Far Rockaway, Queens
Encyclopedia
Rockaway, Queens
The Rockaway Peninsula, informally The Rockaways, is the name of a peninsula of Long Island, all of which is located within the New York City borough of Queens. A popular summer resort area since the 1830s, Rockaway has become a mixture of lower, middle, and upper-class neighborhoods...
in the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is the easternmost section of the Rockaways. The neighborhood starts at the Nassau County line and extends west to Beach 32nd Street. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 14
Queens Community Board 14
The Queens Community Board 14 is a local government in the New York City borough of Queens, encompassing the neighborhoods of Breezy Point, Belle Harbor, Neponsit, Arverne, Bayswater, Edgemere, Rockaway Park, Rockaway and Far Rockaway...
. The name "Rockaway" may have meant "place of sands" in the Munsee language
Munsee language
Munsee is an endangered language of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian language family, itself a branch of the Algic language family. Munsee is one of the two Delaware languages...
of the Native American Lenape
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
. Other spellings include Requarkie, Rechouwakie, Rechaweygh, Rechquaakie and Reckowacky (see: Toponymy of New Netherland
Toponymy of New Netherland
Nieuw-Nederland, or New Netherland, was the seventeenth century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on northeastern coast of North America. The claimed territory were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to southern Cape Cod. Settled areas are now part of the...
).
Transportation
Access to ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
is available via the IND Rockaway Line
IND Rockaway Line
The IND Rockaway Line is a rapid transit line of the IND Division of the New York City Subway. It branches from the IND Fulton Street Line at Rockaway Boulevard, extending over the Jamaica Bay, into the Rockaways.-History:...
( train) subway service, which has a terminal
Terminal Station
Terminal Station is a 1953 film by Italian director Vittorio De Sica. It tells the story of the love affair between an Italian man and an American woman. The film was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.-Production:...
at Mott Avenue. This subway stretch is completely elevated throughout the Rockaway Peninsula.
The Far Rockaway
Far Rockaway (LIRR station)
Far Rockaway is the terminus of the Long Island Rail Road's Far Rockaway Branch in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens in New York City...
station is the terminus
Terminal Station
Terminal Station is a 1953 film by Italian director Vittorio De Sica. It tells the story of the love affair between an Italian man and an American woman. The film was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.-Production:...
for the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
's Far Rockaway Branch
Far Rockaway Branch
The Far Rockaway Branch is an electrified rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch begins at Valley Interlocking, just east of Valley Stream station; the Long Beach Branch also begins there, heading east and south to Long Beach,...
, providing full service to Penn Station
Pennsylvania Station (New York City)
Pennsylvania Station—commonly known as Penn Station—is the major intercity train station and a major commuter rail hub in New York City. It is one of the busiest rail stations in the world, and a hub for inbound and outbound railroad traffic in New York City. The New York City Subway system also...
in Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
and Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. The line is unique in that trains leave New York City and make local stops in Nassau County before crossing back into Queens and terminating at Far Rockaway. Passengers can "change at Jamaica
Jamaica (LIRR station)
Jamaica is a major hub station of the Long Island Rail Road, and is located in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. It is the largest transit hub on Long Island and is one of the busiest railroad stations in the country with over 200,000 daily passengers...
" between the various destinations and other LIRR lines. During rush hour, express service bypasses Jamaica station.
Residents of Far Rockaway thus have two options for rail access to Manhattan, an uncommon situation that provides a backup for commuters in the event of service disruptions on any one system.
The LIRR Far Rockaway Branch had originally been part of a loop that travelled along the existing route, continuing through the Rockaway Peninsula and heading on a trestle across Jamaica Bay
Jamaica Bay
Jamaica Bay is located on the southwestern tip of Long Island in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, and the town of Hempstead, New York/hamlet of Inwood...
through Queens where it reconnected with other branches. Frequent fires and maintenance problems led the LIRR to abandon the Queens portion of the route, which was acquired by the city to become the IND Rockaway Line.
Housing
NYCHA- Redfern Houses
- Beach 41st Street-Beach Channel Drive Houses
Goldfarb Properties
- Wavecrest Gardens Apartments
Other
- Roy Reuther Houses
- Dix Mc Bride LLC
- Rachel Arms Apartments
- Gateway Apartments
- Sandcastle Oceanfront Living
Education
The neighborhood, like all of New York City, is served by the New York City Department of EducationNew York City Department of Education
The New York City Department of Education is the branch of municipal government in New York City that manages the city's public school system. It is the largest school system in the United States, with over 1.1 million students taught in more than 1,700 separate schools...
. Far Rockaway residents are zoned to several different elementary schools:
- P.S. 43
- P.S. 104 The Bayswater School
- P.S. 105 The Bay School
- P.S. 106
- P.S. 197 The Ocean School
- P.S. 215 Lucretia Mott
- P.S. 253
Far Rockaway residents are zoned to I.S. 53 Brian Piccolo.
All New York City residents who wish to attend a public high school must apply to high schools. Far Rockaway High School
Far Rockaway High School
Far Rockaway High School, a public high school in the public school system of New York City, was located on Bay 25 Street in Far Rockaway in the borough of Queens, as part of the New York City Department of Education. The school was founded in 1897, with Sanford J. Ellsworth as principal for over...
is in Far Rockaway and Beach Channel High School
Beach Channel High School
Beach Channel High School , is a high school in the public school system of New York City, is located at 100-00 Beach Channel Drive in Rockaway Park in the borough of Queens . The school opened in 1973 and, as of 2006, has an enrollment of 2,175 students. The school was built on the edge of...
is near Far Rockaway.
Stella Maris High School
Stella Maris High School
Stella Maris High School was an all-girls, private, Roman Catholic high school on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, New York. It was located within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn...
, an all-girls Catholic high school, is located adjacent to the beach.
Church of God Christian Academy is a K-12 co-ed school, located on Central Avenue.
Schools (past and present)
- Chaim Berlin High School
- Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR)
- Mesivta Chaim Shlomo
- Bnois Bais Yaacov
- Tichon Meir Moshe
- Sh'or Yoshuv Institute of Jewish Studies
- Siach Yitzchok Elementary School for Boys
- Torah Academy for Girls
- Yeshiva Darchei Torah
- Yeshiva of Far RockawayYeshiva of Far RockawayYeshiva of Far Rockaway is a Haredi yeshiva located on 802 Hicksville Road, Far Rockaway, Queens in New York City. It comprises a high school and beis medrash, or seminary. The school was founded by the current rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Yechiel Yitzchok Perr, and by the late Rabbi Nachman Bulman...
- The Hebrew Institute of Long Island
Synagogues (past and present)
- Agudath Israel of Long Island
- Agudath Israel of Rockaway
- Agudath Israel of West Lawrence
- Bayswater Jewish Center
- Beis Medrash Ateres Yisroel (Rabbi Avraham Blumenkranz)
- Bnos Israel Institute (Rabbi Shmelke Rubin)
- Congregation Kneseth Israel in Far Rockaway
- Congregation Shaarey Tefila
- Congregation Shaarey Zedek
- Congregation Shomrai Shabbos
- Young Israel of Far Rockaway
- Young Israel of Wavecrest and Bayswater
Famous residents
- Stack Bundles (1983–2007) Rapper
- Richard BeyRichard BeyRichard Wayne Bey is an American talk show host. He was popular in the 1990s as host of The Richard Bey Show, a daytime talk show containing ordinary people's personal stories incorporated into entertaining competitive games....
(born 1951), talk show host. - Baruch Samuel BlumbergBaruch Samuel BlumbergBaruch Samuel "Barry" Blumberg was an American doctor and co-recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine , and the President of the American Philosophical Society from 2005 until his death.Blumberg received the Nobel Prize for "discoveries concerning new mechanisms for the origin...
(born 1925), 1942 graduate of Far Rockaway High School; won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1976. - Father MCFather MCFather MC African American rapper Timothy Brown achieved success in the early 1990s on the Uptown Records label. Discovered and signed by then-Uptown executive Sean "Puffy" Combs, he is best known for introducing the public to Uptown's successful R&B act Jodeci in the track, "Treat Them Like They...
- Rap hip-hop artist in the 1990s. - Joyce BrothersJoyce BrothersJoyce Brothers is an American psychologist, television personality and advice columnist, publishing a daily syndicated newspaper column since 1960.-Personal life:...
(born 1925), family psychologistPsychologistPsychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
and advice columnist (1928-) - Morton FeldmanMorton FeldmanMorton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
(1926–1987), American modernist composer. - Richard FeynmanRichard FeynmanRichard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
(1918–1988), physicist and Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
winner. - Carl IcahnCarl IcahnCarl Celian Icahn is an American business magnate and investor.-Biography:Icahn was raised in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York City, where he attended Far Rockaway High School. His father was a cantor, his mother was a schoolteacher...
(born 1936), businessman. - Stubby KayeStubby KayeStubby Kaye was an American comic actor. He was born Bernard Kotzin in New York City on the last day of the First World War, at West 114th Street in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan to first generation Jewish-Americans originally from Russia and Austria...
(1918–1997, born Bernard Sholm Kotzin), comic actor. - Alan M. KriegsmanAlan M. KriegsmanAlan Mortimer Kriegsman is an American dance critic who won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for his work at The Washington Post, the first to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for reporting as a dance critic....
(born 1928) Born in Brooklyn, but raised in Far Rockaway; graduated from Far Rockaway High School; won Pulitzer Prize in Criticism (1976), the first and thus far (2010) only such Prize awarded for writings on the art of dance. - Sam LevensonSam LevensonSam Levenson was an American humorist, writer, teacher, television host and journalist.-Personal life:Born Samuel Levenson, he grew up in a large Jewish immigrant family in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Brooklyn College in 1934...
(1911–1980), Humorist, best-selling author, educator whose best-selling books included "In One Era and Out The Other" and "You Don't Have to Be in Who's Who to Know What's What." - Nancy LiebermanNancy LiebermanNancy Elizabeth Lieberman , nicknamed "Lady Magic", is a former professional basketball player who played and coached in the WNBA.Lieberman is regarded as one of the greatest figures in women's basketball....
(born 1958), women's basketball pioneer. - Steve MaddenSteve MaddenSteve Madden is the founder and former CEO of Steve Madden Ltd., a footwear company.Born in Far Rockaway, Queens, Madden grew up in adjoining Lawrence in Nassau County, New York....
(born 1958), shoe designer and former CEO of Steve Madden Ltd. - Alice NielsenAlice NielsenAlice Nielsen was a Broadway performer and operatic soprano who had her own opera company and starred in several Victor Herbert operettas.-Background:...
(1872–1943), Broadway performer and operatic soprano - Phil OchsPhil OchsPhilip David Ochs was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice...
(1940–1976), folk-protest singer (resided here for a period during childhood; also died at his sister's home here). - Robyn OchsRobyn OchsRobyn Ochs is an American bisexual and LGBT rights activist who helped found the Boston Bisexual Network in 1983, and the Bisexual Resource Center in 1985....
(born 1958), bisexual and marriage equality activist - Kelly PriceKelly PriceKelly Price is an American R&B and soul singer, formerly on the Def Soul label.-Life and music career:Kelly Cherelle Price was born in Queens, New York. She was first discovered by Mariah Carey in February 1992 and subsequently introduced to Sony Columbia's then CEO Tommy Mottola...
(born 1973), R & B singer - RammellzeeRammellzeeRammellzee was a visual artist, graffiti writer, performance artist, hip hop musician, art theoretician and sculptor from New York.-Life and work:...
(1960–2010), rap pioneer. - Burton RichterBurton RichterBurton Richter is a Nobel Prize-winning American physicist. He led the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center team which co-discovered the J/ψ meson in 1974, alongside the Brookhaven National Laboratory team led by Samuel Ting. This discovery was part of the so-called November Revolution of particle...
- 1948 graduate of Far Rockaway High School; won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1976. - Russell SageRussell SageRussell Sage was a financier, railroad executive and Whig politician from New York, United States. As a frequent partner of Jay Gould in various transactions, he amassed a fortune, which passed to his second wife, Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, when he died...
(1816–1906), railroad tycoon whose legacy is the First Presbyterian Church of Far RockawayFirst Presbyterian Church of Far RockawayThe First Presbyterian Church of Far Rockaway, formerly known as the Russell Sage Memorial Church, is a historic Presbyterian church located in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, New York. It was designed by noted architect Ralph Adams Cram as a memorial to Russell Sage . It features a...
. - MC SerchMC SerchMC Serch is a Jewish-American hip hop MC and former member of 3rd Bass.-Biography:Serch grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens, attending Far Rockaway High School, and graduated from Music & Art High School...
(born 1967 as Michael Berrin), former member of the hip hop group 3rd Bass3rd Bass3rd Bass was an American hip-hop group that rose to fame in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and was notable for being one of the first successful interracial hip-hop groups.-Career:...
. - Raymond SmullyanRaymond SmullyanRaymond Merrill Smullyan is an American mathematician, concert pianist, logician, Taoist philosopher, and magician.Born in Far Rockaway, New York, his first career was stage magic. He then earned a BSc from the University of Chicago in 1955 and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1959...
(born 1919), mathematician. - Steve StevensSteve StevensSteve Stevens is an American guitarist and songwriter.He is best known for playing for other artists and less known for his critically acclaimed solo efforts , collaborations Steve Stevens (born as Steven Schneider on May 5, 1959, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American guitarist and songwriter.He...
(born 1959 as Steve Schneider) Grammy Award winning guitarist for UK rocker Billy IdolBilly IdolWilliam Michael Albert Broad , better known by his stage name Billy Idol, is an English rock musician. A member of the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, Idol first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X...
. - Craig Strong (born 1968 as Craig Bistrong), actor, voice-over actor, realtor and CEO of VoiceStarz, Inc. (http://www.voicestarz.com)
- Herbert SturhahnHerbert SturhahnHerbert Sturhahn was an American football player. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981....
(born 1902), football player elected to the College Football Hall of FameCollege Football Hall of FameThe College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
. - Danny SullivanDanny SullivanDaniel John "Danny" Sullivan III is a former racing driver from the United States. He is best known for winning the 1985 Indianapolis 500.-Before racing:...
(born 1950), race car driver.
External links
- Old Rockaway, New York, in Early Photographs by Vincent Seyfried, William Asadorian
- Far Rockaway: Abandoned Bungalows a 2009 photo essay by Nathan Kensinger