Though the city says the bike path is complete, bikers now ride on the Belt Parkway because the path is unusable.
In addition to the statements Congressman Anthony Weiner gave, there were two things worth noting on Plumb Beach yesterday, both of which indicate the city is ignoring problems in the area and creating a dangerous situation.
First is that the Parks Department has declared reconstruction work on the Plumb Beach bike path complete. However, any visitor would agree that it’s hardly the case.
On Monday, the city signed off on the contractor’s work to restore the crumbled bike path, which fell to the waters in November. They have removed the fencing and are now saying the path is open, according to Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo. However, they have not repaved the path, or put anything more than a bit of gravel (which has mostly been swept away) and packed down the sand.
On our visit yesterday, we watched about a dozen bikers hit the sand trap. Many got off their bikes and carried it the 300 feet to where pavement begins again.
Most bikers, though, took a far more dangerous route. They exited the greenway entirely at a break in the railing adjacent to where the destruction begins and rode their bike on the Belt Parkway. At times, bikers in different directions passed each other, forcing some into the path of oncoming cars. This is a dangerous situation for bikers and drivers alike.
The other thing of note is the current state of the beach before the storm. We wanted to get photos of the conditions before Earl so we can compare it after the storm. The findings themselves are hardly surprising, considering how much we harp on the inaction and lack of attention the issue is getting – Plumb Beach is a mess, and waters at high-tide readily flow over the minimal sandbags in place.
That, in light of the city saying work on the beach is done, is a catastrophic neglect.
With Hurricane Earl on its way the city should be adding more sandbags – and boulders – to break the waters and prevent it from reaching the thin strip of sand once called a bike path. Instead, as you can see in our photos below, the sandbags that are there are being pulled out to sea and provide little protection to the Belt Parkway.
Only a fool would call this an acceptable move. By declaring the work complete, the city has made clear it has no intention of restoring the area or protecting the bike path. They think – correctly, in all likelihood – that rebuilding a bike path would be wasteful, since it stands to be destroyed this hurricane season. True as that may be, shrugging off the problem and waiting for the destruction to reach the Belt Parkway is not an alternative.
Plumb Beach is our first protection for the most valuable infrastructural asset in Southern Brooklyn – and for the homes beyond it. For the city to sit by and watch the show of destruction highlights their wreckless disregard for the neighborhood’s residents and the malignant impotence of the city’s agencies.
Here are the photos showing the current conditions of the worst parts of Plumb Beach:
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