Dragon boats pushed from NYC bay: We dont know whats going to happen now

The city’s iconic dragon-boat community just had its hopes sunk, with a pier rehab forcing it out of Flushing Bay next summer — and potentially thwarting it for decades to come.The city Parks Department last month warned the thousands of boaters — who are keeping alive an ancient Chinese tradition — that they would not be able to set sail anymore from the World’s Fair Marina in Queens starting in May — and it’s unclear when they might be able to resume.The agency determined that a series of floating docks the dragon boaters had been using for the past eight years posed public safety concerns, a rep for the agency told The Post.The city had deployed the temporary solution back in 2016 after discovering that the 87-year-old Pier 1 was suffering from widespread deterioration, but now even that alternative has been deemed a hazard.Meanwhile, the project to completely remedy the pier has been locked up for years over funding issues.More than $13 million from the city and FEMA has been allocated for the project so far, but the Parks Department could not put a number on the full scope of the project because it is still lingering in the design phase.A report from the Mayor’s Office of Management & Budget estimated that upgrades to the marina’s docks would not come until the 2030s, with other aspects of the pier not seeing improvements until the 2050s.“Dragon boating is a fixture of Flushing Bay,” said Judd Faulkner, a rep for the Parks Department, in a statement.

“NYC Parks has worked closely with the dragon boating community for decades and we remain committed to providing safe, dedicated dockage space with accessible dock fees for recreational boaters throughout Queens and New York City.“Parks has provided boaters with a list of 36 alternative marinas in the area and we understand that many boaters, including some of the dragon boat teams, have made dockage arrangements at several of these sites,” the representative said.But at least some ...