High Tide

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Happy Valentine’s Day to all our readers and advertisers! We sure do love you all! If you are going to buy your sweetheart balloons this year, please make sure that they are not Chinese spy balloons.

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Please keep Father Jim Cunningham of St. Francis de Sales in your thoughts and prayers. He is currently in the hospital at New York Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center. If you have O+ blood and would like to consider becoming a living kidney donor, please visit: https://columbiasurgery.org/kidney-transplant

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced this week that effective tomorrow, February 10, the Covid-19 vaccination will become optional for current and prospective city employees. The decision is being made as 96% of city employees are already vaccinated. This leaves big questions about the almost 2,000 city workers who were fired from their positions as a result of refusing to get the jab. As of now, City Hall has announced that these jobs will not be given back and that they must be reapplied for.

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We have received word that The Animal Hospital of the Rockaways’ building on Beach Channel Drive will no longer be empty. Good news for pet owners! Dr. Simon plans on reopening the hospital in the same location!

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Local A train straphangers are in for a treat! The MTA is unveiling new, state-of-the-art subway cars and the A/C lines are going to be the first to get a taste of them. The new cars will include, among other things, wider doors for an easier boarding process, more informative digital displays, and security cameras on every car. The MTA has ordered nearly 1,200 of these new trains and hope to have the first of them in service by the end of the year.

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This week, we received a beautiful essay from Isabella Donovan, a 16-year-old high school student. It is a wonderful description of her memories spending the summers in Rockaway. Please check it out on page 28.

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The Graybeards Dinner Dance was once again a huge success. This year’s winner of the Pot-A-Gold took home a whopping $300,000! Congratulations to the winner and the Graybeards, who we know will be able to do a lot of good with their share of the winnings. There’s always next year, folks, but remember, you have to be in it, to win it!

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If you have no plans for a Valentine’s celebration, get out on Saturday morning, February 11, and join the Rockaway Track Club & Healy’s for their Valentine’s Day Half Marathon or 5K run. Bring your Valentine, or if you don’t have one, who knows, you may just meet yours on the boardwalk or at Healy’s after!

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Just a reminder that this month’s Community Board 14 meeting will be on Wednesday, February 15 and not the usual Tuesday due to Valentine’s Day.

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Rockaway might have some competition this year. Manhattan’s first beach is planned to open this summer along the Hudson River, just north of West 12th St., in the Meatpacking District. There is one major catch here, though. There will be no swimming or wading allowed. Another beach is planned to be opened along the East River in Williamsburg. This beach, which is projected to be opened in five years, will include swimming and wading. For those wondering why the city would build these beaches: officials say that the water in New York Harbor is the cleanest it has been in 100 years!