Great Kills Park sees temporary fix to walkway threatened by erosion

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Following a community outcry, the National Park Service is putting the finishing touches on a temporary solution to a major erosion problem at Great Kills Park.

The erosion was encroaching on a pedestrian walkway several feet above the beach, leading to complaints from parkgoers who worried about the safety of the walkway.

NPS has removed some spaces from the nearby parking lot, striped the realignment, and built a wooden barrier for pedestrian safety, according to Daphne Yun, public affairs officer for Gateway National Recreation Area.

Yun said that the temporary fix cost less than $45,000 and that the new pathway is already being used.

She said the next step will be to install a permanent sidewalk along the pathway, remove the parking-lot asphalt behind it, and plant the area.

That work will be done over the next several months, Yun said, and will be completed in the coming year. There is no cost estimate for that work as of yet.

Yun said that the NPS has also engaged with the Army Corps of Engineers to discuss longer-term site planning and resilience for the area. There are no details yet about the long-term plan.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) applauded the temporary steps being taken with the walkway and the plan for a permanent solution.

“I’m happy with it,” the lawmaker said. “That’s the most reasonable cost-efficient measure that they can do right now.”

Malliotakis visited the area with NPS and Army Corps of Engineers representatives on July 1 and alerted the Advance to the work being done.

“I think it addresses the issue of public safety,” Malliotakis said, adding, “I’m going to stay on top of them to make sure that we address this long-term.”

She said that the Army Corps’ long-term plan for the area would require Fiscal Year 2026 congressional appropriations.

“They are working on that,” Malliotakis said.

Parkgoers earlier this year told the Advance about the erosion problem, where the forces of nature are slowly destroying a swath of scenic seaside shoreline enjoyed by runners, walkers and cyclists.

The eroding hillside stretches for about a third of a mile, with a steep drop of several feet to the beach.

Trees have fallen from the decaying hillside to the shore below, as has wooden fencing containing emergency warning signs about the fall hazard posed by the erosion.

Islander Rich Collegio told the Advance that the erosion had gotten worse in the last year, creeping closer and closer to the walkway. He expressed concern that the area could be washed away by the next big coastal storm.

Another Islander, Jenn Tuzzo, started a petition on change.org to draw attention to the problems at Great Kills Park.

The park is part of Gateway National Recreation Area and is overseen by the National Park Service, a bureau of the federal Department of the Interior.