Far Rockaway, Queens

Far Rockaway is one of the four neighborhoods on the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens in the United States. It describes the easternmost section of the Rockaways, usually the area east of Beach 77th Street, comprising the neighborhoods of Bayswater, Edgemere, Arverne, as well as Far Rockaway proper and Downtown Far Rockaway.

Related Topics:
Rockaway Peninsula - New York City - Queens - United States

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The area is home to a large and growing number of Haredi Jews with a large network of yeshivas and Jewish communal needs.

Related Topics:
Haredi - Jew - Yeshiva

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Far Rockaway's character is that of an inner-city, decaying oceanfront district, in some ways having more in common with southern New Jersey than with New York City. Far Rockaway is one of the most distant New York neighborhoods from Manhattan, the cultural and financial center of New York City. Formerly populated by Eastern European Jewish and Irish immigrants, it now has a large African-American population, though the westernmost portion still remains mostly Irish. Downtown Far Rockaway has a moderately large Central American population. There is also a large Orthodox Jewish population in the Easternmost part of Far Rockaway, which borders Inwood and Lawrence, NY.

Related Topics:
New Jersey - New York City - Manhattan - Jew - Irish - African-American - Central America

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Recently, the area is being renewed with new beach houses, and waterfront devolpment. and there has been a steady attempt at cleaning up the town. Despite its decaying appearance, crime rate is relatively low.

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Far Rockaway is one of two New York City neighborhoods whose subway terminus is within realistic walking distance of the city limits (the Wakefield section of the Bronx is the other). This fact led to an interesting scenario in 1985, when New York City banned the sale of spray-paint cans to persons under the age of 18, in an effort to stem the tide of graffiti in the city; teenagers would travel across the city line into either Nassau County (after getting off the subway at the last stop in Far Rockaway) or Westchester County (from the last stop in Wakefield) to purchase spray paint there (Nassau County has since followed suit and prohibited spray-paint sales to minors, but Westchester County has not).

Related Topics:
Wakefield - Bronx - 1985 - Graffiti - Nassau County - Westchester County

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Rockaway Beach is sometimes known as the "Irish Riviera."

Related Topics:
Rockaway Beach - Irish Riviera

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