Queens/The Rockaways
The Rockaways is a peninsula in Queens, a borough of New York City. The area is well known as Queens' main beach area. This article also includes the nearby areas of Howard Beach and Broad Channel
Understand
The Rockaways hold some of Queens most beloved beach areas. The whole peninsula is a collection of neighborhoods ranging from lower to upper class. There are two main communities of the peninsula: Belle Harbor and Far Rockaway. While the peninsula has many serene beaches, it comes along with six public housing projects: The Redfern projects in Far Rockaway, the Beach 41st Street projects in Far Rockaway, the Edgemere projects in Edgemere, the Averne projects in Edgemere, the Hammel projects in Rockaway Beach, and the Carleton Manor projects in Edgmere. In recent years Far Rockaway has gotten bad press. In 2007 the 101st NYPD Precinct, which operates in Far Rockaway, had the highest percentage in crime increase. Far Rockaway has struggled with violent crime and drugs since the 1980s and continues to be somewhat dangerous even today. Though the Rockaways still have a long way to go before they become the paradise resort that they were in the mid-1800s, they shouldn't be avoided.
Get in
By subway
The Rockaways are served by the A and the Rockaway Park Shuttle (marked as ), with the A running East to Far Rockaway and the shuttle running down to Rockaway Park. The and the A meet at Broad Channel station. The closest connection between the A and any other line is Broadway Junction in East New York
By LIRR
The LIRR's Far Rockaway Branch serves Far Rockaway only. Note that this station is not included in the City Ticket program as going to it requires leaving New York City. 🌍 Far Rockaway station is located on Nameoke Ave.
By ferry
NYC Ferry runs a ferry from the Financial District in Manhattan via Greenwood and New Utrecht in Brooklyn. A single ticket cost $2.75, its possible to bring your bike along for an extra $1. 🌍 Rockaway ferry landing is along Beach Channel Dr, near the terminus Rockaway Park metro station.
See
- 🌍
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge ( A or to Broad Channel). A rare bit of nature in New York. While much of the reserve has been helped along by human hands, it is still well worth visiting to see what Queens looked like before all the development. There are several walks. Free.
Do
- Rockaway Beach. One of the biggest beaches in New York City and the most popular in Queens. Biking along the boardwalk is particularly popular.
Buy
Eat
- 🌍 Elegante Restaurant and Pizzeria, 9201 Rockaway Beach Boulevard ( A or to Beach 90th St), ☎ +1 718 634-3914. Often called the best pizza in the Rockaways, this place has one wall near the register lined with bills with compliments written on them. Budget.
Drink
Sleep
Stay safe
The Rockaways are home to several dangerous areas. As a rule of thumb, the farther east one moves down the peninsula, the more shady and crime-ridden the areas get. Traveling to the neighborhoods of Far Rockaway and Edgemere at night would not be wise. Gang violence plagues some housing projects on the peninsula. Robberies and assaults on tourists are not very common but still can happen.
Howard Beach and Broad Channel are very safe overall, but there is a level of insularity and a semi-rampant undercurrent of racism in these areas that may make certain people, especially those with darker skin tones, uncomfortable.
Connect
Go next
| Routes through The Rockaways |
| Financial District ← East Brooklyn ← | N  |
→ END |