COURIER L 18 IFE, APR. 30-MAY 6, 2021
BOARDWALK
“Years of heavy vehicles
driving on the
Boardwalk have caused
signifi cant damage to the
landmarked site,” Treyger
said. “By prohibiting
vehicles from driving on
boardwalks and limiting
the weight of public
safety and maintenance
utility vehicles, we are
giving the Boardwalk in
Coney Island back to the
people.”
His legislation also invokes
a penalty of up to
$1,000 or 90 days imprisonment
for unauthorized
vehicles who ride on the
boardwalk, which the
councilman said has previously
occurred without
enforcement. For that
reason, locals say, they
have their doubts higher
fi nes will lead to any increase
in execution.
“It will be welcomed
to get that banned but
I would like to see what
the mechanism is going
to be for enforcement because
the police department
hasn’t been willing
to enforce anything,”
said Mendez, “and the
New York City Parks Department
who has their
security people out there
during the season hasn’t
done anything either.”
Brighton Beach resident
Craig Hammerman
is advocating for a similar
bill on the state level
to amend the state’s Vehicle
and Traffi c Law—
the de facto ruling for
all agencies in New York
State enforcing traffi c
laws — arguing it would
strengthen the law as it
could be carried out by
all state agencies, including
state troopers, and
would be effective on all
of New York’ sprawling
boardwalks. It would also
enable state troopers to
impose compliance of the
bank.
Other advocates welcomed
Treyger’s legislation
as a good fi rst step
but said they’d like to see
the city go further in banning
vehicles outright
from the boardwalk, or
providing agencies with
lightweight vehicles to
enable them to abide by
the new rules.
“We, as a community
need to do a better job advocating
for the 60th Precinct
to get the tools that
they need,” Hammerman
said. “It’s clearly not an
all-out ban of every vehicle
on the boardwalk
which I think is the ideal
but its a huge step in that
direction. Just establishing
that driving is illegal
really changes the nature
of that conversation moving
forward.”
Looking ahead
The lawmaker plans
to follow up his vehicle
ban with legislation that
would necessitate the city
hire a year-round repairman
for the boardwalk,
after a Parks offi cial recently
revealed that the
city only contracts carpenters
during the summer
and as needed for repairs
in the offseason.
“Outside the peak
season, no carpenters are
specifi cally dedicated to
Coney Island, but we’re
doing repairs whenever
they’re necessary,” said
Mark Focht, the deputy
commissioner of maintenance
for the Parks Department
at an April 12
City Council hearing.
“During our peak season
… around now through
the season, we dictate two
carpenters to maintain
the boardwalk.”
Notwithstanding the
councilmember’s bill,
the agency is already underway
on a $3.2 million
project installing bollards
at all of the walkway’s
entrances to prevent
terrorist attacks.
That work is expected to
be completed in 2022, according
to Focht, which
Treyger said “will help
ensure we further protect
the landmarked
Riegelmann Boardwalk”
— and was a request from
his offi ce.
While boardwalks
made of concrete may
be easier to maintain,
Burstein credits the unmatched
aesthetic appeal
of a wooden boardwalk
as one which symbolizes
their beloved neighborhood
and doubles as a
tourist attraction, helping
drive business in Coney
Island.
“If you ask people to
close their eyes and think
about walking on a wood
boardwalk as opposed to
concrete, its a totally different
experience,” Burstein
said. “There is no reason
we can’t maintain it
in a way that preserves
it for everyone’s use now
and for generations to
come.”
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