Rockaway Beach To Reopen After Senator's Sand Dump

FAR ROCKAWAY, QUEENS — A popular strip of Rockaway Beach that was closed off last summer will reopen in time for beach season this year.

The city will reopen 11 blocks of Rockaway Beach between Beach 91st Street and Beach 102nd Street as part of a $7 million project to clean out the East Rockaway Inlet, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer announced Monday.

“Let there be sand – on Rockaway Beach!" Schumer said in a statement. "Kudos to Mayor de Blasio and the Army Corps for working together in a way that provides a critical positive fix for this situation. No one wanted to have another partial beach shutdown again this summer."

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will dredge the inlet and use the sand they gather to replenish parts of Rockaway Beach that had eroded, prompting safety concerns ahead of beach season last year.

“Rockaway Beach defines summer in New York City,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Reopening this beach means a lot to this community and families all over the city. We’ve worked months with the Army Corps and our federal partners on a solution to get it done.”

Last summer the NYC Parks & Recreation Department said there wasn't "enough beach area to safely operate swimming and recreation activities" on that stretch of Rockaway Beach, thanks to the erosion. The decision less than a week before the beach's opening in 2018 drew harsh rebuke from public officials.

"The city's immediate plans for the Rockaways will significantly hurt the local community and Queens economy during the vital visitor season of the summer months, and shortchange one of the largest tourist attractions in the city," Queens Borough President Melinda Katz said at the time.

The inlet dredging project is part of Schumer's efforts to fund and expedite efforts to find solutions for long-term erosion control and coastal protection projects along the Atlantic Coast between East Rockaway Inlet, Rockaway Inlet and Jamaica Bay.