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Jacob Riis Park might have retro charm and sweeping ocean views, but for summer 2025, large swaths of this Queens beach will be off-limits—and not because of a new construction project or piping plover. A stretch of shoreline on the eastern side of the park has been deemed “extremely hazardous” by the National Park Service due to worsening erosion, deadly rip currents and nearly century-old wooden pilings lurking just beneath the surf.
This is the same section where two teens drowned last summer and, more recently, a surfer died (per the New York Post) after being caught on the aging wooden jetties, known locally (and ominously) as “sticks.” Surfer and designer Walter Rodríguez Meyer described them to Gothamist as “razor sharp” with “exposed metal rods that hold them together.” His warning: remove them entirely, not just at Riis, but across the Rockaways.
The Army Corps of Engineers spent $12 million last summer to replenish the beach with 360,000 cubic yards of sand. It didn’t last. Within months, the ocean swallowed the investment. And this year? There are no plans for a redo. Hector Mosley, a spokesperson for the Corps, confirmed to there will be no additional sand dumped and no active construction at Riis this summer.
The danger isn’t just in the water. Up on land, things look just as bleak. A $2.7 million project to refurbish the walkway east of the 92-year-old bathhouse has stalled out, leaving the path half-done and new benches without seats. Sand now spills across parts of the boardwalk, making walking and biking treacherous. "It’s Thursday and there’s no one working today," Carl Quigley, a former aquatics director, told Gothamist. "It doesn’t make sense."
The disconnect is all the more frustrating when you look next door. On city-run beaches nearby, workers are actively reshaping the shore and reinforcing safety measures. But because Riis is federally managed, it’s been left adrift.
Longtime local beachgoers say they’re losing not just a beach, but a community cornerstone. The feds promise they’re “exploring options,” but with summer sun just weeks away, that’s cold comfort.