Rockaway Recovery, Part 2: Eat More Tacos!

About a month ago, Rockaway Taco--one of the best taco stands in the city, and a Rockaway mainstay since its debut five years ago--reopened for the first time since Superstorm Sandy hit the beachfront community. When we visited on Memorial Day, the patio was alight with families fresh from the holiday parade as well as interlopers from the other boroughs (ahem), all eager to participate in the return of the Rockaways, and all enjoying delectable fish tacos, elote (corn) and fried plantains. Summer has arrived, and if you've never been, there's no better time than now. And if you haven't been since Sandy, there's no better time than now. Without further ado, a look into the wonderful shanty world of taco town...

Clockwise from top left: Elote, Watermelon Juice, Guacamole, Fried Plantains, Fish Taco

As it turns out, Blue is apparently a big fan of plantains, too.

Rockaway Taco is located at 95-19 Rockaway Beach Boulevard in Queens, NY.

Rockaway Recovery, Part 1: Head to the Beach!

It's been seven months since Sandy destroyed much of the Queens shoreline, and fire decimated Breezy Point. Foundations are all that remain of many homes, as the debris has long since disappeared. Sheets of sand cover traces of driveways and front yards, and blue tarps still stitch together gaping roofs.

Sandy's waterline is still visible throughout the beachfront community.

But rebirth and recovery are the prevalent themes everywhere you look. Rebuilding proceeds apace, and the streets are dotted with contractors' placards and wooden "Stars of Hope," sent by well-wishers around the country and nailed to telephone poles.

"Star of Hope" in Breezy Point, Queens

Rockaway Beach is back, trailed ever so slightly by a very new--and very sturdy--concrete boardwalk, handsomely detailed with crushed glass aggregate of blues and greens.

A utilitarian, but cheerily-painted, brick concession stand sits on the upland edge of the boardwalk, evidently still under construction. Undoubtedly the Rockaway Beach Club vendors are anxiously tracking its progress in the hopes of soon returning.

Opposite the concession stands, a galvanized steel structure has been erected, still adorned in shrink wrap and awaiting the rest of the sun shades that have begun to form a canopy.

Along the east end of the boardwalk, we stumbled upon two exquisite alien life forms... a couple of modular beach structures designed by DUMBO's Garrison Architects. Merely a half year ago, NYC selected Garrison to design and build 37 such buildings as part of the reconstruction of the city's beaches most damaged by the storm. They will be used as lifeguard stations, comfort stations and offices, all easily accessible by ramp from the boardwalks. The prefabricated buildings were sized to travel to their sites on the backs of flat bed trucks. Once there, they were fastened to a series of concrete piles, ensuring that the stations would be elevated above FEMA storm surge levels. As further defense against the elements, the buildings are constructed with a galvanized steel super frame, bolted to the concrete piles, and clad with high-grade stainless steel and glass-fiber reinforced concrete (what looks like wood siding in the photos below). Reported to be net-zero energy users, the stations feature rain screens and double-ventilated roofs, natural lighting through clerestories, skylights and reflective louvers, natural ventilation, and photovoltaic solar arrays to offset energy consumption.

A corrugated stainless steel outer skin is perforated at the roof, providing thermally-efficient ventilation of the enclosure. In the second photo below, you can see that the sheathing--which will eventually continue across the underside of the building--is attached to the structure with steel zee-clips.

The corrugated metal sheathing traces the edge of the galvanized steel super frame.

Detail of lower corner, with glass-fiber-reinforced concrete siding, galvanized frame, and corrugated cladding

View of concrete piles anchored to the shore

Though we traveled by car, the subway lines have recently reopened to Rockaway Beach. To get there, take the A Train to Far Rockaway/Mott Avenue. At the last stop, transfer to the S line, taking it towards Rockaway Park/Beach 116th Street. Get out at Beach 98th Street, and walk south towards the beach.

Yvette Mattern's "Global Rainbow" Tribute over NYC

For a couple of nights this past week, the sky over New York was illuminated by a spectacular laser light tribute to the victims of Hurricane Sandy. The New York- and Berlin-based artist, Yvette Mattern, projected the colors of the rainbow from the roof of the Standard Hotel out across the boroughs, supposedly reaching all the way to the Rockaways, one of the hardest-hit areas of the city.

A few looks at the view from DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights:

 

A Song for Summer

Labor Day weekend unofficially marks the end of summer. In New York City, it also marks the last days the public pools are open. Two Saturdays ago, Maura and I made our first trek to the Astoria Pool for one last dip, sandwiched between a trip to the Noguchi Museum and a Greek feast. With apologies to our beloved Red Hook Pool--and of course the Wellington Family Aquatic Center--this is the most spectacular public pool I've ever seen. The largest in NYC, it sits between the Triborough Bridge (left side of photo) and the Hell Gate Bridge. Built with funds and labor coaxed by Robert Moses from the WPA in the 1930s, the pool was the cornerstone of and model for his master plan for the city's pools. Perhaps its reddest-letter day came on its very first, when it hosted the U.S. Olympic Swimming and Diving Trials... on the Fourth of July, 1936. As you can see in the photos, there is ample seating provided by the steps cascading down from the bathhouse and encircling the pool and diving well.

The diving well was long ago abandoned and overtaken by the inexorable march of nature. As a ruin, I find it quite compelling and would love to see it remain as an artifact of the city's history and Moses' age of empire. Unfortunately, local residents and politicians have recently proposed encasing the well with concrete for conversion into a concert venue. Would that it might fail.

Urban Design Week at the Queens Museum of Art

The 10 winners of the Institute for Urban Design's By the City/For the City competition were announced on Thursday.  Check them out here.  Maura and I made it to the Urban Design Week launch party at the new/temporary BMW Guggenheim Lab, at Houston and 2nd Avenue, where all of the entries were looped on big screens overhead, as well as published in the brand new Atlas of Possibility for the Future of New York (available for $35).  Of course I'm a little biased, but it's a great-looking book, especially considering that the competition ended a month and a half ago and it includes 150-some entries. Nice work by the IfUD.


Anyway, while I wasn't a winner, I have been asked to present my project at the Queens Museum of Art tomorrow.  From 2:00 to 4:00, 5 of the competition entrants will be speaking as a lead-in to the opening reception for the QMA's new photography exhibit: Detroit Disassembled, by Andrew Moore.  It's a haul (Flushing Meadows/Citi Field area), but could be fun.  Hope to see some of you there!