Brooklyn’s Coney Island Beaches to get
 $10.9 Million for Protection

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08) is pleased to announce that the U.S. House of Representatives’ continuing resolution for Fiscal Year 2007 includes $2.4 million to protect the Coney Island area of Sea Gate from beach erosion.  Additionally, the President’s proposed 2008 budget includes $8.5 million for the project, which aims to forestall the gradual shrinking of the beachhead that has brought many homes dangerously close to the water.

The erosion protection project will continue to be supervised by the Army Corps of Engineers, who will use the funding to construct T-Groins (rock jetties) along the beaches of Sea Gate.

These T-Groins are the permanent solution recommended by the Army Corps.  The construction of the rock jetties presents a long-term solution to the erosion of ocean beaches and the buildup of sand on the Gravesend Bay side.  Experts say that Sea Gate may only be one bad storm away from catastrophic damage. 

“Beach erosion in Sea Gate has progressed to the point where homes are in danger of literally sliding into the sea,” says Rep. Nadler.  “I’m gratified that Congress and the Administration are wise enough – finally – to notice that not everything happening on the Coney Island waterfront is fun and games.  The Sea Gate community is in real danger from erosion, and this funding will go a long way toward solving the problem.”

To date, the Army Corps of Engineers has received $200,000 for a September 2006 emergency project to remove sand from the Gravesend Bay side to the ocean.

Congressman Nadler has been working on a solution to this issue for more than a decade. In 1994, he helped bring about the sand replenishment of the beaches and the construction of the West 37th Street Groin.  In 2000, Nadler developed a plan with the Army Corps of Engineers to replenish sand on a short-term basis and instructed them to study alternatives for a long-term solution to the erosion of sand in Sea Gate. Also in 2000, Nadler successfully obtained a $9 million authorization in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) for the purpose of building the T-Groins. And in 2003 and 2004, Congressman Nadler secured more than $2 million in additional funds for the project.

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