Volunteers Plant Beachgrass To Help Replenish Staten Island Beach Slammed By Superstorm Sandy
Volunteers plant beachgrass on Crescent Beach, Staten Island, on April 6, 2014. (credit: Monica Miller/WCBS 880)
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — About 90 residents and volunteers spent a calm, sunny Sunday doing their part to help in Staten Island’s recovery following Superstorm Sandy.
As WCBS 880’s Monica Miller reported, the crew visited Crescent Beach, on Staten Island’s eastern shore, and planted 2,400 Ammophila breviligulata plants — also known as beachgrass.
“The spring comes, it can grow, spread out and hold the sand down,” said Elizabeth Jordan, a senior project manager with the city’s Parks Department. “So that’s what the plant does is really kind of binds that sand together so that the dune is a stronger structure.”
Crescent Beach was washed away in Sandy, and Connie, a resident of the area, remembers how devastated her neighborhood was by the October 2012 storm.
“We had 25 boats in our street — I mean, big boats,” she said.
She added that Sunday’s beach replenishment project is part of the healing process.
“There’s a disaster, but then there’s happy, good things that take place,” she said. “So the fact that all these people showed up to help us dig is such a postive, great thing.”
Added Bradley, another volunteer: “It’s just a good effort. It’s a good thing to protect Staten Island. And they need help. So we’re here to help.”
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