| Breezy Point | |
|---|---|
| — Neighborhoods of New York City — | |
| Breezy Point Shopping Center | |
| Nickname(s): Irish Riviera, Cois Farraige | |
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Breezy Point
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Queens |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.78 sq mi (2 km2) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 4,337 |
| Ethnicity | |
| • White | 99.2% |
| • Black | 0.1% |
| • Hispanic | 1.2% |
| • Asian | 0.3% |
| • Other | 0.1% |
| Economics | |
| • Median income | $58,491 |
| ZIP code | 11697 |
| Area code(s) | 718, 347, 917 |
Breezy Point is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, located on the western end of the Rockaway peninsula, between Rockaway Inlet and Jamaica Bay on the landward side, and the Atlantic Ocean. The neighborhood is governed by Queens Community Board 14.[1] The community is run by the Breezy Point Cooperative, in which all residents pay the maintenance, security, and community-oriented costs involved with keeping the community private. The cooperative owns the entire 500-acre (2 km2) community; residents own their homes and hold shares in the cooperative.[2]
Breezy Point and the Rockaway Peninsula in general are unlike the rest of the city of New York, with the latter being very urbanized, developed and noisy, with Breezy Point being a quiet beach community, having more in common with nearby Long Island and even the Hamptons.
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According to the United States Census Bureau, the community's ZIP code (11697) is 99.2% white and has the nation's 2nd highest concentration of Irish-Americans, at 60.3% as of the United States Census, 2000 (Squantum, in Quincy, Massachusetts, is #1, at 65%).[3] It functions mainly as a summer get-away for many residents of New York. Estimates put summer residency at 12,000, while year-round residency was 4337 in the most recent Census.[3]
Due to its large concentration of Irish-Americans, Breezy Point has been called the "Irish Riviera."[4] Others within the community refer to it as Cois Farraige, Gaelic for "By The Sea."
Breezy Point was sold to the Atlantic Improvement State Corporation for $17 million dollars in 1960. The residents of the community purchased half of the land for approximately $11 million and formed the Breezy Point Cooperative. Today, it consists of about 3,500 homes.[5]
Breezy Point is patrolled by its own private security force that restricts access to owners, renters and their guests. It also features three of New York City's ten remaining volunteer fire departments.[6]
According the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, beaches on the Breezy Point peninsula are home to one of the most diverse breeding shorebird areas in the Metropolitan area. Shorebirds that breed here include:
The Beaches are owned by the cooperative and are federally and state-protected areas in which development is extremely limited.
Breezy Point residents are zoned for schools in the New York City Department of Education. The school is P.S. 114 Belle Harbor for grades Kindergarten through 8.
Breezy Point Shopping Center has a grocery store called Deirdre Maeve's, a Ridgewood Savings Bank, a hardware store, Henley's Hanger, an independent gift shop, "The Blarney Castle," a pub, a liquor store, a coffee shop, and an auto repair shop. The main office of the Cooperative is also located here. Elsewhere in the community are a travel agency, a surf shop, a beauty salon, a beach bar, and two restaurants. The Dug Out, a walk-up bar-style candy shop, also provides ice cream, pizza and occasionally hot dogs. It only operates during the summer and is a popular hangout among the teenaged community.
Notable current and former residents of Breezy Point include:
Timothy J.Dufficy New York State Supreme Court Justice