News Archive

Today’s Ol’ Time view is a reasonable facsimile of what the original LIRR Station at Mott and Central Avenues in Far Rockaway looked like in 1872.   During that year mentioned the LIRR had extended its line westward down the Rockaway Peninsula to Seaside. Far Rockaway Station is on the right, and an infant Far Rockaway Railroad Yard is seen on the left, containing a workers camp. By 1900 the yard and station had grown considerably, as did the Rockaways. In the mid 1900s, the site was a Great Transportation Hub as the NYC Subway System stopped here, and a large Bus Terminal was included al…

Some of the most interesting conversations I’ve had with people from other city boroughs have centered around the specific names of where I live and/or work: The Rockaways. When I lived in Rockaway Park some years back, I totally confused my then-employer by trying to explain that I didn’t live in Far Rockaway–the only “Rockaway” he was familiar with–but in Rockaway Park. “Oh, so that must be the ritzy part of the island, huh? Rockaway Park!” he would quip. First, I had to dissuade him of the notion that Rockaway is an island–”It’s a peninsula,” I would gently explain to him–and that…

Ingredients: 4 chicken thighs 1 parsnip, sliced 1 carrot, sliced 1 leek , sliced 1 stick of celery, sliced Thyme 4-5 sprigs 1 tsp Dijion mustard (more if you like) Kosher salt Pepper 2 bay leaves ½ cup pearl barley 5 cups cold water (or use vegetable broth or chicken stock)   Peel the parsnip and carrot, and finely slice everything. Place them in a Dutch oven and add 4 chicken thighs, a tsp. each of dried thyme, Dijon mustard, and kosher salt, 2 bay leaves, a grinding of black pepper, and half a cup of pearl barley. Add about 5 cups of cold water to submerge everything. Cover,…

Mayor de Blasio recently lent his support to a streetcar plan put forth by real estate developers connecting Sunset Park in Brooklyn with Astoria in Queens called the Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQC). Let us compare the benefits of this plan with QueensRail (QR) a plan to restore an inactive branch of the LIRR between Rego Park and Howard Beach, both in Queens. Both plans connect many neighborhoods. The BQTC connects Sunset Park, Red Hook, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights and Downtown Brooklyn Dumbo, Vinegar Hill, Fort Greene, Williamsburg and Greenpoint in Brooklyn with Long Island City and A…

For those of you upset about the Stop and Shop monopoly in Rockaway, there’s a new way to get groceries. Michelle Cashen, a Rockaway native, started the Rockaway Food Co-Op as an experiment in December, and due to it’s success, has been running it ever since with the help of Rockaway Beach Surf Club’s Kelly McMahon. Like last year’s CSA, the co-op purchases items from sustainably run local and/or organic farms. (Currently, she is purchasing from Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative and other individual entities in the tri-state area.) Unlike a CSA, members get to choose what products they want …

LETTERS TO EDITOR:  Editor@RockawayTimes.comSTORY IDEAS: News@RockawayTimes.comADS:  Ads@RockawayTimes.com114-04 Beach Channel DriveRockaway Park, NY 11694718-634-3030

This easy pork tenderloin slow cooks to perfection in your Crock Pot ~ takes less than 5 minutes to prepare and cooks in 4 hours. Ingredients 1 to 1.25 lb. pork tenderloin or pork loin 1 cup water 1 cup red wine* {make sure it’s one you like drinking!} 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce 1 TBSP minced garlic {about 3 cloves} 2 TBSP dried minced or chopped onion ½ tsp onion powder {or additional dried minced onion} ½ tsp garlic powder ½ tsp salt ½ tsp cornstarch ½ tsp sugar ¼ tsp paprika ¼ tsp pepper dash of turmeric, optional dash of nutmeg, optional Instructions Put the por…

Reiki is a healing technique and a spiritual practice that was developed in Japan by a Buddhist monk early in the last century. Reiki is a dynamic tool for tapping into a larger system of universal energy that already flows inside and outside our bodies. It is proven to reduce stress, increase focus and can help enhance creativity. Reiki is very safe and noninvasive. The client is fully dressed while lying down or seated in a chair. The Reiki practitioner places her/his hands on or just above the body. People have described the sensation of heat and healing pulsations, which helped them fe…

Lou Pastina in last week’s Rockaway Times wrote a dubious column about an alleged man of mystery, Kevin Boyle. Lou noted that Boyle doesn’t put his picture in the paper. Phooey. Well, here’s a picture from poolside in Cartagena, Colombia.