Breezy Point, Queens

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 to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south. 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
Neighborhood of Queens
Breezy Point Shopping Center
Nicknames: 
Irish Riviera, Cois Farraige
Location within New York City
Coordinates: 40.555°N 73.925°W / 40.555; -73.925
Country United States
State New York
City New York City
County/Borough Queens
Community DistrictQueens 14[1]
Area
 • Total0.78 sq mi (2.0 km2)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total4,079
Ethnicity
 • White98.2%
 • Black0.1%
 • Hispanic1.2%
 • Asian0.6%
 • Other0.1%
Economics
 • Median income$86,941
Time zoneUTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Code
11697
Area codes718, 347, 929, and 917

The New York Times described Breezy Point as consisting of "three small neighborhoods:"[3] Rockaway Point, Roxbury, and namesake Breezy Point, and that Rockaway Point Boulevard "runs between the sections."

It is less urbanized than most of the rest of New York City, and it is part of Queens Community District 14.[1] Breezy Point is patrolled by the 100th Precinct of the New York City Police Department;[4] its ZIP Code is 11697.

Geography

Breezy Point's three neighborhoods are:[3]

  • Breezy Point, west of Ocean Avenue near the tip of the peninsula
  • Rockaway Point, between Ocean Avenue and Beach 201st Street, and
  • Roxbury, about a mile east, near the Marine Parkway Bridge leading to Brooklyn.

Former Member of Congress Bob Turner listed his Rockaway Point address when he ran for office.[5]

Breezy Point Tip, to the west of the community, is part of Gateway National Recreation Area, which is run by the National Park Service. This isolated, 200-acre (0.81 km2) area includes an ocean-facing beach, a shoreline on Jamaica Bay, sand dunes, and marshland. It is a breeding spot for the piping plover, least tern, black skimmer, American oystercatcher and common tern.[6]

Demographics

Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of the combined area of Breezy Point/Belle Harbor/Rockaway Park/Broad Channel was 28,018, an increase of 1,307 (4.9%) from the 26,711 counted in 2000. Covering an area of 2,033.88 acres (823.08 ha), the four neighborhoods had a population density of 13.8 inhabitants per acre (8,800/sq mi).[7]

The racial makeup of the neighborhoods was 78.3% (21,946) White, 7.5% (2,095) African American, 0.1% (29) Native American, 2.1% (595) Asian, 0.0% (8) Pacific Islander, 0.2% (66) from other races, and 0.9% (259) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.8% (3,020) of the population.[8]

However, according to the United States Census Bureau, the community's ZIP Code (11697) is 98.2% 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 number 1, at 65%).[9] The community's demographics are maintained as a result of a Cooperative rule that a person, prior to buying a house, must be recommended by three members of the Cooperative and approved by its board of directors.[2][10] Breezy Point 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 4,337 in the most recent Census.[9]

Due to its history of population by Irish-Americans, Breezy Point has been called the "Irish Riviera." Since the mid-1990s, Italians and Jews have also moved into Breezy Point, making the concentration of Irish-Americans drop.[11]

History
Apartment house abandoned during construction, 1973. Photo by Arthur Tress.

The community began as summer beach bungalows, in the "early 1900s", according to the New York Times although this is impossible because at the time the shoreline was further east until landfill extended the Rockaways.[11] Breezy Point was sold to the Atlantic Improvement State Corporation for $17 million 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.[12] The construction of apartment buildings commenced in the late 1960s and was halted by City ordinance.[13]

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 nine remaining volunteer fire departments.[14]

On September 8, 2012, the community was struck by a tornado shortly before 11 a.m. that started as a waterspout over the Atlantic Ocean and came ashore at the Breezy Point Surf Club.[15]

Hurricane Sandy damage

On October 29, 2012, Breezy Point was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic Ocean flooded the land between these bodies of water. Most Breezy Point homes were damaged or destroyed by high water, and basements and vehicles were ruined.[16] That night, a six-alarm fire arose at 173 Ocean Avenue. Local volunteer firefighters were trapped in place for several hours due to the flooding. Once the waters receded, the Rockaway Point Fire Department rescued more than 41 civilians, while the New York City, Point Breeze, and Roxbury Fire Departments found 130 homes burned to the ground.[17][18] Nearby, another 50 homes were damaged by the fire.[16] According to an official report in December, rising seawater caused the fire by contacting a house's electrical wires.[19]

Historical note

A New York Times 1940 headline said: New Coast Guard Station: Work starts on $119,975 unit on Rockaway Point[20] In actuality, this marked work on what was named "Station Rockaway Point, New York"[21][22] Closure was announced May 2003.[23]

Ecology
U.S. Geological Survey Image of Breezy Point and the surrounding area.

According to 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 in Breezy Point Tip are owned by the federal government and are federally and state-protected areas in which development is extremely limited. The beaches in Breezy Point are owned by the Breezy Point Cooperative as a consequence of litigation with the federal government in the 1980s.

Education

Breezy Point residents are zoned for schools in the New York City Department of Education, which operates PS/MS 114 Belle Harbor School for grades K-8.[24]

Politics

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump received 77.5 percent of the vote in Breezy Point.[25]

Notable residents

Notable current and former residents of Breezy Point include:

References
  1. "NYC Planning | Community Profiles". communityprofiles.planning.nyc.gov. New York City Department of City Planning. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  2. Sciolino, Elaine. "A Cooperative on the Beach Loves Privacy", The New York Times, September 10, 1984. Accessed November 21, 2007.
  3. Julie Lasky (May 24, 2017). "Breezy Point, Queens: Tested by Hurricane Sandy". The New York Times. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  4. "NYPD – 100th Precinct". www.nyc.gov. New York City Police Department. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  5. "About Bob". Bob Turner for Congress. Archived from the original on October 17, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  6. Breezy Point Archived 2008-09-17 at the Wayback Machine Brooklyn Bird Club, Accessed November 24, 2008.
  7. Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre – New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010, Population Division – New York City Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed July 16, 2016.
  8. Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin – New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010, Population Division – New York City Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed July 16, 2016.
  9. QT-P13. Ancestry: 2000 for 11697 5-Digit ZCTA Archived 2020-02-12 at Archive.today, United States Census Bureau. Accessed October 2, 2007.
  10. Richardson, John H. (March 2013). "The Neighborhood". Esquire. 159 (3): 192–203. ISSN 0014-0791. Retrieved 2013-07-21.
  11. Herszenhorn, David M. "THE CENSUS – A Region of Enclaves: Breezy Point, Queens; Bounded by Gates, Over a Toll Bridge", The New York Times, June 18, 2001. Accessed November 1, 2007. "The neighborhood, started in the early 1900s as a summer bungalow community and called the Irish Riviera..."
  12. "Rockaway – www.rockawave.com – Wave of Long Island". rockawave.com. Archived from the original on 27 November 2006. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  13. Documerica 1973, The Atlantic Magazine
  14. Hamill, Denis. "Brave firehouse heroes get my vote", New York Daily News, April 26, 2007. Accessed September 8, 2008.
  15. "NYC Neighborhood Startled By Unexpected Tornado". Huffington Post. September 8, 2012.
  16. "At least 80 flooded houses destroyed by NYC fire". USA Today. 30 October 2012.
  17. Superstorm Sandy's toll: Mounting deaths, historic destruction, stranded residents CNN. 30 October 2012.
  18. "Update: Breezy Point, Queens blaze upgraded to 6-alarm fire, at least 50 homes completely destroyed by fire – @FDNY". breakingnews.com. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  19. Cause of Breezy Point Fire During Sandy Determined: City Fire Marshals say that rising sea water came in contact with electrical wires WNBC News, Dec 24, 2012
  20. "New Coast Guard Station: Work starts on $119,975 unit on Rockaway Point". The New York Times. May 28, 1940.
  21. "U.S. Coast Guard History Program: Station Rockaway Point, New York" (PDF). Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  22. It was a Coast Guard station that, although built in 1856, was renamed in 1883, relocated in 1913, and in 1923 recorded as "on Rockaway Beach, two and one-half miles east of Rockaway Point." The 1940 headline referred to fixup work at the non-Rockaway Point location.
  23. Agenda: "consolidating .. to complete this .. the one USCG small boat assigned at Rockaway would be moved to Staten Island .. close Station Rockaway and transfer ownership .. to the NPS ... continue routine patrols of .. area waters. "Closure of Coast Guard station (small) Rockaway". The Federal Register. May 28, 2003.
  24. Home. PS/MS 114 Belle Harbor School. Retrieved on September 16, 2017. Archived February 12, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
  25. A Gated Community in N.Y.C. Where Trump Flags Fly The New York Times. 20 October 2020.
  26. Kovaleski, Serge F. "A Baseball Lover, Key to Tarnishing a Yankee Era", The New York Times, December 15, 2007. Accessed February 19, 2008. "Mr. McNamee was raised in the Breezy Point section of Queens, on the westward end of the Rockaway Peninsula, an area with many police officers, like his father."
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