Category Archives: The Land We Share
We Demanded the Sand–but THIS is Ridiculous!
Rock Viv is back! I survived Hurricane Sandy, which struck the Northeast coast of the United States at about 9 p.m. on Monday, October 29. I sent a panicked text message to a friend a few minutes later that said: … Continue reading
Celebrate Book Month by Rattling the Skeletons in Rockaway’s Closet!
The Rockaway Peninsula is a land of mystery. Did you ever wonder why we have a yacht club without a dock, and a graffiti-covered concrete box perched on a deserted stretch of bay front beach? And why there is a … Continue reading
Starbucks Arrives on the Rock, In a Way
Somehow, they are getting to the peninsula—those ubiquitous Starbucks coffee cups. The $6 Joe can’t be purchased locally, but we have become a “privileged” repository of the brand’s classy paper receptacles, and trash of various other kinds. Everyone’s starting to … Continue reading
Happy Earth Day, Jamaica Bay!
It’s more than just a body of water or a marsh ecosystem–Jamaica Bay is an integral part of the environment in the Rockaways. No matter how you enter or leave the peninsula, or spend your days here, you see the … Continue reading
Finding Fannie Holland
I’ve received the good news that Images of America: Rockaway Beach will be published on June 4, 2012. I’m planning two upcoming slide show events in Belle Harbor to preview some photos from the book, one which will feature coffee and pastry on a Sunday … Continue reading
H2O, Gerrymandering and Socialists in Archie Bunker Land
I’ll never forget the words of the engineer who inspected the Belle Harbor home our family was about to buy, in the spring of 1994. “The number one enemy of your home is water,” he said. Do everything you can … Continue reading
A Paean to Irene
That Hurricane Irene was some bi-polar storm! Carefree teens tubing down the Saw Mill River Parkway on Sunday afternoon contrasted with kayakers in distress pulled from the Hudson River on Saturday night. The mood of the city swung like a … Continue reading
It’s Showtime!
Well, we’ve been talking about it and preparing ever since Mayor Bloomberg decided to devote millions of dollars to his plaNYC initiatives in 2007. An actual serious emergency that could require evacuation of millions from low-lying areas of New York … Continue reading
Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
I couldn’t resist featuring the stunning hydrangeas of Rockaway Park in the header photo this week. These bushes are located in the gardens that surround the apartment building at the north end of Memorial Circle (Rock. Beach Blvd. between Beach … Continue reading
Is Independence a Fiction in Bloombergville?
Independence Day is one of those American holidays celebrated with disparate emotions among the populace. Are you part of the investor class or a wage earner? Wage earners live for the weekends, particularly the three-day ones. Those of us who … Continue reading
Oy Vey Rockaway 