Long Branch Boardwalk Not Likely To Be Rebuilt As It Was Prior To Sandy

Long Branch Boardwalk Not Likely To Be Rebuilt As It Was Prior To Sandy - Long Branch-Eatontown Patch, NJ Patch

(Excerpt)

"Our concern is that if we build it back in the condition it was in prior to the storm, we're inviting a disaster," Long Branch Business Administrator Howard Woolley said. "We're inviting it to be destroyed if and when there is another storm of this magnitude."

"The intelligent thing to do is to build it possibly at a higher level with a more secure method of construction, but we don't have all those details now," Woolley continued.

Much of the city's boardwalk south of Pier Village was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. The Pier Village portion of the boardwalk and the Promenade, which is made of concrete, survived mostly intact.

Coney Island Boardwalk Facelift Exempt From Enviro Review

Coney Island Boardwalk Facelift Exempt From Enviro Review - Law360


Law360, New York (December 14, 2012, 7:50 PM ET) -- A New York state judge has ruled that the reconstruction of part of the iconic Coney Island boardwalk is exempt from an environmental review, despite its plans to swap tropical hardwoods for plastic lumber and concrete, according to an opinion filed Wednesday.

Siding with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Judge Martin M. Solomon of the state Supreme Court ruled Dec. 10 that the project, which seeks to replace about 56,000 square feet of boardwalk, is not significant enough to require a review..

Lincoln students tag remnant of fallen tree

Lincoln High School students tagged what's left of a fallen tree that was impaled on the school fence.

Coney Island History Project Tries To Restore Memorabilia After Sandy

Coney Island History Project Tries To Restore Memorabilia After Sandy - NY1.com

(Excerpt)
"The force of the water was so surprising," he said. "It came in through a locked metal gate, through closed doors, burst in, toppled everything into the water. So to come back and see all of this equipment and all of our files and our records floating in water, it was unimaginable."

Alliance for Coney Island raises megabucks for local Sandy victims

Alliance for Coney Island raises megabucks for local Sandy victims

(Excerpt)
Nearly 400 people attended the Coney Island Winter Celebration at the chic Italian eatery, raising $44,000 for Coney Recovers, a fundraising arm the Alliance set up days after Sandy hit the seaside neighborhood to help organize volunteer and relief efforts. Officials said the total raised by Coney Recovers is now at more than $214,000.

Cumaru Decking Section of Coney Island Boardwalk Escapes Unscathed

Cumaru Decking: Coney Island Boardwalk (full blog post)

(Excerpt from MonteverdeDecking.com blog)


Mataverde Cumaru Decking escapes Hurricane Sandy unscathed. It has been noted recently in newspaper reports that the devastating effects Hurricane Sandy had on large areas of the Northeast including the New York and New Jersey coasts particularly, did not affect the areas of the Coney Island boardwalk that had been rebuilt and repaired recently uising the FSC Certified Mataverde Cumaru decking. The Cumaru section of the boardwalk shown in the photo above was installed with recycled plastic sleepers and FSC Certified 100% Pure Cumaru Decking. The Cumaru decking boards were securely attached with stainless steel decking screws for additional fastening strength and durability. This strong installation method helped the Cumaru decking in this section of the boardwalk to escape the brutal wrath and battering of the vicious storm.

Harold Feinstein's Coney Island State of Mind – A Retrospective

Harold Feinstein's Coney Island State of Mind – Forward.com

(Excerpt)

At age 81, the photographer Harold Feinstein is developing cataracts. But he’s been wearing glasses since he was a boy, and he scoffs at the idea of surgery.
“Imagine someone telling me I’ll see better,” he said with an impish grin beneath his flowing white beard. Feinstein is not one for false modesty. Early in his career, he may have suggested that his favorite photographer was Henri Cartier-Bresson, or the British master Bill Brandt. Yet for most of his life, he says, his favorite photographer has been Harold Feinstein.

And with good reason. Feinstein’s decades-long obsession with Brooklyn’s Coney Island, where he began taking pictures as a teen novice in the late 1940s, produced several images coveted by the museum curator Edward Steichen for his landmark exhibition “The Family of Man.” (Feinstein declined.) Feinstein went on to a long career as a beloved teacher, and in the past decade he has published several monographs featuring dazzling color studies of tulips, seashells, butterflies and other natural wonders.



Now the photographer’s work has been collected in “Harold Feinstein: A Retrospective” (Nazraeli Press), a long-overdue collection of 80 of his finest black-and-white photos, ranging from the rich pageantry of Coney Island at midcentury to Feinstein’s candid shots while serving in Korea for the U.S. Army and to his later nudes and landscapes.
Feinstein’s uncanny ability to capture a wide range of human emotions — bliss, defiance, melancholia — in the fleeting facial expressions of strangers on the subway or on the boardwalk marked him from a young age as a gifted shutterbug. Later in life, when he began to explore the female form, as so many of his predecessors had done, his gaze was unfailing.

Good News! Tom's Coney Island stays open on Boardwalk

Good news!  Tom's Coney Island plans to remain open for the winter as long as there are customers.  After Sandy Tom's is the only eatery on the boardwalk that is open during the week.  Some of the gift shops are open on the weekend but Nathan's is closed till the spring
There seems to be enough workers from the FEMA  Disaster Recovery Center at MCU field and the enhanced parks department staff to keep Tom's going throughout the season.

Hundreds Turn Up For “Raoul Wallenberg Way” in Borough Park

Raoul Wallenberg 1944

Hundreds Turn Up For “Raoul Wallenberg Way” Borough Park Co-Naming Ceremony | Bensonhurst News Blog


From the offices of Councilman David Greenfield:

More than 150 Borough Park residents, elected officials and ambassadors to Sweden and Hungary braved the rain yesterday afternoon on the first day of Chanukah to honor the legacy of great humanitarian Raoul Wallenberg at a street co-naming ceremony hosted by Councilman David G. Greenfield at the corner of 13th Avenue and 50th Street. As a result of yesterday’s ceremony, the entire stretch of 13th Avenue in Borough Park from 36th Street to 60th Street is now co-named “Raoul Wallenberg Way” in honor of the great World War II hero who helped save as many as 100,000 Hungarian Jews from certain death in Nazi concentration camps.

Yesterday’s ceremony was the culmination of a year-long effort to honor Raoul Wallenberg’s legacy on his 100th birthday and came after the City Council approved the street co-naming earlier this year. Borough Park is home to the largest population of Holocaust survivors in the United States, and many local families are descendants of individuals saved by Wallenberg, making 13th Avenue a fitting location for this historic event. As a result, future generations of Borough Park and Brooklyn residents will know of Raoul Wallenberg and his heroic actions on behalf of others during the Holocaust.

A closer look at boardwalk damage

 The further west you walk on the boardwalk the worse it gets.  It is surprising that the Parks Dept has not closed off these areas because of the significant hazards that exist.  It seems that weakened and shifted boards can give way at any time.  Keep alert if you walk here especially past West 20 street.
It is bruised and battered but we are fortunate that it was not swept away.

The concrete base for the pilings shifted in the storm twisting the deck.

The even and seamless boardwalk deck is dangerously compromised.

Rare view inside Child's Restaurant on Boardwalk built in 1924

Here is a rare view of the inside of Child's Restaurant on the Coney Island Boardwalk.  A group of workers opened up the entrances but wouldn't give any information on the purpose of their visit.  Child's Restaurant is a NYC Landmark.
Read Gothamist article in August 2012 on the exciting possibilities.

The Sea Of Sandy's Damaged Cars

Next Post-Sandy Challenge: The Sea Of Damaged Cars : NPR (full article)

(Excerpt)
There is a lot of work to do; Sandy damaged or destroyed close to quarter of a million vehicles. These cars must be accounted for, moved and disposed of.

Beach restoration proceeds carefully

Beach restoration has come a long way but broken and exposed boards create unsafe conditions.

 Many temporary workers have been hired by the Parks Department to clean the sand off the Boardwalk and remove debris that still littered the beach.  But equipment, such as bobcats, have not been visible on the Boardwalk to expedite the cleanup and I believe that more damage to the boardwalk may result if heavy equipment is sent onto an unstable deck.  All the labor is manual using shovels, brooms and wheelbarrows which is a slow process.

 I have been told that the boardwalk has structural weaknesses and it is easy to sense the uneven footing walking on many sections of the boardwalk.  Even areas on the beach itself hide pockets of instability in the sand that could affect heavier trucks.

Vintage photo: An early 1900s horse drawn ambulance

An early 1900s horse drawn ambulance with drivers and attendants at Coney Island Hospital

Twitter / NYCEMSwebsite: Vintage photo: An early 1900's ...

Why The Latest Delay To The Bike Share Program May Not Be The Last

Why The Latest Delay To The Bike Share Program May Not Be The Last | Transportation (Full article)

(Excerpt)
Much of the outcry about the delays with the eagerly awaited program has been due to a dearth of information about its progress coming from either DOT officials or the various companies involved in its stewardship.

City Housing Agency Was Overwhelmed After Storm

City Housing Agency Was Overwhelmed After Storm - NYTimes.com (full article)

(Excerpt)
An examination by The New York Times has found that while the agency moved aggressively before the storm to encourage residents to leave, particularly those who were disabled and the needy, both it and the city government at large were woefully unprepared to help its residents deal with Hurricane Sandy’s lingering aftermath.

#ConeyRecovers

#ConeyRecovers (select this link for more information on this item and other recovery efforts)

Immediate positions are available to support hurricane cleanup efforts and resident outreach in NYCHA developments. Recruitment event this Wednesday!
December 12, 2012
9:30am - 2:00pm
O’Dwyer Community Center
2945 West 33rd Street

Rough Ride for Arcades at Coney Island

Rough Ride for Arcades at Coney Island Park - WSJ.com

(Excerpt)
As Coney Island rebuilds after Sandy, the operators of its amusement parks face a specific challenge: to refurbish beloved but aniquated games. Park owners have to reach out to special tinkerers to repair fan favorites like Grandma"s Predictions.

Grandma now sits in a kind of intensive-care ward for century-old knickknacks in the Westchester County workshop of Bob Yorburg, 57, who specializes in carnival repair, and who recently revamped the carousel organ for the Big Apple Circus at Lincoln Center

Did The NYRR Go Back On Its Promise To Guarantee Marathon Entry For Canceled 2012 Runners?

Did The NYRR Go Back On Its Promise To Guarantee Marathon Entry For Canceled 2012 Runners?: Gothamist

Jessica Lehrman / Gothamist
One month after the New York Road Runners riled everybody up by blaming the media for the 2012 marathon's cancellation—you know, the one that was to be held less than a week after Sandy ravaged the city—it looks like they're at it again: it now seems it is completely unclear whether 2012's registered runners are guaranteed a slot in next year's race as promised.
When Mayor Bloomberg finally canceled the marathon one day before it was intended to be held, NYRR director Mary Wittenberg announced that runners signed up would be "guaranteed entry for the marathon, or, if they prefer, the New York City half." But according to the organization's Facebook page, runners registered for the 2012 marathon will receive an extra credit towards the requirements for guaranteed entry to the marathon. Those requirements are part of something called the 9+1 Program, which says NYRR-registered runners have to complete nine NYRR races and volunteer at one race in order to get a spot to the highly-competitive race without going through a lottery.
The extra credit helps bump up runners who were just shy of making 9+1 requirements, but as for getting a spot for all registered 2012 runners, many of whom paid as high as a $347 entrance fee, the NYRR says that "[d]ecisions related to any other issues or questions are still pending," so it seems like so much for that guarantee! And for the record, the organization still seems to be sticking by its no refund policy.
Unsurprisingly, many runners were frustrated with the organization's apparent turn-around, and the NYRR's Facebook page is flooded with comments and requests for clarification. "It's a little confusing to me that somehow, now, we're whistling a different tune," runner Mark Schneider told NBC News. "It's a bit of a blow. They need to be a little more responsible and consistent in their message to people."
Wittenberg's taken a lot of heat for her handling of the marathon cancellation, with many even calling for her resignation. The costs of the canceled marathon have been huge, and the NYRR is currently locked in battle with its insurance company over claims, which may explain why they've yet to reach a definitive answer on fees and guarantees. But the runners, including those who supported the cancellation, feel let down, and a commenter on the NYRR's Facebook page summed up the whole fiasco best: "The NYRR has changed from a wonderfully run grassroots organization into a cash cow. I miss my old running club, but it's gone and it is not coming back."