Few places were hit harder by Hurricane Sandy than the Rockaways in Queens, N.Y., a narrow, densely populated peninsula off Long Island’s south shore with 115,000+ residents. But changes are afoot: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, in conjunction with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, continue work on a $36.5 million coastline restoration project at Rockaway Beach placing nearly 3.5 million cubic yards of sand, restoring the beach that suffered extensive erosion from Sandy in October 2012.