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Albany - For most New Yorkers, the big nor'easter of 1992 is but a fading memory, replaced by more vivid recollections of the blizzard of '93 and by this winter's ice and snow.
It's a different story, however, for the residents of the Rockaways. They've been living with the nor'easter's aftermath for more than a year.
Rockaway Beach - the city's longest beach, stretching along seven miles of the open Atlantic - was especially hard hit. The storm's raging tides stripped the beach of much of its sand.
Well, there may finally be some relief in sight for the beachgoers and businesses that depend on the bathers and surfers that flock to Rockaway Beach in the summer.
Thirteen-million dollars in federal funds have been made available for the Rockaway Inlet Beach Nourishment Project this year - instead of next year, as had been expected - as a result of Gov. Mario Cuomo amending his proposed budget to include the required state and city funding for the project.
The amendment adds the state's share of $4.9 million and an advance of the city's $2.1 million share so that work can begin to replenish the beach this year. Work is scheduled to start in October.
The news was received enthusiastically by Assemb. Audrey Pheffer (D-Rockaway). She had been pushing the project on the state level while Rep. Charles Schumer (D-Brooklyn) talked up the project on the federal level.
`We were kind of surprised that the governor did not include it in his...