the current orchard beach recreational area was created through the efforts of robert moses in 1934, and was built along with the split rock golf course. fiorello la guardia had become the mayor of new york city and named moses as the city's parks commissioner. immediately after his position was announced, moses ordered engineers to inventory every park in the city to see what needed renovating. he devised plans for a new orchard beach recreation area after he saw the popularity of the hunter island campsite. at the time, the beach was a narrow sand bar connecting hunter island and rodman's neck. there was a retaining wall behind the sand bar, and breakwaters allowed water from the long island sound to pass through the sand bar. the retaining wall frequently flooded at high tide, which made the sand bar effectively unusable most of the time. there were approximately 600 families using the bungalows near the sand bar, as well as bathhouses made of granite pavers.