From Queens: The Brand Residents Don't Buy
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History of The Rockaways
The Rockaways, otherwise known as The Rockaway Peninsula, is the southernmost area of Queens, technically a peninsula coming off of the
western part of Long Island. It was originally comprised of an old immigrant community of mainly Irish heritage, with a strong German and Italian population as well (New York Times). However, beginning in the 1970’s, a large number of these groups left (Ghigliotty). According to Joseph Barden, executive director of Margert Community Corp which is a neighborhood preservation group dedicated to helping struggling homeowners, the white flight was followed by high concentrations of poverty and a growth in public housing (Ghigliotty).
When coupled with high rates of immigration, it was a strong enough catalyst to drive out the original inhabitants. Currently, there is a growing Hispanic and Caribbean population in the neighborhood, with the most recent immigrant groups being from Mexico, Guatemala, and Guyana (Ghigliotty). The foreign born population in the Rockaways is about 25.6%, with 67.1% of that being from Latin America, and 21% being from Europe (New York Times).
When going to the Rockaways, public transportation is practically nonexistent- as was the phone service- so one usually goes by car. First stop checking out the sites and buildings of Rockaway left us standing dumbfounded in front of a dilapidated building with paint peeling off the walls, looking at an address that should have read “Rockaway Museum of Rockaway Beach Boulevard.” Instead, there were several ads posted in the large glass display, locked behind a rusty store-gate. We left soon, noticing the stares of some African-American and Hispanic people waiting on line for the bus on the opposite side of the street.
Down the street there was a Jewish Reform Temple and the Saint Rose of Lima Catholic Church, both separated by a small private school. Both buildings were old and worn-down on the outside, and inside the Jewish Reform Temple it there was a heavy smell of mustiness and age, as if it hadn’t been open for a long time. The temple doors had been left unlocked but the Catholic Church on the other hand was locked so we weren’t able to venture inside.
Our last stop was the beach front and the houses that were there. Further inland the houses were all small, one-floor, and right on the water’s edge. Up on the beach front there were scattered high rise buildings that were 20 stories each, then a cluster of squat, one-floor houses, and more high rises further down the island.
On the beach boardwalk there was a small skate park, with surfers and joggers strolling along. The boardwalk was nice, kept in good shape, only some parts of the stairs leading onto the sand were fenced off for repair. Also, ever so often an airplane would roar loudly by overhead, on its way to the John F. Kennedy airport.
The Rockaways has an interesting mix of Irish, Jews, and Blacks. It used to be a more affluent neighborhood, and is now coming back (Ghigliotty, Merrefield, and Warren). There were projects across the street from condominiums that contrasted each other in a weird way. The jarring juxtaposition of those two types of buildings really made it clear that the neighborhood was in the process of changing. It is also one of the most naturally beautiful neighborhoods in Queens, with its amazing beaches and view of the ocean. There is a large Jewish population in Five Towns and a larger Christian community as one moves farther away from Five Towns.
Sources
Ghigliotty, Damian, Clark Merrefield, and Matthew Warren. "A Sea of Change in the Rockaways." Web log post. NYCity NewsService. CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, 29 May 2008. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. <http://nycitynewsservice.com/2008/05/29/cd-14-a-sea-of-change-in-the-rockaways/>.
"The Rockaways, Queens, NY : Data Report." New York Times. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. <http://realestate.nytimes.com/community/the-rockaways-queens-ny-usa/demographics>.
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