Coney Island Concretewalk at West 36th Street near Sea Gate. June 22, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr
On Thursday, the advocacy groups Friends of the Boardwalk and the Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance along with neighborhood residents announced that they had filed a lawsuit against the New York City Parks Department. According to CBBA’s website savetheboardwalk.wordpress.com: “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 suit aims to stop the agency from replacing additional sections of the Coney Island Boardwalk with concrete and plastic wood. The above photo taken a few weeks ago by ATZ shows the concrete-slabbed Boardwalk between West 33rd and West 37th Streets in the West End of Coney Island. It’s not a pretty sight. The cracks, repairs and drainage issues mentioned in the suit can be seen in the close-up shots. The Parks Department’s plan to redo the Boardwalk was approved by the Public Design Commission at a charade of a public hearing in March.
Section of Coney Island Concretewalk at West 36th Street near Sea Gate. June 22, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr
The petitioners are the Coney-Brighton Boardwalk Alliance and its president Robert Burstein, Ocean Parkway resident Arlene Brenner, Boardwalk resident Brunilda Figueroa, Friends of the Boardwalk and its president Todd Dobrin, and Ida Sanoff, an environmental advocate who led the fight against the amphitheater in Seaside Park. All are longtime residents of Brighton Beach.
The release says:
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.
Section of Coney Island Concretewalk at West 36th Street near Sea Gate. June 22, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr
The full complaint can be read via scribd
Related posts on ATZ…
March 22, 2012: The Coney Island-Brighton Beach Concretewalk Blues
March 9, 2012: The 10 People Who Will Decide the Fate of Coney Island Boardwalk
February 29, 2012: Exclusive: Coney Boardwalk Group’s Letter to PDC Rebuts Parks
January 24, 2012: Parks Postpones Do-Or-Die Hearing on Coney Concretewalk
Amusing the Zillion 
Thank you for reporting on this. I support this lawsuit 100%! SHAME on the parks department for acting as a scab to this VULTURE developer who is quite literally ripping the heart and soul out of one of New York’s most treasured landmarks!!! Stop this madness and long live the REAL Coney Island!!