Repairs Begin On Sandy-Damaged Seawall

Almost four months after Superstorm Sandy, the city will soon kick off repairs to the 2.5-mile Shore Parkway promenade, where waves battered sections of the seawall into rubble.

The Department of Parks and Recreation awarded a nearly $2 million contract to a Queens firm for repairs to the Shore Parkway Greenway – the seawall, bike path and pedestrian path that line the Belt Parkway from Ceasar’s Bay to Bay Ridge – according to a report on NY1. The repairs will include fixing seawall caps, pavement, benches and debris removal.

“We’re putting up a construction fence to allow the public basically a six-foot area to walk through, which is going to be covered with temporary asphalt and make it a lot safer for them,” project manager Bill Simpson told NY1. “They won’t be exposed to falling into the ocean over here, or they won’t be subject to trip hazards.”

In October, Superstorm Standy ripped open the bulkhead walls at about 10 locations, crumbling pavement and flooding the Belt Parkway. But leaders say more long-term fixes are necessary, as Sandy was only the latest storm to cause a problem for parkway commuters and the path’s cyclists and joggers.

“What we’re seeing now after every storm, we’re getting significant damage here, and the Belt Parkway is flooding out,” said Marnee Elias-Pavia, district manager of Community Board 11. “And basically, emergency services can’t use that area.”

It’s been nearly four months since the storm, but State Senator Marty Golden began calling for repairs almost immediately after Sandy’s waters receded. He sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers in November, and Congressman Michael Grim followed shortly after, with a letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor Andrew Cuomo. In January, it was finally announced that the project would be put out to bid, and repairs would begin in February.

The repairs are expected to be completed by Memorial Day weekend.