The Rockaway Peninsula, commonly referred to as The Rockaways or Rockaway, is a peninsula that lies at the southern end of the New York City borough of Queens, New York. It is primarily separated from Manhattan and other urban areas in the metropolitan area; Rockaway was a sought-after vacation spot during the 1830s. It’s now an amalgamation of lower, middle, upper, and lower regions. In the late 2010s, it was an area that was among the city’s fastest-growing areas of gentrification.
This peninsula can be divided into nine sections or neighborhoods. From west to east, they are:
- Far Rockaway, from the Nassau County line to Beach 32nd Street;
- Bayswater is located just to the northeast of Far Rockaway, along the southern shores of Jamaica Bay
- Edgemere The Edgemere Beach 32nd Street to Beach 56th Street; H&A Power Washing
- Arverne in the area from Beach 56th Street to Beach 79th Street;
- Rockaway Beach, from 79th Street to Beach 108th Street; Rockaway Park From Beach 108th Street to Beach 126th Street;
- Belle Harbor, from Beach 126th Street to Beach 141st Street;
- Neponsit, Beach 141st Street to Beach 149th Street;
- Breezy Point, from Beach 149th up to the western tip.
“Rockaway.” The term “Rockaway” may have meant “place of sands” in the Munsee language spoken by the Native American Lenape, who lived in this region during European contact at the beginning of the 17th century. There are other spellings like Requarkie, Rechouwakie, Rechaweygh, Rechquaakie, and Reckowacky that were transliterated into Dutch and English by the early colonists. The native inhabitants of the Rockaways were called the Canarsie Indians, who were a group of Lenape whose name was linked to geography. It was named Reckowacky. Reckowacky is used to differentiate this Rockaway town from the Mohegan other cities. “Reckowacky” means “lonely place” or “place of waters bright.”
In September 1609, Henry Hudson and his crew were the first Europeans to be recorded as having seen in the Rockaways along with the Jamaica Bay area. Hudson was trying to locate his way to the Northwest Passage. On September 11th, Hudson sailed into the Upper New York Bay in Queens, and the next day, he began his journey along the now-named Hudson River in his honor.
Following a filed partition suit, Cornell was divided into 46 lots following a partition lawsuit. Cornell property was divided into 46 parcels in the year 1808. A few wealthy New Yorkers founded the Rockaway Association, which brought several of the lots and began developing resorts in the area around 1833. Rockaway became a popular location for hotels with a sea view from the 1830s onwards; the first resort was established in Far Rockaway in 1835.
Parks and Recreations
A large portion of Rockaway Peninsula is located within the Gateway National Recreation Area in Queens, NY. It is home to the National Park Service operates three locations within the region. Jacob Riis Park is near the western part of the peninsula. It covers around 262 acres (106 ha) west of Beach 149th Street in Neponsit. Fort Tilden is a group of historical military facilities located west of Jacob Riis Park. The last section, Breezy Point Tip, is an area of 200 acres (0.81 km2)) beach that is also a wildlife breeding zone.
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