Coney Island boardwalk likely to be landmarked
Image:Â Shinya Suzuki via Flickr
Image:Â Shinya Suzuki via Flickr
After repeatedly declining to protect the celebrated walkway–even as its wooden planks become increasingly replaced with concrete and plastic as a result of Superstorm Sandy repairs–the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has agreed to add the historic Coney Island Boardwalk to the agency’s list of properties to consider for protected status, according to remarks made at a LPC hearing Thursday, Crain’s reports. LPC chair Meenakshi Srinivasan said the boardwalk–its official name is the Riegelmann Boardwalk–could be protected as early as this spring or summer.
Luna Park, Coney Island, N.Y., 1917. Image: NYPL Digital Collections
City Councilman Mark Treyger said, “This is big news. We will finally see the legendary Coney Island boardwalk become a landmark in New York City.” Treyger and his council colleagues adopted a resolution in 2016 that urged the LPC to designate the boardwalk a landmark.
The proposal will still have to wend its way through the standard approval process. The boardwalk’s upkeep is entrusted to the Department of Parks and Recreation. Landmark status will mean that any repairs or renovations will have to be reviewed and approved by the commission to make sure historical accuracy is maintained. Any cost this adds would be picked up by city taxpayers in the boardwalk’s case.
[Via Crain’s]
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