Ah, what better way to enjoy your rainy, miserable Memorial Day weekend than with a nice trip to the shore? As promised, 14 miles of the city's beaches will open for the season tomorrow! (Not Fort Tilden, though. Fort Tilden will remain hidden under a pile of Sandy-trash for the rest of the summer, apparently.)
No matter. The rest of the beaches—which include Coney Island/Brighton and Manhattan Beaches in Brooklyn; Rockaway Beach in Queens; Orchard Beach in the Bronx; and Midland, Wolfe’s Pond, Cedar Grove and South Beaches in Staten Island—underwent $270 million worth of repairs following Hurricane Sandy, according to a statement from the mayor's office, a massive effort that required 500,000 hours of manpower to complete.
“A few months ago, our region’s beaches were scenes of the tragic devastation left by Hurricane Sandy,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “In the wake of the storm, we promised New Yorkers that, no matter what it would take, every one of our City’s beaches would be open on Memorial Day. And today, I’m very excited to make it official," Bloomberg said in a statement.
According to Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty, the city removed more than 430,000 tons of storm debris from the city's beach communities. More than 40,000 cubic yards of debris—enough to fill 12 Olympic-sized swimming pools—were removed from the beaches themselves.
Also worth mentioning is the reopening of Steeplechase Plaza, $29.5 million, 2.2-acre amusement plot featuring the renovated Parachute Jump and the historic B&B Carousell.
The beaches will open for swimming tomorrow at 10 a.m., and will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Labor Day, September 2. Below, please enjoy this image of children riding the newly refurbished carousel under the watchful eye of grim-faced Bloomberg.
Via Bloomberg's office
