Nice article but I live on Oahu about 20 minutes away from Waimea Bay and the North Shore. When I visit Manhattan, I come for the plays and concerts, not the beach. You folks want to go to the beach? come visit us.
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Delighted that the beaches have been cleaned up & folks want to go. I went out to the Rockaways in the mid ‘80s and they were strewn with garbage, dirty needles washing up amidst other trash. We were not sure what we might find in the water.
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McNulty's and McGuire's had nickle beers on Sundays...and on any given weekend you could find Lou Alcindor and other Metropolitan area star basketball players in pickup games....for FREE!
We never thought ourselves to be grungy. That neighborhood was NOT the Hamptons in the 50s and 60s---but neither were the Hamptons.
Rockaways Playland (R.I.P.) was up and running....the water was clean and cold and LOTS of beer was consumed on those sands. (Even if you were not the then 18 year old drinking age). We had NO idea we were trend setters---we were just decent Irish and Italian Catholic kids from good homes creating summer memories.
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What a good memory you have. A new hotel is being built on those two sites. But the restaurant where Maguires was will still be there.
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I spent my childhood summers in the 1950s and early 60s in the Workingman's Riviera. There was only the beach, the boardwalk with knishes and ice cream, and Thursday night fireworks.The Duggan's truck came around every week and my grandmother bought cupcakes. The knife sharpener came around and the women all ran outside. In the mid 60s the city bought up all the properties and my grandfather sadly lost his paradise. About 10 years ago I went back to what was once Beach 72nd Street an it was full of poorly build townhouses. Gone were the tiny uninsulated bungalows and the stately Victorian hotels. It's a part of my childhood that lives in my memory only.
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The F train also goes to the beach: Coney Island at the Aquarium. And I have seen surfers carry their boards on the train.
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I remember going there with my South Ozone Park cousins, familia, and friends , in the 70’s , Rockaway Playland which rivaled Coney Island’s Luna Park,on Beach 98th ST, and the constant stream of outbound 747’s, DC-10’s , and the Concorde , thundering overhead, heaven for an airplane geek like me, I may divert a day or 2 from the Jersey Shore , and re check it out when we are in town in a few weeks. : )
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Sounds like a great place for a one-day pilgrimage for a variety of reasons, including the Jamaica Bay sunset view. Cape Hatteras, NC is my preferred E. Coast surf venue, but I'd love to experience the novelty of bagging a few Big Apple waves. Plus, as much as I appreciate the charms of Buxton, NC, New York City offers a wee-bit more in the way of après-surf cultural amenities.
Rockaway was and always will feel like the worst part of Boston with sand but without an interesting history. Places like the Blackwater that catered to old unemployed men during the day, and young barely employed men at night were the backbone of a blue collar Irish neighborhood in long, steep decline. You can throw all the hipster fools you want at the place, it still reeks of stale beer and failed dreams.
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@Henry VIII
There’s is more to Rockaway than the bar culture . Your moniker and comparison of our lovely peninsula to “the worst part of Boston “ leads me to believe you may be prejudiced against the Irish ? Prove me wrong Henry VII .
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Great, theres now a heavily subsidized ferry to get rich people to rockaway beach. Had to laugh several weeks ago when HUNDREDS of people waited in a ferry line - for hours. It even made the news. Of course the news didn't tell the truth - The A train - just blocks away from those crowds - goes to the beach. Its just that all those people were too afraid to get on the subway. The A train is not scary. Its shame the city is wasting all this taxpayer money subsidizing a ferry - to the beach - when there is already a train that goes there cheaper.
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@anae
That heavily subsidized ferry is a godsend to Rockaway residents who work and go to school in Manhattan. Yes we have the A train but it takes approximately and hour and a half to get to midtown . The ferry is used daily for commuters not just tourists and beach goers . It’s nice that the hard working residents of The Rockaways are finally reaping some of the benefits of the city taxes we pay.
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@anae--Well rich Manhattanites have plenty of money to spend and I don't have a problem with them spending their cash in Rockaway. The period between Memorial Day and Labor Day belongs to the Rockaways--it's our big season. By the way the ferry also costs a measly $2.75, same as the A train.
Here's a hint that might help make things easier--the "S" shuttle train also runs from Rockaway Blvd to Beach 116th Street for the duration of the summer on the weekends. It's a shame that we can't make that change permanent--it would take a lot of stress off the overcrowded A train.
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A is a Westside train as anyone who lives in The City knows. Not imposible but many blocks from the Eastside. Ferry provides a much nicer route.
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Thumbs up for such a positive report on Rockaway Park!!!! However you should have included The Rockaway Theatre in the Riis Park area. For the price of a movie ticket in Manhattan visitors can see some quality live shows. Toward the end of July Rockaway Theatre is presenting the musical Newsies. But thanks for the heads up just the same.
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Born in 1930, I grew up in Rockaway Beach, on 133rd Street. I remember a great deal, which of course is too much to put down. But one thing, that most people would not think of, was the anti-aircraft unit stationed at the top of the 133rd Street beach during much of the war. How we kids would visit and talk to the men manning the gun, and look for empty shell casings from smaller weapons, casings that had fallen into the nearby sand. A rather different place today.
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IMO development of the Rockaways is long overdue. We used to go there via the "A" train in the 60s and 70s, headed to beach 116 street or thereabouts. This is prime beachfront property in a major city. And now with the $2.75 ferry ride!! which I was not aware of, I would expect a building boom.
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NYTimes love affair with Rockaway has had both positive and negative effects on the peninsula. When you expose a "best-kept secret" that secret loses some of what made it "best" in the first place. The quiet early morning walks along the beach, the ability to find a parking space, the mostly garbage-free sand, the lack of weekend traffic and long lines to pick up bagels, the serene Fort Tilden stretches of beach - all dwindling rapidly with each new fanboy/girl article. The positive? Increased ferry services for commuters, repaired and well-maintained boardwalk and concessions, more good food/restaurant choices, and yes, some very friendly, environmentally-concerned hipsters moving in. But I know which way the scale tips for me. Alas, it's not just Rockawayites' peninsula, it belongs to all the nyc and tourist DFDs too - for better or worse. (Down For the Day)
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Ever since it was opened to the public, my family has gotten a fishing pass for Fort Tilden. Early-morning expeditions to catch stripers, or mid-afternoon lazing about with little chance of a nibble, tedium relieved by a sandwich -- and no sounds but lapping of waves and cries of gulls.
That's how it was for 35 or so years.
For a while now, though, people have been coming with radios. In increasing numbers.
Loud radios.
Who are they?
@Rockaway
There are pros and cons to the changes happening in Rockaway . Yes waiting on long lines is inconvenient but just remember our summer tourists have always contributed to our local economy. Without them, half the businesses we enjoy wouldn’t be able to survive .
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Yikes another neighborhood getting very hip and upscale- sorry Ramones
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In my youth (I now 'have' 70 years), Rockaway Beach was for the shanty Irish, or so said we shanty Irish of Breezy Point.
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@Thomas Murray - I'm a similar 'vintage' to yourself Mr. Murray. Rockaway Beach was also the Scottish Riviera for Clan McLeod in America (or at least in Queens).
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@Thomas Murray--I think you're referring to Breezy Point, not Rockaway Beach. Breezy Point was also predominantly Irish for generations. because it's the most isolated part of the peninsula.
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Dear @sharon5101
Read mine again … slowly.
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