Category Archives: Rockaways

Rockaways 1-December 15

Posted by rmichals on January 7, 2013 None comments

Almost 7 weeks after Sandy hit, I went out to the Rockaways. While still on the Q53 going to B116, I saw that there had been a fire on Rockaway Beach Blvd. that stretched for several blocks. The two white window frames would have been Sunlites Stained Glass.

Rockaway Beach Blvd., Queens, NY, December 15, 2012

This had been Nussbaum Chiropractic. I don’t know how long it was a medical center. The sign in the middle reads, “Patients, to see a doctor for prescription refills, call 718-318-0090.” You can read more about the fire on the Wall Street Journal blog Metropolis.

114-32 Rockaway Beach Blvd., Queens, NY, December 15, 2012

Walking east along Rockaway Beach Blvd., the damage got worse.

Rockaway Beach Blvd., Queens, NY, December 15, 2102

It was shocking to see that the damage from a fire caused by Sandy had not really even been touched in 7 weeks.

Rockaway Beach Blvd., Queens, NY, December 15, 2012

Then I walked over to the beach.

B115th Street, Rockaway Park, Queens, NY, December 15, 2012

Work was ongoing even on this Saturday afternoon.

Boardwalk, Rockaway Park, Queens, NY, December 15, 2012

Boardwalk, Rockaway Park, Queens, NY, December 15, 2012

Boardwalk, Rockaway park, Queens, NY, December 15, 2012

Boardwalk, Rockaway Park, Queens, NY, December 15, 2012

This is what I saw when I went to this spot last year. This was taken from the boardwalk.

Between B108 and B105, Rockaway Park Seaside, Queens, NY, October 21, 2011

And this was this year. This was taken from the beach as there is no longer a boardwalk in this area.

Rockaway Park, Queens. NY, December 15, 2012

The beach lost a good deal of sand and now the old pilings are a bit more exposed.

Rockaway Park, Queens, NY, Decmber 15, 2012

Far Rockaway

Posted by rmichals on August 9, 2011 None comments

Before going to Far Rockaway, I used the Coastal Resilience map put together by the Nature Conservancy as well as the University of Arizona sea level rise map created by Professors Overpeck and Weiss to learn where the impact of sea level rise would be felt there. The Coastal Resilience map not only indicates flood boundaries but also gives an estimate of the percent of damage to the built environment by 2080 from sea level rise. You can also select different scenarios and combine sea level rise with a Category 2 or 3 storm to see where the damage will be. While the Overpeck and Weiss map and the Coastal Resilience map overlap quite a bit, the data offered by the Coastal Resilience map serves as a reminder that sea level rise is a process.

Lanett Avenue off of Beach 9 St. marks the edge of the area, as designated by the Coastal Resilience map, that will sustain damage due to sea level rise of its buildings by 2080, with the percentage of damage increasing as you get closer to the water. Jarvis Avenue is predicted to sustain between 20 and 50% building loss due to sea level rise by 2080.

Jarvis Avenue, Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, August 5, 2011

At the water and Beach 9 St., there were a number of fisherman and a few elderly people out for walks.

Beach 9 St., Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, August 5, 2011

One block east, right on the beach, is the 4-building residential development that used to be called the Roy Reuthers Houses. According to The Wave, the complex has been sold a few times in the past several years and there are no longer restrictions that tenants must be 62 or older or disabled. The current owners have renamed it the Sand Castle. I could not make this up. The building is in the Coastal Resilience map’s zone of 20 to 40 percent building loss by 2080 and is predicted to be in the water by the Overpeck and Weiss map by 2100.

The Sand Castle, Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, August 5, 2011

The next block between Beach 6 St. and 5 St. is empty except for one lone house, which was probably once lovely and now is stripped, windowless, filled with garbage.

The Sand Castle from Beach 5 St., Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, August 5th, 2011

On the other side of Seagirt Avenue (not Blvd.) is a dirt lot.

The Sand Castle from Seagirt Avenue, Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, August 5, 2011

On a google map, you can see that Coronado Ct. was once here. In a post on Forgotten-NY by Sergey Kadinsky dated May 1, 2010, there is a photo of the bungalows that were here last year. I also learned from Forgotten-NY that the city received the property in the 90s and is now creating the Seagirt Avenue Wetlands. The city park’s website states that wetlands slow “global warming by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen at a prodigious rate.” It also mentions the alarming fact that New York City used to have 224,000 acres of freshwater wetlands. Now, there are 2,000 acres.

Seagirt Avenue Wetlands, Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, August 5, 2011

Another asset that Far Rockaway has are its dunes. These could offer some measure of protection from storms.

Near Beach 17 St., Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, August 5, 2011

On this beautiful Friday in August, around 10 am, there was one umbrella to be seen on the beach between Crest Rd. and Beach 24 St.

Near Beach 24 St., Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, August 5, 2011

At Beach 24 St., there are a few remaining streets of bungalows. I have heard a lot about them, first from a City Tech student, Rudolph Bastien, also a Far Rockaway resident. There is even a documentary called The Bungalows of Rockaway. The Coastal Resilience map has these streets in the 20s south of Seagirt in the 1-10% building loss due to sea level rise by 2080 with very high rates of damage in event of a Category 2 or 3 storm. However, this seems somewhat irrelevant. Development and poverty are bigger, more immediate threats to the bungalows and serious issues for neighborhood residents in general.

Beach 24 St,. Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, August 5, 2011

Some bungalows are adorable and well kept. All are raised a few feet, I assume to accommodate moderate flooding.

Beach 24 St., Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, August 5, 2011

Some have a strong sense of personality and being lived in.

Beach 25 St., Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, 2011

The lovingly tended bungalow on the left, I believe is the one written about in the NYT Real Estate section last fall. You can see a row of back houses behind the bungalows that front on the street.

Beach 26 St., Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, August 5, 2011

The recently built development across the street is not faring so well.

Beach 26 St., Far Rockaway, Queens, NY, 2011

Belle Harbor, Rockaway Park and Rockaway Park Seaside

Posted by rmichals on May 20, 2011 None comments

The beaches in New York City are maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers and are part of the built environment. Without replenishment, they would erode to nothing. Last May, 135,000 cubic feet of sand were plumped onto Rockaway covering 2,500 feet of shoreline from Beach 93 to Beach 101 according to The Wave. It is unclear to me from reading this article what this cost but somewhere between 2.8 and 4.3 million dollars. It seems there is often disagreement about the cost of beach nourishment. In this article by Orrin H. Pilkey and Andy Coburn, they argue that beach nourishment is generally futile though they do consider that the costs might be worth it for beaches in dense urban areas like Coney Island and the Rockaways.

When I went out to the Rockaways last week, work was being done on the sand in preparation for the beginning of the beach season.

Beach 121st, Rockaway Park, Queens, NY, May 9, 2011

Beach 123 St, Rockaway Park, Queens, NY, May 9, 2011

Beach 121 St., Rockaway Park, Queens, NY, May 9, 2011

And in the end you get a lovely dune.

Beach 111 Street, Rockaway Park, Queens, NY, May 9, 2011

When you look at Overpeck and Weiss’s map of sea level rise, I think it is expected that Breezy Point, the west tip of the Rockaways, would be inundated. It sticks out into the ocean and looks vulnerable. What is surprising is that the beach on the ocean side will probably it will get narrower but not dramatically. It is several large swathes of the bay side that are predicted to be hit. This looks like it will be an equal opportunity for Neposit, Belle Harbor, Averne and Edgemere. I walked through some of the streets of Belle Harbor. The bay side has a seawall. The homes are lovely. A number of homes displayed yellow ribbons, either as a general show of support for US troops in harm’s way or possibly for a specific member of the armed forces. I wasn’t sure.

Belle Harbor, Queens, NY, May 9, 2011

Beach 126 Street, Belle Harbor, Queens, NY, May 9th, 2011

Rockaway Park hosts a waste water treatment plant. It is one of four waste water treatment plants that use Jamaica Bay as the receiving waterbody.

Rockaway Park Seaside, Queens, Ny, May 9, 2011

Rockaway Park Seaside, Queens, NY, May 9, 2011


There is a considerable amount of new housing.

Beach 102 st, Rockaway Park, Queens, NY, May 9, 2011

The Weiss and Overpeck map predicts that these homes will be fine in 2100. A bit closer to the ocean and maybe buffeted by storms. It is the bayside that will flood including along Rockaway Freeway which is also where the closest subway stop is at Beach 98 Street.

Beach 101 Street, Queens, NY, May 9, 2011