10 People Arrested For Rockaway Boardwalk Thefts

Ten people have been arrested for stealing aluminum railings and expensive rain forest Ipe boardwalk wood belonging to the Parks Department. (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on image to enlarge.

Queens

By Geoffrey Croft

Park Enforcement Police and NYPD and have made multiple arrests for people stealing material from the the Rockaway beach boardwalk destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, NYC Park Advocates has learned.

As aluminum prices continue to rise at least ten thieves have been caught stealing aluminum railings and expensive rain forest Ipe boardwalk wood belonging to the Parks Department. 

Police in the 100th Pct. have also written at least a dozen summonses for people stealing items on the street to be sold as scrap metal.

On December 11th, a park manager alerted Park Enforcement Patrol officers that someone was stealing items at B. 108th Street.  When officers approached they saw Lambert Toussint, 48, from Queens loading up aluminum railings into a van. They also saw stolen wood boardwalk slats in the vehicle. He admitted he was going to sell the railing as scrap metal.  Toussint was charged with Trespassing and Petty Larceny.

On December 1st, parks workers alerted PEP patrol cops that three people - two females and a male were removing railing and wood from the boardwalk at Beach 111th Street and Ocean Promenade, (the boardwalk) at 12:10 p.m.

PEP approached and found the trio from Brooklyn loading the metal railing (aluminum) and wood from the boardwalk into a 2001 Isuzzu truck which they borrowed from a friend in Pennsylvania.  When cops approached they admitted they were going to sell the salvaged materials for scrap.

PEP arrested  Sanchez Flores, 18 from Harman Street in  Brooklyn, Alejandria Hernandez, , 18,  from Park St. Bk (her first arrest) and Patricia Gonzelez, 18 also from Harman St. 

All were charged with criminal possession of stolen property and petit larceny. 

On November 30th,  NYPD arrested Luis Justiniano - 42, Roberto Bencosme - 43 and Basilio Delarosa - 50 at B.  108th Street  for stealing stealing aluminum railings from destroyed boardwalk at 3:30pm. They were charge with Criminal Mischief.

On November 27th  Police arrested two and on November 28th police arrested 1 person.

The property was recovered in all of the arrests.

On another occasion - PEP officers saw a man with a U-Haul truck collecting boardwalk wood.  They asked him what he was doing and he said he was going to use it for his floor.

"'The Parks Department is going to destroy them anyway,'" he said according to a law enforcement source.

PEP told the man he would be arrested if he took the material.  He took the advice and left it.

Other Beach News

In addition losing many patrol vehicles and officers' personal cars to the storm,  the 100th Pct also lost four ATV scooters used for beach patrol on the sand.  The Pct. received them last season and four were the most they ever had. They have made the request for new ones at Police headquarters and are awaiting delivery.

Lights Still Out.  It is totally dark along Shore Front Parkway, fronting beach between Beach 74 and 82nd St. Beach as all the street lights wee knocked out. The DOT  is working on getting new light poles.

Non-Recycling Of Rockaway Beach Boardwalk Questioned

 The devastated Rockaway beach boardwalk in thousands of pieces after Hurricane Sandy (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge 

Queens

Some New Yorkers are fighting to preserve the remnants of the Rockaway Boardwalk, according to Metro NY. 

The boardwalk, which was largely demolished during Hurricane Sandy, was constructed from a blend of tropical trees that can last three times as long as domestic species and are extremely resistant to insects and weather damage.  

But New Yorkers Cathy McHale and Scott Francisco say that the wood is being thrown out, without any effort to salvage and reuse it. 

The city could have an interest in salvaging the wood, in light of the mayor's recent plan to gradually reduce the use of tropical hardwoods in city infrastructure. The plan aims toward reducing rainforest deforestation, but Francisco said that salvaging the wood would be a way to use valuable timber without knocking down more trees. 

"Repurposing is very appealing if the wood has enough life left in it," Francisco explained. 

Francisco said that bulldozers have already broken a lot of the boards.  

"Our plan is to salvage enough to create a section of boardwalk that would be a memorial constructed from the original wood," Francisco said. "But it's probably not going to be a huge section because so many of the boards are broken."  

This Sunday, McHale and Francisco plan on gathering a group of volunteers at the 91st Street community garden to begin recovering material. 

Alan Solomon of Sawkill Lumber Company, which salvages wood from demolished buildings, said nine blocks of boardwalk are twisted along the waterfront, still largely intact. 

Some fighting to preserve the original boardwalk are also threatening to protest during President Barack Obama's visit today.  

They are asking that the city suspend demolition and disposal of the boardwalk and set aside a day to discuss the issue with community groups and wood reclamation specialists. 

The Parks Department did not yet say whether the wood would be saved for a future boardwalk or memorial. 

"Parks is working closely with other agencies to clean the damage inflicted by the hurricane and identify sections of boardwalk that can be salvaged," Parks Department spokesman Phil Abramson told Metro. "Working with the FEMA contractors, the material will be secured to a future use yet to be determined."  

Asked if the Parks Department would want to reuse the salvaged wood for park improvements, Abramson added, "We ... always look to recycle and repurpose materials when possible."

Can it be saved? 

Whether the wood can be repurposed depends on how long it has been exposed to outdoor elements. Francisco noted that different sections of the boardwalk could be a wide range of different ages and species, but estimated that the small samples of just one species had been outside for twenty years, so would have ten to fifteen years of outdoor life still in them.  

All of it could be repurposed, though. Even the oldest, most exposed would can be used indoors, or made into park benches or planters, or cut into shorter lengths to isolate the best pieces.

Boardwalk and railing up against a handball court at B.103rd Street.

Read More:

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City To Spend $3 Mil For Rockaway Beach Replenishment After Advocates Push

John Cori of Friends of Rockaway Beach shows how erosion has plagued sections of the shoreline. The group has urged city officials to fund beach replenishment projects and lobbied federal officials to complete a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study that would help determine more permanent solutions. (John Taggart For New York Daily News)

Queens

Sand-starved sections of Rockaway Beach, battered by erosion and Hurricane Irene, could be replenished later this year, according to the city Parks Department.

The Bloomberg administration made a last-minute $3 million allocation to the agency’s budget to pay for the project, according to the NY Daily News.

The money will be used to transfer sand dredged from the East Rockaway Inlet by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“Making the two projects synchronize will be a challenge,” said Bill Tai, principal environmental planner at the Parks Department. “We will work with the Army Corps to move the sand where we think it’s needed most, roughly between Beach 85th St. and Beach 105th St. centered around Beach 92nd St.”

That news was hailed by beach advocates who embarked on an aggressive “Demand the Sand” campaign to get the attention of city and local officials.

“Friends of Rockaway Beach is excited about the news,” the group said in a statement.

“We are aware this is a temporary fix to our erosion issues and look forward to the conclusion of the 2004 Rockaway Reformulation Study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to find a permanent solution to the dangers of erosion.”

Tai said the city is also hoping additional funds are found to jump-start the federal study, which will help determine whether additional jetties or other structures are needed to fend off the endless cycle of erosion.

City Councilman Eric Ulrich credited Friends of Rockaway Beach and other residents for keeping the pressure on agency and city officials.

And he pointed out the sand is not just a recreational issue in Rockaway. It’s a safety concern.

“The Rockaway beaches were in desperate need of replenishment,” said Ulrich (R-Ozone Park).

“Hurricane Irene wreaked havoc in Rockaway. It left people and property at risk.”

On some parts of the peninsula, the sand and the boardwalk are the only barriers between homes and raging waters during storms.

Tai said there is no set timeframe for the project, but it could start as early as the fall.

Once the sand is dredged from the East Rockaway Inlet, it could be moved by ship or piped to the western beaches.

“We would like to make this happen as soon as possible,” he said. “We are hoping to get between 100,000 and 150,000 cubic yards of sand.”

If more sand is available, it will be used to fill beaches in Far Rockaway in the area of Beach 20th St. and Beach 30th St.

Read More:

Beach replenishment coming to Rockaway - NYC Parks Department will

spend $3 million to add sand to sections of Rockaway Beach

New York Daily News - July 23, 2012 - By Lisa L. Colangelo

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Boardwalk Slight - Coney-Brighton Beach Residents Demand If Rockaway Can Have Wood Why Can't We

"Research, what research. We didn't have time to do research; we had to spend the money!" - Parks Department Chief Engineer John Natoloi - November 2010

Boardwalk War: The city is using wood exclusively to repair a ten block section Rockaway Rockaway Beach boardwalk - after refusing to use wood solely to rebuild the Coney Island Boardwalk. In March the Mayoral appointed Public Design Commission unanimously approved the Parks Department's plan to use concrete on the historic Coney-Brighton Boardwalk instead of wood in what critics called a "sham" hearing. (Photo: Elizabeth Graham)

In November 2010, Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance President Rob Burstein attended a walk-through meeting on the boardwalk with politicians including Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Parks officials to go over the numerous "pilot projects" recently done which used recycled plastic lumber or concrete instead of wood.

Mr. Burstein asked Parks Department Chief Engineer John Natoloi what research had been done that suggested that concrete was the best, or even an appropriate material to spend $15 million dollars on the boardwalk.

"Research? What research? We didn't have time to do research; we had to spend the money!"

he famously replied.

"With respect to the diligence and quality of the Parks Department's efforts to appropriately care for our Boardwalk, this statement speaks for itself," said Mr. Burstein.

Brooklyn

A city decision to repair an outer-borough boardwalk with wood has opponents of the Coney Island Boardwalk’s upcoming concrete makeover accusing the Parks Department of turning back on its word, according to the Bay News.

Agency officials have said repeatedly that repairing city boardwalks with wood was no longer a viable option — sparking the move to replace the iconic Coney Island Boardwalk with concrete and plastic lumber.

But the city began repairing a 10-block stretch of the longer, but far less exciting, Rockaway boardwalk with lumber last week — a move that has Coney Boardwalk advocates spitting nails.

“It’s an unbelievable slap in the face to our communities,” said Rob Burstein, the president of the Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance. “It shows that it’s possible to have a wooden boardwalk.”

Parks Department Chief Engineer John Natol seen here with Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski inspecting the repairs being made to the boardwalk last week near Beach 101st St. in Rockaway Beach. (Photo: Anthony Delmundo/for the New York Daily News)

Friends of the Boardwalk founder Todd Dobrin was also outraged.

“I’m furious,” said Dobrin, who has been fighting the city’s plans to take away the Boardwalk’s cherished planks. “Every boardwalk should be treated equally.”

But city officials say they’re not flip-flopping.

“Under a full reconstruction of the Rockaway boardwalk, we would consider using concrete,” said Parks Department spokeswoman Meghan Lalor, who said repairs on the Rockaway boardwalk, which drew 3.6 million visitors last year, will replace planks Hurricane Irene turned into kindling last year.

A one-mile section of the 5.5-mile walk has already been paved over with concrete, Lalor noted.

Councilman Eric Ulrich (R–Queens) doled out $1.6 million in taxpayer dollars to help repair the Rockaway boardwalk.

That news wasn’t lost on critics who slammed Councilman Domenic Recchia (D–Coney Island) for supporting the city’s plan to replace the Boardwalk between Coney Island Avenue and Brighton 15th Street with concrete and recycled plastic lumber.

“We need elected officials to support the Boardwalk here the way that they did in Queens,” Burstein said.

Recchia declined to comment on this story.

In 2010, the Parks Department proposed replacing the entire Boardwalk with concrete and plastic lumber — except for a four-block section in the historic amusement district between W. 15th and W. 10th streets — as part of its $30-million renovation of the aging 2.7-mile span, which opened in 1923.

The agency tested the materials on two sections of the walkway in 2011, claiming that concrete was sturdier and cheaper than using real wood.

But preservationists balked at the suggestion, claiming the plan would ruin the look and feel of the historic Boardwalk and turn the rest of the strip into a sidewalk.

The Public Design Commission gave the Parks Department the OK to tear out the Boardwalk in Brighton Beach — and install a 12-foot-wide concrete lane for emergency vehicles and a 19-foot-wide lane built out of recycled plastic boards for pedestrians — after agency officials testified that wood was no longer a viable option.

Yet residents say the current repair project in Queens proves otherwise.

“I can’t understand their reasoning,” said Brighton Beach resident Arlene Brenner. “It’s ridiculous.”

Separate and unequal: Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance President Rob Burstein is furious that the city is repairing the Queens boardwalk with wood but paving over large sections of Brooklyn’s seaside walkway with concrete in yet another "pilot" program. (Photo: Elizabeth Graham)

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Long-Awaited Boardwalk Repair Work Underway At Rockaway Beach

Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski and Parks Department Chief Engineer John Natoli inspect the repairs being made to the boardwalk on Friday near Beach 101st St. Hurricane Irene caused extensive damage to the boardwalk in August. Critics have complained about a lack of urgency from the City in dealing with various issues at the beach. (Photo: Anthony Delmundo/for the New York Daily News )

Queens

With the start of beach season just two weeks away, workers are busy repairing storm-ravaged sections of the boardwalk in Rockaway, according to the New York Daily News.

The damage dates back to August when Hurricane Irene blew through the Rockaways, tearing away planks of the wooden walkway and ripping apart adjacent park fencing.

The powerful storm surge pushed out fascia boards that run under the boardwalk, allowing water and sand to pour out into Shore Front Parkway.

The $3.8 million rebuilding project will continue through the start of the season, said Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski.

“We haven’t had anything as serious as this in the Rockaways in decades,” Lewandowski said.

Lewandowski and John Natoli, the agency’s chief engineer, inspected some of the work last Friday during a visit to a particularly hard-hit stretch from Beach 91st St. to Beach 101st St.

Parks Department workers made some emergency repairs to the area after the storm, but contracting for more extensive work was delayed due to funding issues and visits from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) inspectors.

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall put in $1.1 million and City Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) is paying for another $500,000 of the contract. The balance is being paid by the city with the hopes it will be reimbursed by FEMA.

Lewandowski said the project includes reconstruction of the ramp at Beach 91st St., fascia boards from 89th to 92nd streets and sections of the boardwalk at 95th, 101st, 102nd, 107th and 108th streets.

Natoli said the fascia boards will be spaced apart in an effort to allow some water to pass through as a sort of relief valve.

But John Cori of Friends of Rockaway Beach said he is concerned that there is still no plan for sand replenishment or completion of a longer-term study to reduce beach erosion.

“We are so vulnerable,” said Cori, whose group is sponsoring a “Demand the Sand” rally on Sunday at Beach 87th St. “Officials have to come up with money to pump in some sand and get the [U.S.] Army Corps of Engineers to finish its study.”

Lewandowski said some sand will be moved to the most heavily eroded sections around Beach 101st St. to create a berm.

But she agreed that sand replenishment and the study are key to preventing future storm damage.

“That’s a big issue for us,” said Jonathan Gaska, the district manager of Community Board 14.

“It’s about safety.”

Read More:

Long-awaited repair work underway at Rockaway Beach

$3.8 million reconstruction will continue through the start of beach season

New York Daily News - May 14, 2012 - By Lisa L. Colangelo

Disparity - Rockaways’ Infrastructure Repairs Need High Line Priority

A Walk In The Park - March 26, 2012

Disparity - Rockaways’ Infrastructure Repairs Need High Line Priority

John Cori, the founder of Friends of Rockaway Beach, points out severely eroded section of boardwalk at Beach 90th St. He has been sounding the alarm of the deplorable infrastructure conditions of beaches, parks and boardwalk in the Rockaways and the damage caused by Tropical Storm Irene. He has also pointed out the huge disparity of what certain communities and parks receive as compared to others. (Photo: Christie M. Farriella for the New York Daily News.

Queens

The Rockaways suffered major damage during Tropical Storm Irene last August.

Significant erosion took away even more of our continuously diminishing beaches. The Rockaway Beach boardwalk sustained damage to its deck, beach side staircases and ramps, along with destruction of wood skirting along Shore Front Parkway. Aside from some sand cleanup and some safety netting and fencing, everything still looks the same today as it did a day after the storm. City Parks Department personnel in he Rockaways did the very best they could with what they had, according to an Op-Ed written by Friends of Rockawy Beach founder John Cory published in the New York Daily News.

Hurrican Irene battered the beaches and boardwalk in Rockaway Beach this summer. Local leaders said they are still waiting for much-needed repairs. (Photo: Craig Warga/NY Daily News)

Unfortunately what Parks didn’t have enough of was money, or so it says. In November, our beach activist group, Friends of Rockaway Beach, met with Queens Parks Commissioner Dorthy Lewandowski to discuss the deplorable conditions of the infrastructure at our beaches, parks and boardwalk here in the Rockaways and the damage caused by Irene.

At that meeting we receive a truly heartfelt apology that there was just no money in the $250 million Parks Department budget to address much needed major infrastructure repairs along Shore Front Parkway, no money to repair rapidly decaying boardwalk infrastructure and no money to repair storm damage. We were told that we would have to wait and see if the feds would come through with emergency funding to repair storm damage.

Parks is in the final stages of a $38 million renovation in Far Rockaway. This is a much needed, long overdue project that will serve that community for years to come, but is little relief to the rest of the peninsula.

Imagine Parks telling the people of Harlem, Washington Heights, or Inwood that there is just no money to renovate Fort Tryon Park or Inwood Hill Park, but feel free to use the High Line.

Recently $3 million was allocated by various government agencies to repair the boardwalk, and the work has begun. While we welcome this as good news, we here in the Rockaways were surprised to learn that the city plans to begin a $90 million expansion of the High Line on the West Side of Manhattan.

It boggles the mind how the city can find boat loads of cash for the High Line, yet we are told time and time again there’s just no money for the Rockaways. I’m sure we will be told that Friends of the High Line will raise a “good portion” of the $90 million, but it should be pointed out that Friends of the High Line put up less than 35% of the cost of the High Line’s first phase and the city contributed well over $100 million.

While we wait for funding for much needed revitalization of Rockaway beaches, parks and boardwalk, we’ve just been blindsided with devastating news of the suspension of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Rockaway Beach Reformulation study. The $5-million, 10-year study began in 2003 to come up with a permanent solution to the erosion sustained year after year along our beaches.

Since it began, the study has been suspended several times due to lack of funding. The current federal budget did not include the $1.5 million needed for its completion, and without it, the beaches face possible long-term closure and our boardwalk and neighborhoods will face a greater susceptibility to storm surge during nor'easters, tropical storms or hurricanes.

For well over 100 years he Rockaway’s have provided millions of people a year some of the most authentic, traditional beach-going experiences they will ever find, bringing people together from all walks of life and every race and creed from every part of the world.

On a hot summer day we can have more people here than Central Park, Prospect Park and Flushing Meadow-Corona Park combined. Surfers from all over the world come to enjoy the greatest surf in the Northeast on two spectacular dedicated surfing beaches.

Repair of storm damage is very welcome news, but it is only a drop in the bucket considering the scope of the work that needs to be done.

To borrow a phrase from “The Lorax,” “Unless someone like our elected officials cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

John Cori is the founder of Friends of Rockaway Beach

Read More:

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Be Our Guest: John Corsi, founder of Friends of Rockaway Beach, says lack of cash for projects ‘boggles the mind’

New York Daily News - March 26, 2012 - By John Corsi

Rockaway boardwalk slated for long-awaited repairs

Beach activists push for sand replenishment program

New York Daily News - February 23 2012 - By Lisa L. Colangelo

Rockaway still waiting for beach repairs three months after it was battered

by Hurricane Irene Local officials also hoping for an infusion of federal aid

New York Daily News - November 23, 2011 - By Lisa L. Colangelo

Vandals Attack New Playground In Far Rockaway

Beach 29th St. Playground in Far Rockaway, Queens was supposed to open in June. According to police vandals drove a front loader through the nearly completed children’s playground early Tuesday morning, causing more than $100,000 worth of damage to the play equipment and to two trailers that contained contractor offices. (Photo: WABC News)

Queens

Vandals plowed through a nearly completed Far Rockaway playground early Tuesday morning after commandeering a parked construction vehicle, authorities said, according to the New York Daily News.

Someone jumped into a John Deere excavator parked outside Beach 29th St. around 4 a.m. and rammed through a chainlink fence, officials said.

They wrecked the slides and climbing equipment, before trying to break into two construction trailers at the site.

(Photo: WABC News)

The park, an oasis among weed-filled empty lots near the Rockaway Beach boardwalk, was slated to open this summer.

“This heartless act of vandalism is a crime against all of the residents of New York City, and especially against the children of Far Rockaway,” said Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski.

The playground was part of a $30 million investment in recreation areas in Far Rockaway, Lewandowski said. The park included a water play area, state-of-the-art playground and nearby synthetic turf field.

And 10 blocks away, the agency opened a new skateboard park, sports courts and new performance space.

(Photo: WABC News)

“It’s terrible. The area needs a park,” said Keyetta Wright, 29, as she walked by the wrecked playground on Tuesday with her two children. “We were looking forward to going there.”

Jonathan Gaska, district manager of Community Board 14, said the park was slated to open in conjunction with the upcoming beach season.

“I hope these animals are caught,” he said. “This was senseless vandalism.”

Construction crews spent Tuesday cleaning up and fixing the fence around the playground. Police officers also visited the site and spoke with workers.

City Councilman James Sanders Jr. visited the site and fumed about “the horror some creeps have wrecked” on the playground.

“If you would do this to the kids in your community, you really need to seek some professional help,” he said.

“This is one of the most gorgeous parks in one of the least served areas of the Rockaways,” said Sanders (D-Laurelton). “This is a dense area that has always had few amenities for people.”

Lewandowski said Parks Department officials are working with the Police Department to figure out who was behind the destruction.

She asked anyone with information to call the 101st Precinct at (718) 868-3400.

(Photo: Todd Maisel/New York Daily News)

Read More:

Vandals ravage new playground with construction equipment

Site was to open for upcoming beach season

New York Daily News - March 20, 2012 - By Lisa L. Colangelo

Far Rockaway Playground Under Construction Receives Major Damage

NY1 - March 20, 2012 - By Ruschell Boone