Rockaway was the proletarian barrier beach (between the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay) where HG and millions of sweltering New Yorkers escaped the summer blaze in years gone by. During the 70s, 80s and 90s, drug violence and the proximity to some fairly dangerous public housing lessened its attractiveness. But, Rockaway has re-surfaced with a sudden cache of cool. It started with a movement of urban surfers, who did not care that Rockaway’s waves were not California size, they were NYC waves and that was cool enough. They carried their surf boards on the subway and soon Williamsburg hipsters and lots of other cool folks from Brooklyn and Manhattan wanted to see what was going on. (Rockaway is reached by a comparatively short subway ride).
And, where there are hipsters, there’s hip food and drink. The New York Times has been reporting on the opening of many good, casual ethnic dining spots along the Rockaway Boardwalk.
HG suggests it may be time to revive that great beach classic –The Takee Cup. HG wistfully recalled the tasty Takee Cup in a post a few months ago. Bring it back for the new cool generation.
I never ate a bite when I got off the subway at Edgmere in the 1980’s, being focused on watching out for unsavory types who might mug me. I recall a guy standing on the platform, as I got off the train, who had no pants on. Turned out he’d just been mugged and stripped of his pants….
I certainly was not set up to flee any muggers, being that I was lugging my eight foot long surfboard. I’d head two blocks through the overgrowth where summer bungalows had once been lined up (HG can perhaps offer a few words on this subject, in particular the Sat afternoons when he and his youthful cohort were kicked out of the little bungalows so that their parents could practice the art of Sabbath sanctification….
Pete Hellman
ps: I once saw a large pheasant in the underbrush on my way to the beach: a different knd of wildlife!
Yes, those were jammed together, no privacy bungalows. Working class folks didn’t mind. Better than sweltering in the city. HG family rented two rooms (for four people)
in Rockaway Park boarding houses (showers in the basement and communal bathrooms in the hall). Little HG gained premature knowledge of human anatomy
and strange, noisy adult activities.