The Bungalows of Rockaway

Image source: H.L.I.T. on Flickr

This week we ran across the trailer for The Bungalows of Rockaway, an independent film about, well, the bungalows in the Rockaways. More specifically:

The Bungalows of Rockaway explores urbanism by bringing to life a neglected coastal area of New York City and its historic built environment. The documentary takes a modest subject — the small, affordable bungalows that once covered the Rockaway peninsula — and reveals the larger themes of this substantive, entertaining, and original story: working class leisure, public access to the ocean, community identity, and architectural preservation.

More details are here. And here’s the trailer:

[vimeo 23237306 w=500 h=331]

The Bungalows of Rockaway trailer from Jennifer Callahan on Vimeo.

They started screening it in 2007, so it’s about five years old at this point.  As far as the bungalows go, there were thousands of them in the early part of the 20th century. They started go to up in 1905 and by 1933 there were 7,000 on the Rockaway peninsula. Halfway though the 20th century, Robert Moses and urban renewal hit the peninsula. There are fewer than 500 450 400 bungalows there today.

Some bungalows are abandoned structures, and photographer Nathan Kensigner did a photo essay on them in 2009. On the other end of the spectrum, some bungalows are inhabited year-round, many of which are located in Far Rockaway (GMAP). Some people are buying them and fixing them up – Bungalow 24 is a blog chronicling the renovation of a Rockaway bungalow that was purchased in Spring 2012.

In Summer 2009, the Boardwalk Empire pilot was filmed by Martin Scorsese in the Rockaways with a bungalow backdrop on Beach 25th Street (GMAP).

The Rockaways continue to change – a foodie revolution has happened with the likes of Rockaway Taco and Rippers setting up shop. The peninsula may soon see its very first boutique hotel, too. A big beautiful YMCA is going to open next summer in the Rockaways as part of the Arverne by the Sea development, housing the biggest aquatic center of any Y in the entire city. And the surfers keep on coming.

People have rediscovered this place, and it has become a summertime destination – we like the “Rockapulco” portmanteau in particular. As mentioned above, it’s become a year-round home for others. Check out this series of photos on the NY Times of the beach and bungalow dwellers who are thrilled to be there and in their little houses. And speaking or rediscovering the area, here is a statement by Marlene Clark, a college professor who bought her bungalow in 2011, in the NYT article:

“My grandparents were Italian immigrants in East Harlem who lived in a tenement, but they were able to by a bungalow. It was a golden era.

I got this crazy idea. I decided to buy the family bungalow. My first ride out there, I looked at the ghost roads that led to nowhere, and all the abandoned bungalows, and it brought tears to my eyes. I could hear all those people laughing and barbecuing. And it was done.

I decided on one that had been abandoned for 20 years. It has raccoons living in the attic. It’s been totally modernized.

When I walk on that beach, I feel my mother, grandmother, all my uncles and aunts are walking with me.”

The compelling story of the bungalows of Rockaway [Switchboard]
Bungalo 24 [homepage of Rockaways bungalo renovation]
The Subway-Accessible, Surf-Ready, Urban Beach Paradise [NYT]
Far Rockaway: Abandoned Bungalows [Nathan Kensinger]