Southern Brooklyn Assemblyman Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, today, praised Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Parks Department for agreeing to build a new public comfort station at Coney Island Avenue and the Boardwalk rather than next to Oceana Condominiums – a location that sparked intense criticism and a two-year battle by residents and the Assemblyman to convince the city to abandon its original plan.
“This administration was willing to hear what the people had to say about the placement of the comfort station and, even more, to genuinely listen to those concerns,” said Cymbrowitz. “It took a while to work through the process, but in the end Mayor De Blasio’s office and Parks deserve our thanks for engaging in a productive dialogue and reaching a conclusion that is in the best interests of the Brighton Beach community.”
In 2013 the lawmaker led community opposition to placing the 20-foot-high comfort station in front of the Oceana after the Parks Department initially failed to perform an environmental review. He and others testified that the bathroom would better serve the public if it were moved farther west to Coney Island Avenue and the Boardwalk. Following pressure from Cymbrowitz and the community, the Parks Department included that option in its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) released in February 2014.
In the Parks Department recently released final EIS, the decision to move the comfort station was implemented.
Cymbrowitz said there is no timetable yet for removing the pilings and building the new comfort station. To accommodate visitors this summer, Parks will install temporary bathrooms at Coney Island Avenue and the Boardwalk as it did last year. The temporary facilities will be in place before Memorial Day.
