Hurricane Bill forces city to close beaches in Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island

The city is closing beaches in Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island on Friday because of fears that Hurricane Bill will pound the shores with dangerous surf.

Gangster Surf

Can Bobby Vaughn, a Californian with a shady past, turn Rockaway locals into professional surfers?

A Surfers’ Turf War

A few years ago, energy industry executives who wanted to build natural gas plants in the New York region came up with a way around the perennial wall of neighborhood opposition to their plans. Place the projects in the open sea, far from troublesome neighborhood councils and community boards.

Ask About Rockaway, Queens

This week, Lawrence Kaplan and Carol P. Kaplan, the authors of “Between Ocean and City: The Transformation of Rockaway, New York,” answered questions about the history of this once popular seaside resort in southern Queens.

Plan for gas terminal on island off Rockaway

The plan to create a gas terminal on a 60-acre man-made island off the Rockaway shore has moved on to environmental studies,

City Wants Affordable Homes In Arverne East

The city’s solicitation for developers interested in transforming the last part of the Arverne Urban Renewal Area includes an affordable housing requirement – a last-minute amendment that surprised key community board members.

Ship finally set to sail for Arverne by the Sea YMCA

Plans to build a YMCA at the Arverne by the Sea complex in the Rockaways are finally moving forward after a year of wrangling over the size of the facility.

Rockaway leaders didn’t know of wind farm plans

Jonathan Gaska’s telephone buzzed about 10 a.m. yesterday. Assemb. Audrey Pheffer (D-Rockaway) was on the line and wanted to know what Gaska knew about a proposal to build a wind farm 10 miles off the shoreline of the Rockaways.

Wind Farm Site Considered 10 Miles From Queens Shore

Has the economic or political climate changed for wind power on Long Island? The Long Island Power Authority hopes so.

Amusing history

A bungalow in the Rockaways. (Photo via LaurenKrohnRichman on Flickr)

The Historic Districts Council will be exploring the leisure destinations of old New York in its fall lecture series, “Out for the Day in New York: Historical Resorts and Amusements.”

Rockaway homeowners to become landowners

The owners of 17 bungalows on a Jamaica Bay pier in the Rockaways will finally be given the chance to buy the property on which the homes sit.

Rockaway is Surf City

Hedwig Aerts walks from the beach carying a surf board in Rockaway, Queens. (Tadej Znidarcic)

A row of surfers bobs like bath toys offshore, the noses of their boards pointing toward the horizon, sniffing for the perfect wave.

Rockaway Beach area is fenced to protect endangered plovers’ nesting ground

A group of endangered birds that breed on the Atlantic coast have shrunk in numbers this year after violent storms wiped out several nests in the Queens area, conservationists said.

Rockaway rezone set for city OK

The first comprehensive rezoning of much of the Rockaway peninsula is set to be approved by the City Council in the next two days, officials said Tuesday.

Beach disparity in Rockaway is a black and white issue

Call it a tale of two Rockaways.

Maybe it’s about race. Maybe class. Maybe both.

Lifeguard Janet Fash swims in political deep end in Queens

Janet Fash sweeps her hand across the beach of Beach 96th St. one of six bays of Rockaway where she is a lifeguard chief.

Union Boss Criticized After a Death in the Surf

He may look cool and relaxed in his white Mercedes, golden tan and trademark pink polo shirts, but for Peter Stein, summer is no vacation.

Man arrested, taken to jail in handcuffs, for wading in Rockaway Beach

A Queens dad trying to beat the heat at Rockaway Beach was arrested and hauled off in handcuffs – while his family and friends looked on – for wading ankle-deep, into the water.

Lack Of Lifeguards Cuts Down On Queens Beach Fun

After trying to have a good time in the water at Queen’s Rockaway Beach Friday, Josey Miranda and her friends gave up and settled for hanging out on the sand.

IN FAR ROCKAWAY, PRETTY BEACH MEETS HOUSING BUST

The Rockaway Peninsula’s tortured development history enters its latest chapter, with ill-fated spec buildings disintegrating next to successful new housing development, and a rezoning belatedly attempting to instill order.