Gillen advances $125M for Long Island projects

Congresswoman Laura Gillen has secured several key priorities and advanced $125 million in water project funding for Long Island in the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act of 2026, the two-year water resources infrastructure investments package.

The package advanced out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on a unanimous basis. Rep. Gillen’s priorities included bolstering flood risk management, storm damage prevention and coastal restoration in communities across New York’s 4th Congressional District, including in Freeport, Garden City and Long Beach.

Gillen additionally secured the following project and study priorities in the legislation. These projects can now proceed at the direction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or through the appropriations process. 

• Expediting the Nassau County Back Bays Coastal Storm Risk Management Project Study to protect Nassau County’s South Shore from flooding,
• Authorization of proposed feasibility study for the Reynolds Channel project in the Village of Atlantic Beach to reduce coastal flooding impacts to public street ends, drainage outfalls, open spaces, and marine rescue facilities through bulkhead replacement and shoreline stabilization,
• Authorization of proposed feasibility study for the dredging of Bannister Bay in the Village of Lawrence,
• Authorization of proposed feasibility study for ecosystem restoration, flood risk management, coastal storm risk management, and navigation off the South Shore of Long Island,
• Authorization to expedite a project in the City of Long Beach to remove and replace seven beach groins critically needed to stabilize the beach, reduce damage from future storms, and reduce the need for future sand renourishment.