Rockaway Beach (Queens, NYC)

Do you dream of walking for miles on a beach with your dog?

If so, Rockaway Beach is just the place to go.

DOG SEASON opens on the first of October. After that date, leashed dogs are permitted both on the sand and boardwalk on Rockaway Beach until May 1.

About Rockaway Beach:
Rockaway Beach, the largest urban beach in the United States, is located on the Rockaway Peninsula in the borough of Queens in the far south of New York City on the south shore of Long Island. This amazing beach, extending from Beach 3rd Street to Beach 149th Street, has a length of 146 city blocks--over 7 miles!

To see New York City's Official Rockaway Beach Rules, CLICK HERE

How can my dog and I get to Rockaway Beach?
While a car is probably the most convenient way to go, you and your dog may also get there via subway. According to the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), if your dog can travel in an enclosed container in such a way so as to not annoy other passengers, you may take it on the subway. Got a big dog? Get a big container. They make them. Both the A and S trains go to Rockaway Beach.

Rockaway Beach is so big! Wherever to go? What are the neighborhoods like?
Rockaway Beach traverses 8 distinct neighborhoods, from the swanky Neponsit and Belle Harbor neighborhoods with their million dollar private homes (and no direct subway access) to the much more modest Far Rockaway whose residents are mainly apartment-dwelling renters. Read the detailed descriptions below to find out which of Rockaway's neighborhood beaches is best suited to you and your dog.

Rockaway Beach's seaside neighborhoods: (West to East)

1. Neponsit
2. Belle Harbor
3. Rockaway Park
4. Seaside
5. Hammels
6. Arverne
7. Edgemere
8. Far Rockaway
   

Neighborhood Descriptions:

1. Neponsit (Beach 142 to Beach 149 Streets) A or S train to Beach 90, transfer to Q22 bus; On street parking Oct. 1 - May 15 ) Very upscale neighborhood. Because housing consists mainly of single family homes and because of the neighborhood's secluded beach location (with Jacob Riis State Park to the West), homes in Neponsit can be mansion-like, with prices exceeding $1 million. The ethnic makeup of residents in this enclave is practically all white of Italian, Irish and Jewish descent.
   
2. Belle Harbor (Beach 130 to Beach 142 Streets) (A or S train to Beach 90, transfer to Q22 bus; On street parking Oct. 1 - May 15 ) Upscale neighborhood consisting primarily of single-family homes owned by 3rd and 4th generation Irish Catholics. The community also has a substantial Jewish population. The boardwalk to the eastern part of Belle Harbor is lined with high rise apartment houses.
   
3. Rockaway Park (Beach 116 to Beach 130 Streets) (Subway: A or S to Beach 116) This middle class mostly white neighborhood has been called the "Irish Riviera" due to the high proportion of the population claiming Irish ancestry. The boardwalk of Rockaway Park is lined with high rise apartment houses.
   
4. Seaside (Beach 94 to Beach 116 Streets) (Subway: A or S to Beach 98 or Beach 105) Although Seaside is dominated by expensive high rise apartments along its south shore beach front, in general, this neighborhood is less affluent than its neighbors to the west, becoming increasingly lower income as one moves east. The ethnic makeup of west Seaside is mainly white (80%) becoming more ethnically diverse to the east (with equal percentages of white, black and Spanish residents).
   
5. Hammels (Beach 74 to Beach 94 Streets) (Subway: A or S to Beach 90) The Hammels neighborhood closest to the shore consists of middle to lower middle class ethnically mixed residents (55% white, 25% black, 15% Spanish). The north portion of the Hammels (away from the beach) is less affluent and contains the Hammels Houses, Federal public housing (pop. 2,000).
   
6. Arverne (Beach 59th to Beach 74th Streets) (Subway: A to Beach 60 or Beach 67) Averne is a lower income neighborhood with a high unemployment rate (almost 30%). Ethnically the neighborhood is mostly black (65%) with smaller percentages of Spanish (17%) and white (9%) residents.
   
7. Edgemere (Beach 32nd to Beach 59th Streets) (Subway: A to Beach 36 or Beach 44) Edgemere, a lower middle class neighborhood, is ethnically black (66%) with a significant Spanish population (20%) and a smaller white population (8%). The north (away-from-the-beach) part of Edgemere contains a significant Federal housing projects that includes the Beach 41st Houses (pop. 1,650) and Edgemere /Ocean Bay Houses (Beach 51 Street) (pop. 4,400).
   
8. Far Rockaway (Beach 3rd to Beach 32nd Streets) (Subway: A to Beach 22 or Mott Ave.) Far Rockaway is not easily accessibly by subway. The walk to the beach from the subway station is 8 or 15 blocks depending upon the station. Far Rockaway can also be reached via the Long Island Rail Road from Penn Station in Manhattan (with a 20 block walk to the beach). The lower numbered streets (Beach 3rd to Beach 15th Streets) are without subway access. The Far Rockaway neighborhood contains a large black population although the western section is mainly Irish and the border to Nassau County has a large Orthodox Jewish population. Federal public housing--the Redfern Houses (pop. 1,700) is 15 blocks north of the beach (near the Mott Ave. subway stop).
   

Information for this article regarding Rockaway Beach neighborhoods is from http://www.queensny.org/NED_Pdf/CB14DistrictProfile.pdf(whose information comes from the US Census 2000) and from the web site of Trulia Real Estate. Information (other than that relating to public housing) concerns neighborhood portions (census tracts) only that border Rockaway Beach (the Atlantic Ocean) and does not reference entire neighborhoods.