The National Park Service IMTs overseeing Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts completed three full weeks of work at New York area parks yesterday. Currently working with the team are 448 National Park Service employees from 103 parks and 39 states and the District of Columbia, a reduction from a high of 546. External resources are gradually being replaced by local NPS staff. Today’s update follows:

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island – Although a projected reopening date has not yet been established for the two areas, it’s been determined that it will not be in 2012.

• Ellis Island – Outside debris removal, tree removal and chipper work have been completed. Work is continuing on cleanup of the admin building and has begun on the mechanical building.
• Liberty Island – Debris removal has been completed and crews are currently assessing and repairing equipment.

Gateway – Crews are working throughout the park’s Jamaica Bay, Staten Island and Sandy Hook Units:

• Jamaica Bay Unit – Frank Charles Park and Hamilton Beach reopened on Saturday. Electrical repairs in several buildings at Fort Tilden have been completed; about 15% of the debris on the beach there has been removed. All debris has now been cleared from the beach at Riis Park. An engineering assessment of Canarsie Pier is pending to determine if the area can safely be reopened.
• Staten Island Unit – Great Kills is open up to the ranger station. A new ferry service to Manhattan is to begin today. Beach cleanup and sand redistribution continue at Miller Field. Debris removal continues at Seabee Park.
• Sandy Hook Unit – Damaged tree removal and debris clearance from several park houses have been completed. Debris removal is ongoing in some basements. Bathhouses and beach plazas are being cleaned. Repairs are underway to the sewage treatment plant; assessments are being conducted of HVAC, boiler and electrical systems. Historical archives are being inventoried, cleaned and dried. A collapsed section of the multi-use trail has been removed.

Fire Island – Crews have completed removal of the boardwalk around the lighthouse. Breach and overwash assessments are continuing. Hazardous materials removal continues, as does the restoration of the lighthouse annex.

More information on the response can be found at these websites:

• Hurricane response and recovery – A webpage with current information on the NPS response to Hurricane Sandy.
• Resource needs shopping list – A ”shopping list”  of incident management team positions that still need to be filled, updated daily.
• Hurricane Sandy relief fund – E&AA has set up a relief fund web page where you can make donations in support of employees who were affected by the storm.
• Facebook – A Facebook page managed by the IMT with updates on the response.
• Twitter – A Twitter page managed by the IMT with updates on the response.
• Flickr – A Flickr page managed by the IMT with images of the response.

Note: National Park Service employees have overwhelmingly supported the request for uniform donations for employees affected by Hurricane Sandy. So many have been received that there is no longer a need for donations. The employees affected by the hurricane greatly appreciate your generosity.