Girl, 10, Finds Loaded 9mm Gun On Coney Island Beach

Brooklyn

By Geoffrey Croft

A mother and her daughter made a startling discovery on the beach today.

A 10-year-old girl  picked up a loaded 9mm hand gun in Coney Island Beach while looking for sea shells.

The two brought it to a nearby lifeguard on post at the lifeguard station who called the NYPD.

Just after 2:00pm the NYPD received a call regarding a found firearm in the vicinity of West 19 Street and the Boardwalk.  Upon arrival, police determined that the girl and her mother found the firearm in approximately two feet of water.

The gun was taken to the NYPD forensics lab to determine if it was used in a crime and tossed into the ocean to get rid of the evidence.    

Read/View More:

CBS 2 Exclusive: Disturbing Discovery Prompts Coney Island Lifeguard To Take Action

WCBS - August 12, 2014 

Loaded gun founded in the surf along Coney Island beach

New York Daily News - August 12,  2014 - By Joseph Stepansky

Dead Dolphin Found In Coney Island

The body of a dead dolphin was found last evening in Coney Island  making it at least the fourth one to die in our waters recently.  A baby dolphin was found dead in February in Coney Island.

Brooklyn

By Geoffrey Croft

Another dead dolphin washed up on our shores - this time in Coney Island NYC Park Advocates has learned.

The body of a male bottle-nosed dolphin was found on the beach at Bay 11 off of Stillwell Avenue last evening around 6:15 p.m.

Parks Department employees removed the mammal in a fork lift to a parks facility in order to secure it. 

"It was giving off a very strong smell," a witness said at the scene last night.

Personnel from the Riverhead Foundaton picked up the 7-foot long dolphin today and transported it back to the group's headquarters where it arrived an hour ago. 

According to Julika Wocial, rescue program supervisor for the organization,  Riverhead staff will begin performing a necropsy in a few minutes to determine the cause of death. 

She said due to the advanced stage of decomposition however it was unlikely they will determine what killed it. 

This is at least the fourth dolfin to die in our waters recently. 

On April 23, dolphin was found in a tributary of Gravesend Bay.

A baby dolphin was found dead on the beach in Coney Island in February.

A dolphin was found in the Gowanus Canal in January.

The Riverhead Foundation encourages people who see dolphins in distress to call the organization's hotline at 631-369-9829.

Feds Promise To Cover $ 1 Billion Restoration Of Beaches and Boardwalks Destroyed By Hurricane Sandy

The Rockaway Beach boardwalk was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. About $300 million will be needed to restore the beach and boardwalk including replenishing and rebuilding 6.2 miles of beach along the peninsula.  Coney Island, Rockaway Beach, Long Beach and Fire Island will receive the funds necessary to rebuild after Superstorm Sandy, according to early congressional report.   (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)

Queens/Brooklyn

The federal government announced plans to cover the full cost of four coastal rebuilding projects in New York City and Long Island, a decision that will save the state and city hundreds of millions of dollars. 

In an interim report obtained by the Daily News, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it plans to cover 100% of the cost of restoration projects on Coney Island, Rockaway Beach, Long Beach Island and Fire Island. Those projects are estimated to collectively cost more than $1 billion. While the report is not finalized, a congressional aide said federal officials have indicated the decision to fully cover the cost of the projects has been made. 

Under legislation approved earlier this year to provide billions of dollars in Sandy aid, the federal government was required to cover 65% of the cost of the projects -- with the rest left to New York State and municipal and county governments. But it was not clear if local communities had the money to move the projects forward. Members of the New York delegation then seized on language in the legislation that allows full funding of "ongoing construction" projects. They used that provision to lobby the feds to cover all of the projects' costs.  

Long Island Reps. Pete King,  Carolyn McCarthy and Tim Bishop pushed the Office of Management and Budget and the Army Corp. on the issue.   

"I continue to make every effort to ensure that Nassau and Suffolk counties receive the maximum amount of Sandy funding possible," King said. 

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he made dozens of calls to Office of Management and Budget Director Jeffrey Zients and to Jo-Ellen Darcy, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works.  Schumer told The News the projects could have stalled without the full funding.

 "It basically ensures they get built rather than making it a maybe proposition, and it benefits city taxpayers," Schumer said.

 "I spent a month-and-a-half on this."

The Coney Island project, estimated to cost $48 million, will repair lost beach along a three-mile stretch between W. 37th St. and Brighton Beach, and add a higher dune and additional protections. 

The Rockaway Beach project, estimated at $300 million, involves replenishing and rebuilding 6.2 miles of beach along the peninsula. 

The Long Beach project, worth $150 million, would add dune protection along nine miles of beach from Jones Inlet to East Rockaway Inlet. 

The Fire Island project, estimated to cost $750 million, involves enhancing dunes and other protections along a 83-mile stretch of coast from Fire Island Inlet to Montauk Point.  

Read More:

Feds promise to cover restoration of beaches and boardwalks 

destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, estimated to cost $1 billion  

New York Daily News - March 12, 2013 - By Dan Friedman  

Feds To Fully Fund Beach Protection At Coney Island,  Rockaways

NY1 News

Coney Island Residents Sue To Stop Concrete Boardwalk - Cite Lack of Environmental Review

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 12, 2012

Contact: Geoffrey Croft - NYC Park Advocates

(212) 987- 0565

(646) 584- 8250 cell #

Coney Island Advocacy Groups and Residents File Suit Against the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to Prevent the Destruction of the Coney Island Boardwalk

(BROOKLYN, NY July 12, 2012) – Various grassroots organizations and Coney Island and Brighton Beach residents have filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court in Brooklyn seeking to prevent the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (the “Parks Department”) from destroying the historic Coney Island Boardwalk and replacing it with a plastic and concrete structure.

According to the lawsuit, the Parks Department abused its discretion when it decided that its plan for the Boardwalk was not subject to any environmental review, even though the potential for negative environmental impact is obvious and far-reaching.

The lawsuit seeks to prevent the Parks Department from implementing a plan to replace 56,000 square feet of wood boards on the section of the Coney Island Boardwalk running from Coney Island Avenue to Brighton 15th Street with concrete and plastic. The lawsuit also contends that the Parks Department has a longer-range plan to replace most of the Boardwalk – approximately 1 million square feet of wood – with some combination of the same concrete and plastic materials.

The lawsuit contends that the Parks Department violated the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”) and New York City’s Environmental Quality Review (“CEQR”) regulations by not subjecting its plans to the necessary environmental review. Under SEQRA and CEQR, state and municipal agencies are required to determine if actions they undertake may have a significant impact on the environment. Under the law, factors such as erosion, flooding, drainage problems, and impact on existing use must be considered. Additionally, an agency must consider the project’s impairment of the character or quality of important historical or aesthetic resources and existing community or neighborhood character.

The suit was filed by attorneys from Goodwin Procter, LLP, pro bono counsel for the Petitioners: the Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance, Friends of the Boardwalk, and long-time residents Robert Burstein, Ida Sanoff, Arlene Brenner, Brunilda Figueroa and Todd Dobrin.

“The city is required to consider a host of issues including environmental impacts before embarking on such a project which they did not ,” said Burstein, President of the Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance. "This project raises numerous public safety concerns which have not been addressed."

Among the impacts not considered:

· Concrete, which does not allow for drainage, creates a heightened risk of flooding and beach erosion when there are storms.

· The lack of drainage, in addition to damaging the concrete and plastic itself, also causes snow and rain to ice over in the winter, creating hazardous conditions and necessitating the use of hazardous chemicals and/or snow plows to clear the area.

· The increase in temperature of the concrete surface as compared to natural wood can cause an urban heat island effect, resulting in increased energy consumption, elevated emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases and impaired water quality in the surrounding community.

· The replacement of cracking concrete and buckling plastic may require the wholesale removal of sections of materials, causing greater environmental damage and disruption to activities than removal of one damaged wooden plank would cause.

· The demolition of the iconic wooden boardwalk that has been in the community for nearly 90 years and is part of a world-famous area would significantly impair the character and quality of what is obviously an important historical and aesthetic resource. Additionally, the demolition would equally impair the character of the Coney Island and Brighton Beach communities.

· Concrete and plastic absorb substantially less force than wood and therefore place far greater stress on the body. Consequently, people who enjoy the boardwalk for running, dancing, exercising and walking will be greatly restricted in their ability to use the Boardwalk as they have for decades.

The lawsuit seeks to compel the Parks Department to conduct a comprehensive environmental review of its plans, including a thorough analysis of these and other environmental impacts. “This is just the beginning of the battle,” said Burstein. “Ultimately, we do not believe the Parks Department should, under the environmental laws, use concrete and plastic to replace the wood. The first step, though, is to get the Parks Department to do the necessary environmental review, which they have not even done.”

Additionally, the lawsuit asserts that the Parks Department is trying to achieve its long-term plan to destroy most of the Boardwalk, aside from one four-block section, and replace it with plastic and concrete without conducting a proper environmental analysis of this large-scale action by improperly segmenting the plan. “It’s death by a thousand cuts,” said Burstein. “It is wrong. And it is illegal."

"Rather than spend the money to properly maintain the Boardwalk," said Brighton Beach resident Ida Sanoff, "the Parks Department wants to destroy this beautiful piece of New York and replace it with a different structure altogether without any environmental review or community input.”

About the Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance and Friends of the Boardwalk

The Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance is an unincorporated association dedicated to supporting and encouraging the revitalization and improvement of the Boardwalk while preserving its aesthetic and historical integrity. http://savetheboardwalk.wordpress.com/

Friends of the Boardwalk is a not-for-profit corporation that was founded to initiate, support and encourage projects for the revitalization and improvement of the Boardwalk and surrounding communities. http://fobconeyisland.com/

Read More:

Boardwalk Advocates File Suit to Block Concrete

New York Times - July 12, 2012 - By Liz Robbins

Coney Island - Man Hit By Parks Vehicle On The Beach

Brooklyn

By Geoffrey Croft

A Parks Department vehicle hit a man on the beach early this morning in Coney Island, A Walk In The Park has learned. This is the second incident on the beach in less than two weeks.

This morning at 3:40am., EMS responded to an incident at W.10th Street on Coney Island Beach.

According to the Police the man, 52 - believed to be homeless - was walking on the darkened beach when he was struck by a Parks Department utility vehicle from the passenger side.

He suffered bruising to his face and was transported by EMS to Lutheran Hospital. EMS reports that the man was bleeding.

On June 27th, a man's right foot was run over on the beach by a Parks vehicle while sunbathing around 5:30pm. He was brought to Coney Island Hospital.

The extent of his injuries are unknown at this time.

Concrete Coney Island Boardwalk Plan Approved Over Strong Community Objections In "Sham" Hearing

There is nothing more frusterating than watching a process that is outside of your control.

It was standing room only at the Public Design Commission hearing on the reconstruction of the Coney Island boardwalk. Critics of the controversial plan said they wanted to be heard as well as listened to but that was not to be. The Mayoral appointed commission as expected voted unanimously to approve the Parks Department's plan to use concrete on the historic boardwalk instead of wood. Forty-five members of the public testified against the Parks Department plan and vs. three in favor. At one point it appeared one of the commissioners - Byron Kim - was making some headway, but in the end he too was ignored.

(Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)

Brooklyn

By Geoffrey Croft

In a nearly four- hour, and at times contensious meeting, the City's Public Design Commission unanimously approved the Parks Department's controversial plan to use concrete on the historic boardwalk in Coney Island. The plan was approved over the objections of the near unanimous members of the public who attended the proceedings.

Due to the city's refusal to allocate adequate funding to maintain the iconic Coney Island boardwalk the city is proposed installing a 12 foot wide concrete sidewalk down the middle flanked on each side by plastic composite planks. The test area will run from Coney Island Avenue to Brighton 15th Street.

The issue has received a considerable amount of attention.

Critics including Brooklyn residents, environmentalists, and preservation advocates filled the room to capacity.

To divert attention away from the lack of maintenance funding issue the Parks Department is contending the reason for the switch to plastic is to accommodate emergency vehicles, a use, critics point out the wooden boardwalk has accommodated for close to a century.

Landscape architect Alex Hart, assistant deputy chief of design for the NYC Parks Dept., presented the proposal to six commissioners while dozens of Brooklyn residents, environmentalists, preservations, and advocates looked on, filling the room to capasity.

He and other Park officials stated they have had trouble finding a reliable supply and acceptable quality of more environmentally friendly hardwood.

Alex Hart, assistant deputy chief of design for the Parks Dept., presents the agency's controversial proposal to the Public Design Commission on reconstruction of Coney Island's boardwalk.

"We would greatly prefer to use wood on this surface but there is nothing out there right now that will work for us," said Hart.

The city also claims that concrete is the most cost-effective solution.

Operating under the Parks Department's standard 'we have the capital funds but we have to spend it immediately before we lose it' policy the agency lobbies local elected officials, community boards and agencies for support in order to receive the necessary approvals.

City Councilman Domenic M. Recchia Jr. Chair of the City Council Finance Committee did his part. He testified in favor of the plan repeatedly saying it "has to move forward."

"It doesn't make people happy," he said of his support to loud hisses and boos from the crowd.

He acknowledged the condition of the boardwalk was due to not having adequate expense funding. The expense money, "couldn't be there, " he said. Mr. Recha, who represents the Coney Island district did not say why the money could not be there or mention how much money he allocates annually for boardwalk maintenance. He did state however he'd rather see funds be spent on other services.

He testified (erroneously) that if the boardwalk was wood it would cost one million dollars a year to maintain. (A figure he also cited to the NY Times a few week earlier.) After his testimony he was informed that the million dollar figure he cited was actually the amount in funding the parks department receives for boardwalks at three locations not just Coney Island. When asked for a comment on the misstated figure afterwards he said to shut off the tape recorder and he ran away.

After the nearly hour long presentation critics got their turn. Loud boos rang out when it was announced the public would only get two minutes to speak.

At one point Jackie Snyder, Executive Director of the Commission told a staff member to call DCAS security. A uniformed officer stayed throughout the remainder of the hearing keeping an eye on the crowd. (When the meeting was over the officer aggressively cleared out the hallway where community members were doing interviews.)

Speaker after speaker testified against the plan, pleading with the commission to reject it. They also implored the Parks Department to perform due diligence and explore alternatives.

The numerous contradictions were also noteworthy:

Critics repeatedly poked holes in the agency's claims. They pointed out the hundreds of cracks already found in the newly installed concrete, and that concrete collects sand and water and ices up during the Winter which creates unsafe conditions. They also testified that the concrete is blinding and boiling hot in the Summer. The public also questioned the financial sense of the Parks Department continuing to build projects through trial and error at the taxpayers expense and using capital funds - borrowed money - instead of simply maintaining the wooden boards.

"City officials have insisted on the need for a concrete section because they say the recycled-plastic lumber could become too slippery when wet to accommodate emergency vehicles. But throughout the hearing, speakers from the public castigated concrete, some holding up pictures that showed experimental concrete sections of the Coney Island Boardwalk that were cracked, chipped or covered in ice," wrote the New York Times.

Friends of the Boardwalk's Todd Dobrin displayed a ten foot wide panel with numerous photographs showing the boardwalk in various states of decay including the Parks Department's previous work on their Coney Island/Brighten Beach "pilot" construction projects recently which were approved by the Commission.

"It creates an esthetic and maintenance nightmare, " said Rob Burstein, president of the Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance of the proposed Parks plan.

Tim Keating, of Rainforest Relief has been trying to get the city to stop using rainforest wood for fifteen years and discounted much of what Park officials stated. He suggested using black locust wood for the boardwalk slabs over recycled plastic supports.

"This could be used to maintain an open air boardwalk without concrete slabs that would allow sand and rain and snow to fall through," he testified.

"The concrete is blinding in summer. And hot," said Coney Island/Brighten Beach resident Arlene Brenner.

"Concrete in place of wooden planks does not make a boardwalk it make a sidewalk which is a very different new York environment," a woman testified. A sentiment shared by many.

All told 45 members of the public testified against the Parks Department plan, including representatives from many groups.

Three testified in favor of the plan: the chair of CB 13 - Eddie Mark, the administration's go-to-guy when they need public support for issues the community is against, (The CB overwhelming voted against the plan (21- 7). Fresh Meadows Queens resident Gene Ridder, and Parks Department partner New Yorkers For Parks. The group, now headed by a former HUD official, was repeatedly singled out and criticized by various members of the public during the hearing.

After hours of public testimony the Commission then began asking questions of the parks department.

In what some thought was a ray of hope a few members began questioning aspects of the plan, but that hope quickly dissipated. They suggested that Parks remove two feet of concrete - from 12 feet to 10. And in another misguided thread commissioners challenged the Parks Department to relocate the concrete swath now set to run through the middle of the boardwalk away from the beach closer to the land.

Commission member James Polshek called the design “silly, ” adding that it reduces the beauty of the boardwalk by cutting a cement path through its center. He proposed moving the cement section to the edge of the boardwalk along street side so the area “continues to resemble a boardwalk.”

But it was commissioner Byron Kim who raised the only real points that addressed the public's concerns. He repeatedly challenged the validity of the Parks Department's claims that they could find no other alternative woods that meet the quantity or quality they agency requires.

Two separate suppliers gave testimony they could supply sustainable wood,

one coming all the way from West Virginia.

The Parks Department could provide no specific information on the depth of its research into this area or for many of its other claims, nor did commissioners ask them to.

Mr. Kim also suggested that since this was a pilot program why doesn't the Parks Department test different woods.

In a back and forth between commissioner Kim and the Parks Department the agency admitted that the concrete recently installed had created public safety issues including icing up during the Winter.

In a somewhat surreal moment, Signe Nelsen, the acting president of the Commission said in the future the Parks Department should consider planting their own trees grow their lumber.

Ms. Nelsen also praised the Parks Department for what she described as a quick response in addressing the agency discontinuing using rain forest wood. A comment Tim Keating of Rainforest Relief took particular offense at.

"It took the Parks Department fifteen years after we first notified them to finally decide to renovate the boardwalk without using tropical wood," he said.

In the end, as expected the Mayoral appointed commission ignored the nearly unanimous public testimony against the plan. They also ignored the lone commissioner who suggested testing alternative woods.

Instead of tabling the plan and requiring the Parks Department to perform due diligence, the commission fell in line with the administration and approved it with several non-binding stipulations. They asked the Parks Department to look into the feasibility of moving the concrete section to the land side of the boardwalk, removing two feet of concrete, and exploring alternative wood.

The not binding recommendations means that the Parks Department can proceed without incorporating any of the suggestions.

Critics were not pleased.

“They changed their story every time, ” Todd Dobrin said of the Park Department.

“First they said it was for the emergency vehicle, and we showed they could go on the wood. Then it was about slippage, and we said, ‘What about the snow and ice, which can’t drain off the concrete?’ Then they come up with cost. We said, ‘What about paying to remove all the ice and snow and to maintain the concrete?’ Then they said they couldn’t find the supplies, so we brought in three different suppliers.”

"It's disheartening to be subjected to the whims and decisions of the Parks Department and the Design Commission, " Rob Burstein, president of the Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance said after the vote. "There is no serious exploration of the material provided."

"What good is the Design Commission when a nearly unanimous public testified against the plan and they approve it anyways," said Natural Resources Protective Association Chairperson and Brighten Beach resident Ida Sanoff. "It's a disgrace."

"It was a sham," said Tim Keating of Rainforest Relief of the meeting. "It was predetermined and in places seemed rehearsed. There was nothing that was said that could have prevented the outcome.

The saddest part for me is how poorly the boardwalk is being engineered. New York City missed a golden opportunity to create a truly sustainable boardwalk and a model that could be emulated in towns and cities across the country. In no way have they accomplished that."

Read/View More:

Coney Island Boardwalk Closer to Concrete

New York Times - March 13, 2012 - By Lisa W. Foderaro and Liz Robbins

Coney Island Boardwalk Soon To Be Hard Pressed

NY 1 - March 13, 2012 - By Jeanine Ramirez

WOR News Talk Radio 710

John Gambling Show - March 13, 2012

Controversial Coney Is. concrete boardwalk plan approved

New York Post - March 12, 2012 - By Rich Calder

Coney Island Boardwalk getting makeover in concrete and fake wood

Boardwalk lovers angry over vote

New York Daily News - March 12, 2012 - By Erin Durkin

Plastic Wood OK'd for Part of Coney Island Boardwalk

WNYC - March 12, 2012 - By Denise Blostein

Pave Paradise and Put Up a Sidewalk: City Approves Concrete Coney Island Boardwalk

New York Observer - March 12, 2012 - By Matt Chaban

NYC to vote on Coney Island boardwalk makeover

WABC News - March 12, 2012- By Tim Fliesher

Coney Island Boardwalk Makeover Plan Gets Approved

1010 WINS - March 12, 2012 - Sonia Rincon

City: Concrete, plastic to replace Boardwalk’s wood

Brooklyn Daily - March 12, 2012 - By Daniel Bush

Coney Island boardwalk getting concrete-and-plastic makeover

USA Today - March 12, 2012

Controversial Coney cement boardwalk plan facing vote today

The Brooklyn Blog - March 12, 2012 - By Rich Calder

Coney Island Boardwalk Faces a Vote

The Wall Street Journal - March 12, 2012 - By Luara Kusisto

Design Commission Refuses To Approve Coney Island Boardwalk Concrete Plan

A Walk In The Park - October 24, 2011

New Coney Island Concrete "Boardwalk" Falling Apart

A Walk In The Park - October 4, 2011

Coney/Brighton Beach Concrete "Boardwalk" Uproar Continues

A Walk In The Park - July 2, 2011

Brighton Beach's New Concrete “Boardwalk” Already Cracking

A Walk In The Park - June 14, 2011

CB 13 Rejects Coney Island/Brighton Beach Concrete Board Walk

A Walk In The Park - March 24, 2011

Dangerous Coney Island Pier Turned Into Diving Board With No Park Officers in Sight

A new generation of young people are jumping from Steeplechase Pier at Coney Island despite the risk to life and limb. A 14 - year-old boy was injured on June 14th according to law enforcement sources. A Parks Department spokeswoman misrepresented to the Daily News that there were two seasonal workers posted at the pier every day during the summer to prevent this activity. Compounding the problem is that after the lifeguards go home whatever seasonal workers there are needed to clear people out of the water and watch over the closed bays. There is not a single PEP officer assigned to cover any of Brooklyn's beaches.

"When we are there they don't listen to us," said a seasonal worker wearing a Parks Department security shirt. "They know we have no arresting power." (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge

Divers fly off Steeplechase Pier in Brooklyn. The famed pier made headlines in 1992, when Staten Island brothers John and Virgil Brown jumped off, broke their necks and became paralyzed for life. The brothers sued the city and won more than $100 million - lowered to $25 million on appeal - in one of the largest settlements in the history of the Parks Department. They argued "No diving" signs were not posted at the pier. Although these signs are posted now, there is no one to enforce it. A few people also noted the signs say nothing about jumping.

Brooklyn

Thrill-seeking kids are risking their lives by turning a dangerous Coney Island pier into a diving board - and there's no one there to stop them, according to the New York Daily News.

Steeplechase Pier is attracting daredevils who dive with abandon because budget cuts have slashed the number of Parks Department enforcement agents, union officials say.

"It's fun. It's not a crime," said Billy Rafti, 13, who dives off the pier into the ocean a few times a week and has never been busted.

"They don't care if we jump."

The famed pier made headlines in 1992, when Staten Island brothers John and Virgil Brown jumped off, broke their necks and became paralyzed for life.

The brothers sued the city and won more than $100 million - lowered to $25 million on appeal - by arguing "No diving" signs were not posted at the pier.

"If someone could've shown me what would happen, I wouldn't have done what I did," said Virgil Brown, 47, who now uses a wheelchair.

"You can ignore a sign. ... The city should put a guard on the pier."

Signs without enforcement. "You can ignore a sign. ... The city should put a guard on the pier," said Virgil Brown, now 47, who along with his brother broke his neck and became paralyzed after jumping off the pier.

Today, there are clear signs warning against diving or swimming from the pier, which is about 5 feet above the water.

Still, as the long Fourth of July weekend approached, dozens of kids lined up and took turns doing flips, spins and belly flops into the 20-foot-deep sea.

"It's almost like the Cyclone attraction itself," said Joe Puleo, vice president of Local 983, which represents Parks Enforcement Patrol officers, who can write the jumpers tickets.

"The kids get on line, they're jumping off two, three, four at a time, and they're coming in droves."

Puleo said there are two Parks Enforcement Patrol officers for all of Brooklyn's parks and beaches - down from 10 in 2008.

"The solution is more enforcement, more education, more signage - and the Parks Department is not doing its job adequately monitoring and notifying the public," he said.

A Parks Department spokeswoman said there are two seasonal workers posted at the pier every day during the summer, and they can alert cops.

She also insisted all 38 Parks Department beach employees - including lifeguards, seasonal workers and Parks Enforcement Patrol agents - can warn kids off the pier.

When the Daily News visited the pier last week, there were no workers standing guard.

"It's so fun to do tricks off of it," said Coney Island resident Orlay Peralta, 16. "[City workers] say they're going to stop us, but if you just pass them, they're not."

An NYPD spokeswoman couldn't say how many summonses officers have issued for diving off the pier since the beach opened in May.

"We do assist enforcing the law, but it's the Parks Department's responsibility," she said.

Today's front page Daily News story covering the issue.

Read More:

Kids turn dangerous Coney Island pier into diving board with no park officers in sight

New York Daily News - July 4, 2011 - By Edwin D. Rios and Jake Pearson