Parks Postpones Do-Or-Die Hearing on Coney Concretewalk

January 24, 2012 by Tricia

The Parks Department has postponed to February 21 a hearing to win approval for its controversial plan to pave all but four blocks of the Coney Island Boardwalk with concrete and plastic wood. On Monday night, Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance’s Rob Burstein told ATZ: “I just received an e-mail from the Parks Department’s liaison to the Design Commission informing me that they have postponed the date that they intend to present their proposal to the Design Commission. They will not present on January 30th, as we were originally told, but have tentatively rescheduled for February 21st.”

Since Parks initiated the January 30 date to make their presentation, it appears that they are not yet ready to prove their case for concrete before the Public Design Commission. At the October hearing, PDC commissioners were skeptical of the need to use concrete and said that more environmental and engineering studies were needed to address the questions that they had.

Photos from Friends of the Boardwalk's website show the results of prior projects where the NYC Parks Department used concrete. Photos © Mary Ann De Luca via FOBConeyIsland.com

“Please SAVE THE DATE, so that if it is confirmed we can all once again be sure to be there,” says Burstein of February 21. Public testimony is limited to three minutes per person. For more info, check out our previous post “Jan 30: NYC Design Commission to Meet (Again) on Coney Island Concretewalk,” (ATZ, January 20, 2012).

On Saturday, January 28th at 3pm, Burstein’s group and Friends of the Boardwalk are having an informational meeting at Brighton Beach Library. Email Rob Burstein at robburstein[AT]Hotmail[dot]com for details.

Meanwhile, an online petition to “Keep the Boards in the Coney Island Boardwalk–No Concrete” launched this month has eight-hundred-and something signatures and a goal of 5,000. If you didn’t sign yet, don’t complain when your feet ache from walking/jogging on the Concretewalk. Of course, if the Boardwalk does get paved, images like photographer Bruce Handy’s exquisite “Boardwalk Slats in the Snow” and “Sand on the Boardwalk” will be a rare sight.

UPDATE…February 17, 2012...The Parks Department has once again postponed the date– February 21 — that they requested to present the Concretewalk plan to the Public Design Commission! We have no idea why–Perhaps they’re not ready? Perhaps they’re busy lining up support from PDC Commissioners to assure a win? Perhaps they’re trying to throw off the grassroots opposition? The online petition to “Keep the Boards in the Coney Island Boardwalk – -No Concrete! and Save the Rainforests” continues to collect signatures.