Beach Channel Drive in Rockaway in Danger of Flooding....

Community Board 14 District Manager Jonathan Gaska surveys the deteriorating bulkhead near Beach Channel Drive
at Beach 108th St. in Rockaway.

Battered bulkhead spells danger for Rockaway residents 

Locals fear Jamaica Bay is creeping close to vital roadways

Local officials in Rockaway are pleading with Mayor Bloomberg to fix a battered bulkhead that has allowed Jamaica Bay to creep dangerously close to Beach Channel Drive.

A portion of the esplanade near Beach 108th St. and Beach Channel Drive has collapsed, just feet from the peninsula’s main east-west thoroughfare.

“One bad Nor’easter and we could lose the westbound drive,” said Jonathan Gaska, the district manager of Community Board 14. “This is our Queens Blvd. and it’s in danger.”

Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder and Community Board 14 have recently sent letters to the mayor’s office, warning the city about the precarious situation.

“I’m concerned that one day we might wake up and Beach Channel Drive is in the bay,” said Goldfeder. “It doesn’t take an engineer to see we have a pretty bad problem on our hands.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/battered-bulkhead-spells-danger-rockaway-residents-article-1.1014890#ixzz1l8IjoG3N