by Paula D.
on October 20, 2022 10:56 am in Community
Beloved community member, Timothy Miles is leaving Rockaway for a new chapter in his life. Timothy is a Rockaway celebrity, known as “The Selfie King.” He’s on the A-List with the likes of Rockaway Rod, The Ginger Ladd, Gio Fernandez-Kincade, and The Best Dressed Man in Rockaway. Timothy is a selfie photographer. He has documented the culture of Rockaway since 2015 through his flipped lens – everywhere from the beach to the boulevard and in the bars.
One of the many group shots taken of Tim’s friends. There were about 100 people at The Selfie King’s going away party at the Rockaway Beach Surf Club
On Thursday, Sept. 22nd, (also Tim’s 33rd birthday), a going away party was held in his honor at the Rockaway Beach Surf Club. Over 100 friends and neighbors (plus a random wedding party) celebrated Tim and shared in one last selfie-ladened hurrah!
At the event, many shared fond memories of Tim and their first selfie encounter with the artist. Friends signed a farewell poster expressing their appreciation for Tim’s contribution to the community. “Thank you for all the memories you’ve captured,” writes Josh A.; “Tim, you will always have Rockaway and we will always have you – Teresa Farrell; “You are so great at bringing people together – Sarah M.; Another message reads, “Love you, Timmy! I will always remember your first autumn swim with me and Danny. We will miss you.” – Jodi and Danny Mulvanerty; And more kind words from Robin and Peter, “Timmy! Everyone loves you so much! We’ll always miss your ability to get everyone together for a good time!”
Tim is famously known for his greeting _Hello to you!_ Jodi Jordan Mulvanerty created this fun play on words sign for his send off.
Timmy’s farewell address was one of thanks and inclusiveness. “I want to take the time to thank you, including the guests that are part of the wedding and the people that came to celebrate me from the city. We’ve had bad days and ugly days but we must put positive spins on those days. After I leave Rockaway, get ready for a post-Timothy era. Make sure all of you stay together without me, all of the different combinations of people, to make a Rockaway super group!”
Over cocktails guests talked about Tim’s documentary photography collection. “There must be thousands of selfie photos, where are they all stored?” pondered Bobby Carnevale, also a photographer. Another friend, Rob Bryn, had a great thought, “Someone needs to collaborate with Tim to create a book of his photography work.” I love this idea. Timothy Miles’ images have captured an era of Rockaway through his distinct perspective, in a style that speaks to our digitally linked culture. Tim’s work is special and should be shared with the world.
Photography is one of Tim’s talents. He is also passionate about religious studies and science. In 2019, Timothy Miles earned a Bachelor of Science from Brooklyn College. Like many artists, Tim is a private and mysterious individual. He will not disclose where he’ll be moving but said we can follow him on Instagram (@hypertime89) to keep in touch and to witness his new adventure, documenting his encounters.
A month ago, I wrote about an experience with Don Riepe, our beloved The Jamaica Bay Guardian. He stopped by the Beach 91St Street Community Garden to give a talk on what we can do as a community to help protect the monarch butterfly. We learned about their habitat, migration, life cycle and feeding. The takeaway – plant an abundant amount of milkweed and goldenrod in your garden. We also discussed the importance of other pollinators and their vital role in our ecosystem.
To learn more, Don told us to save the date for The 5th Annual Jamaica Bay Monarch and Pollinator Festival. This fun, educational and free event is tomorrow from 10am-2pm at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center (175-10 Cross Bay Blvd, Queens, NY). Celebrate native pollinators with activities for the whole family and learn from naturalist experts about monarch butterflies, moths, bees, and birds.
Here’s the lineup:
10am-11am, Welcome, followed by NPS Ranger Guided Hike / Majestic Monarchs: Join a park ranger and learn about the monarch butterfly life cycle, migration patterns, and importance as pollinators.
10am-12 noon, Volunteer with NPS for September Garden Party: Calling all gardeners, plant people, and folks who need to touch grass. Help take care of the pollinator garden by watering plants, pulling weeds and clearing debris. Time spent will count towards volunteer participation.
10:15am-11:15am – Littoral Society Pollinator Slide Presentation by speaker Don Riepe (indoor visitor center room). This talk is an excellent visual introduction to all the different pollinators that frequent Jamaica Bay through the year.
11:15am-12:15pm – Littoral Society Guided Hike/pollinator walk with Don Riepe (gather in front of visitor center).
1pm-2pm – Travel to Fort Tilden (carpools encouraged) with the Littoral Society, for a monarch migration count with Don Riepe. Meet in front of the chapel at Fort Tilden – corner of Davis Road and Murray Road, just across the street from the fire station (Engine 329 – 402 Beach 169th St, Queens, NY 11694)
Throughout the day for the Kids:
– Arts & crafts with rangers: pollinator finger puppets crafts (table will be inside visitor center)
– Pollination Cooperation – a short film screening from 11:15am-12:45pm (indoor visitor center room)
– A fun and educational short stop-motion puppetry film created and produced by our very own Jamaica Bay Visitor Center Park Rangers!
The festival is presented by the American Littoral Society, with NYC Audubon, Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, and Gateway National Park Service. This is a free event but donations to support this festival are kindly appreciated.
Photos courteous of the Littoral Society.
From Left to Right – Diane Cardwell, Don Riepe, Charley The Dog, Kristi Dickerson
The New York Times published an article last week stating the monarch butterfly has been placed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
The Times informed, “In 2020, U.S. wildlife officials found that monarchs were threatened with extinction but declined to add them to the endangered species list because they said conservation of other species took priority…. Eastern monarchs, which make up most of the population in North America, dropped by 84 percent from 1996 to 2014.”
What has contributed to this alarming decline?
- Habitat destruction in Mexican forests / illegal logging
- Farm pesticides throughout the U.S. and elsewhere – killing vast spreads of milkweed
- Climate change – hot dry spring seasons in the south and plant bloom timing disconnected with the migration
While this red list label is extremely concerning, scientists hope that the new classification will benefit the world’s beloved monarch by promoting awareness and inspiring action on a global and local level.
In late September, Rockaway experiences a snippet of the ancient butterfly migration on our coastline. This event is designated as one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. We are so fortunate! Therefore, we should feel obligated to ensure this gift from nature continues.
What can we do on an individual and community level to protect the monarch butterfly species?
To answer this question, The Beach 91st Street Community Garden (@beach91communitygarden) contacted Don Riepe, The Jamaica Bay Guardian. Riepe has over 25 years of experience as a naturalist and National Parks manager. The nature defender met members at the garden last Saturday to discuss the monarch butterflies habitat, migration, life cycle and feeding.
“The current migration trend in Rockaway has shifted.” Don began. We learned, the majority of monarchs pass through the first week of October, later than in years past. This could be caused by climate changes related to our hurricane season. Don pointed out that the seaside goldenrod planted by NYC Parks is very important and we need to preserve the dunes for this reason along with our concerns of beach erosion. Goldenrod provides nectar, which is converted into energy for the monarch’s impressive 2,500 mile journey to and from Mexico. Along with goldenrod, other energy suppliers are: echinacea, butterfly bush, walker’s low, agastache, aster, sunflowers, zinnias, petunia f, and cosmos.
Don reminded garden members that it is critical for us to plant native milkweed (avoid tropical varieties). After monarchs leave their overwintering grounds – only a few 100 hectares of forest in Central Mexico – they begin to lay eggs on milkweed during their migration north throughout the U.S. Milkweed is the only plant monarchs lay their eggs on and the hatched caterpillars feed on.
“Weed” is a misnomer. This plant is a perennial beauty displaying either white, pink, bright yellow, or orange flowers in mid-late summer. The structure of the flora is intricate and stunning. Please consider planting milkweed in your home garden or in community gardens throughout the peninsula.
Take it a step further and build an attractive pollinator garden. You can start this fall by ditching your hard-to-maintain lawn and building out a new garden design. In the spring, fill it with a lush feeding ground of flowers for monarchs, bees, other beneficial insects, and birds.
To learn more about pollinators and their vital role in supporting a healthy ecosystem, attend The 5th Annual Jamaica Bay Monarch and Pollinator Festival on Saturday, September 24, 10am-1pm at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. This event is presented by the American Littoral Society, with NYC Audubon, Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, and Gateway National Recreation Area. Location:
Celebrate pollinators like Monarch butterflies, moths, bees, and birds. Learn from experts and naturalists including Don Riepe and enjoy activities for the whole family. More details to come! Find upcoming info on Instagram- @jamaicabayguardian. And visit littoralsociety.org to register.
by Paula D.
on September 14, 2022 10:10 am in Food
By Matt Johnson
Everyone has that weird obsession that not many other people grok, and mine is bodysurfing. I’ve been doing it for so long that I don’t even remember learning how, but I spent my summers sliding solo until the day I saw a half-dozen torsoless heads (board surfers have torsos) bobbing well past the end of the groin at 84th Street. I’d finally met my people: the Rockaway Beach Bodysurf Underground.
I started to cry, but who could tell, what with the surf breaking over our heads and the snot streaming out of our noses? Then they told me about the contest: a hundred bodysurfers all on the same break at once? Were there even that many other bodysurfers in the world? Turns out there are at least that many in the tri-state, with some pros traveling from as far as California to ride our punky little swells. Fortunately, even when conditions are crap, you can almost always womp one or two.
The athletic prowess and flair in the water are the contest-day headliners, for sure, but the onshore talk story is how friends get made. Thinking about new swim fins? Here, try these on for size. Sure, take my hand plane out for a bit and see how it feels. Did you know you can repair neoprene with a sewing needle, dental floss, and gasket adhesive? Remember the full moon when the skimmers were gliding just over our heads? Remember the time the backwash knocked her off that wave and she did a cartwheel in the air? Yeah, that was wild.
The beauty of sharing something so niche and so goofy is that there is zero ego in it. There are no bodysurf schools, so the stoke can only be passed from hand to hand. There are no luxury bodysurfing lifestyle accessories, except maybe that sick paipo your neighbor made in his garage last winter. Everyone is just plain thrilled that we found each other.
My friend Josh once said, “I love doing surfing wrong.” Josh rides a board, but there may be no more wrong way to surf than without one. And I love it, too.
Please Join Matt and the community of bodysurfers at the 6th Annual Rockaway Beach Bodysurf Contest, tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 10th in front of Rippers (Beach 84th street) on the sand. The event begins at 10 a.m. and goes throughout the day. Come early to get a good spot on the beach for viewing. Watching these talented bodysurfers glide on the waves is a beautiful thing. I’ll be at the tent selling swag. Come say hi and support this awesome sporting event by purchasing a shirt or hat!
This contest is organized by the Rockaway Beach Bodysurf Underground – Mike Poindexter, Clare Hilger, Jeremy Jones, and their many surfer friends who volunteer to make this day rad as hell! Follow @rbbunderground on instagram and tag your favorite bodysurfers at tomorrow’s contest.
For more on community happenings follow me on the beach – @theglorifiedtomato.
