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Sand Dance

Flood barrier bags in state of disrepair in Belle Harbor and beyond

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A homeowner’s concern regarding the degradation of protective sand bags along the Atlantic coastlines of Belle Harbor, Neponsit and other parts of the Rockaway peninsula has led him to question why the Parks Department hasn’t been more vigilant in maintaining the integrity of the self-erecting, four-foot barriers.

During a Tuesday, July 17 visit by The Wave to the oceanfront at Beach 132rd Street, retired firefighter Joseph Hartigan pointed out a number of missing or broken bags installed in front of a baffle wall. That structure and others like it, according to Parks’ website, have been placed there to prevent sand migration to the row of homes behind them.

Hartigan, however, poked holes in that theory by claiming that the concrete barricades attached to steel pilings—which can be seen from Beach 126th through Beach 149th streets—aren’t exactly what they’re cracked up to be.

“This is not a sea wall. This is just a baffle wall; it’s not designed to hold back the ocean. Probably with a couple of really good shots, these walls can come apart,” opined the local activist, who attends a wide range of civic and government meetings throughout the five boroughs.

Joining Hartigan on the Belle Harbor coastline was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of TrapBag, Everett “Buzz” Waid, whose Florida-based company manufactures and markets the bags lining the inner perimeter of the baffle wall.

Much like Hartigan, the corporate executive claimed that the current state of his bags necessitates the repair or outright replacement of the barrier sacks not only at Beach 132nd Street, but at every block of the neighborhood in order to maintain a vital layer of defense against floods and general erosion.

“The key to these bags is that they stay as a unit, a continual cellular structure,” explained Waid, as he went on to note how his bags have been vandalized since they were first placed there in 2013.

“The ultraviolet light over the years has gotten to them too. If they remain exposed, it starts to break down to polypropylene (a low-toxin plastic susceptible to UV damage). Everybody was aware of that. That was the reason why at the other end, they covered them [with sand]. Staten Island, they covered them…and the same thing down here along the boardwalk, where they just covered them up.”

And though the upkeep of the sand-laden sacks was of primary interest to both parties, Hartigan also identified a new bicycle rack along the sand area that now lies in the same spot where TrapBags were originally located.

He called Parks’ decision to remove approximately four to six bags to create room for the rack “foolish” and added how the city agency doesn’t seem to recognize that amount of potential devastation and wreckage the bags could mitigate over a four or five-hour period it usually takes for a major storm to blow out.

“So, what I’m saying is, until we don’t put more sand on the beach and get this whole jetty thing settled, to take anything down that’s already here, it’s a great expense. I just don’t understand why they put that bike rack in front of it,” he stated.

Thus far, estimated a 200-miles of TrapBags have reportedly been deployed in disaster zones around the world. As per Waid, they’ve been just as effective in stopping mudflows (see Colorado’s Waldo Canyon fires in 2012) as they’ve been in obstructing flooding.

On the local front, efforts have been made by Hartigan to contact Queens Parks Borough Commissioner Dorothy “Dottie” Lewandowski to find out who authorized the elimination of sandbags. The Wave’s attempt to reach out to the Parks press office hadn’t produced a response as we went to press.

For further details on TrapBags and video demonstrations of how they work, visit the company website at www.trapbag.com.

One response to “Sand Dance”

  1. danprecc@aol.com says:

    We called the Trap Bags Crap Bags when the HESCO Barrier Company came to Rockaway and gave a demonstration on them, but they were never utilized. In June of 2013 trap bags were being reported as a new jogging track photos of children running across on them. October 2013 a report that trap bags were being held together with duct tape and springing leaks. The WAVE did some really good reporting on this.

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