By The Numbers
600+
Affordable housing units in development
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
Affordable housing units in development
Small-business storefronts improved
Households provided with free tenant-related legal assistance and counseling
Small businesses outfitted with state-of-the-art wireless mesh network infrastructure
Affordable housing units in development
Households provided with free tenant-related legal assistance and counseling
Small businesses outfitted with state-of-the-art wireless mesh network infrastructure
Small-business storefronts improved
In Summer 2016, the City released the Downtown Far Rockaway Roadmap for Action. This update presents the City’s progress to date and what’s ahead.
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.
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.
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.
Shaping the Future of Downtown Far Rockaway
On January 19, 2016, community members participated in interactive exercises to share their ideas and discuss the challenges and goals for Downtown Far Rockaway.
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:
Since its release, the City has made progress on all of these strategies and released an update in November 2018.
Presenting progress to date and what’s ahead for Downtown Far Rockaway
Affordable housing
Transforming Public Space
Bolstering Local Economy
Enhancing Community and Culture
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.
To learn more about our work in Downtown Far Rockaway, contact
Jana Pohorelsky, Queens Borough Director.