Rockaway Beach, Part 2: THE BEACH, and The Hustle

Our four-part series takes a look at Rockaway Beach and how it gave New Yorkers an escape from the city — without ever leaving the city — during the first summer of the Coronavirus pandemic. All photos were shot during two bike-based, long weekend visits.

THE BEACH

When I was a kid in 1980s Queens, the one beach we never went to was Rockaway. We all knew the song, but we were told never to go.

Fast forward to today. Post-Sandy reconstruction has resulted in a welcoming, sandy beach with a more resilient, concrete boardwalk. Dozens of small businesses have invested in the area, giving people new things to eat and more things to do.

A bike with one red and one blue tire lying on rockaway beach as a wave breaks in the background

a lone ice cream truck on rockaway beach at night with subway station in background

a colorful mural depicting a tropical bird's nest is painted on the wooden fence of an apartment building on rockaway beach boulevard

on the rockaway beach sand, two long, shadowed figures wave at the camera

a woman looks at the ocean from the rockaway beach boardwalk, with the now-famous NYC Parks social distancing sign showing how far 6 feet is just in front of her

chair and tables on sand covered dining area at mara's in rockaway beach

Special thanks are due to the workers of NYC Parks. Despite ill-timed budget cuts, they kept the beach clean and the lifeguard chairs staffed throughout the summer.

The Hustle

Or, Innovation by Marginalized Peoples

New Yorkers make New York work for them. It’s no different at Rockaway Beach. Rockaway’s most obvious example of creative participation in capitalism: its ubiquitous nutcracker vendors. Nutcrackers are homemade cocktails that are semi-professionally packaged in sealed plastic bottles, then sold from coolers.

a shirtless man selling alcoholic beverages on rockaway beach using a cooler backpack mounted to his chest. his face is obscured by a beach umbrella

On our first day on the sand, it was right about noon when we saw the first vendor working the beach. I asked if he had anything whiskey- or bourbon-based. He had his own peach and bourbon cocktail for ten bucks. I didn’t expect it to be made with Maker’s Mark, or to have the strength of three drinks in one. But it was, and it did.

a plastic bottle containing a frozen, brown alcholic beverage, known as a nutcracker, on rockaway beach

For nutcracker number 2, I went with a vodka-based punch from a different vendor. It had sort of a weird mouthfeel. I’d wished the other guy had come back, until I realized that I probably would’ve ended up on an IV if I drank another peach & bourbon cocktail and sat in the sun all day.

a plastic bottle containing a yellow alcoholic beverage, known as a nutcracker, on rockaway beach

Spotlight on American-Chinese Food

I noticed another classic example of The Hustle, and a somewhat under-the-radar one: American-Chinese food. Look into its origins if you’re puzzled. American-Chinese food exists in almost every small town in the US, but it has been priced out of many NYC neighborhoods. However, it was literally under our noses (under our hotel room) at the Beach.

Having missed this classic comfort food for a long time, we grabbed orange beef and lo mein from Xing Xing, which shares a building with RBQ and the High Tide Hotel. Then we headed to the beach to watch the full moon rise over Fourth of July celebrations.

a full moon rises over the ocean, while a man carries an american flag on the rockaway beach boardwalk, viewed from behind a takeout container of orange beef

A man leaves a small Chinese-American restaurant on Rockaway Beach while a woman waits for her order and a worker mops the floor

a young woman eats a plate of lo mein noodles on the rockaway beach boardwalk

plate of orange beef made with fresh broccoli and orange peel

You’ll see other forms of beach hustle, too, like the people collecting old beach cruiser bikes to fix up, then sell or rent. The coolest thing about Rockway Beach: the energy of the city suffuses it, while at the same time it allows the city to chill out and cool off.

Check out the other pieces in our Rockaway Beach series:

Words & photos by Rob Bellinger
Published: 9/10/2021
Rockaway Beach visits: July 3-5 and September 4-7, 2020