Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
New hope for Fire Island lovers as state funds beach restoration
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 2, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Liam Quigley
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 2, 2025
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A wave of relief washed over Fire Island this summer thanks to new funding intended to prevent the beloved shoreline from becoming New York’s own Atlantis.
The money — $1.7 billion secured in this year’s state budget — pays for resiliency work for Fire Island and other Long Island shorelines through 2050. It helps cover the cost for the Army Corps of Engineers to replenish the beaches with sand and add other infrastructure to fight erosion, which has become an existential threat for the popular summertime destination.
As the summer comes to an end, Fire Island lovers are thanking state lawmakers for the help.
The erosion was particularly frightening for many Fire Island locals and visitors just two years ago, after a series of winter storms washed away so much sand in some areas that high tides would flood some residential properties. The island is 32 miles long, but is only about 500 feet wide in some areas.
Residents said the dwindling beaches pushed the waters closer and closer to their properties every year, leaving them fearful their homes were doomed to be swallowed by the sea.
But now, the state’s money coupled with federal grants will pay for the beaches to be replenished at regular intervals, easing concerns about the future of the barrier island that’s increasingly threatened by climate change.
“ It's a totally, completely, 100% different experience this summer,” said Bill Doyle, a children’s book author who owns a house on the island. “There was real danger there that people were going to lose their houses and access to the beach.”
Bill Doyle (left) and Darren Jones (right) are all smiles now that Fire Island's shorelines are holding back the tides.
Liam Quigley
While fewer than 1,000 people live on Fire Island full time, the National Park Service says its shores beckon more than 2 million visitors annually. For decades, much of the island has earned a status as one of the country’s most visible LGBTQ communities.
Rob Young, the director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University, said the fight to protect Fire Island is one that’s happening in coastal communities from Texas to Maine.
While Young said the funding enables crews to dump new sand on the beachfront to address erosion for the next 25 years, there’s no guarantee the resiliency work would be funded beyond 2050.
“The main question is how long can this really happen and who should pay,” he said.
Still, Young warned the work might not be enough to shore up the island forever. It’s been eroding for centuries: it was once connected to Long Island on both of its ends.
“It depends on how fast sea level continues to rise and storminess,” he said of Fire Island’s future.
The beach replenishment work is especially critical in the Fire Island Pines, where the ocean was dangerously close to consuming beachfront properties as recently as 2023.
Fire Island attracts more than 2 million visitors a year, according to the National Park Service.
Liam Quigley
Henry Robin, the president of the Fire Island Pines Homeowners Association and a part-time resident, celebrated the state funding earlier this month by hosting a campaign fundraiser for Gov. Kathy Hochul on his house’s pool deck.
The governor was given a hero’s welcome at the event.
“With her leadership, we are securing a future. Not just for the here and now,” Robin said, “but for the next three decades.”
Still, the lion’s share of the money to be spent shoring up Fire Island is still coming from the federal government. That funding continues to flow even as Hochul has increasingly framed her politics in opposition to those of President Donald Trump, who just last month slashed funds used to replenish New Jersey beaches.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is celebrated as a savior on Fire Island these days.
Liam Quigley
Robin, who has lived through decades of storms on Fire Island and seen patchwork fixes, acknowledged that the project depends heavily on Washington. But he said federal money for Fire Island has always received bipartisan support.
“Of course, there are no guarantees; however, I am confident that the federal funds will continue to be appropriated no matter who is president at the time,” he said. Fire Island provides critical protection to the mainland, and that has been recognized by Congress for decades, regardless of which party has been in control.”
He said allowing the shoreline to wash away would threaten the rest of Long Island, because Fire Island is a barrier island that mitigates tides and storm surge.
“It would be like taking all of Long Island and putting them on the bullseye of the target,” Robin said.
Tagged
Politics
new york state
parks
Liam Quigley
Liam Quigley is a reporter covering parks & sanitation for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NYC Council to consider earlier Legionella reporting after deadly outbreaks
A bill facing a hearing Monday would require cooling tower owners to notify city health officials when bacteria levels reach a much lower threshold.
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Oct 18, 2026 at 7:36 p.m. ET
Staten Island fire injures 2, but spares historic 'Godfather' church
Dozens of firefighters responded to the blaze, which started in a vacant warehouse. It was contained within three hours.
By
Giulia Heyward
News
Staten Island fire injures 2, but spares historic 'Godfather' church
Dozens of firefighters responded to the blaze, which started in a vacant warehouse. It was contained within three hours.
By
Giulia Heyward
Bail reform remains major issue in NY governor's race, 7 years after it became law
By
Gino Fanelli
NYPD identifies Bronx man, 26, killed in Midtown subway shooting
By
Ryan Kost
,
Elizabeth Kim
and
Phil Corso
Have you seen this Yorkie? NYPD looking for adorable pup dognapped from her Queens home
By
Ryan Kost
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .