*****

“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred…We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools…The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.” – Martin Luther King, Jr., born January 15, 1929.

*****

It was so cold on Tuesday, there was something to talk about other than Covid and who tested positive. And speaking of the cold, here’s a winter reminder: if you’re big enough to drive a pickup

*****

Happy New Year! Well, it might not seem like 2021 was so great but, for most, it was better than 2020. So, we’re trending in the right way?? Here’s to a great 2022 (well, after the shaky start that’s sure to happen). This time next week, Eric Adams will have been mayor for six days already!

*****

Congratulations to Liz Hannah our The Rockaway Times Person of the Year! Time magazine’s got theirs; Sports Illustrated’s got theirs. We have ours! We should have thought of this years ago! 

*****

Doesn’t it seem longer? Exactly a year ago, the first vaccines were distributed at St. John’s Hospital and it was front page news. There have been so many stops and starts, bumps and variants, mandates and masks, a Roaring Twenties hasn’t quite taken hold. 2020 was memorable; 2021 not so much.

*****

Outgoing city councilman Eric Ulrich spearheaded a drive to remove derelict boats from Jamaica Bay. With the help of NYC Parks, some were removed last week. Abandoned boats have been an

*****

Eric Ulrich has landed a Senior Advisor position at City Hall under new mayor, Eric Adams. That's gotta be good for Rockaway, right?

*****

Wait, can it be? Is this the end of an era? Although he has threatened to do it many times before, we hear Dan Edwards, the Fedex Man, aka Suntan Dan aka Jocko aka Jack Bauer is retiring from FedEx after 27 years serving Rockaway and Breezy Point. The legendary coach and occasional horse player (he made the cover of the RT a few years back when he

*****

Merry Christmas! And here’s a gift: days are getting longer now. It’s officially winter but after the darkest day of the year, December 21, we’re getting about a minute a day more sunlight.

*****

With the omicron variant wreaking havoc here there and everywhere, we would like to see and hear more than just the number of cases. It’s an incomplete picture without the number of hospitalizations and deaths reported as well. Meanwhile, testing is proving a challenge and some urgent care

*****

Rockaway is now connected to a Hall of Famer or at least a bridge named after one. The Marine Parkway Bridge was renamed in 1978 after Gil Hodges, the much-loved man who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, managed the New York Mets, and called Bedford Avenue home for many years. (According to Wikipedia, the bridge is believed to be the first bridge to be named for a major sports figure). His greatness was finally acknowledged by the Baseball Hall of Fame when a committee selected him last