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We’re partnering with the community, local stakeholders, and City agencies to better connect Downtown Far Rockaway to job centers, increase economic opportunity, and improve quality of life for the people who call the area home.

Progress on the Peninsula

01
9
By The Numbers

600+

Affordable housing units in development

1414 Central Avenue proposed design; preliminary rendering. Image by Magnussun Architecture and Planning
Affordable Housing
Rendering of New Far Rockaway Branch Library. Image by Snøhetta
Library of the Future
Park's Clothing Corp. Photo by NYCEDC
Commercial Improvements
By The Numbers

500+

Households provided with free tenant-related legal assistance and counseling

By The Numbers

12

Small businesses outfitted with state-of-the-art wireless mesh network infrastructure

By The Numbers

18

Small-business storefronts improved

Shaping Far Rockaway
Shaping the Future

About the Area

Far Rockaway is home to a diverse community of residents and businesses in the easternmost part of the Rockaway Peninsula. The area is located at the end of the A train and the Long Island Railroad, and within walking distance of both Jamaica Bay and Rockaway’s famed boardwalk. Downtown Far Rockaway is anchored by the Central Avenue, Mott Avenue, and Beach 20th Street retail corridors.

Neighborhood in Need

Despite its historic role as the commercial core of the Rockaway Peninsula, Downtown Far Rockaway had experienced decades of disinvestment, resulting in retail vacancies and a lack of community services, amenities, housing options, and quality open spaces.

A Road Forward: The Downtown Far Rockaway Working Group

In November 2015, Councilman Donovan Richards convened the Downtown Far Rockaway Working Group—a team of local and state elected officials, and community, business, and nonprofit stakeholders—to develop a set of goals and recommendations to revitalize the neighborhood. A vision for Downtown Far Rockaway emerged, calling for smart and community-driven investments by the City, and culminating in a 2016 letter to the mayor detailing the working group’s recommendations.

Roadmap for Action

The Downtown Far Rockaway Roadmap for Action is the ongoing comprehensive response to the letter from the working group and a major interagency plan to re-establish Downtown Far Rockaway as the commercial hub of the peninsula. Released in Summer 2016, the Roadmap for Action includes the following five strategies:

  • Identifying new opportunities for mixed-income housing
  • Improving transportation infrastructure and transforming public space
  • Strengthening existing commercial corridors, small businesses, and connections to jobs
  • Expanding upon community services and cultural assets
  • Rezoning the downtown area to unlock development potential for commercial and residential uses

Since its release, the City has made progress on all of these strategies and released an update in November 2018.

Continuing Toward a Vision

Building on the progress to date, the City’s investments in Downtown Far Rockaway continue—toward a vision of increased economic opportunity and improved quality of life for everyone who calls the neighborhood home.

Our contact with the Far Rockaway community continues as well—through regular meetings with the council member and the Downtown Far Rockaway Working Group, which meets on a quarterly basis to ensure that the City’s commitments are on track.

Contact Us

Contact: [email protected]

To learn more about our work in Downtown Far Rockaway, contact
Jana Pohorelsky, Queens Borough Director.

Final Environmental Impact Statement
  • Notice of Completion Downtown Far Rockaway
  • Executive Summary Downtown Far Rockaway
  • Chapter 01 Project Description
Technical Memoranda
  • Technical Memorandum 001 Downtown Far Rockaway
  • Technical Memorandum 002 Downtown Far Rockaway

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