Alongside Coney Island Beautification Project, we hosted our first public workshop for the Coney Island Creek Resilience Project on April 16th! We welcomed 50 residents, advocates and partners all focused on the developing the resilient creek shoreline and parks that Coney Island residents deserve.

We extend heartfelt thanks to all attendees for their contributions as we discussed how best to balance flood mitigation, waterfront access, and ecology within this process. Together, we gathered valuable input to help shape a community-informed vision for the future of Kaiser Park and Coney Island Creek Park.

This project operates in direct partnership with Coney Island Beautification Project, NYC DEP, and NYC Parks.  Thank you to Starr Whitehouse for facilitating this discussion.  We appreciated the attendance and attentions of Laurian Farell, Deputy Commissioner of the Bureau of Coastal Resilience (NYC DEP) and Marit Larson, Assistant Commissioner of Natural Resources and Planning (NYC Parks), reaffirming the commitment of both agencies to the development and implementation of this collective vision.

Event: Coney Island Creek Resilience Project Public Workshop #1

Date: Thursday, April 16^th, 2026

Location: Education Hall, New York Aquarium

Meeting Purpose/Agenda:

• Check-In and Gallery of Boards Walk
• Welcome + Presentation. Goal: Establish shared understanding of project goals (coastal flooding within project site) and scope (concept design and implementation roadmap) with community.
• Table Discussions. Goal: Understand community priorities to inform project design parameters based on community risk tolerance feedback related to flood vulnerability, waterfront access, implementation timeline, and other factors.
• Table Discussion Report Backs and Next Steps
• Download the meeting presentation!

Community Priorities:

• Chronic flooding: Focus on near-term, 1–5-year implementation, stormwater solutions. Community faces coastal, stormwater, and compound flooding.
• Multi-functional flood protection: Design flood infrastructure to also benefit the community and environment during dry conditions.
• Sand migration: Address sand accumulation resulting from beach nourishment and shoreline sediment transport, which is clogging drains along Bayview Avenue and Coney Island Creek and contributing to localized flooding and decreased parking availability.
• View: Creek area offers great views of Gravesend Bay and NY Harbor. Flood protection could enhance these with elevated vantage points.
• Ecology: Coney Island is a valued wildlife area for birding, fishing, and horseshoe crab spawning. Support green infrastructure that balances nature and flood risk.
• Kaiser Park: Kaiser Park is seen as underutilized, with interest in adding both physical improvements (clearer access points) and new programming (e.g., dog park, better shoreline use).
• Natured-based Solutions: There is support for nature-based, ecological solutions to flooding, especially those that incorporate native plants and green infrastructure.
• Waterfront Access: Community members expressed a desire for improved and better-managed waterfront access, including expanded opportunities for recreation and youth programming, with realistic maintenance considerations.
• Sand Migration: Sand accumulation has damaged properties, clogged catch basins, made open spaces difficult to maintain, and resulted in inland flooding.
• Bayview Avenue: Community members expressed interest in narrowing the roadway along Bayview Ave, enhancing flood protection with native plantings, and improving waterfront access through continuous greenway connections and shoreline activation.

Community Concerns:

• Green Gentrification: Attendees expressed concerns that park improvements will be used to market development in the area as opposed to supporting current residents and their priorities.
• Relative costs of different projects: Attendees wanted better estimates of the costs of each of the “Ideas to Explore” presented in the workshop.
• Flood Risk: Attendees expressed uncertainty surrounding the level of flood protection provided by the different “Ideas to Explore”.

Want to stay up to date?

Sign up for the Coney Island Creek Resilience Project newsletter to get updates on upcoming public workshops and meetings. We’re just getting started, and we hope to see you at the next one! Be sure to click the Coney Island checkbox when signing up: Coney Island Creek Newsletter.