Residents: Repair the landmarked Coney Island Boardwalk now

It’s a landmark — so treat it like one, they say.

September 6, 2019 Lore Croghan

Coney Island resident Dionne Brown wants the Parks Department to repair this section of the Boardwalk, which is covered with a plywood deck. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

‘The whole community is angry’

The plywood-covered section of the boardwalk is a part of the famous span that tourists don’t see. They visit the rides in the amusement park zone and don’t walk this far west.

It is landmarked, though, just like the rest of the 2.7-mile walkway — and vitally important to the lives of residents of nearby NYCHA properties and seniors buildings.

“The whole community is angry about this plywood,” Brown said. “The bottom line is it has to be repaired. This is a landmarked boardwalk. It should not look like this.”

Part of the plywood deck over the Coney Island Boardwalk is fenced off. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

The plywood-covered area is the biggest, most concentrated unrepaired section of the boardwalk. But there are loose and broken planks and exposed nails throughout the famous walkway on either side of the amusement park zone.

The Brooklyn Eagle photographed dozens of these spots between West 29th and West 32nd streets; from West 19th to West 24th streets; between Ocean Parkway and West 5th Streets; and from Coney Island Avenue to Brighton 6th Street.

“We love this place. This is our place of solitude,” Brown said. “We walk. We think. We run. It’s our home. This is who we are. This is Coney Island.”

A repair plan for the plywood-covered section of the walkway might be out there on the horizon.

The Parks Department is considering whether it’s financially feasible to undertake a capital project to fix up the sections of the boardwalk where damage from Superstorm Sandy remains, an agency spokesperson told the Eagle.

A grace period before fines

In May 2018, the city Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Riegelmann Boardwalk, which opened in 1923, as a scenic landmark. Brown believes the designation should carry with it a responsibility on the commission’s part to compel the Parks Department to keep it in good repair.

Old-fashioned street lamps rise above the Coney Island Boardwalk’s plywood cover. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

“It’s time for the Landmarks Preservation Commission to look into the problem of poor conditions on the boardwalk outside the amusement zone,” she said.

A technicality apparently prevents the Landmarks Preservation Commission from intervening to get the Parks Department to fix up the plywood-covered section of the boardwalk, the Eagle has learned.

Conditions that exist before a landmark designation are grandfathered in, an LPC spokesperson said. That’s the case with the unrepaired, plywood-covered section of the boardwalk.

The preservation agency doesn’t compel private-sector or government property owners to repair grandfathered-in conditions, the LPC spokesperson said.

If people complain to the Landmarks Preservation Commission that other parts of the boardwalk are in disrepair, the agency will investigate and take action if it needs to do so, the LPC spokesperson added. With any landmark, the LPC’s modus operandi is to try to work with its owner and give them a grace period to do repairs before issuing fines.

A plank is missing on the Boardwalk outside NYCHA’s Coney Island Houses. It’s one of numerous damaged Boardwalk spots in this area. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

‘Total disregard’ for residents

After her fall, Brown emailed Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Marty Maher and other Parks Department officials about it and urged them to repair the plywood-covered section of the boardwalk. Nobody from the department answered her.

She reached out to Community Board 13 about it. CB13 got word from the Parks Department that instead of repairing the boardwalk, it would repaint the plywood and throw down salt when the weather was bad, Brown recalled. As of yet, it hasn’t been painted.

Leaving the boardwalk covered with plywood for so long shows “total disregard” for residents, especially seniors, she said.

“I’m afraid for seniors — their bones are more fragile than mine,” she added.

A loose Boardwalk plank board is sticking up near West 23rd Street. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

Parks Department Press Officer Charisse Hill defended the agency’s efforts to keep the boardwalk in good repair.

“With the 1.3 million boards that make up the Coney Island Boardwalk, we are always working to maintain this popular Brooklyn summer destination,” Hill said. “We have always been responsible for the maintenance of this historic space and will continue to maintain it with available resources.”

There are ornate, old-fashioned street lamps sticking out of the edge of the plywood deck. That’s because in 2013, the Federal Emergency Management Agency allocated $1.2 million to repair Coney Island Boardwalk’s 122 ornamental light poles.

It upsets Brown to see them surrounded by the plywood platform. “It’s like putting a steak dinner on a garbage-can lid,” she said.

‘Okay, be careful’

Brown said Parks Department personnel — workers as well as executives — have been unresponsive to her concerns about the boardwalk over the years.

For example, one day, she and her walking group came upon nails sticking up on the boardwalk near West 21st Street. By chance, a Parks Department worker was sitting nearby in a van stacked with lumber for boardwalk repairs.

When they told him about the nails, he said, “Okay, be careful. You have to be careful when you’re walking up here,” Brown recalls. He explained he was the only maintenance worker in the region.

“I’m not going to fix all the boards,” Brown recalls him saying.

“Why don’t you start with one? Just start with one,” was her reply, which he didn’t heed.

Numerous Boardwalk planks are in rough shape near the Coney Island Aquarium. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

Brown and the members of her walking group have seen some upsetting boardwalk accidents — such as one that occurred when an elderly man fell on a nail sticking up near West 19th Street. He cried and said, “Everything hurts.” They called an ambulance for him.

Ever since Brown sprained her wrist, the Coney Island Trekkers have stopped walking on the plywood-covered portion of the boardwalk on wintry days. Instead, they walk on the sand.

They’re careful about where they step on other parts of the boardwalk. Nevertheless, they’ve all tripped. After taking a fall, one group member was too sore to come out on walks for a few days, Brown said.

According to Parks Department records, there have been six reported injuries on the boardwalk since January, an agency spokesperson told the Eagle.

‘Stepchildren to the amusement area’

Residents of the Brighton Beach end of the boardwalk are angry about the beloved walkway’s condition, too.

“This is our neighborhood’s backyard,” Brighton Beach activist Ida Sanoff said in an interview.

“You go down the boardwalk, there’s people speaking a million different languages. No two people look the same. They’ve come from every place on the planet. This is where we’re all sitting next to each other,” she said.

“You go up there even in the winter and you just say, ‘This is incredible. You can see the sky. You can see open space.’ This is what unites us here.”

Brighton Beach activist Ida Sanoff says landmarking is meaningless if the Boardwalk isn’t repaired. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan — Brighton Beach activist Ida Sanoff says landmarking is meaningless if the boardwalk isn’t repaired. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

The Parks Department keeps the boardwalk next to Coney Island’s famous rides in good shape and doesn’t maintain the parts in other areas, Sanoff said.

“We’re all stepchildren to the amusement area,” said Sanoff, who has lived in Brighton Beach for more than 40 years.

“The landmarking has done — really — nothing for us,” she said. “The designation is just smoke and mirrors, quite frankly.”

She added, “It’s one thing if you talk the talk, but you’ve got to walk the walk.

“If you’re saying that this is such an incredible resource and you put all the time and effort into landmarking it, then you should put the effort into maintaining it so it doesn’t fall apart and just get neglected into oblivion.”

There are exposed nails on the Boardwalk near the Coney Island Aquarium. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan — There are exposed nails on the boardwalk near the Coney Island Aquarium. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

A Landmarks Preservation Commission spokesperson said the agency has a role to play in Coney Island.

“The designation of the Coney Island Boardwalk as a scenic landmark protects and preserves the presence of this iconic site,” the spokesperson said.

“We recognize that boardwalk planking needs to be replaced over time due to normal wear and tear and other environmental conditions, and will work with the Parks Department to review work when necessary to ensure there are no changes to the length, width or configuration of portions of the boardwalk,” the spokesperson added.

Lumber but no carpenters

At the beginning of the summer season, Parks Department personnel told Community Board 13 they had an adequate supply of lumber for boardwalk repairs — but no carpenters, Sanoff said. Most of their employees are seasonal workers, which further limited the possibility of work getting done.

“Let’s face it — this is manual labor,” she said. “It’s got to be done one plank at a time. So if you’re so concerned about keeping this landmark in great shape, then give the Parks Department more funding to hire year-round carpenters.”

A Parks Department spokesperson told the Eagle its workers regularly do repairs of wear and tear on the boardwalk and address its general maintenance issues.

There are lots of rough spots on the Boardwalk near West 2nd Street. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan — There are lots of rough spots on the boardwalk near West 2nd Street. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

Sanoff said she and other Brighton Beach residents have been complaining to Community Board 13 for many years about the boardwalk’s maintenance problems.

One reason it’s in bad shape is that it was built to be a pedestrian thoroughfare. When the Parks Department and its contractors trucks drive on it, “you can see the boards dip and bend and creak,” she said.

Sanoff remembers the boardwalk was beautiful when she was a little kid — and it was used solely by pedestrians. “And then at some point, it turned into a highway,” she said.

Also, sand from the beach blows onto the boardwalk in the winter. And snowplows that are used to clean the boardwalk pull up nails and scrape off the tops of the wood planks.

“We have the abuse from the vehicles, we have the lack of carpenters and maintenance, we have the sand piled up high. And all of that is just contributing to a disaster,” Sanoff said.

No one ‘should be put in harm’s way’

Sanoff is cautious when she strolls on the boardwalk.

“Quite frankly, I’m a senior citizen now. I’m 67. I’m full of arthritis,” she said. “And when I walk on the boardwalk, I literally have to walk eyes down. If I fall, it’s a broken hip or something.”

City Councilmember Mark Treyger, who advocated for landmark designation for the boardwalk, didn’t respond to questions about keeping it in good repair.

There are numerous broken Boardwalk planks near Coney Island Avenue. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan — There are numerous broken boardwalk planks near Coney Island Avenue. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan

City Councilmember Chaim Deutsch said the city should keep the boardwalk safe for visitors.

“When a New York City homeowner has a cracked, hazardous sidewalk, they are quickly issued a violation so that they repair it before someone trips. The city should be held to that same standard when it comes to the boardwalk,” he said.

“There is no reason why anyone should be put in harm’s way while they are simply enjoying a pleasant stroll on one of our City’s loveliest destinations.”

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