New York’s favorite beachbreak. Photo: Hayley Pfitzer//Unsplash
A portion of New York City’s Rockaway Beach at Jacob Riis Park will still be off-limits to surfers and beachgoers this summer. Access to the beach and ocean was closed in 2024 after the National Park Service, which manages the stretch of beach, determined that conditions were unsafe.
Increased erosion in 2024 resulted in further exposure of dangerous features on the beach, including “deteriorated wooden groins, rock work, and other structures.” The area has submerged wooden pylons called “sticks” that date back to the early 1900s and are believed to have played a role in the death of a surfer who became entangled underwater in April.
A local surfer, Walter Rodríguez Meyer, told Gothamist that the wood is “razor sharp” with “exposed metal rods that hold them together, (with) old bolts.”
In 2023, the Army Corps of Engineers focused on the area with a $12 million sand replenishment project to combat erosion. Three-hundred and sixty-thousand cubic yards of sand were dumped on the area to widen the beach and submerge the dangerous obstacles. It was predicted that such replenishment would be required every four to six years, but much of the sand was swept away in a matter of months.
On land, a parallel $2.7 million project to revamp the beach’s concrete pathway was supposed to be completed in December, but has stalled. Many sections of the boardwalk are now covered in sand, and unfinished concrete bench foundations line the walkway.
Hector Mosley, a spokesperson for the Army Corps, said there are no plans for further construction or sand replenishment at Jacob Riis Park this summer, while a National Parks spokesperson said the walkway project is nearing completion.
The Army Corps will survey the area again, later in the year to determine the next steps necessary to stabilize the beach.
