By Helen Klein
Repairs to the most badly damaged portions of the Shore Road seawall and pedestrian path are more than 25 percent completed. That is “good news,” said Representative Vito Fossella, who has spearheaded a campaign to get the dilapidated area between 69th Street and 99th Street repaired. That stretch of pedestrian path has been fenced off since the summer, because of its deteriorated condition, evidenced by gaping holes at various places where water could be seen lapping onto the path as the tide rushed in. “As of now, we are on schedule,” Fossella stressed, “barring any emergency or weather-related problems, so we are on track to be open by summer.” Craig Eaton, chairperson of Community Board 10, applauded the project’s progress. “CB 10,” Eaton noted, “has made the seawall replacement a top priority for many years. The new walkway and bike path will be a tremendous benefit to residents across Brooklyn.” The $11 million emergency project, which is being done under the auspices of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, includes the removal of all loose material and grout from the seawall, the installation of a new rip rap boulder seawall, and restoration of the original concrete wall, face blocks and coping stone. The walkway asphalt is being removed and the walkway will be completely re-paved. In addition, 1,500 linear feet of new sea rail will be installed and eight sewers running below the seawall will be repaired. So far, according to an executive summary of the project presented to CB 10 on December 14th by the Parks Department, almost half the necessary rip rap has been installed (from 23 out of a total of approximately 50 barges, with each barge holding enough boulders for about 200 linear feet of seawall). In addition, 900 out of 3,000 total square yards of asphalt have been removed; 2,500 out of a total of 5,000 square yards of sidewalk have been removed, and 35 out of 115 new benches have been installed. This all adds up to the project being 27 percent complete, since its inception in June, 2005. “Less than a year ago, we had the seawall falling into the water,” remarked Fossella, who emphasized. “Now, hopefully by summer, the path will be back in use and people will be able to enjoy it again.” Funding for the work came from an allocation of $7 million in city emergency repair funds, funneled through the city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) because of the existence of DEP infrastructure under the pathway, as well as $5 million in federal funding secured by Fossella through the Water Resources Development Act. The available funding, however, is enough only to pay for half of the overall repair work needed by the promenade and seawall. The remaining work, said Fossella, would have to be funded differently. “We’re pursuing that, but we don’t have an answer on that now,” he remarked. Once the funding was in place, the quick action on the badly needed repairs was facilitated by a declaration of emergency made by the New York City Comptroller’s Office, the New York City Law Department, the New York State Department of State, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Army Corps of Engineers. This declaration moved up the commencement of repairs as much as six months.
