A look down the road to recovery

At N.Y. Rising meeting, East Rockaway, Bay Park residents see where millions of post-Sandy dollars will go

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At last week’s third public forum on post-Hurricane Sandy reconstruction, residents of Bay Park and East Rockaway finally got to see a breakdown of where $6.5 million that was allocated for projects in the two communities would go. And although some of the 50 or so residents who attended had questions and voiced concerns about the projects, most said they were happy that their neighborhoods were finally on the road to recovery.

“This looks like it will take a while,” said Bay Park resident Judy Forster, “but all in all, it will help us in the long run.”

At the forum, held on Feb. 4 at the Charles H. Formont Senior Center, representatives of the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Program proposed how they, with help from the local Bay Park/East Rockaway Planning Committee, have decided where the funds can be best used.

“We’ve narrowed it down to six important elements,” said the NYRCRP representative. “It’s important that we protect the coastline — and in East Rockaway and Bay Park, and storm water drainage is a huge issue.” He added that the municipal infrastructure, quality of life, the local economy and long-awaited improvements to the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant are also important.

“We have to mitigate at the plant, and we are considering adding an 18-foot wall around the facility,” he said. “We are also excited about the idea of adding a microgrid plant, which would keep the plant running in case of a storm or another extreme event, and it could also supply power to those near it, like the Department of Public Works and Rhame Avenue School, both just blocks away from the plant.”

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