Possibly because I spend most of my time in one neighborhood, I crave novelty. So when someone told me I should try taking the Seastreak ferry to the Rockaways in Queens, I didn’t require much persuading. Designed for commuters, the ferry makes the trip from Pier 11 at various times in the morning and late afternoon/early evening, so the choice was to go for a couple of hours or the whole day. I chose the former. (The ferry is currently subsidized, so it’s an astounding $3.50 each way.)

I departed Pier 11 on the 3:05 p.m. ferry, and the trip takes just under an hour. I love being on a boat, any boat, so I sat up on the top deck even though the wind was fierce. (If you stayed seated, you were protected, but getting up to check out all the views was irresistible. The wind was insane; my shirt collar would flap up and slap me in the face so hard it stung.) The ferry went along the west side of Governors Island, then stopped at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, between Red Hook and Bay Ridge. I wasn’t the only one to take a photo as we went under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, but I may have been the only person who thought the gated community of Sea Gate was worth the trouble.

And while it was fun to see Coney Island from the water, I couldn’t help but be just as intrigued by how visible the Manhattan skyline was—especially what I assume is 432 Park Avenue, to the right below. (All of these photos enlarge when clicked.) And the Marine Parkway Gil Hodges Memorial bridge was worth a snap.

The Rockaway ferry pier is at Beach 108th Street, a little to the east of where it says Rockaway Park on the map above. To be honest, I was dismayed by the area around the pier. I felt like I was being released from prison.

I had done only minimal research about the place because I wanted maximum spontaneity, but I did get the sense that if I went to explore Fort Tilden, to the west, I wouldn’t have time to do much else. Instead, I went to the beach, where I discovered that the boardwalk reconstruction was very much underway, with a lot of chain link fences and beeping construction equipment. It felt like home!

I pretended it was earth art.

And I stopped to watch whenever a jet flew by.

Now and again, as I walked east, I’d come a across a part that was done—a lifeguard building, or a picnic area.

It’ll be much nicer when it’s done. Generally, I respond to a scruffy beach town or a fancy one; the middle, not so much. A lot of what I saw of the Rockaways is smack in that middle, and I came to think of it as Queens-by-the-Sea. (Ugly buildings abound.) Every now and then, you’d get a sense of how the place once was, how it might’ve turned out different, and how it might be in summer. The Jersey barriers painted by John Garcia are a good start. Shades of Raymond Pettibon….

And the old wave-shaped bus stops painted with surf and nautical scenes are fantastic.

The very best part of my outing, better than I had even hoped, was Rockaway Taco. It’s gotten a lot of press, so I didn’t want to love it, but I did. Everyone should go (but not till next summer, because it has since closed for the season).

I thought I’d find a whole micro-neighborhood like it, and to say I didn’t is a massive understatement. But I’ve resolved to focus on the positive, and I spent the latter half of my career in travel media insisting that you can have a good time anywhere if you bring the right attitude. On a dreary, off-season afternoon in the Rockaways, that meant walking around and focusing on the little details that make the place different.

This dog was barking furiously at me while wagging its tail so hard that its whole body was jerking back and forth. Adorable!

Adam, who was traveling for business, asked if I hadn’t come across the funky cottages that artists have redone. I saw some cottages, but they didn’t seem artist-y. And I saw a lot of decrepit homes; a few had Halloween decorations, as if they’ve been waiting all year for just this moment.

By the time I boarded the return ferry at 5:50 p.m., I was ready to go home. But I’d like to return, because I don’t think I gave it a fair shake. Next time, I’ll go in summer (if not on a weekend), and I’ll take my bike—I have a feeling the quicker pace of bike travel will help smooth over the rough parts. Plus, I’ll be able to explore Fort Tilden. If you can’t wait till next summer, you might enjoy this Sunday….

Previous Field Trip posts:
• Greenpoint
• S-Cruise by Smartboat
• Wave Hill
• Governors Island
• F.D.R. Four Freedoms Park
• Litchfield County, Conn.
• One Wall Street
• Behind the Scenes at Grand Central Terminal
• The Howard/Crosby Microneighborhood
• Federal Reserve Bank of New York
• East River Ferry
• Museum of American Finance

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