BY SERGEY KADINSKY
Forgotten NY contributor
The Rockaway Peninsula of Queens never disappoints an urban explorer. Physically separated from the rest of New York City by water, it often feels like a forgotten sixth borough. The borough’s southwestern tip, Breezy Point is a collection of gated communities, military history, and unspoiled nature. Without a special parking pass, my only options here are either walking or biking. After parking my car in Roxbury, I explored this quiet cape.
Roxbury
Roxbury is bound on three sides by public parkland, and the Rockaway Inlet to its north. It is one of the three communities affiliated with the Breezy Point Cooperative, which runs the gated communities of the peninsula’s tip. The public parkland is the Gateway National Recreation Area, and any private lands inside the park are designated as inholdings. This includes Roxbury, Rockaway Point and Breezy Point.
The neighborhood was founded in the early 20th century by Irish immigrants as a bungalow colony on a peninsula full of bungalows. While most bungalow colonies were replaced with housing projects and empty lots, the huts of Roxbury became year-round, kept their Irishness, and continue to prosper in their isolation.
Since Roxbury is a private community, many official NYC street maps present an inaccurate rendering of the street layout, but Google comes as close to reality as possible. The community is located along Rockaway Point Boulevard (State Road) north of Fort Tilden west of the Marine Parkway (Gil Hodges) Bridge.
Sand is everywhere. While the demographics describe Roxbury as one of the city’s whitest neighborhoods, there is plenty of individuality expressed on the homes, with diverse decorating tastes. But we’ll talk more about race later.
New York is often criticized by some middle Americans as a secular, liberal hotspot. But in Roxbury is different. Its devotion to religion and patriotism give the impression of a Norman Rockwell painting. Local vehicles wear their beliefs on their fenders. They also carry special permit stickers to park in the area.
Roxbury has its own regulation street signs, and like its parent city, some of its streets have been honorifically renamed for prominent local heroes. Bayside Avenue (below) fronts an expansive beach on Rockaway Inlet, with views of the Marine Parkway Bridge. In the distance beyond the flagpole are the apartment projects of Coney Island, a world away from Roxbury. Resisting the street numbering grid of the peninsula, only Beach 181 and Beach 184 Street were admitted into Roxbury.
Feimer Promenade (left), Roxbury Avenue
Glazed tiles are a popular method of designating addresses. With very narrow lots, some homes are expanding upward, but how far can they go before regulations step in? State Road is the continuation of Rockaway Beach Boulevard, which is the spine for much of the peninsula.
It’s an endless highway between Beach 184th and 193rd Streets. While most of Fort Tilden has been reclaimed by nature, a small US Army Reserve Center keeps ties to the park’s past. A flag hangs on every lamppost. The first fort on the peninsula was Fort Decatur, a blockhouse built in 1814, to guard against possible British raids. A year later, it was abandoned after the U.S. and Great Britain made peace. It was located near present-day Beach 137th Street, which marked the peninsula’s western tip at the time.
Fort Tilden
The grounds of the former military base have been reclaimed by nature since its decommissioning in 1974. Former streets now ramble through thick shrubbery. From the top of Battery Harris East, the Marine Parkway Bridge dominates the view. Built in 1937, the bridge could be lifted to 150 feet above water, anticipating a major Jamaica Bay seaport that was never built. The bridge’s name anticipated a waterfront parkway that was also never finished.
Resembling an overgrown hilltop, the defunct battery offers sweeping views of the tip. Hardly a building in sight, it’s hard to believe that this scene is within New York City limits.
The underbelly of the fort offers enticing urban exploring opportunities, but my fear of strangers lurking got the best of me, and I decided not to venture further.
The Silver Gull Club is the only address on Beach 193rd Street, an empty boulevard once destined for high rise housing in the 1960s. By 1979, local opposition killed the project, and the concrete building skeletons were demolished. The land on both sides of this street is now part of a larger nature preserve. As for the club, it sits at the end of the street, with its own private oceanfront beach, swimming pool, and cabanas overlooking the shore. Adult membership is $480 per year.
On the Beach
While it is easy to walk the mile from Fort Tilden to the Rockaway Point jetty, signs everywhere remind travelers that is land belongs to a private co-op. The private land is tucked inside the National Park land, grandfathered for private use, because it predates the park.
The tip continues to move westward, shaped by currents. But in the 20th century, the sand was sculpted by jetties, to prevent it from clogging Rockaway Inlet. In 1935, the line was drawn with a half mile-long jetty, preventing the borough of Queens from extending further west. As a result, the sand is now expanding towards the south. Since 1960, more than 100 acres of new land has been naturally added to Breezy Point, and there was a court case to decide whether the new land belongs to the private community or the federal government. In 1982, a federal court ruled for the Breezy Point Cooperative.
This Google aerial view shows undeveloped dunes on the southern edge of the cooperative. Those formed after 1960, and a decision was made not to build on them. The outline of the older shoreline forms the southern edge of the Rockaway Point neighborhood.
On the western edge is the square grid of the Breezy Point community. The large parking lot beyond Beach 222nd Street belongs to the Breezy Point Surf Club. Its address is 1 Beach 227th Street, the last street number on the peninsular grid. Membership for a single adult costs $910. A guest must be invited by a member and fork over $50 for a day’s use of the facilities. The rates seem more Hamptons than Rockaway.
On the eastern edge is the nature preserve that was once slated for high rise housing.
Where Queens Ends
A humble beacon marks the tip of Rockaway peninsula. In contrast to some of the city’s other major capes, there is no dramatic lighthouse to mark this spot. The city has a few of them, including Norton’s Point in Brooklyn, Jeffries Hook in Manhattan, Roosevelt Island, and one that defines a book publisher in the Bronx.
The mighty Ambrose Channel separates Rockaway Point from the highlands of New Jersey. Before the last Ice Age, the Hudson River carved a canyon into the continental shelf, but as the sea level rose, the valley was flooded, creating the channel and Lower New York Bay. In 1902, Congress named this channel after John Wolfe Ambrose (1838-1899), a proponent of dredging the channel. A 19th century master builder, Ambrose built the 6th Avenue El, pneumatic tubes for Western Union, streets in Harlem, and docks in Brooklyn.
The jetty (below) separates the beach from the Lower New York Bay. Across the channel, the New Jersey highlands end at Sandy Hook. On the left, the breakers are made for surfing, but on the right are the calmer waters of the bay. At the tip, the sand deposits shells, arrowheads, and debris that floated westward with the current, captured by the jetty.
Everything appears cramped together, with all of Coney Island framed by the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The hills of Staten Island appear on the left. The waters are calm because between Rockaway Point and Coney Island lies the East Bank, a shoal with a minimum depth of only 4 feet below the surface. The waves in the middle of the picture are crashing above the shoal, which is surrounded by dredged channels.
Breezy Point has a fire control tower from the Second World War, designed to keep Nazi submarines out of Jamaica Bay. It has since gained a new life as a symbol of the Breezy Point Cooperative.
Besides its privacy, the neighborhood is also known as the city’s whitest enclave, with some 98 percent of its residents descended from European immigrants. In a 1991 protest outside Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes’ summer house, Rev. Al Sharpton described Breezy Point as an “apartheid village.” Residents argue that the reason for the whiteness isn’t racism as much as a low vacancy rate, which gives the few available homes to friends and relatives of existing longtime residents. Like any Manhattan co-op, applicants for Breezy Point must be recommended by existing members, meet certain income guidelines, have a clean crime record, and receive final approval by the co-op’s Board of Directors.
While the memorial in downtown Manhattan slowly inches towards completion, other city communities have designed their own tributes to the local residents who perished. Because Breezy Point had a sizable contingent of police officers and firefighters, it felt a disproportionate impact from the attack. Like the Staten Island 9/11 memorial, this one also faces towards the site of the World Trade Center, atop a dune, with corners for private reflection and personalized memorials to the 24 local residents killed on that day.
Some of the names have Celtic crosses, testifying to the area’s deep Irish identity. Breezy Point even has its own Pipes & Drums ensemble.
As with the Roxbury street map, the Breezy Point street layout has been somewhat couched in mystery for outsiders, given its private nature, and retail street maps have this given only a general idea. Using satellite info, Google has approached near total accuracy.
The only road open to outsiders is Rockaway Point Boulevard. All other streets have electronic gates to keep strangers away. Sand is everywhere, and only a few hardy trees can make it here. For a city as large and populated as New York, there are relatively few gated neighborhoods to be found. It feels egalitarian for anyone to have the same opportunity to park on Manhattan’s Park Avenue. The city also has a few private neighborhoods that are not gated, such as Fieldston and Forest Hills Gardens, where outsiders can drive, but not park. Parking on Breezy Point Boulevard is restricted to invited guests and residents.
The King of All Buildings is never out of view, seen from the parking lot of the venerable Kennedy’s Restaurant, which has been feeding local residents since 1910. It was originally a casino. Like Roxbury, “Breezy” and “The Point” also have beaches on the bay. The postcard below is from the restaurant’s website, showing its early incarnation, which included a ferry dock.
Roxbury and Rockaway Point have their own volunteer fire companies, security force, ambulances, bus system, water distribution, garbage collection, parks, and road maintenance. All the trappings of an independent village inside the city, paid by the dues of its residents. City buses do not serve The Point, and a subsidized ferry service was cancelled on July 2, 2010 after only 2 difficult years. Its private bus system costs $1.
The Origin of Breezy Point
The gated co-op was born in a revolt in 1960, when the Atlantic Improvement Company purchased the peninsula’s tip, threatening to replace bungalows with high-rise projects. A mix of political clout, relentless protests, and lawsuits forced the city to compensate the building company, and the remaining undeveloped land was incorporated into Gateway National Recreation Area in 1974. At the time, President Richard Nixon was reaching out to cities with urban national parks. The Golden Gate National Recreation Area was created that same year in San Francisco. But the skeletons of the projects was already complete, standing forlorn until they were taken down in 1979. Over the years, the co-op continued to fight in court to keep its land off-limits to outsiders, even as it is tucked inside a national park, inside the country’s most populated city.
The administrative center of the three-community co-op is a strip mall with offices above its stores. Across the street, there is a small community garden reminiscent of a village square. Even here, parking is restricted only to residents and guests.
Like Roxbury and Breezy Point, Rockaway Point also features the co-op’s signature entrance sign with a heavy accompaniment of patriotism.
As long as its vacancy rates remain low, guest fees remain high, and threatening “private property” signs remain up, few New Yorkers will dare trespass into this unspoiled tip of Queens, and that’s just how the residents would like it.
The entrance carries on the mix of patriotism and privacy. A blessing stands alongside a warning to potential trespassers.
Like Roxbury and Breezy Point, Rockaway Point also features the co-op’s signature entrance sign with a heavy accompaniment of patriotism.
As long as its vacancy rates remain low, guest fees remain high, and threatening “private property” signs remain up, few New Yorkers will dare trespass into this unspoiled tip of Queens, and that’s just how the residents would like it.
The entrance carries on the mix of patriotism and privacy. A blessing stands alongside a warning to potential trespassers.
Sources:
“Behind Closed Gates” By Shane Dixon Cavanaugh. The Architect’s Newspaper 3/10/2010
“New Beach Land Poses Issue For a Gated Town in Queens” By Norimitsu Onishi. New York Times 8/25/1997
“Between Ocean and City” By Lawrence Kaplan and Carol P. Kaplan. Columbia University Press 2003
“Old Rockaway, New York, in Early Photographs” By Vincent Seyfried and William Asadorian. Dover Publications. 2000
Page completed December 12, 2010
Forgotten NY contributor Sergey Kadinsky is a freelance writer, teacher, tour guide and photographer. sergey.kadinsky@gmail.com, twitter.com/#!/sergeykadinsky
89 comments
Hi, I hail from Staten Island, where the beaches don’t compare to the Rockaway coastline, big waves, gorgeous surf, just wondering if there is any possiblilty for a mere mortal to purchase a little bungalow out there in Breezy Point……….just wondering………..!!
you have to know at least three people who already live down here
It’s a coop like any other: you have to get recommendations from at least three shareholders in good standing and pass an interview with the board. There’s also some pretty tough restrictions on mortgages and how much you can carry.
Yes, three references from exhisting owners are still required, But alas, some unscrupulous real-estate sales people actually pay people to give one to strangers just to complete the sale.
If the community is so private why are you able to drive right into it without even being stopped at the toll booth. You can walk through the beach club attached to Tilden without even a glance. You’re able to buy a parking permit to drive out to the tip year round which, once there, can walk the beaches all you want. And, for a “private” community that everyone holds so much pride in, their beaches are just as dirty as public Coney Island. There’s all the washed up plastics, including a slew of tampons and debris as far as the eye can see. They’re don’t only discriminate against people of color, but also white people they can’t quite place “must be Russian”. It’s Queens people… not the Hamptons, get over yourself.
There are multiple errors in your comment.
One cannot ‘. . . drive into it . . . ‘ without parking permission, obtained through a shareholder. There is no ‘. . . toll booth’. There is an Information Booth where guests and commercial vendors can pick up parking passes approved by shareholders.
The main road through the community is not owned by the Cooperative and is open to all. There is no public parking along the road. There is public parking in Gateway national Recreation Area. The public beaches may be as covered with trash as you indicate, since they are not routinely cleaned by the National Park Service, but the beaches owned by the Cooperative are pristine, being cleaned daily by motorized rakes during the summer, and stay that way except for the occasional slobs who leave beach party debris. Other than the summer, the routine flotsam and jetsam of an urban waterway accumulate for removal next Spring. “The tip” as you call it, is Gateway property, not the Coop’s. People everywhere like to associate with their fellows, and neighborhoods everywhere develop their ethnic character. It is no different at The Point in that regard. As for implying that because of political choices made a century ago The Point, or for that matter, the Rockaways, should choose to be as dirty, crime-ridden, unfit for children to safely play outside chain link fences, and smothered with asphalt and concrete as the rest of Queens, I respectfully disagree. Your resentment is obvious.
Roxbury is not connected to Breezy Point. There will never B another Roxbury. My folks had a bungalow there 406 seabreeze ave. I was 9 then and loved every minute living there. So many memories Now I’m 92 and still remember such good times. I was president of the Moonshiners and my wife belonged to the sunshiners. Boy do I remember Hiller’s many a beer spilled there.
My granfather, Zeb Ghelardi, was a founding member of Breezy Point Surf Club, and we had a cabana with ocean views until my uncle died in the 70’s. He was a construction and hotel guy, and we enjoyed the club as kids, although it was more like an Irish social club. Still, everyone was friendly, and it was close by home in Prospect Park South to get to the beach, and have a civilized day in the sun.
I am from breezy point and we have something we call a D.F.D. which means your not from breezy and its obvious especially hipsters’ (hate them) don’t bother coming down
Is anybody allowed in Breezy? Like, guys like me skulking about with cameras?
Kevin, not really. Unless you’re there as a guest you’re actually trespassing on private property. Visitors who don’t know any residents are allowed to get a pass and park to eat/drink at the bars and restaurants, but that’s all you can do without being invited.
I am NOT from Breezy Point, but wanted to let you know the 1950s are over, and now, so is Breezy Point – New York’s most white/most catholic/most racist nabe – since that massive fire engulfed your all-white suburban mecca beyond the redlined urban badlands. Burn, baby, burn…
Hostile, much?
It is a beautiful neighborhood to live in. I grew up there, still nice because people like you aren’t approved to live there. We only allow civilized people. That is why your type isn’t welcome there! That is how a neighborhood keeps its value. I can tell you the people there would help you if it was your area destroyed. People like you waste air.
I grew up in Roxbury/Breezy Point. I have family that lost everything in that fire. Aside from all that, how could anyone be so callous to wish devestation upon anyone? Not a very kind attitude to have, regardless of your race, ethnicity, political views, or anything else. We are all human…or perhaps, you are not. Shame on you!
Our grandparents, parents, family, friends, etc….still have homes / bungalows in Roxbury, it was a blessing to have spent my summers in such a beautiful place & now our children!
“Generational Years” of a “Private” beautiful quiet beach town with a lot of love!
In the name of the Father & of the Son & of the Holy Spirit, AMEN<
God Bless Breezy Point / Roxbury & the beautiful people that live there!
The Ferrandino Family
bought a house 5 years ago in breezy. originally from bklyn, now upstate . was on my bike in breezy when i got a flat tire. along came security, when i asked where an airpump might be ,the first question to me was if i was a resident. never forgot that . we are selling the house soon. by the way i am a white male, marine corps veteran and decorated nyc fireman.very inclusive mentality, not for me.
so long p barr Breezy does not need uptight types like you. Security is only doing the job they are paid to do. Funny how you don’t mention that you were assisted.
I grew up in Roxbury my bungalow was 406 sea breeze ave. When my Dad bought the bungalow there were no side walks just sand and water. Brings back fine memories. I was president of the moonshiners a great club and my wife Dorothy was a member of the women’s club (forget the name now). Have so many memories and the Madri Gra’s we had every year.. I am 91 years young so I’m sure no one knows me or ever heard of the Ulschmid’s. If U want to keep in touch my e-mail number1fluke@optimum.net hope to hear from U.
Frank, I remember your family — I lived down the block at 413 Bayside (Glaab / Rudolph ) best regards, Steve Rudolph
seriously Duly ??? Breezy Point is not over…….that’s right the most catholic with 3 Roman Catholic churches in a community of ~ 2600 homes. A strong community that from your comments it is obvious you would not pass the Cooperative Board interview . we prefer people with 1950’s morales and family values that you mock………
and we are not suburban we are in the borough of QUEENS !!! we are a beach community if you want to label us.
It’s sad how people want to attack anything that is white immediately it is a racist community. Learn the history learn why it is so protected. Most of the folks who live here homes are handed down through the generations. In addition these are small bungalows that were bought years ago by predominatly Irish blue collar workers, fire, police etc. They took jobs nobody wanted. Worked hard saved and bought in a community at the time was inexpensive and modest. They built up the community with their own hands. It wasn’t given to them by the city or built by taxes. Everyone in this community has a right to protect what they built.
I love the hostility. Best part is most are rebuilding with YOUR tax money. Therefore Breezy just got better and you are still not welcome there. HAHAHA
I live there and lost everything. But now thanks to several programs my house is 95% done with a few new additions and a sweet fire pit. Burn babt burn indeed lol
Eh, whatever guy. Considering there are now so many Big Apple neighborhoods that are completely overrun by Mexicans, Middle Easterners, Chinese, Indians, Russians and so on (not talking about race but full blown foreigners, many who can’t speak a word of the native tongue), I could see why these people would want to live among their own and hold onto their community and heritage while they can. Let’s face it, Americans are racing against the clock of multiculturalism. New Yorker’s especially, having been pushed to the brink due to the Mid-Western migration/Hipster gentrification invasion of our neighborhoods. Nothing wrong with carving out and preserving a little piece of what’s left for some Native New Yorker’s.
What kind of hate-filled person even publicizes their Ignorance. You are a disgrace to the Human Race,
even DFD have to have a pass !
Hello,
My grandparents lived in Breezy Point from the early 1930’s until their death in the early 90’s. Unfortunately, my mom and her sisters sold their bungalow which (I was told) was replaced by some McMansion. I spent summers down in Breezy during the 70’s and 80’s, walking down the boardwalk with our “California Boogie Boards” protecting our heads from the nesting mother birds and waking up to the cries of, “Paaaaapaaaarrrr” from the paperboy. I was wondering if the Sugar Bowl, with its sandy floor, candy, and ice cream was still there. I’d love to see pictures if anyone has any.
Aw, Krista, my Dad sold my grandparent’s bungalow when grandma passed in 1995. Same story, new McMansion. Happily, it was the neighbor’s kid two doors down that bought it. Miss the place dearly. I remember those vicious gulls and terns attacking while we would run for our lives from the Surf Club. My aunt’s place just burned to the ground in this hurricane. So sad. Don’t know about the Sugar Bowl, but I hope that it and Kennedys were spared.
The Bowl was unfortunately demolished in Sandy: all that’s left is the concrete footings, the roof, and the entrance to the outdoor table area… Someone did salvage some of the walls of pictures though! Kennedy’s is still standing but has been completely destroyed inside.
My great-grandparents were among those original Roxbury squatters, who turned their camps into bungalows and their bungalows into, well, other, better bungalows.
My grandparents lived there with their six kids every summer, and some years year-round, winterization be damned.
My mom learned to swim the day her father tossed her out of a boat in Jamaica Bay. My first taste of saltwater was there, under ah, less dire circumstances. So was my daughter’s. How many Mardi Gras kids’ parades did my mom make us costumes for? How loudly did we cheer for the Gladiolas as they marched past?
I love knowing that Roxbury exists pretty much as it always has. My sister and I might never be fortunate enough to live there, but we’re grateful that we have relatives who do. And we know how lucky we are to have that sand, that water, and that community in our blood.
wow, if you do not want or care to let anyone except your own kind live in Breezy Point, then i sure hope that you dont want or need anyone’s financial support to rebuild Breezy Point. Why should tax payers rebuild a community that they are told to KEEP OUT, WE ARE NOT WELCOMED!!!!!!!!
I imagine this was a response to Mr./Ms. Corral’s comment.
Breezy Pointers pay the same taxes as all of New York State AND New York City pay. They do pay extra to keep the Volunteer Fire Dept. Facilities, and the grounds maintenance & sports fields in nice shape for usage.
Actually it is our home owners insurance policies, FEMA and fundraisers that are assisting us to repair. $$$ that was given to NY was not given directly to ANY ONE PERSON . So not exactly sure how tax dollars pay for anything related to Sandy ?? If it was not for our strong sense of community and volunteer organizations like Habitat for community we would not be able to REBUILD. Because if you think that we set up roadblocks to try and keep our sense of community….. think how hard it is to get an insurance company to pay out or get money from the government. …..and if “our kind” is hard working middle class people well then proud to be “that kind” . Funny how no one is offended when they cannot enter an coop apartment building without being met by the doorman and have to be announce and buzzed up….but stopping at a gated community security booth is a problem. BTW Brooklyn and Long Island both have many gated communities…… and private beaches…..
I spent summers in the fiftes at Breezy. It was a wonderful, free existence and those days are still among the happiest of my life.
I remember many sunny days spent topless on the beach at Riis Park. Jewish lesbians playing volleyball across the bay from Breezy Point. Restricted, they told me. Still? How ’bout now?
Still RESTRICTED!
Bless me father, for I have sinned!
This is one place of the FEW PLACES LEFT, particularly in this city, where there are ordinary working people — mostly CITY WORKERS (cops, firefighters, teachers, nurses) NO MILLIONAIRES. In fact, this is one part of the city that is not particularly impressed by the RICH. And is not for sale to the 1%, so back off a little. This place arose a hundred years ago. Not a posh place in Connecticut or out Long Island cos the people who settled this peninsula, with tents and platforms and lean-tos often didn’t have cars, could go further, and couldn’t afford to go further out of the stinking city during the pre-air conditioning days of the dense housing of the inner city. My family of ten went there, pre-A/C to get out of our two bedroom apartment on 14th Street, where we raised 7 children, often lined up to use the bathroom. Not wealthy folks, our idea of vacation was a vacation in Queens, so please don’t write these articles full of misinformation about excluive enclaves. I am the third generation of worker in my family to give decades of my life to serve this great city and keep it ticking. Breezy Point families are generations of city workers, raised with an ethic of public service. Begrudge these people? I wouldn’t!… but, sure go on, why not……By the way, there are all-African American enclaves of summer communities evolved similar ways in Michigan outside Detroit and all around the country. There are parts of Rockaway exclusively Ukrainian. You get a place by knowing the real estate agents and the locals. It’s called racial clustering. It’s natural. Try to legislate against it and you can’t. If I try to walk through a co-op on Park Ave, I get taken to task too. So, far as I can see, this article has no point. I’m a liberal and I am not a racist. I voted for Obama twice. I have never voted for a Republican, partly because I was raised with a recollection of the people I came from and part of my inheritance, as Irish, is to identify with the oppressed and see their liberation as human progress. So talk about the people of Breezy Point when you know somethink of their journey. Till then, write from ignorance.
Thanks Peggy,
The anti- Breezy polemics are born of ignorance and a mindset that won’t change.
I only saw this today and hope it’s worth the effort to verify your post.
My wife’s family came here (Rockaway Point ) in canoes in 1905. Her parents raised 7 kids in a 5 room “railroad flat” 3 flights up on Coney island Ave. They spent their summers in what started as a 2 room office of a fireworks factory which was floated across the bay and rolled up onto the beach by a cousin who sold it to her parents in 1929. Three brothers volunteered for the Navy in WWII. A sister was a nurse and until we had 5 children she was a teacher. Service was way of life.
We’re 82 now. I’m a newcomer of 70 years and was a NYPD cop for 34 years.
We raised 5 children, son and 2 daughters were cops ( 1 for 34 years) like my father and uncle. We were blessed by them finding houses in our hometown.
We have 15 grandchildren, 2 cops, 2 firefighters like my uncle and 3 teachers.
The Irish do have an ancient proclivity for service, family and the Church.
My main point is that our family needs 15 more houses in our hometown. There are less than 3000 homes here and no possibility of any more. Any house sold to a non-stockholder greatly reduces the opportunity for someone who grew up here to raise their children in their hometown.
We are in NYC but we’re “Smalltown USA!”
@ Duly – For your information Breezy Point is not “over.” In fact, Breezy Point will never be over, thanks to the wonderful, loving, and kind hearted people who live there. We will rebuild and support one another because that is what we do and who we are.
You should truly be ashamed of your comments and more importantly YOURSELF.
For one to wish a neighborhood to; “Burn, baby, burn..” after such a tragic and devastating time clearly reveals how much of an evil, unhappy and cold blooded person you truly are.
You are a complete disgrace to society!
I will forever pray and thank my Catholic God that you are not a part of our community and hopefully never will be.
BREEZY WILL REBUILD
Looks like Duly was right. Maybe even Sherry.
RIGHT!
Sounds like a throw-back to an earlier time where fear of change abounds. Probably filled with narrow-minded and yes… racist people (although they would NEVER publically acknowledge that part of their character). Always hard to look at yourself. I’ll pass, thanks and pray for their personal growth.
Isn’t Breezy Point and Irish version of Sea Gate right across the bay? Also similar to West Gilgo Beach in Long Island? The place is a coop….. they all have similar rules …these homes are usually not sold outside family members because there are so few available ….
http://thebrooklynink.com/2011/11/14/35830-residents-only-inside-new-york-citys-oldest-gated-community/
Gee… I think there is a ‘little’ more to this analysis than ‘so few [homes] available’… Breezy’s demographic profile is a manifestation of classic tribal behavior, which by definition, is grounded in exclusivity, xenophobia and provincialism. Sadly, I am more than familiar with the undercurrent of racism in Breezy Point; but no one will publically admit to being so limited. There is way too much invested in the status quo. I am exhausted by the endless defensive postures and hope they give way to honesty: yes it is a co-op, yes, it has limited opportunities for buying-in and yes, we residents work hard to (staunchly) maintain our current racial demographic.
http://www.facebook.com/RebuildBreezyPoint
Mica, Duly and Sherry………. talk about being racist and the narrow minded ?? what is wrong with a strong community with morales and the same beliefs?? and WHY should taxes and the government assist us with our rebuilding BECAUSE WE PAY TAXES TOO !!! We are a middle class hard working community that manage to help this city daily with our Nurses, Firemen and Policeman…… we are generations of families that enjoy a way of life. So that ‘s right, there are low vacancy because generation after generation continue to live in our community.
I am appalled at the idea that you think that because “you pay taxes” you are entitled to “maintain your way of life” when that includes keeping anyone you don’t consider “acceptable” out. What a joke! I am a real estate agent in upstate NY, and I dearly hope that any agent representing your community of similar morals and belief does NOT sell real estate according to those ideas. It is ABSOLUTELY, let me say that again for the benefit of Rosena, who appears to think that this is the 1950’s, ABSOLUTELY, against New York State Law to discriminate in the way that she describes. How dare you even say it as if it makes perfect sense! This country was built to keep narrow, crappy-minded people like you out of power, and to allow people of all beliefs to be accorded equal opportunity (including the purchase and sale of real estate) and you have the unmitigated gall to act as if it is “perfectly ok” to say that people of similar morals and beliefs have the right to keep others out! I certainly hope that if any investigators at the capitol happen to read this they take the opportunity to send an undercover agent to pose as someone trying to purchase. Granted cooperatives make certain rules, but discrimination is still NOT allowed. I don’t wish anyone to burn, but I DO wish a certain level of consciousness to creep into the stagnant brains of some of the backward-thinking posters. Unless you think that your Irish immigrant ancestors should have been kept out by the perfectly happy Native Americans who never invited them over here in the first place. I’m just sayin…
By the way, I am a conservative from a very desirable upstate NY community. I am also a Real Estate Agent. It is the thoughtful establishment of laws and fairness that makes my community awesome. I have customers of every race, and am the godmother of one of my Jamaican-American client’s children. They live in a nearby city in a depressed neighborhood and are doing everything within their power to move out so that their 5 lovely and well behaved children can grow up in a safe and happy environment.The neighborhood is allowed to remain that way due to politics and the money being made by allowing the drug trade to remain there. They managed to raise their children to be lovely and well behaved through discipline and hard work and would be an asset to ANY neighborhood. When I think of people like you acting as if you did ANYTHING other than be self-centered and arrogant instead of looking for the good in people I am saddened immensely. The church DOES NOT sanction this behavior, it is TOTALLY against it, so don’t act as if you have been given the go-ahead by the pope. Let’s call a spade a spade – you are selfish, closed-minded and arrogant. I believe it was the bible, Book of Proverbs, that mentioned “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall”. I do not wish it, I didn’t write it, and I am mentioning it only in the wish that you might think about it and ask for guidance. Oh – and BTW – God is not Catholic. Catholics just happen to worship God in the way they think best. God is above religion, and, clearly above this forum.
WOW Janine…. so now it is stagnant brains and backward thinking to live amongst family and people of the same morals and values. Funny how we consider that a way of life and you consider that racism. My comment about paying taxes for the person who replied that NY taxes should not help us rebuild. I pay taxes. I also pay to live in a cooperative. which my family has done since the 1950’s . Church does not sanction what behavior??? family life? So If having a nice home, community and neighbors to come home to after pulling 12 hr shifts as a nurse or my blue collared working parents, brothers, cousins, aunts and uncles who all reside in MY community and having a sense of pride in that is ” selfish, self centered and arrogant ” then I AM PROUD of that. So PULEZE stay in your ” desirable upstate community” .
You say you’re a real estate agent? (You told everyone here twice). OK, then you must understand this- Breezy Point is a co-op. Residents own their homes, but not the ground. To get in, a person must be recommended by 3 present residents and pass the board’s interview. Try getting into any co-op, even in a “desirable upstate community”. You must be approved by the board. Breezy is a co-op. It is occupied by group of like-minded people with similar moral values, of various ethnicities. It’s very hard to get in there for some very valid reasons- the vacancy rate is very small and probably 95+% (just a guess) of all the sales are done through word of mouth and passed down generation to generation. There are several real estate companies that deal in Breezy Point real estate and they are well aware of anti-discrimination laws. I’m not a resident, but I do have a doctor that practices there, so I am there frequently. I will not respond to your ignorant Catholic bashing. I will say, Janine, that nobody gives a damn where you live, and your posting of your ridiculous – and wrong – opinion shows how uninformed you are. Why not do a bit of research BEFORE you write something stupid?
Hi, I grew up in Breezy Point in the late 60s and 70s. I whent to school in St. Camillus in Rockaway. Breezy is a small pice of heaven and a great place to grow up. I have great memories of hanging out at the baseball field and the doug out, sniking into the surfclub and just playing on the beach. Christmas was always great, how could anyone ever for get Santa Clause calling to all the houses on Chritmas Eve and falling out of them a little worse for the wear. The fire department frezzing a car park across form the the church so we could go iceskating. My only regret in life is that my parents sold our home at 211-60 Breezy Point Blv and moved us all to Ireland in 1980. And then my aunts sold my grandparents house at 126 oceanside around 2003.
God Bless Breezy Point and their People long may you stay a Privet Co-op. One of the few place left in the city were a small child can still walk around to a friends home to play for the day with out an adult having to take them to make sure their safe.
We lived on Courtenay Lane since approximately 1937, and my brothers and I spent many happy days in Rockaway/Breezy Point! We spent the month of September there commuting to our school in Brooklyn thereby lengthening the great fun days spent “on the Beach”. So many friends from those days are still in touch although I have lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the past 36 years! Long live the “Beach”!
It is interesting how the individuals who demand “diversity” and freedom of expression, are the first to express the most vile forms of retribution on others. “Breezy Point deserves to burn down, conservative celebrities and politicians should get cancer,etc”. Those vilifying Breezy Point- do they question the need for other cultures in Queens to maintain their languages and neighborhoods? Isn’t this called “Ethnic Pride” and these cultures celebrate their pride each year in Queens. Listening to the critics “gated communities” and coops apparently should be abolished. I live on the north shore of Long Island, near a “gated community”, they have a fantastic view and access to Long Island Sound. Everyone is entitled to enjoy their lives- this is what we all strive for.
Yes, you’re entitled to freedom of expression. Unless you’re conservative, religious, and white. That’s obviously tolerance.
I miss it there!!!!!… lived there with my grandma it was a great place to grow up!! After school I would walk to church for classes and plays!!!! I never had to wear shoes always running around barefoot in the sand … Just a great place to live
Wrting this at 6:30am on the front porch of our bungalow on Oceanside, Breezy – one of the few on this block left standing after Sandy. Had a beer at the ‘new’ Sugarbowl last night – picnic tables under a tent and a shipping container turned into a bar (an improvement over the ‘old’ Sugarbowl in my opinion) Yes, there are aspects of Breezy that are questionable (the ocean is not pristine) and objectionable, (they don’t take too well to outsiders) but it’s the only place my kids (5th generation breezy pointers) can not wear shoes for an entire summer. It’s also one of the last places where you find groups of kids playing without helicopter parents hovering over them – a real throw back.
Spent many wonderful summers growing up with my family on Pelham Walk from the mid sixties to the mid nineties. I’m now a published playwright who has set a few of my plays in the Rockaways!
I have read these posts and see a lot of bigotry. So what if Breezy is mostly Irish/Catholic. That is not a reason to bash it. Doing so is stupid.
Equally stupid is the class warfare I am seeing. What is with the idea that if one VOLUNTARILY accepts a civil service job they are candidates for Sainthood? If you are a police office, fireman, nurse or teacher, good for you. You should be proud that you provide a valuable service to the community. However, the attitude that you are a long-suffering, underpaid hero does not resonate with me. You chose your career and you deal with the good and the bad.
Bashing millionaires as if they are somehow evil compared to “working people” is asinine. Many people worked very hard (and honestly) to get where they are. When I was about 20, I took the test for the NY State Police. I scored a 95. I turned down the opportunity as I did not want to be part of that bleeding heart civil service culture. I also gave up my Wall Street trading job because I did not like that culture either. Neither culture was bad per se, they just were not me.
The high-rise projects on Beach 193 Street were actually killed by the Department of Defense because the Nike missile silos in Fort Tilden would have been visible from the upper floors had the buildings been completed and populated.
It wasn’t sailors that guarded your Frontier on those freezing cold winters and hot mosquito summers, but soldiers of the US Army. When you slept in peace went to school and ate good food. I spent seven years playing with radar sets next to the fence of breezy point, never went swimming because of all the sharks. The Nike Hercules system was a new invention of the antiaircraft systems, and it took a special soldier to learn its system. I often took the ferry from Sheepshead Bay to the colony then walked to the base, but often we just hoped over the fence.
Alas when the missile system was abolished many of us found our selves enroute to Vietnam, and for some reason found our selves with the Cavalry and Infantry.
These last 43 years I live in Seoul Korea with my Korean wife Kim of 43 years, of course she is an Irish Korean from the Clarks and O’neils side of the fence.
Born in Brooklyn and attended Oueen of all Saints. Might see some of you soe day.
My relatives year round house was next to the fence ocean front by Fort Tilden. We always saw the soldiers and sometimes climbed up onto the beach in front of Fort Tilden. The guards always chased us down the rocks to our beach. The beach club sits where my aunts house used to be. You had to walk through the tavern to get to the boardwalk to her house and my grandmothers bungalow. It was the Maher’s, Neal’s, Smith’s, and we kids didn’t realize how lucky we were.
The Maher’s were year round residents. as were the Drebots (Russian desent). Beth Ann Maher, Ella Drebot, Mosse Drebot and my cousin Carol and I were good friends even though we were only summer people. The friendships lasted from the early 40’s till the bungalows were demolished and the co-op formed.
My grandparents were long time Silver Gull Club members (UA8). I spent most of my summer days on the beach there. My grandfather would dig fire pits in the sand load em up with seaweed and steam lobsters.
The ocean was glorious.
I still have a Silver Gull commemorative beach towel “Fun in the Sun”
In the early 1900-s Fritz Kolm, a German immigrant, leased land from the Rockaway Land Company and opened a bar/restaurant on the bay side of Fort Tilden. He did very well with the Navy Seaplane base, Coast Guard and Army bases nearby. After the Great War he purchased a number of former officers bungalows from the fort and moved them across the road to what became known as Roxbury. He sold some and rented some and made out very well. My mother, (now 88) was born in 1925 in Roxbury. She has an excellent recollection of the Seaplane base which was located in the area of Riis Park. She vividly recalls the opening of the Marine Parkway Bridge. She tells of the “Regulars” coming during the summer to fire the 16″ coastal guns. Great stuff.
I grew up here in the 60-70’s. All I remember is the blast I had when we were here. We had hot dogs and fireworks. My parents had a bungalow on the beach. The best part was we had a player piano the you had to pump to make work. All the kids would come over and play. We would go the beach when ever we wanted. On Friday nights they would have scary movies on the beach. We would go to Tap house and by candy. They would have parades and we would dress up. Every house had lots of kids as well as ours. I wish we had a place like this for my kids. Lovely time will never forget. Miss it.
Guys, I too was a resident of Roxbury. My dad was in the Army, and we would use Grandma’s house as a place to stay while leaving for Europe or coming back. I was there in the years 1958 to 1969. I can remember a lot about this place. Although my in-laws were “Stuck there”, our lives regarding Roxbury were always in transition. I remembered you froze you knacks off in the Winter and spent every day in the water in Summer. The people were about as strange as you could imagine. More “Drunks” there that anywhere I remember in the world.
I would to know what became of all the kids I knew then. One died in Ft. Tilden by stealing a jeep there and having it overturn on him. The kids that came from the city and lived there only in the summer were sometimes “snooty”, but usually by summers end everyone all made for a good group.
Those days were nice in an odd way…
Steve…
What’s along the beach on the inlet side, between beach 184 and beach 201?
I see a building on google maps … Do homeless live there? Is it safe to go hang out and explore? Thank you
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Yea the good old days, Was rised in Roxbury in the 60’s and early 70’s whet to P.S 114 ,P.S 180 and Far Rockaway High School.We used to take the Green Lines bus to school, the city bus.
diring the winter the community was almost empty ,just a few people and us lived there.
l’m in my 60’s now. l think l lived at 104 Roxbury ave and my Pop’s was a city union plumber days and at nites worked in the Roxbury Tavern. I passed there many years ago ,its torn down now and gates all over the place. l loved that place and all my friends ,beaches and our boats we take out to go skiing and fishing.Swim and jump off the lower portion of the Marine PWY bridge.
Now l live in Texas and retired from the military and the city
I too was a product of the Roxbury. My father was given the bunglow from his uncle who no longer wanted to come for the summers. I had a lot of fun there. We left in the morning and came home when it was dinner time. When it rained we had a player piano in the small living room. All the kids would come and pump the peddles. Till this day when I serve anything out of the pot I cooked it in we would call it Roxbury style. Our house was the second from the end facing the water next to the restaurant. I still have sand left over from the late 60’s somewhere.
“Breezy Point has a fire control tower from the Second World War, designed to keep Nazi submarines out of Jamaica Bay.” No, not at all! It was designed as a spotting station for the artillery batteries. There is not only no mention of submarines, but (1) submarines couldn’t fit in Jamaica Bay, and (2) submarines would have no reason to visit Jamaica Bay! Ambrose Channel was mined, but that is own in Lower New York Bay.
“This fire control tower was constructed during World War II (completed 7/15/43) to serve as the secondary base end (B”) station for both Battery Kessler and Battery Fergusson. It was disguised to look like a lighthouse by the addition of a wood structure with windows on to of the tower. It contained 6 pedestal mounts for azimuth instruments, and was later used as the primary base end and spotting (B1S1) station for Battery Kessler, the fourth and the fourth base end and spotting (B4S4) station for Battery 218 at Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, NY, and the third spotting station (M3) for the minefields of the East side of the Ambrose Channel.”
http://www.oocities.org/fort_tilden/tower.html
Here is a description of what a fire control tower does/did. 🙂 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_control_tower
The Ambrose Channel is a shipping lane that is nowhere near Jamaica Bay. It runs through the middle of the Lower New York Bay.
Pat. Yes Irish Catholic. Got to Live there free, I worked at the clubs as a cook it was part of my pay food and all the book I could drink did L say best times summers then those no good would ship my poor ass to ocean reef club and the same thing to me all winter. It would piss me off so much, one winter they sent me to palm springs CA. Don’t fight one year at Atlantic beach club next lido club long beach. Just north all the way to Montak I had go one summer goodluck relax have drink love your self and your friends, family. Where ever you live. Still Irish in FL. Now 68 years old miss all of the the big apple NYC strong.
Loved my family time at 35 Tioga Walk in Breezy during the late 50’s and early 60’s. Am writing a memoir that will include a chapter or two about my BP memories, my Cooke cousins, Peggy O’Brien, Judy Hilbert and the rest of the game who hung out on our porches and at the soda shop. Many beach parties, the Surf Club and etc.
I read through every comment. The top is mostly just uninformed s**t posts about Breezy, Roxbury and Rockaway and people trying to defend it. As I got closer to the bottom of the page, the posts were more about people who miss breezy and the memories about it.
I am a current resident and have been living here all my life ( not very long, only 15 years) the community is extremely Irish and catholic, but that doesn’t matter too much. There is a Lutheran church here, but I’m not sure if it is still in use. The residents are all very kind and supportive. I will admit that there are a few alcoholics that live here. Also there is a problem with kids drinking too. The parents do try to combat it, but they know that it won’t stop their kids. As a better option, some parents just regulate their kids and give them limits (I think this works better because it teaches you your limitations before you make stupid decisions in college that could potentially get you into big trouble). The people here aren’t racist at all, we just don’t want people that don’t live here to come down because it is a PRIVATE community and we pay to live here on top of regular taxes. If you want to go to the beach down here, you can go down to fort Tilden, but please don’t walk down the beach (we try to keep I clean) and the lifeguards here are probably not as qualified as the lifeguards at fort Tilden.
Now that I am done talking to the s**t posters, the people who were talking about their fond memories of Breezy and Roxbury. Today you can’t walk around barefoot because after superstorm sandy, there has been too much debris on the ground, but it is getting better. People were talking about the bungalows, well now most of the residents are year round and there are less and less bungalows every year (I am upset by this). As for Splorer, I don’t know if homeless people live there, but it is called “the cove” by most kids today. Also, my mom grew up here in the summer in the 70’s and 80’s. A lot of her friends have moved in full time now, and almost everyone here is either close friends or related somehow. Breezy Point, Roxbury, and Rockaway are great towns and I hope the never change. Now if you would kindly excuse me, it is 3:30 am and I have to study for finals so I can enjoy the summer.
Thank you,
Chris
Holy crap! I didn’t realize I took an hour to compose that comment.
Never mind, the site is an hour off.
Coming back final thought, there are also many elderly people living here, and it is a great place to move of you are looking to retire and know a few people down here.
Thanks,
Chris
Also, every picture from the top I can vividly remember seeing something like that from about ten years ago. Breezy has changed a lot since then. Please update or add new pictures.
Nothing but great memories at 51 Hillside Ave, Roxbury. To go back in time to that place would be amazing. People were kind and everyone knew and cared about each other. After all the time gone by I can remember the neighbors, their names and the happy family atmosphere. When our mom passed away two years ago, that is where we visited after her funeral to let her and us say a final goodbye to her favorite place ever. Thanks for the memories. God Bless !
My rents bought a bungalow on Graham Place in 1942, two weeks after I was born. I spent every summer of my first 20 years running barefoot in the sand and later out to the end of the jetty. Regrettably my parents sold the place in the 60’s. Went back 2 weeks after Sandy and was stunned by the devastation. Our old bungalow survived. What I remember most was how pretty all the girls were. Especially Janis.
I knew the owners of the hardware store in the 80’s very well. Great folks. And everyone in Breezy was very nice to me . I was a visitor.Was not Catholic. Was not Irish. And thought Breezy was fantastic !
Worked at breezy point for the phone company from late 60s to mid 80s was greatest time of my life.Made many good friends and were treated as family hope most are still around especially patty from Bedford walk .God Bless The point hope to return in 2019 for Mardi Gras. Stan the “phoneman”
Just happened upon this article while searching for a car ferry from Breezy Point to Sandy Hook, NJ. Ended up reading the whole article and every single comment here. The reason I’m looking for that ferry is because I’m one of the lead singers of Alive N Kickin, and we play the Sunday before Labor Day every year at the Silver Gull Beach Club (I’ve been in the band 11 years, and we played every Sun before Labor Day those last 11 years). We’ve also played many summer concerts at the baseball field. So my only experience of Breezy Point is entertaining the residents and members of Silver Gull. I wasn’t even aware that it’s a private co-op. I have to play a show with another band after Alive N Kickin’s show on Sept 1st down in Oceanport, NJ, which is only a half hour ride by ferry. Alas, I can’t even find any car ferries in the area (the kind you can drive your car onto). So I guess I’ll have to drive to my 2nd show that day. But I’m glad I ended up here, reading all of your comments and this interesting article. I can see both sides of the argument, but understand that Breezy Point is a co-op with very few homes, leaving very few available for new residents, especially when most of the residents have been there for many generations. I can easily say that I’ve only ever encountered sweet, kind, friendly people in Breezy Point, of all kinds of ethnicities, and maybe a handful of minorities (I’m Cuban myself). Looking forward to another fun day-before-Labor Day concert at the Silver Gull, entertaining all of the BP residents! See ya’s on Sept 1!!
My father from Yorkville in Manhattan met my Cypress Hills Brooklyn-based mother at Roxbury beach.
Years later, they bought a Breezy Point bungalow for their family of six children.
Lots of fond memories but I now enjoy life in Virginia.
I was raised on the fort proper from 1955-1965, when my Dad retired. He was a missile-man Battery B, 3rd and 51st.I was a snot-nosed kid and was looked down on by those who lived on the point. but us Army brats stuck together and held our own. I too went to PS 114, but moved to Va. after the 6th grade. The house we lived in on post still stands in the recent aerial pics posted on the net. One of the 4 little brick houses in a row, got to be 80 years old but appear to still be occupied, amazing.Wonder if the “stuff” we buried as “treasure” still remains?
Tell me where to dig
My aunt and uncle owned the bungalow in Roxbury. We lived in Brooklyn and stayed at the bungalow all summer. I am 88 years old now and gives me so much pleasure to think about Roxbury. We walked to st Genevieve church n played bingo at Hillers Grocery store. We were usually without any shoes or sandals. Constantly getting nails in our feet NO BIG deal. Anyone know the Parchmans or shufgdas Anyway. Loved loved Roxbury. Oh could see the parachute jump across Jamaica bay. At Steeplchase. Hope someone reads this. MY name is Ruth
For many many years I biked from Brooklyn to Breezy and biked from one end of Breezy Point – to the other end. Passed by the bunkers, waved to DA Hynes biking with friends – biked past the abandoned buildings and continued biking to the opening past the parking lot and abandoned buildings.
Now I can’t even get in. I shopped at the stores, had lunch and visited the horses near the Firehouse. Spent all day enjoying the great outdoors. Great days. Now I would like to rent an spy by the water.