Parks Dept To Remove Ugly Brighton Beach Pilings In Time For Summer

The Parks Department will begin this week removing ugly pilings left over from a failed effort to build an elevated comfort station in Brighton Beach, Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz’s office announced.

The pilings are the vestiges of a fruitless attempt by the city to replace a set of bathrooms destroyed by Superstorm Sandy with a 20-foot high comfort station. Residents in the Oceana condominiums, with support from elected officials, led a two year battle against the project — eventually convincing the city to move the structure further west on the boardwalk.

The Parks Department will begin removing the pilings this week. The work will be done during the day and is expected to take a week to complete, according to Cymbrowitz’s office.

“Many thanks to Mayor de Blasio and the Parks Department for fulfilling their promise to remove these pilings in time for the upcoming beach season and returning Brighton Beach to the people of our community,” Cymbrowitz said in a press release. “This is a welcome announcement and one that we’ve all looked forward to for a long time.”

After Superstorm Sandy obliterated almost all of the Riegelmann Boardwalk’s bathrooms, the city moved forward with a plan to replace them with elevated comfort stations, which sort of look like RVs on stilts. However, the effort in Brighton Beach ran aground when residents in the Oceana condominiums pushed back against the proposal, arguing they would be a magnate for vagrants and obstruct their view of the ocean.

The project was halted when residents filed a lawsuit that forced the city to conduct and environmental impact statement for the Brighton facilities. Eventually, after continued pushback from locals and pressure from elected officials, the city opted to move the comfort station 250 feet west to Coney Island Avenue and the Boardwalk.

“From the beginning, the project created ill will and controversy, and there were valid reasons for that,” Cymbrowitz said. “The project was started in secrecy under the previous administration, no input was solicited from the people it affected, and machinery hit bedrock the moment construction started due to the lack of an initial environmental review.”

Although the city agreed to move the comfort station, it left behind the pilings — an unsightly reminder of the despised project. State Senator Diane Savino, who also opposed the original location, said the removal of the pilings is a win for the community.

“This is welcome news for Brighton Beach and a victory for the surrounding community,” said Senator Savino. “With the summer season quickly approaching, removing these pilings will make sure that the views will be beautiful and the area will be safe for all the families and seniors who use our beaches.”