ROCKAWAY PARK — The reopening of a rebuilt portion of the boardwalk from Beach 108th to Beach 126th streets will be delayed due to new crane safety regulations, according to the city.
The boardwalk, which was originally scheduled to open this Memorial Day, will now be completed in July.
Regulations following the deadly crane collapse in Lower Manhattan in February required cranes to be put into "safety modes" when winds hit 20 mph, or when wind gusts are forecast to exceed 30 mph, according to the city.
Cranes working on sections of the concrete boardwalk have been put into safety mode a "number of times" since the regulations took effect last month, city spokeswoman Amy Spitalnick said.
It's not clear exactly how many days work had to stop, but it caused a delay on the boardwalk from Beach 108th to Beach 126th streets in Rockaway Park, officials said.
The spokeswoman added that they are hoping to get the boardwalk open "as quickly as possible given the safety regulations, which as of now is July."
Beach 39th to Beach 60th streets, which is also under construction, is still scheduled to open by Memorial Day 2016. The section from Beach 73rd to Beach 86th streets opened early in February.
The delay was first reported by The Wave.
Reconstruction of the boardwalk on the Rockaway peninsula — which was mostly destroyed during Hurricane Sandy — has been plagued by delays since it began.
The construction schedule has had to work around the schedule of the nesting of piping plovers. The government shutdown in 2013 also contributed to the delay.
