Posted July 30, 200816 yr We can hitch a ride….. This is rockaway beach to arverne. Used to be a thriving beach community, but Robert moses and suburbia beaches killed that. It also had a moniker as one of the many irish Rivieras. Still, it’s coming back. Wiki sez: What is now known as Rockaway was inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans, but sold to the Dutch by the Mohegan tribe along with most of Long Island in 1639[2], and to the British in 1685.[3] Finally the land was sold to Richard Cornell, who settled there.[4] The name "rockaway" is the later corruption of a Lenape language word that sounded phonetically something like "rack-a-wak-e", and referred to the area. Rockaway became a popular area for seaside hotels starting in the 1830s, and popularity grew with the coming of the Long Island Rail Road in the 1880s. The bungalow became the most popular type of housing during the summer months. Even today, some of these remain, converted to provide modern amenities, although the vast majority were razed in urban renewal during the 1960s (or left to rot). Some mood music: not *exactly* what you think first you stop at beach channel to catch a shuttle train –it’s full of houses on stilts Jamiaca bay -- Cross bay bridge So here we are at the rockaways Rockaway ghetto version stilt houses :-o Actually some of these are surprisingly fixed up, last I saw they were all 100% wrecked I liked this jaunty angle Fifty bucks to build….yours for thousands! :-P Look what I found at the station. You don’t see those around or in action too often Cute (now, it used to be a wreck too) Rockaway park – beach 116th st subway station A look over 116th st aka the main drag to the beach, there is a median so it’s easy to get some shots Mm, mmm Pickles and pies!?! :laugh: I read that Comedian George carlin used to say he was conceived in one of these old beach hotels Nearby – the wave is the rockaway park newspaper; next door is….um, an opportunity? :| Police station & firehouse Before we hit the beach there is one more notable thing, a tightly packed few blocks of beach bungalows….as wiki said the whole of the rockaways used to be full of them, now they are rare I couldn’t get too many good shots, there were people on the porches Time to hit the beach? :wink2: Looking straight back at the sand bar from on the beach Buncha new stuff to the west Pj’s, arverne & far rock to the east Watching the subway go by from the boardwalk Check out some new beachy style developments Bell’s beach – an older neighborhood of a few blocks Btw some of these 50’s-60’s era projects are called the Dayton towers :wink: They have these concrete bunker bus stops along the road, but at least they are painted up the new arverne development I came to see progress on, we’ve had our name in on it http://www.arvernebythesea.com/ A last look east toward far rockaway Wrapping up back on the beach channel platform looking over Jamaica bay back at rockaway *** and that’s all from a nice hot summer day at the beach ***
July 30, 200816 yr Nice pics, man. Those uniform apartment buildings - were those housing projects at one time?
July 30, 200816 yr Nice pics, man. Those uniform apartment buildings - were those housing projects at one time? When I live in Downtown Brooklyn, and they were redeveloping the boreum Hill, Ft. Green and Columbia Areas, they moved a lot of people in city housing out to Far Rock. And when I was buying my house in harlem all the people in public housing or HUD housing was moved to the Bronx, the Rockaways or Coney Island.
July 31, 200816 yr Nice! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
August 3, 200816 yr A couple years ago I visited there and noticed some of the projects along the beach were being demoed. There were several very large open empty spaces. Are they continuing with this? Nice photos!
August 13, 200816 yr i saw some news on those odd pier houses, for one thing they're as old as they look!: Monday, August 11, 2008 Going Out on a Pier to Buy A Home Late last week, New York City went out on a limb, or a pier to be exact, to help a group of people in Queens. For almost 100 years the 17 houses on Beach 84th Street Pier were owned by the state or city, and now, due to a measure signed into law by Governor David Paterson, the residents will be able to purchase their homes. The families in these houses emigrated from Italy to New York and have lived on the pier for generations. While the price and sale has not been finalized, a press release from State Senator Malcolm A. Smith, who sponsored the bill, said details will be settled in the coming months. A Google map image (pictured) shows the houses, tightly snuggled together and almost completely surrounded by water; it's one of the more distinctive living arrangements we've seen in a city known for people crammed one atop another. http://nypress.com/blogx/display_blog.cfm?bid=71293787
August 13, 200816 yr Nice! I was visiting a friend out in Hewlett about two weeks ago and we took the Long Island RR into the city to meet our friend that lives in Manhattan, and I think I saw some of these scenes from the train. Would that be possible/correct?
August 13, 200816 yr ^ yes, if as i assume you got off the short lirr trip and walked over to take the 'a' train in far rock into the city. it goes right by the old pier houses -- that's where i took my pictures from.
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