While it's doubtful the boardwalk will be ready this month, the Rockaways will get something by the end of the month: The A train back and running, just in time for the beach to reopen for the season.
Governor Cuomo and the MTA just announced that service on the Rockaway A line will resume on May 30th. Currently, the A train stops at Howard Beach/JFK Airport (map) due to damage sustained by Hurricane Sandy. After Sandy, the MTA gave the peninsula its own shuttle, the H line, while it continued to work on repairs.
And there were many necessary repairs. After spending four weeks removing debris from the line (like that boat above), the MTA says it had to "rebuild 1,500 feet of washed-out tracks, replace miles of signal, power and communications wires, and rehabilitate two stations that were completely flooded. The new work included installing a corrugated marine steel sheet wall 30 feet into the soft soil of over two miles of the right-of-way along Jamaica Bay to protect the track against future washouts and ensure the line is ready to handle future coastal storms."
Governor Cuomo said, "Superstorm Sandy devastated the entire MTA network like no other storm, but the MTA did a remarkable job of restoring service following the storm and at the end of this month, the A line in the Rockaways will be up and running. The last six months have meant substantial cleanup and repair, leading to the rapid restoration of full service in all but the hardest-hit facilities.
"Now we must focus on the priority and challenge of making permanent repairs to keep the subways safe and reliable for years to come because the people and businesses of New York depend on a strong and robust mass transit system. The difficult work of rebuilding the system to be stronger and more resilient has just begun, but we will build back better and smarter than before."
