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Rockaway
Averne, Bayswater, Belle Harbor, Breezy Point, Edgemere,
Far Rockaway, Hammels, Neponsit, Rockaway Park,
Rockaway Beach, Roxbury
An 11-mile-long peninsula with great beaches featuring waves
and sandcastles, Rockaway has been a popular summer resort
since the 1830s. The A train, the Q53 bus, various private vans,
and even a ferry take people there and back.
GATEWAY NATIONAL RECREATION AREA
Operated by the federal government, Gateway National
Recreation Area encompasses 11 parks in three regions. The
entire park covers over 26,607 acres of land and straddles three
boroughs (Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island) and two states
(Monmouth County, New Jersey is included). The entire circuit
includes locations for outdoor activities, such as swimming,
hiking, camping, boating, and bird-watching.
In Queens, the Jamaica Bay unit stretches from the shoreline
below Brooklyn’s Shore Parkway to dozens of uninhabited
islands in Jamaica Bay to the Rockaway Peninsula, which leads
to the Atlantic Ocean. The Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, one of
the best bird-watching areas in the Northeastern United States, is
located in this unit. Roughly 9,155 acres, the refuge features salt
marshes, woodlands, estuaries and sand dunes.
A few miles down the road is Jacob Riis Park, a public beach
by the Atlantic Ocean that is described in this section. The
stretch has a boardwalk and a landmarked bathhouse. The 200-
acre Breezy Point Tip is adjacent to Riis Park. Consisting of
dunes, marshes, and oceanfront beach, it is a nesting area for
many birds, such as the piping glover. During their migrations,
different kinds of hawks rest and nest there. Plus, diamondback
Rockaway Beach
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