Rockaway, Queens

Rockaway
The Rockaway Boardwalk, a visitor attraction on the peninsula
The Rockaway Boardwalk, a visitor attraction on the peninsula
Flag of Rockaway
Motto(s): 
"Populis ad Littus" (Latin)
"The People's Beach"
Map
Location within New York City
Country United States
State New York
City New York City
County/Borough Queens
Community DistrictQueens 14[1]
Named forCorruption of original Lenape language name
Population
 • Estimate 
(2020)
124,185
Time zoneUTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Codes
Area codes718, 347, 929, and 917

The Rockaway Peninsula, commonly referred to as The Rockaways or Rockaway, is a peninsula at the southern edge of the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, New York. Relatively isolated from Manhattan and other more urban parts of the city, Rockaway became a popular summer retreat in the 1830s. It has since become a mixture of lower, middle, and upper-class neighborhoods. In the 2010s, it became one of the city's most quickly gentrifying areas.

The peninsula is divided into nine neighborhoods or sections, with Riis Park in between two of such sections. From east to west, they are:

  • Far Rockaway, from the Nassau County line to Beach 32nd Street;
  • Bayswater, located to the northeast of Far Rockaway, along the southeastern shore of Jamaica Bay
  • Edgemere, from Beach 32nd Street to Beach 56th Street;
  • Arverne, from Beach 56th Street to Beach 77th Street;
  • Rockaway Beach, from 77th Street to Beach 97th Street;
  • Rockaway Park, from Beach 98th Street to Beach 126th Street;
  • Belle Harbor, from Beach 126th Street to Beach 141st Street;
  • Neponsit, Beach 141st Street to Beach 149th Street;
  • Riis Park, Beach 149th Street to Beach 169th Street;
  • Breezy Point, from Beach 169th to the western tip. This includes the smaller areas of Roxbury and Rockaway Point, as well as *Fort Tilden[2]

The peninsula is part of Queens Community District 14[1] and is patrolled by the 100th and 101st Precincts of the New York City Police Department.[3][4] As of 2020, the peninsula's total population is estimated to be 124,185.[5] All ZIP Codes in Rockaway begin with the three digits 116 and the central post office is in Far Rockaway.

  1. ^ a b "NYC Planning | Community Profiles". communityprofiles.planning.nyc.gov. New York City Department of City Planning. Archived from the original on June 22, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  2. ^ Lucev, Emil (2007). The Rockaways. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-4990-3.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYPD 100th Precinct was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYPD 101st Precinct was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Office of the New York State Comptroller, "An Economic and Demographic Snapshot of The Rockaways", Report 7-2023, September 2022.