Rockaway Beach and Boardwalk

ELEVEN-BLOCK SECTION OF ROCKAWAY BEACH WILL BE CLOSED THIS SUMMER, DUE TO SAFETY CONCERNS

4.5 Miles of Rockaway Beach will remain open for swimming and recreation

NYC Parks has announced that Rockaway Beach will be closed this summer in the area between Beach 91st Street and Beach 102nd Street in order to maintain the protective dune and keep swimmers safe. The dune built since Sandy provides strong protection to the inland residents, but also covers part of the area that previously was available for active recreation. That combined with the erosion in this section due to the lack of groins means that there is not enough beach area to safely operate swimming and recreation activities in this area.

Roughly 4.5 miles of beach will remain open for swimming and recreation. The full boardwalk and the surfing area from Beach 88th Street to Beach 91st Street will also remain open. A section of the beach in front of the concessions and bathrooms at 97th Street will be open for recreation, but there will be no access to the water. NYC Parks will post wayfinding signage at subway stops, ferry landings, and along the boardwalk directing beachgoers to the nearest accessible beach.

“This decision was made in the interest of safety, and that will always remain our top priority,” said Commissioner Silver. “The rebirth of Rockaway Beach stands as a symbol of this community’s strength and determination to move forward after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, so having to close even just a small portion of it is very difficult for us. Parks, along with the Mayor’s Office of Resiliency and Recovery, will continue to work with the U.S. Army Corps on the long-term solution to mitigate erosion and protect our coastline, and we are committed to making sure that they see this work through.”

"We agree with the Parks Department's decision to make safety a top priority,” said Assistant Lifeguard Coordinator Javier Rodriguez. “Unfortunately, there is just not enough beach in this section to be able to allow swimming in a safe manner and we don’t want to have any lives put in unnecessary danger. We look forward to our lifeguards staffing the other 4.5 miles of Rockaway Beach that will be opened for swimming and recreation without putting any lives in unnecessary danger."

The City continues to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to expedite their Rockaway and Jamaica Bay Reformulation Project, which will build a new reinforced dune, groins, and replenish sand along the Rockaway shoreline. In February, Mayor de Blasio and Senator Schumer met with the head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Washington D.C. and secured a commitment to expedite this construction. A draft report is expected in August, followed by a final report in November, allowing for construction in the Rockaways to start as early as next year on the Atlantic side and Jamaica Bay neighborhoods.

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