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Friday, March 29, 2024

To Flee High Rents, Bklyn Residents Escape to the Rockaways

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Brooklyn residents are increasingly escaping – to the Rockaways and its inviting beaches.

“For decades, the Rockaways has been hyped to the hilt for its distinct summer scene, which has consistently appealed to throngs of sun-loving day trippers craving a bit of beachside revelry along the area’s 5½-mile boardwalk,” the New York Post recently reported. “Now the southwest Queens ’hood is seeing a surge in folks who call the Rockaways home year-round, thanks in part to a dedicated ferry, a robust surfing scene and a renaissance in food and the arts.”

It was what the Post referred to as “easy access to the sandy playgrounds and the bliss of surfing at daybreak ahead of a grueling workday in downtown Manhattan” that has people contemplating relocation. “Yet it was the palpable sense of another Rockaways resurgence not felt since before 2012’s Superstorm Sandy that sparked something more profound” in the case of at least one of the people interviewed.

Nor could the timing have been any better. Mayor Bill de Blasio and a phalanx of other elected officials held a press event at Beach 94th Street just last week to officially recognize the completion of the sand restoration operation carried out by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“For New Yorkers, summer means Rockaway Beach. That’s why I could not be happier to announce we will have the entire beach open in time for the Memorial Day weekend,” de Blasio said. “I want to thank all the stakeholders who came together to make the hopes of so many New Yorkers a reality. We could not have done it without your partnership.”

“Getting tons of sand onto Rockaway Beach in time for summer, and avoid a repeat disaster of prime time beach closures, required every level of government to dig in deep,” Senator Charles Schumer said. “And using the sand from the East Rockaway dredge was a win-win plan because it keeps open a vital channel and all of Rockaway Beach.”

One of the things that transplanted Brooklynites are finding in the Rockaways is the arts. For example, the Rockaway Film Fest offer some artistic benefits. As its website the describes, “Rockaway is the biggest cinema desert in all of New York City with 150,000 people and no movie theater. Like the Rockaway Peninsula itself, this program of movies represents a broad spectrum of personality and culture. There are old films and new films, never seen before films and classics. Many filmmakers will be in attendance to present and discuss their work (some of whom are Rockaway residents!). More than anything else, this Festival is about bringing Cinema to the film lovers of Rockaway Beach.”

Among the films set to be shown is The Princess Bride (June 8); Spirited Away (July 13); and The Dark Crystal (August 10).

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