South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk

The South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk stretches between Fort Wadsworth to the north and Miller Field to the south. According to the second edition of The Encyclopedia of New York City, , the South Beach Boardwalk is the fourth-longest boardwalk in the world. From north to south, it runs through the neighborhoods of Arrochar, South Beach, and Midland Beach. When built it was wide for its length, half that of the Riegelmann Boardwalk at Coney Island, located across the Lower New York Bay in Brooklyn. The FDR Boardwalk was made with concrete and timber and contains several pavilions, restrooms, and "comfort stations" along its length. A boulevard, now known as Father Capodanno Boulevard, was built on the landward side of the boardwalk. A "protected" bicycle lane, segregated from other traffic, stretches the length of the boardwalk. The South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk is very lightly used compared to other beaches in New York City. In 2017, South Beach and Boardwalk saw 334,000 visitors, compared to 2 million at Orchard Beach in the Bronx, 5 million at Rockaway Beach in Queens, and 6.7 million at Coney Island. Recreational areas The South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk is composed of two main beaches: South Beach to the north of Sea View Avenue and Midland Beach to the south. The beaches contain facilities for baseball, handball, shuffleboard, bocce, checkers, volleyball, and roller hockey, as well as the Ben Soto Skate Park and the Ocean Breeze Fishing Pier. The boardwalk contains eight baseball fields along its length: five adjacent to Midland Beach and three adjacent to South Beach. Two of the baseball fields in Midland Beach are also shared with a rugby pitch. There is also a basketball court near the south end of the boardwalk, at Greeley Avenue. The Detective Russel Timoshenko Soccer Field, named after a police officer killed in 2007, is located further north on the beach at Slater Boulevard. The northern end contains three bocce boards near Drury Avenue and two volleyball courts near Doty Avenue. Three children's playgrounds exist along the route of the boardwalk. From north to south, they are Playland at Sand Lane; Midland Playground at Graham Avenue; and Midland Beach Playground at Greeley Avenue. Statues and monuments Fountain of the Dolphins is a statue at South Beach by sculptor Steven Dickey. It was donated in 1998 by the Staten Island borough president and consists of six bronze depictions of dolphins, attached to poles with multicolored water jets. and Seaside Boulevard was renamed after Capodanno the same year. Located at Sand Lane and Fr. Capodanno Boulevard, the memorial consists of a bronze and steel tablet recessed in a granite stele. The Midland Beach War Memorial is located near Fr. Capodanno Boulevard and Midland Avenue. It is composed of a three-paneled upright slab of Barre granite. An eagle figure is inscribed atop the pedestal. Ben Soto Skate Park The Ben Soto Skate Park is a skateboarding and BMX biking park located at the Midland Beach Playground. The skate park is composed of concrete and metal. It was opened in 2005 and named in honor of a local Marine who died four years prior. By 2010, the skate park had deteriorated and the soon-to-be U.S. Representative for Staten Island, Michael Grimm, had promised to fix it. Since being renovated in 2011, the skate park has been criticized by local skateboarders and bikers who state that it lacks a variety of traditional skatepark features such as ramps. == History ==

Predecessors Staten Island's East Shore was originally settled by the Dutch, who created the modern-day neighborhoods of Midland Beach and South Beach. Though summer homes were built along the beach in the mid-18th century, these areas remained rural until the later portion of the century. By 1882, businessmen realized that the area could be developed as a resort, As a result of its easy accessibility from Brooklyn and Manhattan, the resorts evolved into amusement places similar to Coney Island. The sites of the amusement areas are now occupied by the South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk. After much of the area was destroyed by a fire in September 1896, the Happyland Amusement Park, an enclosed park with numerous attractions and landscape features, opened on June 30, 1906. Among the park's attractions were a beachfront of , a pier, a boardwalk, a system of over 10,000 lights, and numerous attractions and roller coasters. when the South Beach Branch came to the area. It contained a pier jutting into the Atlantic Ocean, where visitors could catch the steamboat William Story to the Battery at the tip of Lower Manhattan. Like South Beach, it offered theater performances, a beach, picnicking areas, snack kiosks, numerous hotels and bungalows, and several amusement attractions and roller coasters. The beach also contained a boardwalk. During World War I, air and water pollution quality and fears of German attacks discouraged tourists from coming to Staten Island. However, visitation rebounded after the war, and by 1923 Staten Island was seeing record-high numbers of visitors, including 150,000 on a single day in June 1923. The parks were mostly destroyed following a series of devastating fires in the 1920s. A pair of fires also affected Midland Beach in 1924: the first severely reduced the ability of boats to travel to Midland Beach, Both amusement areas were rebuilt, only for both to burn down in 1929. One remnant of the amusement area, the South Beach Amusement Park at the northern end of South Beach, continued to operate through the end of the 20th century, though much of that park was destroyed in 1955. Construction and opening A law passed by the New York State Legislature in 1930 allocated $1 million for the construction of a beach and boardwalk at Staten Island, running between Fort Wadsworth and Miller Field. In 1934, the New York City Board of Estimate changed the city's zoning map so that the shorefront along South, Graham, Midland, and Woodland Beaches would be public land. Subsequently, Staten Island borough president Joseph A. Palma proposed constructing a boardwalk to connect South Beach and New Dorp. was to cost $2 million and would be built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Part of the cost would be funded by the Public Works Administration. The project was expected to raise real estate prices, similar to previous boardwalk projects in New York City. Work on the boardwalk itself did not begin until a month later. The plans called for a beach to be built before the boardwalk, but construction did not progress in that exact sequence, which resulted in some parts of the boardwalk site being flooded at high tide. As a result, WPA employees sometimes worked 6-hour days and other times worked less than 4 hours in a day. Nevertheless, the boardwalk was built relatively quickly, and the first section between Fort Wadsworth and South Beach was nearly completed by the end of 1936. Twelve jetties and a parallel beach section had also been completed, though a section across New Creek in Midland Beach was progressing slowly. An official opening ceremony was held on July 4, 1937, and was attended by 25,000 people. Upon its opening the boardwalk was named after U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, who participated in the ceremonies remotely. Early years (left) and Swinburne Island (right) seen from the boardwalk In September 1937, three hundred bathhouses on the newly completed boardwalk burned down. The United States Army announced plans for a pier at Lily Pond Avenue, at the northern end of the FDR Boardwalk, in 1940. The pier would support their activities on nearby Hoffman Island and Swinburne Island. Furthermore, a NYC Parks rule initially prevented wounded war veterans from using the South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk due to regulations preventing wheelchairs from using the boardwalk. As a result, in 1945 Palma arranged an agreement whereupon these veterans could instead use Midland Beach, which at the time was privately owned. Staten Island borough president Edward G. Baker and NYC Parks commissioner Moses proposed a redevelopment of the South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk in 1953. Baker and Moses stated that the redevelopment of the boardwalk would serve to improve the quality of Staten Island's East Shore in general, similar to how the Rockaway Boardwalk's construction had improved the Rockaways. At the time, 1.2 million people per year were visiting the beach and boardwalk. Moses also proposed to charge 25 cents for parking and 10 cents to enter the boardwalk, drawing up to 2.4 million people within 30 years. The first portion of the renovation was completed in 1958. When the project was entirely completed in the 1960s, it included three sections, the original South Beach as well as two new sections at Graham and Midland Beaches. and additional funds were disbursed under the Public Works Employment Act of 1977. Decline The boardwalk started to decline in the 1950s because of issues such as water pollution, caused by sewage outflows from Manhattan and New Jersey flowing into the bay. By the 1960s, even some lifeguards were refusing to swim in the water near the South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk. Another issue was the withdrawal of Staten Island Railway services from South Beach in the mid-1950s, basically isolating the boardwalk from all except residents of nearby areas. The 1970s saw several arson attempts as well as a high concentration of drug users and prostitutes. The beaches along the South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk remained polluted, and in 1983, New York City Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin rated the boardwalk's quality as "poor" due to polluted waters and badly maintained boardwalks. At the time, the beach only saw 1,200 visitors on a busy day. In 1985, a small part of the South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk, as well as three other city beaches and Central Park's Sheep Meadow, were designated as "quiet zones" where loud radio-playing was prohibited. In the mid-1980s, the NYC Parks budget increased greatly, allowing the agency to renovate two ballfields at the boardwalk in 1986, as well as install new benches. Meanwhile, the water pollution near the boardwalk became so bad that the city stopped placing lifeguards in 1990. The beach and boardwalk continued to be affected by vandalism, pollution, and general neglect. Revival The beachfront received a major overhaul during the 1990s. In May 1994, following an accidental fire that destroyed of the boardwalk, then-borough president Guy Molinari announced that the damaged section of boardwalk would receive a $650,000 renovation. Several million dollars of funds were allocated for multiple related projects. These included the conversion of parking lots into South Beach Park, which opened in June 1996; reconstruction of the fire-damaged section of boardwalk; and renovation of a playground. NYC Parks also started looking for concessionaires for a pavilion at Sand Lane, which had previously been damaged in a fire. New recreation facilities for senior citizens and a program of concerts were also added. The renovation of the South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk came with a cleanup of the waterfront, as well as full funding for lifeguards, who started working at South Beach again in July 1997. Other improvements to the boardwalk were made under the administration of Molinari and his successor, James Molinaro. The improvements included the addition of a Dolphin Fountain at the boardwalk's northern end and a veterans' monument called Freedom Circle at its southern end. New parking lots, a $1.8 million pavilion, and new lighting were also installed. According to one estimate, some $20 million had been allocated to the improvement of South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk since 1995. The beaches continued to suffer from pollution. A New York City Council report in 2004 designated South Beach and Boardwalk as the dirtiest of the city's seven beaches. A separate, independent survey in 2007 rated South Beach as being "challenged", though Midland Beach was in much better condition. In a 2009 survey, South Beach's boardwalk, facilities, and beach had been rated as being poorly maintained, but by 2011, it was rated as the best-maintained beach in the city, in even better condition than Midland Beach. Wi-Fi service from AT&T was enabled along the boardwalk in 2012, making it one of several Wi-Fi hotspots around the city. That October, the South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk was damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Over a period of nine months, portions of the boardwalk were gradually repaired and reopened, and NYC Parks workers from other boroughs were sent to Staten Island to repair the boardwalk quickly. One damaged portion of the boardwalk, an ADA-accessible ramp to the beach, was not repaired until 2018. In June 2022, the United States Congress provided funds for the East Shore Seawall paralleling the boardwalk; construction began at the end of that year. The boardwalk was deteriorating by late 2025, with issues such as exposed nails and broken boards, and Mayor Eric Adams and Borough President Vito Fossella subsequently agreed to establish a maintenance fund for the South Beach Boardwalk. In early 2026, the city announced that the fund would provide $700,000 per year and that a maintenance team would be hired specifically to carry out repairs on the boardwalk. == References ==