A trip to Brighton Beach turned painful for a man who says a damaged boardwalk plank left him bloodied. The incident has renewed concerns about the condition of the boardwalk in the Brooklyn beachfront neighborhood, where worn and raised planks have been a known problem. What should have been an ordinary day at the beach instead ended with an injury.
The man involved is Vladimir Braun, who went for a swim on Saturday near the boardwalk entrance at Brighton 4th Street. His day at the beach began like any other, with a trip to the water along the popular oceanfront walkway. It was only on his way back that things went wrong.
As he was leaving, Braun tripped on a raised plank along the boardwalk. The fall happened suddenly, giving him no time to react. He said it all happened so fast that he did not even manage to protect his face before hitting the wood.
The impact left him hurt and bleeding. Braun described being on the ground for a moment after striking his face on the boards, then getting up to deal with the blood from the injury. The abrupt fall on the raised plank turned a routine walk back from the water into a frightening moment.
The state of the boardwalk had already been raised as a concern before this incident. The condition of the boards was flagged to the Parks Department back in April, well ahead of the latest injury. That earlier warning pointed to the same kind of damage that has now been linked to a person getting hurt.
Since those concerns were raised, there has been some response. A number of boards along the boardwalk have since been fixed, indicating that at least part of the problem has been addressed. The repairs suggest the issue was acknowledged after it was brought to attention.
Despite those fixes, the problem is far from fully resolved. Many damaged and raised planks remain in place along the boardwalk, leaving stretches of the walkway in the same hazardous condition. With at least one person already injured, the lingering damage keeps the safety of the Brighton Beach boardwalk an open concern for those who use it.