By Maggie Hayes
March 4, 2014
Joseph P. Addabbo Memorial Bridge
The Joseph P. Addabbo Memorial Bridge has become a community “eyesore,” said one Queens pol who wants theNational Park Service (NPS) to step in.
“The level of deterioration at the foot of the Addabbo Bridge in Howard Beach is unacceptable,” said Assemblymember Phillip Goldfeder.
Goldfeder sent a letter to NPS Commissioner Josh Laird, requesting he repair the damaged and collapsed fence along the bridge near Cross Bay Boulevard before the summer season.
During Sandy, over one year ago, the fence was blown down and has yet to be restored. Goldfeder said this allows for pedestrians and fishermen to walk freely through the area, polluting the grounds.
“Currently, it’s a wide open space for any tragedy to occur,” said Dorothy McClusky, founder of the neighborhood group, Friends of Charles Park. “Any child could fall in the bay and no one would know. It’s a dangerous situation for the community.”
The south end of the bridge is in even greater disrepair with sections of both the east and west parking lots literally fallen into the bay. These areas are used by thousands of city residents as one of the only places in the city where you can park right next to the water and enjoy time there with family and friends, and socialize with windsurfers and kayakers and beachgoers. In a month or so the striped bass will be back in the bay, and the parking lot and beach host dozens of hopeful fishermen every hour of the day and evening in pursuit of these fish. Where else in the city is this mind of immediate waterfront available for so many different uses? And at no cost!
ReplyDeleteAnd most importantly can we risk the lives of the children who play on the collapsed concrete walks? Is the only solution to close that wonderful recreation area and take it away from one and all? Shame NYC, shame Parks Service. 18 months after Sandy, Irene and the Noreasters and still no repairs. We need more wonderful areas like this, not the loss of the one and only.