Is Coney Island’s famed Boardwalk becoming a sidewalk?
The city is now replacing the wood planks on the Riegelmann Boardwalk with large concrete slabs from Ocean Parkway to Brighton First Road.
“It’s not going to look like wood at all,” admitted Martin Maher, chief of staff of Brooklyn Parks.
The slabs will have a tan hue and be textured to resemble pebbles and sand, said John Natoli, the Parks Department’s chief engineer.
He added that concrete will be more durable than wood and last “100 years instead of 30 or 40 years” — but fans of the classic wood planks were having none of it.
“Not only is it going to be ugly, it’s going to be unbearably hot,” said Brighton Beach resident Ida Sanoff. “People are not going to be able to walk barefoot over that. They’re going to burn their feet.”
Others said it’s not a boardwalk without the boards.
“It’s not supposed to be a concrete walk,” said Marion Cleaver, chairwoman of Community Board 13.
The traditional wood planks will be a key component on the Boardwalk near the amusement area, from West 10th Street to Stillwell Avenue.
After the summer, Parks will examine the wear and tear on the Boardwalk to determine which materials — the concrete in Brighton Beach, the wood by the amusements or some synthetic lumber planks on Steeplechase Pier — hold up best.
That material will be used if additional portions of the Boardwalk are replaced.
