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Broad Channel Closes On $5.5 Million Resiliency Project

Officials cut the ribbon on new upgrades


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Two days after Sandy submerged Broad Channel in six feet of seawater, quick-thinking residents salvaged 200 bedsheets from the volunteer firehouse to swab the floors of the local American Legion Hall. They powered up generators and set up space for the deliveries that began to pour in from far-flung locations around the country. Before long, American Legion Post 1404 transformed into a community hub, supplying stranded neighbors with information, much-needed supplies, and a sense of solace when all else seemed lost.

Last week, many of those same volunteers joined state and local officials to cut the ribbon on a $5.5 million resiliency project that’s made state-of-the-art upgrades to the Legion Hall and built a new Broad Channel Athletic Club that’s equipped to serve the community in the event of future emergencies.

“After the storm, this was ground zero,” said Broad Channel Civic Association President Dan Mundy, Jr., who spoke from a podium just outside the Legion Hall. Every house and building on the island were flooded, but despite their damage, the community centers became a resource for the residents.

Members of the nearby Athletic Club, a second facility that provided refuge from the ravages of Sandy, were instrumental in getting the town back on its feet. “There were teams going into individual homes, working together to clean up, rip out sheetrock and get work done,” Mundy noted.

In the months that followed, the governor’s office asked community leaders to brainstorm proposals that could make the island more resilient to natural disasters. Subsequently, Mundy became the chair of the Broad Channel NY Rising Community Reconstruction Plan, an 11-member committee that provided the recently formed Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery with a list of construction projects. The committee later worked with public officials and design professionals to hash out the details.

“We wanted to make sure the state was making investments that provide more resources to the bedrocks of the community,” said Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin.

Katie Brennan, executive director of GOSR, said the recently completed upgrades ensure that centers like the American Legion Hall and the Athletic Club provide a safe space with adequate resources where residents can gather.

The project’s improvements include the installation of flood-resistant doors and new elevated mechanical and electrical systems at the Legion Hall; upgrades to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system; construction of the new two-story Athletic Club with meeting space, storage capacity and power equipment and the installation of two permanent elevated back-up power generators that are designed to automatically start and are equipped with flood venting and leak detection capabilities.

“This project was built ground up,” said Senator Joseph Addabbo. “It was not the government telling the community what they need, it was structured so that the community told the government what we want and that’s the perfect picture of how government should work.”

Leo Chavanne, vice president of the Broad Channel Civic Association and a NY Rising committee member, choked back tears when he talked about the vital role the Legion Hall and BCAC play in the community. “They just mean everything to us,” said Chavanne, who is a sixth-generation Broad Channel resident. “We aren’t going anywhere. We are rooted here in this community and we need programs like this to help make us more resilient.”

Chavanne said the added space in the Athletic Club will allow organizers to store supplies in a place that is above the floodplain. “After Sandy, we had nowhere to put the stuff that people from around the country were sending us,” he said. “We had stockpiles of everything from toothbrushes to portable generators.” In addition to provisions, the building will hold sports equipment and the town’s historical archives, a collection that up until now was kept in the home of a fellow resident.

The soon-to-be completed Sunset Cove Park and the construction of a new volunteer firehouse are among the other state-funded projects the NY Rising Committee requested.

“There is no elevated structure that allows the FDNY and NYPD to come here and operate as a logistical command post,” said Mundy, a 36-year FDNY veteran. “There was no presence here so [retired volunteer Chief] Dan McIntyre’s idea to build a new firehouse [next to the Athletic Club] was a fantastic one and a project that will soon come to fruition.

The finishing touches on Sunset Cove Park, which include a 300-foot long boardwalk made from the refurbished wood of the iconic Rockaway structure that Sandy destroyed, are scheduled to begin in March. The restored 9-acre portion of the Jamaica Bay waterfront includes a pristine salt marsh and bird habitat. “The wetland area there takes a storm’s energy and knocks it down to stop the flooding,” said Mundy. “We are definitely more resilient now and we continue to look for engineered solutions to help us live here in Broad Channel amid climate change

 

One response to “Broad Channel Closes On $5.5 Million Resiliency Project”

  1. Wayne says:

    Unfortunately this project is not “complete” 2/3rds May be, but the new volunteer firehouse is the third part of the resiliency project. Giving the area a much needed additional evacuation point and better emergency services.

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