New York, NY – New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is pledging to rebuild the miles of beach boardwalks destroyed by Superstorm Sandy – but he says the new models aren’t going to be made of wood.
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For years now, city officials have talked about wanting to replace the hardwood in the boardwalks with more durable and environmentally friendly materials, like concrete and plastic composites.
Nostalgia buffs have protested, but the mayor told The Wave, a neighborhood newspaper in the devastated Rockaway Peninsula, that the storm settled the issue for good.
He told the paper “there will be no more wooden boardwalks in Rockaway or anywhere else.”
City parks officials say concrete sections of boardwalk in the Rockaways and Coney Island held up much better in the storm.
How about trex -they build decks out of that
And maybe he shouldn’t allow houses to built of wood anymore, either – the brick houses withstood the storm much better as well!
Some things are just a piece of the city as they were. replacing the Wonder Wheel and parachute Jump in Coney Island with merry-go-rounds may be safer, but would destroy the meaning and history of Coney Island.
the mayor is using the storm to pursue his own agenda he has been trying to change the boardwalks to cement for years
More durable, probably yes. Environmentally friendly, no. In what way is a boardwalk that is comprised of “plastic composites” more environmentally friendly than wood?
I hope all the powers that be are aware that this renovation would be considered “New Construction” under The ADA, and therefore it should be recogonized that the WOOD boardwalk would not be considered compliant according to the ADAAGS.
If the City wants to be involved in expensive litigation after construction, then they should go ahead an approve a non-compliant wood surface.
it won’t be able to be called a “board”walk if it’s made out of something else.
An advanced, wood decked, concrete composite piling and beam system that can be retrofitted over the 1930′ era substructure: http://tinyurl.com/HCB-Boardwalk
This would give new Yorkers the sturdiness of the concrete substructure that survived Sandy yet preserve the traditional look and feel of the historic New York Boardwalks.