Rockaway Beach and Boardwalk

Rockaway Beach and Boardwalk
Seen at sunset in 2019
Location	Rockaway, Queens, New York
Coordinates	40°35′08″N 73°48′21″W / 40.585606°N 73.805880°W / 40.585606; -73.805880
Area	170 acres (69 ha) (beach and boardwalk)
Operated by	New York City Department of Parks and Recreation

The Rockaway Beach and Boardwalk is a public park in Rockaway, Queens, New York, composed of the 170-acre (69 ha) Rockaway Beach and the adjacent 5.5-mile (8.9 km) Rockaway Boardwalk. The beach runs from Beach 9th Street in Far Rockaway to Beach 149th Street in Neponsit, a distance of 7 miles (11 km). The boardwalk, a concrete deck, runs from Beach 9th Street to Beach 126th Street in Rockaway Park, at the edge of Belle Harbor. There are also numerous recreational facilities within the park, parallel to the beach and boardwalk.

The beach became a popular resort area in the late 19th century, and several disconnected sections of the boardwalk were constructed by the end of the century. The first section of city-owned boardwalk between Beach 109th and 126th Street was completed in 1923, and the city announced plans for a massive boardwalk two years later, stretching across most of the Rockaway peninsula's southern shore. The city government completed the sections between Beach 19th and 109th Streets in three phases between 1928 and 1930. The concrete boardwalk from Beach 9th Street to Beach 19th Street was completed in 1963. After Hurricane Sandy destroyed much of the boardwalk in 2012, it was rebuilt in several phases through 2017.

The park has been maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation since 1938. It is policed by the New York City Parks Enforcement Patrol.