Posts categorized as Community

On any beach day here in Rockaway we can enjoy Peruvian specialties at La Ceviche, exotic Hawaiian poke bowls from Edible Island. Also at Lowtide (Beach 97th) we can indulge in the deliciously rich pulled pork sandwiches from Breezy’s BBQ. If you want something lighter, have a fresh fruit smoothie from La Fruteria, among other tasty beach delights. They have the best burgers at Rippers (Beach 87th) and what about the decadent arepas at Caracas (Beach 106th)! In Far Rock on Beach 17th there’s Dreadsurfer. Oh that spicy Jerk Chicken!  […]

It’s official. I graduated and I’m now a New York City Citizen Tree Pruner! I have the authority to prune any tree in NYC that’s been planted by the parks department after two years of its installation and any tree outside of a conservatory. So, If you see me in front of your house with a pole-saw cutting your tree, please don’t call the cops. Since I last wrote about the class, I’ve learned extensively about the importance of street trees, the many dangers facing trees in our city and […]

Ahhh! I’m so excited, I just started my citizen tree pruner course!! I learned of Trees New York (treesny.org) through twitter (social media can be a good thing guys!) Their mission, “..to plant, preserve and protect New York City’s urban forest through education and community participation.” And for decades now, they’ve been doing just that: “Trees New York was founded in 1976 as a volunteer response to New York City’s devastating cutbacks in forestry and tree-related community services. Trees New York has 40 years of experience in community tree planting, […]

Previously published in The Wave. We’ve had a handful of exotic visitors this year in Rockaway. Over the winter, the Snowy Owl spent a couple of months relaxing in Breezy Point. Several seals hit the beach recently, beating the summer crowds no doubt. In April, two dolphins joined a group of surfers at the line-up for a swim. Rockaway attracts the extraordinary and seemingly is a landing pad for the kooky and creative – humans and animals alike. So when my friend Matt Johnson posted a picture of a peacock […]

The Beach 91st Street Garden will be hosting a FREE yoga glass. Everyone is welcome. Please bring your own mat (there will be a few extras just incase someone doesn’t have one) Bring water, wear comfortable clothing and please let us know if there are any injuries or anything the instructor should be aware of. They kindly ask before class if you are not a garden member to fill out a waiver. If anyone would like to donate to the garden you may on the day of the event or here: https://www.gofundme.com/b91garden […]

Photo courtesy of Tim Hill. Previously published in THE WAVE 125TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE I met Kerry and Jeanne of the O’toole family and Patty Shea last summer as they were walking down my block, all smiles. Turns out, at one time, it was their block too. We had a thriving community back in the day on 91st St.” Jeanne tells me. I was excited to meet these new friends, learning of their lives lived from the 60’s through the mid 90’s, on the same street that I now call home […]

Anne’s husband, Dan Payne getting involved. I “met” Ann Kirby-Payne (@narrowbackslacker) on twitter some years ago – #rockawaybeach. Last week I saw a photo she posted captioned “I just want to give a shout out to @NYCSanitation and especially our #Rockaway team at the QE14, Stephen Dixon Garage for their quick response to my request to adopt a trash bin around the corner from my house!” Adopting a garbage can? Intriguing. I wanted to learn more about the NYC Adopt-A-Basket Program and what is required of its volunteers. I sat […]

Previously published in The Wave. “Push the dough out from the center, roll it lightly and don’t get too close to the edges,” Nicole instructed. “Can you believe I’m Italian and have never made pizza dough before! I’m so embarrassed” I admitted. “I’m Jamaican and I’ve never cooked oxtail, so don’t worry about it,” Nicole responded with a laugh. The conversation flowed naturally. I felt like I’d been in the kitchen with Nicole Russell for years. Nicole is the creator of Last Dragon Pizza in Arverne. We’ve been meaning to […]

As a child, I naturally gravitated towards art. I always loved putting the pencil to paper, making collages, making a mess and using bright colors to paint my Barbie dolls!  As a teenager, my passion for art continued. Instead of sitting in the cafeteria with my friends on a free period, I’d go to Ms. Carrion’s room, my art teacher, to continue working on my class projects. I’m not creating art now so much and I miss it. Last summer I volunteered to seasonally update the Beach 91st Street Community […]

Previously published in The Wave. I used to be a star athlete. Think Al Bundy’s high school  football “legacy” except mine was lacrosse and field hockey. It was my senior year and our team made it all the way to the NY State Championships in lacrosse. We traveled to Albany for the final game. Our opponents were steam-rolling mammoths.Their coach sent a revolving door of relievers in every 6 minutes. Our team was built on stamina. We were conditioned to run faster and sprint to no end. Four of us […]