Far Rockaway | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 40°36′04″N73°45′25″W / 40.601°N 73.757°W | |
Country | United States |
State | New York |
City | New York City |
County/Borough | Queens |
Community District | Queens 14 [1] |
Named for | Place name of the Native American Lenape. |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 50,058 |
Ethnicity | |
• Non-Hispanic White | 25.5% |
• Black or African-American | 44.7% |
• Hispanic or Latino of any race | 24.7% |
• Asian | 1.9% |
• Other | 1.4% |
• Two or more races | 1.7% |
Economics | |
• Median income | $27,820 |
Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
ZIP Code | 11691, 11693 [2] |
Area codes | 718, 347, 929, and 917 |
Far Rockaway is a neighborhood on the eastern part of the Rockaway peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It is the easternmost section of the Rockaways. The neighborhood extends from Beach 32nd Street east to the Nassau County line. Its southern boundary is the Atlantic Ocean; it is one of the neighborhoods along Rockaway Beach.
Far Rockaway is located in Queens Community District 14 and its ZIP Codes are 11691 and 11693. [1] It is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 101st Precinct.
The indigenous inhabitants of the Rockaways were the Canarsie Indians, a band of Mohegan, whose name was associated with the geography. By 1639, the Mohegan tribe sold most of the Rockaways to the Dutch West India Company. In 1664, the English defeated the Dutch colony and took over their lands in present-day New York. [note 1] [3] In 1685, the band chief, Tackapoucha, and the English governor of the province agreed to sell the Rockaways to a Captain Palmer for 31 pounds sterling. [4]
The Rockaway Peninsula was originally designated as part of the Town of Hempstead, then a part of Queens County. Palmer and the Town of Hempstead disputed over who owned Rockaway, so in 1687 he sold the land to Richard Cornell, an iron master from Flushing. Cornell and his family lived on a homestead on what is now Central Avenue, near the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. At his death, Cornell was buried in a small family cemetery, Cornell Cemetery. [4]
In the late 19th century, the Rockaway Association wanted to build a hotel on the Rockaway Peninsula, as it was increasingly popular as a summer destination. The association, consisting of many wealthy members who had homes in the area, bought most of Cornell's old homestead property. They developed the Marine Pavilion on that site, which attracted such guests as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Washington Irving, and the Vanderbilt family. The Rockaway Association also built the Rockaway Turnpike. The Marine Hotel burned to the ground in 1864, but more hotels and private residences were built in the area. [4]
In the 19th century, people traveled to the Rockaways by horse-drawn carriages or on horseback. A ferry powered by steam sailed from Lower Manhattan to Brooklyn. By the 1880s, the Long Island Rail Road's Rockaway Beach Branch was built to serve Far Rockaway station. [4] The steam railroad went to Long Island City and Flatbush Terminal (now Atlantic Terminal). When it opened in the 1880s, this connection stimulated population growth on the Rockaway Peninsula. [5] Benjamin Mott gave the LIRR 7 acres (2.8 ha) of land for a railroad depot. Land values increased and businesses in the area grew, and by 1888, Far Rockaway was a relatively large village. [4] It incorporated as a village on September 19 of that year. [6]
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In 1898, the area was incorporated into the City of Greater New York and became part of Queens. The neighborhoods of Far Rockaway, Hammels, and Arverne in Queens tried to secede from the city several times. In 1915 and 1917, a bill approving secession passed in the legislature but was vetoed by the New York City mayor John Purroy Mitchel. [7] The area saw economic decline in World War I and again during the Great Depression. New apartment complexes were built in the neighborhood following World War II, but the construction of public housing and medical institutions again caused the reputation of Far Rockaway to decline in the 1960s. [8]
In September 2017, the New York City Council voted to rezone 23 blocks in the center of Far Rockaway, [9] [10] after the New York City Planning Commission approved the rezoning. [11] The rezoning would allow as many as 3,100 residences to be built in the neighborhood, as well as community spaces and retail. [10] Following the rezoning, city officials approved 670 affordable apartments within the area in 2018. [12]
Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Far Rockaway was 50,058, a change of 1,714 (3.4%) from the 48,344 counted in 2000. Covering an area of 1,251 acres (506 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 40 inhabitants per acre (26,000/sq mi; 9,900/km2). [13]
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 25.5% (12,778) White, 44.7% (22,400) African American, 0.3% (175) Native American, 1.9% (931) Asian, 0.1% (44) Pacific Islander, 1% (504) from other races, and 1.7% (860) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 24.7% (12,366) of the population. [14]
Far Rockaway is a diverse neighborhood [15] with many immigrants from Jamaica, Guyana, and Guatemala, as well as Russia and Ukraine. [16] It also is home to a significant number of Orthodox Jews.
The Far Rockaway Beach Bungalow Historic District recognizes an area with a distinct character. This and individual properties, such as the Russell Sage Memorial Church, Trinity Chapel, and United States Post Office are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [17]
With its nearby beach, Far Rockaway attracted tourists and vacationers from the other boroughs. Bungalows were the homes of choice for many residents who lived in Far Rockaway. The railroad abandoned the Rockaway Beach Branch in 1950 because of the shift of many people to driving private cars. In addition, this destination had to compete with the many others that people were visiting by car and air travel, which created access to even more distant destinations and heightened competition for travel dollars.
As the neighborhood's heyday as a resort community declined in the 1950s, the city built substantial numbers of public housing developments to try to replace substandard housing after World War II. Bungalows and other residential housing were converted to year-round use for low-income residents. Some bungalows were used as public housing. [18] [19] The 1970s New York City budget crisis had a negative effect on the provision of social services, and problems of poverty, unemployment and drug use increased in this area. [20]
In September 1984, residents founded the Beachside Bungalow Preservation Association to "improve the quality of the Far Rockaway community through preservation, education, and cultural programs". [21] The organization donated a collection of materials highlighting its history, correspondence, and activities to the Queens Library Archives in 2008.
Far Rockaway is patrolled by the NYPD's 101st Precinct, located at 16-12 Mott Avenue. [22] The 101st Precinct and the adjoining 100th Precinct, which serves the rest of the Rockaways, collectively ranked 10th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. However, the low-income and densely populated 101st Precinct has significantly more crime than the 100th Precinct, which is high-income and more insular. [23]
The 101st Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 74.6% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 6 murders, 26 rapes, 151 robberies, 301 felony assaults, 98 burglaries, 250 grand larcenies, and 31 grand larcenies auto in 2018. [24]
Far Rockaway is served by the New York City Fire Department (FDNY)'s Engine Cos. 264 and 328/Ladder Co. 134, located at 16-15 Central Avenue. [25] [26]
Far Rockaway is covered by ZIP Code 11691. [27] The United States Post Office operates the Far Rockaway Station at 18-36 Mott Avenue. [28]
The neighborhood, like all of New York City, is served by the New York City Department of Education. Far Rockaway residents are zoned to several different elementary schools:
Far Rockaway residents are zoned to M.S. 53 Brian Piccolo. [37]
All New York City residents who wish to attend a public high school must apply to high schools. Far Rockaway High School was located in Far Rockaway, [30] but was shut down in 2011 as a stand-alone institution. During the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2011, many large, underperforming, older traditional high schools were closed in the city. The 1929 building was renovated to operate as the Far Rockaway Educational Campus, home to a number of smaller, specialized academies that share the building. They can provide more individualized attention to their students. The former Beach Channel High School was similarly closed in 2014 and repurposed to house several smaller, specialized academies; it is in Rockaway Park, near Far Rockaway, and draws some of its students from Far Rockaway.
Queens Public Library operates the Far Rockaway branch at 1637 Central Avenue. [38] The library replaced another one that was also located on Central Avenue. In 2013, New York magazine reported that the city planned to construct a public library in the neighborhood, to be designed by the internationally known architectural firm Snøhetta. [39] Construction started in November 2018, [40] and the new library opened in July 2024 at a cost of $39 million. [41] [42] The current building is 18,000 square feet (1,700 m2) across two stories, with a glass facade and a blue roof that collects rainwater. [42] The building's facade includes the artwork Style Writing by José Parlá, while the second floor has the artwork Feynman Code by Pablo Helguera. [43]
During the early and mid-20th century, many Jewish immigrants and their working-class descendants settled in Far Rockaway, sometimes first as summer visitors. They founded numerous synagogues and private schools, including those devoted to all-boys or all-girls institutions for educating Orthodox children. Following World War II, as residential housing was developed in Nassau and later Suffolk counties, many Jewish families left the Rockaways for newer housing. According to The New York Times , Far Rockaway had "flourished in the 1940s but withered...1960s" until "a few Jewish families...started the Hebrew Free Loan Society for new home buyers." [44]
Synagogues include Congregation Kneseth Israel in Far Rockaway (The White Shul), which was founded in 1922. Schools include Sh'or Yoshuv Institute of Jewish Studies/Sh'or Yoshuv Yeshiva, Yeshiva Darchei Torah and the Yeshiva of Far Rockaway.
Other synagogues (past and present):
Other schools (past and present):
Far Rockaway is served by the following transportation services:
Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, to the south. Its name refers to its location on the western tip of Long Island.
Inwood is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, at the northern tip of Manhattan Island, in the U.S. state of New York. It is bounded by the Hudson River to the west, Spuyten Duyvil Creek and Marble Hill to the north, the Harlem River to the east, and Washington Heights to the south.
Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens, New York, United States. It is next to the Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, a popular spot for Thoroughbred racing and home to the Resorts World Casino & Hotel. Home to a large Italian-American population, Ozone Park has also grown in recent decades to have many residents of Caribbean, Hispanic, and Asian backgrounds.
Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is popular for a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis, St Albans, and Cambria Heights to the east; South Jamaica, Rochdale Village, John F. Kennedy International Airport, and Springfield Gardens to the south; Laurelton and Rosedale to the southeast; Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park, and Aqueduct Racetrack to the west and southwest; Briarwood to the northwest; and Kew Gardens Hills, Jamaica Hills, and Jamaica Estates to the north.
Forest Hills is a neighborhood in the central portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is adjacent to Corona to the north, Rego Park and Glendale to the west, Forest Park to the south, Kew Gardens to the southeast, and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park to the east.
The Rockaway Peninsula, commonly referred to as The Rockaways or Rockaway, is a peninsula at the southern edge of the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, New York. Relatively isolated from Manhattan and other more urban parts of the city, Rockaway became a popular summer retreat in the 1830s. It has since become a mixture of lower, middle, and upper-class neighborhoods. In the 2010s, it became one of the city's most quickly gentrifying areas.
Canarsie is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin, East 108th Street, and Louisiana Avenue; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Avenue; on the southwest by Paerdegat Basin; and on the south by Jamaica Bay. It is adjacent to the neighborhoods of East Flatbush to the west, Flatlands and Bergen Beach to the southwest, Starrett City to the east, East New York to the northeast, and Brownsville to the north.
Kew Gardens is a neighborhood in the central area of the New York City borough of Queens. Kew Gardens is bounded to the north by the Union Turnpike and the Jackie Robinson Parkway, to the east by the Van Wyck Expressway and 131st Street, to the south by Hillside Avenue, and to the west by Park Lane, Abingdon Road, and 118th Street. Forest Park is to the west and the neighborhood of Forest Hills to the north-west, Flushing Meadows–Corona Park north, Richmond Hill south, Briarwood southeast, and Kew Gardens Hills east.
Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered to the north by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue in Ozone Park, to the south by Jamaica Bay in Broad Channel, to the east by 102nd–104th Streets in South Ozone Park, and to the west by 75th Street in East New York, Brooklyn. The area consists mostly of low-rise single-family detached houses.
Woodhaven is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered on the north by Park Lane South and Forest Park, on the east by Richmond Hill, on the south by Ozone Park and Atlantic Avenue, and the west by the Cypress Hills neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Rosedale is a neighborhood in New York City in the southeastern portion of the borough of Queens. The neighborhood, located along the southern part of Queens, borders Nassau County.
East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough line to the north; the Queens borough line to the east; Jamaica Bay to the south, and the Bay Ridge Branch railroad tracks and Van Sinderen Avenue to the west. Linden Boulevard, Pennsylvania Avenue, and Atlantic Avenue are the primary thoroughfares through East New York.
Rego Park is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. Rego Park is bordered to the north by Elmhurst and Corona, to the east and south by Forest Hills, and to the west by Middle Village. Rego Park's boundaries include Queens Boulevard, the Long Island Expressway, Woodhaven Boulevard, and Yellowstone Boulevard. There is a large Jewish population in the neighborhood, which features high-rise apartment buildings and detached houses, as well as a large commercial zone.
Rockaway Beach is a neighborhood on the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. 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 neighborhood, with 13,000 residents as of 2010, is also known as the "Irish Riviera" because of its large Irish American population.
Breezy Point is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, located on the western end of the Rockaway peninsula, between Rockaway Inlet and Jamaica Bay to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south. The community is run by the Breezy Point Cooperative, in which all residents pay the maintenance, security, and community-oriented costs involved with keeping the community private. The cooperative owns the entire 500-acre (2 km2) community; residents own their homes and hold shares in the cooperative.
South Jamaica is a residential neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, located south of downtown Jamaica. Although a proper border has not been established, the neighborhood is a subsection of greater Jamaica bounded by the Long Island Rail Road Main Line tracks, Jamaica Avenue, or Liberty Avenue to the north; the Van Wyck Expressway on the west; Rockaway Boulevard on the south; and Merrick Boulevard on the east, adjoining the neighboring community of St. Albans. Other primary thoroughfares of South Jamaica include Baisley, Foch, Linden, Guy R. Brewer, and Sutphin Boulevards. The 180th Street Business Improvement District is responsible for the development of the area.
Belle Harbor is a small residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, located on the western half of the Rockaway Peninsula, the southernmost area of the borough. Belle Harbor commonly refers to the area from Beach 126th to Beach 141st Streets.
Richmond Hill is a commercial and residential neighborhood located in the southeastern section of the New York City borough of Queens. The area borders Kew Gardens and Forest Park to the north, Jamaica and South Jamaica to the east, South Ozone Park to the south, and Woodhaven and Ozone Park to the west. The neighborhood is split between Queens Community Board 9 and 10.
Bayswater is a small neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, on the eastern end of the Rockaway Peninsula. The community is located to the northwest of Far Rockaway, along the southeastern shore of Jamaica Bay.
Far Rockaway High School was a public high school in New York City, at 821 Bay 25th Street in Far Rockaway in the borough of Queens. It operated from 1897 to 2011. Its alumni include three Nobel Prize laureates and convicted fraudster Bernard Madoff.
local elementary boys (Siach Yitzchok) waitering for
high-school girls from the Torah Academy for Girls ... Tag Seminary in Far Rockaway
Yeshivas Ateres Shimon held a kumzitz on March 26
The daughter of lawyers, Joyce Diane Bauer was born in Manhattan and raised in Far Rockaway, Queens.
On May 6, 2000, the Far Rockaway, NY native earned her degree from Old Dominion University in interdisciplinary studies.
But Madden was born in Far Rockaway, Queens, where his family is from, and his corporate headquarters are in a huge, Tudor-style building in Long Island City not far from the Queensboro Bridge.
I grew up in Far Rockaway, and you'd always see shoes on the line.
Raymond Smullyan, known as Ray, was brought up in Far Rockaway in New York City.