Arverne, Queens
Encyclopedia
Arverne is a neighborhood in the New York City
borough
of Queens
, on the Rockaway Peninsula
. It was initially developed by Remington Vernam
, whose signature "R. Vernam" inspired the name of the neighborhood. Arverne extends from Beach 56th Street to Beach 73rd Street, along its main thoroughfare Beach Channel Drive
, alternatively known as Rev. Joseph H. May Drive. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 14
.
canal in Amsterdam, Holland. When this plan fell through, the canal right-of-way was converted into a thoroughfare, Amstel Boulevard, which, except for a stub west of Beach 71st Street, was later incorporated into Beach Channel Drive.
While Arverne became well-known as a beachfront community with inexpensive summer bungalows, and hotels of varying levels of expense and luxury as well as amusements and boardwalk
concessions, it also attracted a year-round residential community. On January 3, 1914, a violent storm devastated the neighborhood as well as other neighborhoods on the peninsula, and completely swept the Arverne Pier Theater, which was capable of seating 1,200 people, away to sea. On June 15, 1922, a large part of Arverne was leveled by a disastrous fire which left about 10,000 people homeless, although the neighborhood was quick to rebuild.
During the 1950s and 1960s, the advent of commercial jet
air travel encouraged people to travel to distant destinations during the summer, rather than to utilize local beaches and resorts. As a result, many of Arverne's summer bungalows became vacant.
New York City's urban renewal
projects of the 1960s leveled to the ground most of the summer resorts and some of the residences, many of which had been abandoned. The process eventually transformed most of Arverne, from Rockaway Beach Boulevard southward to the beachfront, into vacant land used as a dumping ground.
Since the 1980s, but particularly since the Bloomberg administration
, New York City has tried, albeit with only partial success, to improve the area, most notably via Arverne East Development's "Arverne-by-the-Sea".
Mitchell-Lama
DHCR
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, on the Rockaway Peninsula
Rockaway, Queens
The Rockaway Peninsula, informally The Rockaways, is the name of a peninsula of Long Island, all of which is located within the New York City borough of Queens. A popular summer resort area since the 1830s, Rockaway has become a mixture of lower, middle, and upper-class neighborhoods...
. It was initially developed by Remington Vernam
Remington Vernam (land developer)
For the fighter pilot, see Remington de B. VernamRemington Vernam was an American lawyer and real-estate developer, best-known for founding and developing the community of Arverne, which became part of New York City in 1898, from land he had purchased in 1882.The name of Arverne was derived by his...
, whose signature "R. Vernam" inspired the name of the neighborhood. Arverne extends from Beach 56th Street to Beach 73rd Street, along its main thoroughfare Beach Channel Drive
Beach Channel Drive
Beach Channel Drive is the main thoroughfare in the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It extends from the Nassau County border at Inwood westward to the Marine Parkway Bridge at the end of Jacob Riis Park...
, alternatively known as Rev. Joseph H. May Drive. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 14
Queens Community Board 14
The Queens Community Board 14 is a local government in the New York City borough of Queens, encompassing the neighborhoods of Breezy Point, Belle Harbor, Neponsit, Arverne, Bayswater, Edgemere, Rockaway Park, Rockaway and Far Rockaway...
.
History
Vernam's original plan was to name the neighborhood Arverne-by-the-Sea, and one grandiose plan, influenced by his wife, Florence, included a canal running through the neighborhood, reminiscent of the AmstelAmstel
The Amstel is a river in the Netherlands which runs through the city of Amsterdam. The river's name is derived from Aeme stelle, old Dutch for "area abounding with water"....
canal in Amsterdam, Holland. When this plan fell through, the canal right-of-way was converted into a thoroughfare, Amstel Boulevard, which, except for a stub west of Beach 71st Street, was later incorporated into Beach Channel Drive.
While Arverne became well-known as a beachfront community with inexpensive summer bungalows, and hotels of varying levels of expense and luxury as well as amusements and boardwalk
Boardwalk
A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....
concessions, it also attracted a year-round residential community. On January 3, 1914, a violent storm devastated the neighborhood as well as other neighborhoods on the peninsula, and completely swept the Arverne Pier Theater, which was capable of seating 1,200 people, away to sea. On June 15, 1922, a large part of Arverne was leveled by a disastrous fire which left about 10,000 people homeless, although the neighborhood was quick to rebuild.
During the 1950s and 1960s, the advent of commercial jet
Jet airliner
A jet airliner is an airliner that is powered by jet engines. This term is sometimes contracted to jetliner or jet.In contrast to today's relatively fuel-efficient, turbofan-powered air travel, first generation jet airliner travel was noisy and fuel inefficient...
air travel encouraged people to travel to distant destinations during the summer, rather than to utilize local beaches and resorts. As a result, many of Arverne's summer bungalows became vacant.
New York City's urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
projects of the 1960s leveled to the ground most of the summer resorts and some of the residences, many of which had been abandoned. The process eventually transformed most of Arverne, from Rockaway Beach Boulevard southward to the beachfront, into vacant land used as a dumping ground.
Since the 1980s, but particularly since the Bloomberg administration
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
, New York City has tried, albeit with only partial success, to improve the area, most notably via Arverne East Development's "Arverne-by-the-Sea".
Housing
NYCHA- Ocean Bay Houses (Oceanside), formerly Arverne Houses,
- Ocean Bay Houses (Bayside), formerly Edgemere Houses,
- Carleton Manor
Mitchell-Lama
- Nordeck Apartments (co-operative)
DHCR
- Ocean Village Apartments