New York elected officials have broken ground on a $25 million project to protect the shoreline at Coney Island.

Sen. Charles Schumer says the Army Corps of Engineers project will replenish and repair beachfront areas damaged by Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

The work is being funded by federal Sandy relief dollars. It will include a series of rock jetties that will protect the Coney Island peninsula.

Schumer joined congressmen Jerrod Nadler and Hakeem Jeffries for Saturday’s groundbreaking. Nadler said the project is critical for protecting area residents from future storm erosion.

The project will also include dredging sand from the Rockaway inlet for use as beach fill.