamaica Bay.”

The Parks Department and the NPS are seeking food vendors for “a one year term, with three, one year renewal options – exercisable at NYC Parks’ and the concessionaires’ mutual discretion.”

If you have a food truck business and would like to get on the ground floor of the emerging Jamaica Bay tourist scene, the Parks Department and the NPS are accepting proposals to their RFPs right now. Here are the details from the press release.

All proposals submitted in response to these RFPs must be submitted no later than Monday, April 8, 2013 at 3:00 pm. There will be a recommended proposer meeting and site tour on Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at 10:00 am. Meetings begin in the multipurpose room (to the right of the lobby and down the hall) of Gateway National Recreation Area’s Ryan Visitor Center at Floyd Bennett Field, which is located at Aviation Road and Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn.

Hard copies of the RFPs can be obtained, at no cost, through Monday, April 8, 2013 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., excluding weekends and holidays, at the Revenue Division of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, which is located at 830 Fifth Avenue, Room 407, New York, NY 10065.

The RFPs are also available for download through Monday, April 8, 2013 on the Parks Department website. To download the RFP, visit http://www.nyc.gov/parks/businessopportunities and click on the “Concessions Opportunities at Parks” link. Once you have logged in, click on the “download” link that appears adjacent to the RFP’s description.

For more information or to request to receive a copy of the RFP by mail, prospective proposers may contact Lauren Standke from the Revenue Division of Parks at (212) 360-3495 or at lauren.standke@parks.nyc.gov.

It’s here, it’s here, it’s finally here!

After a decade of construction, numerous stumbles and some lessons learned about environmental infrastructure, the Carmine Carro Community Center is now open to the public. Elected officials and the Carro family snipped the ribbon Friday morning, and park officials gave tours of the facility throughout the afternoon.

“The jewel of this community, Marine Park, now has its crown,” declared Charles D’Alessandro, Carmine Carro’s son-in-law who spoke on behalf of the family.

With a few friendly jibes about the long delays, D’Alessandro and the numerous elected officials who spoke at the ribbon cutting ceremony lauded the Parks Department for completing the first city building certified as LEED – an ambitious environmental standard.

Continue Reading »

Photo Courtesy Of Jeremy Drakeford

Officials from the Parks Department and the National Parks Service are collaborating on plans to bring food concession stands, and bike and kayak rentals to Jamaica Bay, according to a report by the New York Daily News.

Officials hope that an expansion of services in the region will go hand-in-hand with the restoration of the bay.

“We’re excited about the future plans for Jamaica Bay,” Dan Mundy Jr. of Jamaica Bay Eco-Watchers told the Daily News. “People will have greater access to the bay and we will also be able to keep up with restoration programs.”

Dan Hendrick, who is making a documentary called Jamaica Bay Lives, told the Daily News that increased tourism friendly activities around the bay will have a positive impact on the community that lives near the bay.

But Hendrick said many area residents have a “disconnect” with the bay because they consider it polluted. He hopes by opening it up to different kinds of recreation — such as camping in areas such as Floyd Bennett Field — they will develop a connection.

While its nice that the Parks Department and the National Parks Service want to create a more tourist friendly Jamaica Bay, there is also a mixed message being sent as the industrialization of Floyd Bennett Field continues with the development of the Jamaica Bay pipeline project.

Despite this, officials are excited about transforming Jamaica Bay into a hotter tourist destination, hoping that added amenities will spark a resurgence of interest.

Source: 10000birds.com

If you are unemployed, between the ages of 18 and 24, and looking for a good paying job, than this may be the opportunity for you. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation is hiring 200 people to help with the “clean-up, restoration, and reconstruction of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge,” according to a post on Workforce1. The job is full-time and will pay employees $11 per hour.

It is preferred that the candidates live near the Jamaica Bay area but all applicants from NYC will be considered.

No formal education is required. These are the tasks the website stated would be preformed by workers:

• Working with NYCParks’ Natural Resources Group (NRG) and Natural Area Volunteers (NAV) to restore natural areas, woodlands, wetlands, and parkland in and around the Jamaica Bay Area
• Removal of tree debris, tree care, and potential new tree planting
• Trail creation and restoration
• Removal of wood, metals, docks, concrete, housing, boats, and other inorganic floatables from the sand areas inJamaicaBaypark
• Community outreach and educational efforts including needs surveys, customer satisfaction assessments, and interventions for residents of surrounding areas

All applications must be submitted today!

To apply fill out the form here.

Thanks to Councilman Lew Fidler’s office for tipping us off to this.

Source: Alcmaeonid via Wikimedia Commons

Coney Island’s wooden boardwalk may have seen its last summer. A court decision last week puts the Parks Department one step closer to tearing out the iconic stretch of old-world wooden charm and replace it with the plastic and concrete slabs of progress.

Judge Martin Solomon ruled that the Parks Department may move forward without an environmental review of the effects of plastic and concrete versus wood – a study that opponents were sure would have shown the new materials’ shortcomings and halted the project.

“We are pleased the judge found that the Parks Department complied with the law, thus allowing this project to proceed,” said Katie Kendall of the New York City Law Department, in a statement to the New York Post.

As we’ve previously covered, opponents have charged that replacing the wood would not only ruin the boardwalk’s historic character, but create environmental concerns such as accelerating erosion of the beach. Leading the charge against the boardwalk is Todd Dobrin, president of Friends of the Coney Island Boardwalk, and Rob Burstein, president of the Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance. They published editorials in the New York Daily News that warned of the safety risks of crack forming and heat storing concrete and pushed petitions that over 2,500 people signed.

“We are disappointed in the decision … A moratorium on construction of concrete and plastic boardwalk sections is urgently needed for the safety of the community,” the Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance said in a statement published by the Post.