to the ocean. From 1977 to 2004, the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) undertook a beach nourishment project between Beach 19th and 149th Streets, replenishing a wide strip of the beach. Ecologically, the beach contains maritime beach and maritime dunes communities, with vegetation present along the length of the beach. Rockaway Beach is the only one of New York City's beaches that sees significant surf, and all of the beach are patrolled. In 2005, The New York Times reported that of 1,000 lifeguards hired for the city's beaches, 500 of them worked on Rockaway Beach. The beaches are generally most utilized from Memorial Day in May to Labor Day in September. The city's only legal surfing beaches are also along Rockaway Beach, between Beach 67th and 69th Streets and between Beach 87th and 92nd Streets. On the section between Beach 126th and 149th Streets, which does not have frontage on the boardwalk, the beach is accessed by stairs or ADA-accessible ramps at the ends of these streets. Along that section, baffle walls are installed to prevent sand migration. The segment between Beach 9th and 20th Streets has five areas where paths extend south of the boardwalk and cross the beach's dunes to the shoreline. Park facilities There are several recreational facilities along the beach and boardwalk, including basketball and handball courts, a roller hockey rink, skateparks, and playgrounds. In addition, there are food concessions at Beach 17th, 86th, 97th, and 106th Streets. "Comfort stations", or restrooms, also exist at Beach 9th, 17th, 32nd, 60th, 86th, 97th, 106th, and 115th Streets. The original comfort stations were destroyed in 2012 during Hurricane Sandy; these were replaced in 2013 by modular structures designed by Garrison Architects, which are installed in pairs. The modular structures contain double-layered stainless-steel facades and are powered by photovoltaic cells. The section of the park within Far Rockaway contains three sets of recreational facilities. O'Donohue Park, near Beach 9th Street at the eastern end of the Rockaway Beach and Boardwalk, contains a playground, ten handball courts, three basketball courts, and restrooms, as well as the Far Rockaway Skate Park. Near Beach 17th Street is another playground, as well as a baseball field. The next recreational facilities are between Beach 27th and 32nd Streets, which contain the Beach 30th Street Playground and a football field. In Arverne, there is a playground and handball facilities at Beach 59th Street.