Far Rockaway, Queens

Far Rockaway
—  Neighborhoods of New York City  —
Far Rockaway street scene
Country United States
State New York
County Queens
Named for Place name of the Native American Lenape.
Population (2000)
 • Total 56,184
Ethnicity
 • White 30.0%
 • Black 51.8%
 • Hispanic 22.9%
 • Asian 1.6%
 • Other 10.9%
Economics
 • Median income $27,820
ZIP code 11691
Area code(s) 718, 347, 917

Far Rockaway is a neighborhood on the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens in the United States. It is the easternmost section of the Rockaways. The neighborhood starts at the Nassau County line and extends west to Beach 32nd Street. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 14.[1] The name "Rockaway" may have meant "place of sands" in the Munsee language of the Native American Lenape. Other spellings include Requarkie, Rechouwakie, Rechaweygh, Rechquaakie and Reckowacky (see: Toponymy of New Netherland).[2]

Contents

Transportation

Access to Manhattan is available via the IND Rockaway Line (A train) subway service, which has a terminal at Mott Avenue. This subway stretch is completely elevated throughout the Rockaway Peninsula.

The Far Rockaway station is the terminus for the Long Island Rail Road's Far Rockaway Branch, providing full service to Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan and Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn. The line is unique in that trains leave New York City and make local stops in Nassau County before crossing back into Queens and terminating at Far Rockaway. Passengers can "change at Jamaica" between the various destinations and other LIRR lines. During rush hour, express service bypasses Jamaica station.

Residents of Far Rockaway thus have two options for rail access to Manhattan, an uncommon situation that provides a backup for commuters in the event of service disruptions on any one system.

The LIRR Far Rockaway Branch had originally been part of a loop that travelled along the existing route, continuing through the Rockaway Peninsula and heading on a trestle across Jamaica Bay through Queens where it reconnected with other branches. Frequent fires and maintenance problems led the LIRR to abandon the Queens portion of the route, which was acquired by the city to become the IND Rockaway Line.[3]

Housing

NYCHA

Goldfarb Properties

Other

Education

The neighborhood, like all of New York City, is served by the New York City Department of Education. Far Rockaway residents are zoned to several different elementary schools:

Far Rockaway residents are zoned to I.S. 53 Brian Piccolo.

All New York City residents who wish to attend a public high school must apply to high schools. Far Rockaway High School was located in Far Rockaway, but was shut down in 2011. Beach Channel High School is near Far Rockaway.

Church of God Christian Academy is a K-12 co-ed school, located on Central Avenue.

Jewish institutions

Schools (past and present)

Synagogues (past and present)

Famous residents

References

  1. ^ Queens Community Boards, New York City. Accessed September 3, 2007.
  2. ^ Also, see Metoac#Exonyms.
  3. ^ IND Rockaway Branch/Jamaica Bay Crossing, accessed June 14, 2006.
  4. ^ Morales, Tina. "SCHOOL OF THE WEEK/Far Rockaway High School", Newsday, February 25, 1990. Accessed July 3, 2010.
  5. ^ a b c "The Best Queens Celebrities 2002", Queens Tribune, accessed May 14, 2007.
  6. ^ Dr. Joyce Brothers: Television and Radio Writer, Producer, Host, Museum of Television & Radio, Accessed May 14, 2007. "The daughter of lawyers, Joyce Diane Bauer was born in Manhattan and raised in Far Rockaway, Queens."
  7. ^ Nancy Lieberman player profile, Old Dominion University, accessed May 14, 2007. "On May 6, 2000, the Far Rockaway, NY native earned her degree from Old Dominion University in interdisciplinary studies."
  8. ^ Dominguez, Robert. "BRINGING IT BACK HOME. Steve Madden's new ad campaign focuses on his fashion center - Queens", Daily News (New York), October 19, 2006. Accessed November 24, 2008. "But Madden was born in Far Rockaway, Queens, where his family is from, and his corporate headquarters are in a huge, Tudor-style building in Long Island City not far from the Queensboro Bridge."
  9. ^ We Love Our Nielsen (Pat McNamara. January 9, 2009)
  10. ^ Tomasson, Robert E. "Phil Ochs a Suicide at 35; Singer of Peace Movement", The New York Times, April 10, 1976. Accessed July 24, 2008.
  11. ^ Weiss, Jeff (July 1, 2010). "R.I.P. Rammellzee: The original abstract-rapping outlaw". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/07/rip-rammellzee-19602010.html. Retrieved July 3, 2010. 
  12. ^ "IN SEARCH OF THE Z PARTICLE", The New York Times, October 26, 1986. Accessed October 2, 2007. "BURTON RICHTER was born in Brooklyn 55 years ago, but grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens."
  13. ^ Jackson, Brian Keith. "Ice, Ice Babies: Reality-TV show tries to create the next Eminem.", New York (magazine), December 31, 2006. Accessed November 23, 2007. "I grew up in Far Rockaway, and you’d always see shoes on the line."
  14. ^ Raymond M Smullyan, University of St Andrews School of Mathematical and Computational Sciences. Accessed June 11, 2007. "Raymond Smullyan, known as Ray, was brought up in Far Rockaway in New York City."
  15. ^ Herbert "Cobbles" Sturhahn, College Football Hall of Fame. Accessed August 13, 2007.

External links