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March 20, 2014

THE LONG ISLAND NEWSPAPER

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PARTLY CLOUDY

JOHNNY MILANO

COPYRIGHT 2014, NEWSDAY LLC, LONG ISLAND, VOL. 74, NO. 198

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TOP STORIES

AFTER SANDY
Atlantic Ocean

Freeport

East Massapequa

Jones Beach restoration project

EXCLUSIVE

BOOST BEACH
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FOR THE

BY BILL BLEYER

bill.bleyer@newsday.com

New York State will spend $65 million to restore iconic Jones Beach to its original grandeur in one of the largest state park rehabilitation projects in the systems history. The five-year project, to be announced today by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, will mark the facilitys 85th anniversary this year. The largest rehabilitation effort ever at a Long Island state park, it involves restoring historic structures that have deteriorated or have been altered. As part of the project, the Central Mall will get a facelift, with gardens and native vegetation to be replanted and the fountain restored. The Jones Beach revitalization plan is one of our most historic projects and it will help to grow our tourism industry and help bring jobs to Long Island communities, Cuomo said in a statement yesterday. The project is expected to create more than 620 construction jobs. World-famous Jones Beach State Park has 6.5 miles of white-sand beach on the Atlantic Ocean and more than 2,400 acres of maritime environment on the Islands South Shore, according to the state parks department. Jones Beach attendance the highest of any Long Island state park

Snack bar On west side of Central Mall, this will be renovated into a seasonal restaurant with historic roof terrace seating revived. A food marketplace will be operated under tents on the former Boardwalk Restaurant site. New picnic areas Adjacent to the boardwalk and open space for outdoor exercise classes such as yoga and tai chi. Fee booths Will be rebuilt and automated to accept various types of payment, including credit cards and E-ZPass. West Bathhouse Historic Marine Dining Room on the second floor level will be recreated as catering space.

At Field 6 Open year-round, the concession building will be renovated into a diner-type restaurant with a diet changing by the season. Portable food vendors Will be right on the boardwalk for the first time. Between the East Bathhouse and Field 6. there will be a seasonal restaurant will open on the beach as a pilot project. New recreational fields For soccer, lacrosse, and other sports, to be installed between Field 3 and 4 parking areas with new beach-themed seaside playground.

Renderings depict an aerial view of the Central Mall, above, and a close-up of the boardwalk marketplace, below.

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dipped to a little less than 2.8 million people in 2013, from slightly less than 3.4 million in 2012, state data show. The new construction will make the park, badly damaged by superstorm Sandy, more weather-resistant, state officials said.

The park will add new food venues and menus, including a food marketplace at the former Boardwalk Restaurant, which was to become the Trump on the Ocean catering facility until Sandy inundated the site. Recreational facilities will be built for activities not cur-

rently offered, including soccer, lacrosse, cricket, miniature golf, yoga, and an adventure play area complete with water features, rock climbing and a zip line. The changes will be visible upon entering the park, with fee booths overhauled and au-

tomated to take various pay programs such as E-ZPass for the first time. Visitors this summer will see the first changes: the newly restored historic West Bathhouse, which will open before Memorial Day weekend and includes exterior restoration as

NYS OFFICE OF PARKS, RECREATION AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION

$65M makeover for buildings; new venues, rec facilities planned

JONES BEACH

Adventure play area Will replace pitch-andputt golf course between Central Mall and East Bathhouse with zip lines, rock-climbing walls, and multiple water-spray features.

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Babylon Sayville Bellport Mastic Beach

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OCTOBER Phase 2 work on unpopulated area begins

Fire Island dune rebuilding

Atlantic Ocean
DECEMBER Final phase would involve demolishing or moving 41 homes to make way for a dune barrier SEPTEMBER Phase 1 involves repairs on the east ends Smith Point County Park

well as replacement of the pool deck and filtration system; and a pilot tent food marketplace project, with shaded seating, at the site of the former Boardwalk Restaurant. Parks Commissioner Rose Harvey said a public meeting will take place in May to get feedback on the plan before the rest of the work proceeds. Jones Beach revolutionized the way people spent their leisure time, Harvey said. If ever there was a park deserving of this level of investment, it is the treasure that is Jones Beach. Alexandra Parsons Wolfe, director of Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities, which has been critical of the parks agency in the past for altering Jones Beach and allowing it to deteriorate, said, We are very happy to see a level of capital investment being made that accurately responds to real needs and the historic and cultural importance of the site. The overall scope reflects a balanced approach toward blending old and new to create an experience that is fresh and engaging. The planning work for the project was done with several hundred thousand dollars in funding by the Open Space Institutes Alliance for New York State Parks program, which helped with the designs. The transformational possibility of this project is enormously exciting, said Kim Elliman, president and chief executive of the Open Space Institute. Elliman said the project will make the park more vibrant and appealing to future generations, while paying homage to its rich history and iconic status. Cuomo said the $65 million will come from capital projects funded primarily through the NY Works initiative, which to date has invested $265 million into the park system with an additional $90 million proposed in the 2014-2015 executive budget.

Traffic Ave.

new dune ocation of l e t a m i x o r App

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NEWSDSAY / JOHN PARASKEVAS

Dune delay exposes Fire Island to risks

BY JOAN GRALLA
joan.gralla@newsday.com

The rebuilding of Fire Islands Sandy-leveled dunes isnt expected to start until September, a delay that means the barrier island and vulnerable South Shore will face a second hurricane season without crucial defenses. The revised timeline, a blow to advocates pushing for an earlier start, is included in a draft environmental assessment released this week by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Under the plan, owners of 41 oceanfront properties that stand in the way of the planned 15-foot-high dune line will be bought at a total cost of $46 million, according to a preliminary estimate. But the owners will receive their homes current value not the presuperstorm Sandy market price as initially promised. The plan calls for spending nearly $162 million in an emergency effort to rebuild Fire Islands natural defenses with 7 million cubic feet of sand. Completion is now slated for August 2015 34 months after Sandy struck. Dredging was to begin this

winter, but delays mounted due to complicated approvals needed from the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Department of Interior. New York and the Army Corps also must sign off on the project. And the state and Suffolk, which will acquire the necessary land, also must reach an agreement. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he will keep pressing all the players to clear the way. He noted the project was visualized decades ago as part of an extensive flood-control strategy. After 60 years of dawdling and delay, we have finally fully funded this protection project and are set to get this albatross off the ground, Schumer said in a statement. Fire Islands new dunes are part of a more sweeping $700 million federal storm-protection plan for Suffolks South Shore. More than half would be spent on the mainland, elevating roads and raising more than 4,000 flood-prone homes. Wetlands, marshes and bogs would also be recreated. Fire Islands dune- and beach-rebuilding project

Forty-one homes in Ocean Bay Park, Davis Park and Robbins Nest will have to be destroyed or moved back toward Traffic Avenue to accommodate a new dune line.

has three phases. One month after work begins on the east end, the second phase on the unpopulated west end should start in October. Both projects should finish in six months, before the nesting season for the endangered piping plover starts. The third phase, replenishing dunes in the islands residential midsection, isnt expected to start until December, after buyouts and about 700 easements are secured. Brookhaven Supervisor Edward P. Romaine noted the dangers facing Fire Island and the mainland until then. We were very lucky in 2013 to avoid a hurricane, he said. If we get banged with a storm and it hits us anywhere near where the dune system has collapsed and doesnt exist anymore, we could have ocean flooding into the bay. Kevin Ryan, 42, wants the dunes rebuilt to protect his Brightwaters home, though his repaired beachfront home on Fire Island is like-

ly to be demolished. Losing a house on Fire Island stinks, but you have to protect the mainland, said Ryan, who is self-employed. Sandy caused about $100,000 in damage as ocean water swept through his island house, creating havoc with electrical systems and plumbing and causing mold. The draft plan raises the prospect of using the power of eminent domain to secure the easements and beachfront homes. The Army Corps notes the potential unwillingness of homeowners to agree and says New York State has indicated that Suffolk County may initiate condemnation proceedings. A Suffolk spokeswoman yesterday had no comment on the Army Corps plan. In addition to planned buyouts, six oceanfront homes will be relocated on their lots; and decks or pools on another 18 properties will need to be modified, according to the plan.

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