Port Washington's Town Dock lands $6.3 million in FEMA funds for upgrades, repairs

The Town of North Hempstead received $6.3 million in federal money to make repairs to Port Washington’s Town Dock,  which was ravaged in Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

The funding comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, bringing the town’s federal total for dock repairs to $17.6 million and overall total to $19.6 million, with the difference coming from New York State. 

Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said in a statement the town will soon develop “a plan that rebuilds the seawall, makes numerous repairs, addresses critical infrastructure needs and beautifies the surrounding park.”

The dock overlooks Manhasset Bay and is a destination for residents, who bring food from nearby restaurants and watch the sun set. People also fish from the dock. 

The town will build new bulkheads, gangways, irrigation systems, benches, lighting, landscaping security gates, and implement new paving and asphalt. It also will create erosion revetment — a protective barrier placed along a shoreline — as well as anode sleds, which help prevent corrosion in offshore environments, and a turbidity curtain, a floating vinyl barrier meant to prevent future dredging, town spokesperson Umberto Mignardi said via email. 

“It’s all part of my administration’s commitment to restoring our town’s infrastructure and rebuilding our parks,” DeSena said.

The dock flooded soon after the Superstorm Sandy, Newsday reported. Two years later, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) visited the site alongside then-Supervisor Judi Bosworth and called for funding to repair the damage.

"We know FEMA's busy," Schumer said then. "We just don't want them to ignore the North Shore."

The town was awarded a $12.6 million grant in 2016 — with a 90% federal cost share — that went toward repairing the dock’s full structure, Schumer's office told Newsday.

The latest grant will help the town “build the dock back stronger and more resilient than ever,” Schumer said in a statement.

“In 2014, after [Superstorm Sandy] devastated Long Island, I stood on the Town Dock with Town of North Hempstead officials and called on FEMA to not forget this project. Since then, I have worked tirelessly to make sure FEMA delivers for the Town Dock,” Schumer said.

Earlier this year, the town authorized a $140,000 settlement payment to a Port Washington man who alleged he fell on a “dangerous” gangway by the Town Dock. The man had been walking to board a water taxi.

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.