ROCKAWAY BEACH — The rebuilt boardwalk in Rockaway, mostly destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, is one step closer to completion.
A stretch of the new concrete, more resilient boardwalk reopened Tuesday between Beach 86th to Beach 73rd streets. By Memorial Day the new boardwalk will connect from Beach 126th to Beach 9th streets, officials said.
It will mark the first time the entire stretch is open since the 2012 storm.
"People who have been longing for that east-west connection, by the summertime, it's back," Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski said Wednesday on a frigid walk on the new boardwalk.
This summer, the Parks Department plans to add more mobile shopping and food spots in addition to the existing concessions.
And playgrounds around the boardwalk, which have been blocked by construction, are also set to open, she said.
