Rockaway Beach, Queens
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Rockaway Beach is a neighborhood on the Rockaway Peninsula 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 ...
of
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 ...
. The neighborhood is bounded by Arverne to the east and Rockaway Park to the west. It is named for the Rockaway Beach and Boardwalk, which is the largest urban beach in the United States, stretching from Beach 3rd to Beach 153rd Streets on the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
. The neighborhood, with 13,000 residents , is also known as the "Irish Riviera" because of its large
Irish American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...
population. Rockaway Beach saw major development after WWII as part of a city-wide project to alleviate a housing shortage. However, building cheap dense buildings close to the salty ocean resulted in Rockaway turning into an outpost for the city's neediest populations.


History


Early development

What is now Rockaway Beach was formerly two different hamlets, Holland and Hammels. In 1857, Michael P. Holland had purchased land and named the area after himself. Soon afterward, Louis Hammel, an immigrant from
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, bought a tract of land just east of Holland. In 1878, he decided to give portions of his land to the New York, Woodhaven and Rockaway Railroad in order to build a railroad station for the peninsula. The area around it became collectively known as "Hammels". On June 11, 1897, Hammels merged with Holland and they incorporated as the Village of Rockaway Beach. One year later, it was incorporated into the
City of Greater New York The City of Greater New York was the Merger (politics), consolidation of the New York City, City of New York with Brooklyn, western Queens County, and Staten Island, which took effect on January 1, 1898. New York had already annexed the Bronx ...
and became part of the newly formed borough of
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 ...
. However, the neighborhood, along with the eastern communities of Arverne and Far Rockaway, tried to secede from the city several times. In 1915 and 1917, a bill approving the secession passed in the legislature but was vetoed by the mayor at the time, John Purroy Mitchel. In the early 1900s, the newly built railroad station opened up the community and the rest of the peninsula to a broad range of the population. The wealthy no longer had a monopoly on the peninsula, as various amusement parks, stores, and resort hotels attracted people from all over the city to spend a day or a whole summer there. Much of the area was developed by James S. Remsen and William Wainwright. In this era, it became known as "New York's Playground". Rockaway's famous amusement park, Rockaways' Playland, was built in 1901 and quickly became a major attraction for people around the region. With its growing popularity, concern over swimming etiquette became a problem and early in 1904, the Captain of the
NYPD 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 ...
, Louis Kreuscher, issued rules for those using the beach, censoring the bathing suits to be worn, where photographs could be taken, and specifying that women in bathing suits were not allowed to leave the beachfront. The park was grand for its time. One of its most popular attractions, the Atom Smasher roller coaster, would be featured in the beginning of ''
This is Cinerama ''This Is Cinerama'' is a 1952 American documentary film directed by Mike Todd, Michael Todd Jr., Walter A. Thompson and Fred Rickey and starring Lowell Thomas.
'', a pre-
IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...
type movie, in 1952. An
Olympic-size swimming pool An Olympic-size swimming pool is a swimming pool which conforms to the regulations for length, breadth, and depth made by World Aquatics (formerly FINA) for swimming at the Summer Olympics and the swimming events at the World Aquatics Champions ...
and a million-dollar midway also were built within the amusement park; they would serve the community for over eighty years. The Temple of Israel Synagogue was built in 1921, and listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 2014.


1930s–1960s

In the 1930s,
Robert Moses Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid-20th century. Moses is regarded as one of the most powerful and influentia ...
came to power as New York City's Parks Commissioner and his extensive road and transportation projects were both a benefit and disaster for the neighborhood. As commissioner, Moses ordered the construction of the Marine Parkway Bridge and the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge. The bridges were completed in 1937 and 1939 respectively. The Marine Parkway Bridge was built further west on the peninsula between Jacob Riis Park and Breezy Point linking the isolated communities to Brooklyn. The Cross Bay Bridge landed in the middle of the neighborhood of Rockaway Beach. The new bridge made the community the peninsula's gateway to Queens as it provided the only direct car access to the borough. The construction of the two bridges started to transform the neighborhood and the rest of the peninsula into a more year-round residential area or
commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
, as people had a more convenient way to travel to and from work. The conversion of the Rockaway Beach LIRR branch to the Rockaway subway line also brought an increase to Rockaway's permanent residents. Although the bridges were intended to improve the Rockaways, Moses' other projects both directly and indirectly hurt the community. One such failed project was the planned construction of the Shore Front Parkway in the 1950s and 1960s. Wanting to connect
Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...
to
the Hamptons The Hamptons, part of the East End (Long Island), East End of Long Island, consist of the town (New York), towns of Southampton (town), New York, Southampton and East Hampton (town), New York, East Hampton, which together compose the South Fork ...
, Moses focused on making a highway through the Rockaway Peninsula. His idea was to connect the Marine Parkway Bridge with the Atlantic Beach Bridge, which connected the Rockaway Peninsula to Nassau County. The plan would also provide an extension midway through to include the Cross Bay Bridge. Many feared that such an extensive project would do more harm to the peninsula than good and pointed to the community displacement that had happened in the
South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...
because of Moses' roadway construction Although Moses never got to make his highway, he did leave his mark. A piece of the planned parkway that ran west to east in the Rockaway Park and Rockaway Beach neighborhoods was constructed and opened in 1939. Houses were literally cut in half in order to build the four-lane street. Some of these houses are still standing today. The existing, still unfinished street is locally known as the "road from nowhere to nowhere" because it does not have any relevant connections to any other area or highway. Robert Moses' construction of other recreational areas and facilities, such as the
New York Aquarium The New York Aquarium is the oldest continually operating Public aquarium, aquarium in the United States, located on the Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. It was founded at Castle Garden in Battery Park, Manhattan, i ...
and Jones Beach State Park, indirectly impacted the neighborhood as well. These more modern recreational facilities lured tourists and beachgoers away from the peninsula. With fewer customers, businesses and hotels closed, and by the 1950s, the area had fallen into economic decline. The transition from a summer vacationing area to a full-time residential neighborhood had taken its toll.Hammel Playground
,
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...
, accessed December 6, 2006.
In an effort to revitalize the neighborhood, the city constructed the Hammel Houses. This social housing project would be one of the many so-called
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 ...
efforts that dominated the community and much of its eastern neighbors in the last half of the 20th century. The
New York City Housing Authority The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation which provides public housing in New York City, and is the largest public housing authority in North America. Created in 1934 as the first agency of its kind in the ...
purchased the land in 1952 on the north side of the elevated track. In 1964, the Authority decided to demolish and rebuild the entire area to what it is today. In addition to the Hammel Houses, the Dayton Beach Park Cooperative, which, unlike the Hammel Houses, are not projects, was constructed on the south side of the community. The rectangular buildings, all of them thirteen stories high, were placed in close proximity to the shoreline. The building was completed by the end of the 1960s along with the similar looking Surfside Park Apartments and Dayton Towers West in nearby Rockaway Park. The buildings still dominate Rockaway Beach's skyline today, nestled between Rockaway Beach Boulevard to the north and Shore Front Parkway to the south. The Rockaway Courthouse was built in 1931; it served as a local Municipal and Magistrate's Court and was last used as a civic building in 1962. ''Note:'' This includes It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.


Early 21st century

With more and more people moving to the city, the Rockaways became a destination for day trippers. The area appears in New York magazine's 2007 spring travel issue as a place for "Surfing" and to "scuba dive for sunken ships". Out-of-towners start to call the beach " Williamsburg on the Rockaways" because some surfers from the Brooklyn neighborhood spend whole summers out in the Rockaways. The community was devastated by
Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...
in late 2012. Rockaway Beach reconstruction began with Phase One, a $10 million contract provided by the Army Corps of Engineers to restore of sand along Rockaway Beach in August 2013. The second phase put nearly of sand in 2014 at a cost of about $37 million. Phase Two was paid by the federal government through the Hurricane Sandy relief bill.


Demographics

Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of the combined area of Breezy Point/ Belle Harbor/Rockaway Park/ Broad Channel was 28,018, an increase of 1,307 (4.9%) from the 26,711 counted in 2000. Covering an area of , the four neighborhoods had a population density of . The racial makeup of the neighborhoods was 78.3% (21,946)
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 7.5% (2,095)
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.1% (29) Native American, 2.1% (595) Asian, 0.0% (8)
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 0.2% (66) from other races, and 0.9% (259) from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 10.8% (3,020) of the population. Rockaway Beach is known as the "Irish Riviera" because of the large
Irish American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...
population in the area. The community itself has a total population of more than 13,000 people, making it the third most populated neighborhood on the peninsula. As of the 2000 United States Census, 25.4% of residents in ZIP code 11693 identified themselves as having Irish ancestry, making the Rockaway Beach area the 2nd most Irish region in the whole country—right after
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
's South Shore, which has roughly 38–40% of its citizens claiming Irish, or mostly Irish, ancestry.


Education

The neighborhood, like all of New York City, is served by the
New York City Department of Education The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York (more commonly known as New York City Publ ...
. Rockaway Beach residents are zoned to either P.S. 183, an elementary school, or P.S. 225, a middle school. Additionally, the community contains two private Catholic elementary schools: St. Camillus and St. Rose of Lima. All New York City residents who wish to attend a public high school must apply, as there is no zoning. Although there is no high school within the community's boundaries, there are four nearby in the same building, all part of the Beach Channel Educational Campus.


Transportation

The and local bus, and the serves the Rockaway Beach area. The express bus goes to
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. The neighborhood's stations are Beach 90th Street and Beach 98th Street, served by the . The Q35 goes to the Flatbush Avenue – Brooklyn College subway station () in
Midwood, Brooklyn Midwood is a neighborhood in the south-central part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded on the north by the Bay Ridge Branch tracks just above Avenue I and by the Brooklyn College campus of the City University of New York, ...
, and the Q53 SBS connects with the 61st Street – Woodside subway station () and the Woodside LIRR station in Woodside. In May 2017, the
NYC Ferry NYC Ferry is a public network of ferry routes in New York City operated by Hornblower Cruises. , there are six routes, as well as one seasonal route, connecting 25 ferry piers across all five boroughs. NYC Ferry has the largest passenger fleet ...
initiated service to Rockaway, docking at 108th Street and Beach Channel Drive. This has made the commute into Rockaway more accessible for those who work in Manhattan or want to visit the area from Brooklyn or Manhattan.


Notable people

* Skip Campbell (1948-2018), Florida legislator and mayor of Coral Springs, Florida born in Rockaway Beach. * Michael "Iz the Wiz" Martin (1958–2009), one of the most prominent graffiti writers of the early New York graffiti movement. * Jonathan Monaghan (born 1986), visual artist, born and raised in Rockaway Beach *
Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...
(born 1946), punk rocker-poet, wrote about living in Rockaway Beach in her 2015 memoir, '' M Train''. * Andrew VanWyngarden (born 1983), co-founder of psychedelic rock band
MGMT MGMT () is an American rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by singers and multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser, Ben Goldwasser. Originally signed to Cantora Records by the nascent ...
, bought a house in Rockaway Beach in 2012. * Kenny Vance (born 1943), singer-songwriter and producer.


In popular culture

*
Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...
's '' Radio Days'', a 1987 movie highlighting the on goings of a working-class family during the 1930s and '40s, was filmed on location in Rockaway Beach. * The 2010 documentary film ''Our Hawaii'', by Kryssa Schemmerling, explores the surf culture that sprung up at Rockaway Beach starting in the late 1960s. * Jill Eisenstadt's novels ''From Rockaway'' and ''Swell'' are set within the world of Rockaway Beach: ''From Rockaway'' (1987) within the lifeguard culture during the 1980s and ''Swell'' (2017) against the backdrops of the '' Golden Venture'' tragedy and the aftermath of 9/11. * Rockaway Beach is featured prominently in the song Sunscreen by New York artist Matt Booshell * In a 1973 episode of the TV sitcom ''
All In The Family ''All in the Family'' is an American sitcoms in the United States, sitcom television series that aired on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979, with a total of 205 episodes. It was later produced as ''Archie Bunker's Pla ...
'', Edith Bunker tells daughter Gloria that as a teenager she had been the victim of an attempted
date rape Date rape is a form of acquaintance rape and dating violence. The two phrases are often used interchangeably, but date rape specifically refers to a rape in which there has been some sort of romantic or potentially sexual relationship between ...
while visiting Rockaway Beach. * In the first episode of the second season of '' The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'', it is revealed that Susie Meyerson (played by Alex Borstein) was born and raised in The Rockaways, a fact that saves her from being beaten up by a pair of thugs who happen to be from the area too. They say they never meet 'a Rockaway girl' in the city. * In the
Sons of Anarchy ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American Action film, action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX (TV channel), FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008, to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-k ...
, the character Frankie Diamonds is said to have "worked as muscle for the Gambinos down in Rockaway"; according to
Clay Morrow Clarence "Clay" Morrow is a fictional character in the FX television series '' Sons of Anarchy'', portrayed by Ron Perlman. One of the "First 9" members of the titular outlaw motorcycle club, he spends the first four seasons as a primary protag ...
. * In '' Ramona and Her Father'', Ramona Quimby remarks in her thoughts that her older sister,
Beezus Quimby Beatrice Ann "Beezus" Quimby is a character from the '' Henry Huggins'' and '' Ramona series'' of books by Beverly Cleary. She is the friend of Henry and Mary Jane and the older sister of Ramona and Roberta. Beezus earned her nickname from Ramon ...
, strongly dislikes certain types of clothing, among them her shirt with ''Rockaway Beach'' printed on the front. * " Rockaway Beach" is a 1977 song by the
Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of th ...
, from the band's album ''
Rocket to Russia ''Rocket to Russia'' is the third studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones, and was released on November 4, 1977, through Sire Records. It is the band's last album to feature original drummer Tommy Ramone, who left the band in 1978 ...
''. It was the Ramones' highest-charting single in their career, peaking at number 66 on the
Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...
.Randazzo, Ryan
"New York Series: The Ramones ‘Rockaway Beach’"
NYSMusic, April 5, 2018. Accessed September 6, 2023. "When The Ramones wrote their highest charting single (peaking at number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100) 'Rockaway Beach,' it was an attempt to write a surf rock song in the same light as 'Surfin' USA' or 'I Get Around,' but the heavy rockers couldn’t seem to do anything without their signature grit."


References


External links


The Wave: local Rockaway newspaper since 1893



Forgotten New York: Rockaway Beach

The Rockaway Times
{{Authority control Former villages in New York City Neighborhoods in Rockaway, Queens Beaches of Queens, New York Robert Moses projects Irish-American culture in New York City Irish-American neighborhoods