Concrete and Plastic Makeover for Coney Island Boardwalk

Many New Yorkers may be sad about the end of the wooden constuction for the Coney Island boardwalk. But nostalgia has given way to both practical and environmental concerns.

The city has proposed using concrete to replace the wooden slats of the 2.7-mile Boardwalk, according to the New York Times. To quell the protests of preservationists, there is now a compromise offered up by the parks department.

The agreement will have the wooden boardwalk replaced with a cement road for emergency vehicles and plastic boards that look like wood.

The move comes as a result of financial and environmental pressure. It was costing $1 million a year to replace the wood and using hardwood from hardwood from South American rain forests has gotten harder to justify.

The plastic boards are projected to last fully 75 years.