Queens’ beaches open for summer
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The piping plover stole the show on Friday. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
By Ryan Schwach
New York City’s beaches opened to fanfare on Friday on Queens’ Rockaway peninsula where local leaders, residents and one giant bird rang in the start of summer season in the World’s Borough.
A local tradition in the Rockaways, the annual Memorial Day Weekend beach opening brought a who’s-who of Rockaway elected officials and civic leaders to herald in the summer months. The peninsula sees an influx of beachgoers, surfers and “down for the dayers” as the locals say, to its seven-mile stretch of shoreline each year.
Returning to “midtown” Rockaway after being held in Far Rockaway last year, the opening day event was held at a newly constructed performance space on Beach 94th Street and the Rockaway boardwalk, one of the many investments coming to the area for this summer.
“With the opening of the beaches we get to share the experience with even more folks throughout our great city and especially our borough,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. “It’s a great morning to be at the best beach on the Eastern Seaboard if you ask me and certainly the best beach in New York City.”
Officials highlighted $33 million in investments that have come to Rockaway recently, with new parks along the beach-adjacent Shore Front Parkway. Also, efforts that have gone into resilience measures to limit the effects of another Hurricane Sandy, which decimated the peninsula just over a decade ago.
Among those investments was a brand-new performance space, where the beach opening event was held.
“I'm so proud to stand here on a roadway that was destroyed at one time, but through the work of community organizations, government officials and our borough president…and my predecessor, the amount of money that was put into resiliency for this strip, you can see it as we stand under this amphitheater right now,” said City Councilmember Joann Ariola. “We know Rockaways are a special place, but things like this take place, and make everyone else know how special Rockaway is, it's the spirit of Rockaway that keeps us going.”
“Let's all have a great summer together,” she added.
The new performance space is a long time coming for locals, who are thrilled to see it already in use.
“Everyone’s happy,” said local Community Board Chair Dolores Orr. “We are all ready for this space to really get up and rockin 'and rollin’.”
On top of the performance space, Orr is excited about a new multi-purpose park on Beach 78th Street, which she said was “fabulous.”
“Shore Front Parkway is thrilled because they really haven't had anything there,” she said.
Last year, the elephant in the room – or on top of the beach towel in this case – was beach closures, and ongoing construction. This year, Orr says it is a shortage of lifeguards.
“Citywide they've only hired 1/3 of the number of lifeguards that they need,” she said, citing a report recently done by THE CITY. “So I guess this is probably the one season where the beach closures help the Parks Department because there'll be less of a need for as many lifeguards.”
Despite the worries, Friday was a festive day for Rockaway residents and officials.
Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson wore a beachy shirt and hat, and told some beach themed jokes which prompted his fellow officials to suggest he keep his day job.
“I've asked the beach where the sea was but I’d say it wasn't shore,” he said. “It's so nice to see so many familiar faces, and like the beach says to the tide, long time no sea.”
Also present was a person in a large piping plover costume. The bird is an endangered shorebird that makes its summer nests on Rockaway’s beaches.
Anderson’s assembly colleague, Stacey Pheffer-Amato, was excited for the opening of the nearby seasonal watering hole, Connolly’s, known to locals for its frozen pina coladas.
“I will be at Connolly’s at 12 o'clock if anybody has any constituent concerns,” she said. She later made good on the promise.
Besides the fun, Pheffer-Amato highlighted the local investment, as well as the need for more, specifically regarding swim safety.
Last year, after a slew of drownings off Rockaway’s shores, the assemblymember and other officials championed water safety plans and the opening up of more outlets for youth education around water safety.
“We need that education in our schools,” she said. “We need that investment in our state and in our city.”
Other officials reiterated the same, telling locals to not swim when no lifeguards are on duty.
Overall, locals said that they are excited for a new summer season.
“There are a lot of new parks peninsula-wide that we've been anticipating since Hurricane Sandy that are reopening in newly refurbished form, so we're excited about that,” said local civic leader Bridget Klapinski. “The boardwalk, to me, is a great place to be… I’m looking forward to good lunches at the concessions, and a lot of good time safely in the water, surfing and swimming.”
Brothers’ on Beach 105th Street, one of Rockaways well known boardwalk concessions. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
Less than half a mile down the boardwalk from the ceremony, Matt Webster, owner of Brothers’, a well known boardwalk concession was blending smoothies and putting together their popular egg sandwich for their eighth season on the boardwalk.
“Last summer was super good for us,” he said. “We gained momentum, and I'm hoping that continues.”
Last summer, construction and beach closures threatened to put a damper on their summer, but the worries turned out to be all for nought, and 2022 was one of the best years Brothers’ has ever had.
“We're way busier, that's the biggest thing,” he said. “I'm talking about Brothers’ specifically, we're way busier, we need way more people, we're constantly prepping, there's always something.”
This year, Brothers’ is looking to reinvent a bit, with new menu items and new decor.
“Doing a seasonal thing, like we can really switch it up a little bit each year, like reinventing,” he said.
“It's such a great location,” he added.
The beaches officially opened in Rockaway on Saturday, and locals hope that visitors will come down and spend their days off at the beach.
As Anderson said, to more groans than laughs; “We have 99 problems, but lying on the beach ain’t one.”
