Edgemere is a neighborhood in the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, extending from Beach 32nd to Beach 52nd Street on the Rockaway Peninsula. It contains Rockaway Community Park. Arverne is to the west, and Far Rockaway to the east. Edgemere was founded in 1892 by Frederick J. Lancaster, who originally called it New Venice. Edgemere is located in Queens Community District 14 and its ZIP Code is 11691. It is patrolled by the

New York City Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

's 101st Precinct. Much like neighboring Arverne, Edgemere was developed as a beachfront tourist district with easy access to Brooklyn and Manhattan by railway. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the late 19th and early 20th century resorts and cheap bungalows that lined the boardwalk were considered outdated and undesirable by city officials. East of Beach 32nd Street, the original pattern of development can still be seen: rows of very small, single-story bungalows packed close together on narrow streets. As part of an

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

project, nearly all structures south of Rockaway Freeway, from Beach 32nd Street to Beach 90th Street, were acquired and demolished by 1970. Despite many ambitious plans for proposed development, no construction occurred until after 1984 and the coastline of Edgemere and Arverne remained lined with hundreds of acres of vacant wasteland for decades. Arverne has since been redeveloped, but the coastal section of Edgemere remains entirely undeveloped. In April 2024, the vacant land became the Arverne East Nature Preserve, a public park. In addition, as part of the Arverne East development, a welcome building for the nature preserve was built.

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Neighborhoods in Queens, New York Neighborhoods in Rockaway, Queens Populated places established in 1892 Populated coastal places in New York (state) 1892 establishments in New York (state) {{QueensNY-geo-stub