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A wave of relief is crashing over Fire Island: The state just approved a $1.7 billion budget to make sure New Yorkers’ favorite summer escape doesn’t slip beneath the surf.
The barrier island, a 32-mile-long ribbon of sand that draws more than 2 million visitors each year, has been shrinking fast. In recent winters, nor’easters chewed away so much shoreline that high tides lapped frighteningly close to houses in the Pines and Cherry Grove. For locals and weekenders alike, it felt like paradise was one storm away from being swallowed whole.
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That’s where the new funding comes in. Backed by Albany and paired with federal dollars, the project bankrolls the Army Corps of Engineers to pump millions of cubic yards of fresh sand onto the beaches, rebuild dunes and shore up access points. The work is part of a decades-long effort to fight erosion, but this round promises stability through at least 2050.
For longtime residents, the difference is already night and day. “It’s a totally, completely, 100% different experience this summer,” children’s book author and homeowner Bill Doyle told Gothamist. “There was real danger there that people were going to lose their houses and access to the beach.”
If you’ve visited recently, you may have spotted dredging barges anchored offshore, ferrying sand back onto stretches that had been whittled to nothing more than a sliver. Some areas, like the Pines, are now wide enough to resemble a football field—luxury real estate, beach-towel edition.
But experts caution that replenishment is no magic wand. “The main question is how long can this really happen and who should pay,” said Rob Young, who directs the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University. Fire Island has been eroding for centuries; it was once connected to Long Island at both ends, after all.
Still, the infusion of cash has given residents and visitors room to breathe—and to sunbathe. Governor Kathy Hochul, who was feted at a Fire Island fundraiser earlier this summer, has framed the project as protection not just for homeowners but for all of Long Island. Without Fire Island acting as a buffer, the mainland would take the full brunt of storm surge.
For now, that means good news for beachgoers: The island’s famed stretch of sand, from Davis Park to Ocean Beach to the Pines, will be alive and well next summer. Pack your SPF—this party isn’t sinking yet.