four-block gap between Beach 35th and 39th Streets. The beach was also depleted, although many Rockaways residents had stated that, for several years before Hurricane Sandy, the beach had been eroding slowly. Sand from the beach had landed on people's yards and on nearby streets, while personal property had been tossed onto the shore. Despite the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, the city promised to open all its public beaches by Memorial Day in May 2013, including Rockaway Beach, where temporary beach access points were set up. The city restored some of the sand and added snow fence to prevent the sand from blowing back out. New modular comfort stations and lifeguard booths were also installed along the length of the park starting in 2013. City officials also announced that they would construct temporary platforms, or "islands", at Beach 86th, 97th, 106th, and 116th Streets, allowing residents to access the beach for the 2013 season. Complete reconstruction By September 2013, the city estimated that a reconstruction of the beach and boardwalk would cost $200 million. The rebuilding, overseen by CH2M Hill, would entail the replacement of the entire boardwalk as well as the addition of of railings. The boardwalk project, to cost $274 million, was divided into five phases from west to east, the first of which was to begin in early 2014. The section between Beach 35th and 39th Streets was initially rebuilt in wood to match the undamaged portions on either side; ultimately, the entire boardwalk was to be permanently rebuilt in concrete. Many sections of the boardwalk would be raised to an elevation above 100-year flood levels, requiring the reconstruction of the relatively undamaged sections as well. Skanska was hired as the major contractor for the boardwalk project. Construction was funded by a $480 million grant that the Federal Emergency Management Agency distributed to New York City's government in 2015. The start of work on the boardwalk's reconstruction was delayed because of several factors. The 2013 United States federal government shutdown delayed the allocation of funding, and plans also had to be revised to accommodate new flood-proofing features. The corroded foundations also had to be replaced, and construction had to take place outside of the mating season of the piping plover, an endangered species that nested on the beach between April and September. In February 2014, a contractor started adding of sand as an anti-erosion measure, enough