Dangerous section of Jacob Riis beach likely to remain off-limits this summer

A stretch of Jacob Riis Park in the Rockaways remains too dangerous to use just ahead of beach season, and officials have no immediate plans to fix the area.

Erosion has continued to eat away at the section of shoreline where two teens died last year. The National Parks Service banned swimming from the section due to “extremely hazardous” conditions. Exposed wooden pilings dating back almost a century add to the risk – a surfer died at the same spot last month.

In the summer of 2023, the Army Corps of Engineers spent $12 million to dump 360,000 cubic yards of sand in an effort to replenish the area. But much of it washed away in the following months. Experts said the erosion causes rip currents that can be especially dangerous for inexperienced swimmers.

The Army Corps confirmed it has no plans to dump more sand in the area.

The narrow stretch of sand adds to an overall sense that the area is being neglected, locals said.

A $2.7 million refurbishment of the concrete path east of the 92-year-old bathhouse, which was scheduled to be completed by December, appears stalled. New benches – minus seats – line the boardwalk near where the teens drowned.

Hector Mosley, a spokesperson for the Army Corps, confirmed that there will be no construction taking place at Riis this summer.

A national parks spokesperson said the boardwalk project is nearing completion, but did not respond to inquiries about erosion at the beach.

Walter Rodríguez Meyer, an experienced surfer and owner of a Rockaway-based design firm, said he’d been caught on the same type of ancient wooden jetties — nicknamed “sticks” — that are believed to have trapped the surfer who drowned in April.

“ The wood has eroded, so it's like a razor sharp ... with exposed metal rods that hold them together, old bolts,” he said.

Meyer said the wooden groins need to be removed throughout the Rockaway Peninsula: “They're not contributing anything ecologically, and they're certainly not doing anything for the city and public health."

Carl Quigley (no relation to the reporter) is a former  aquatics director at St. Francis College in Brooklyn. He said that Riis beach has not seen the same mitigation work as beachfront managed by the city parks department.

“This beach will probably be closed this summer because the water comes up too high,” he said.

Earlier this week, many sections of the boardwalk at Riis were covered by sand, making passage on a bicycle treacherous. At the city-managed sections of boardwalk, parks crews were busy collecting sand and redepositing it on the beach.

“It’s Thursday and there’s no one working today.  It doesn't make sense,” Quigley said.