Now in its tenth year, the Wounded Warrior Project’s Adaptive Watersports Festival invites injured veterans to Rockaway Beach for a weekend of restorative mental and physical activity. Removed from the scaffolding of Manhattan in the middle of one of the country’s oldest and most vocally patriotic Irish neighborhoods, the Wounded Warrior Project’s Adaptive Watersports FestivalRead more..
In many cases, the most lasting impact of tragedy is not the loss of possessions, but a loss of perception, a world view so utterly changed that it can be nearly impossible to remember what was once taken for granted. In the Rockaways, a new exhibition by local artists visualizes the three stages of suchRead more..
Brian Kelly, Notre Dame’s famed football coach, was honored by the Kelly Gang at Michael’s Restaurant in New York City on March 13. Earlier that day he visited Breezy Point, where he witnessed the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy and met some of the people who were badly affected by the storm. In honoring CoachRead more..
All they wanted was a chance for ten more days of football. Just before the end of the season, a quarter of the players and one of the coaches on the Xavier High School Knights had been forced from their homes when Superstorm Sandy slammed into the East Coast. But when the displaced kids votedRead more..
There was a brief moment back in November, in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, when John Brennan questioned whether he should still hold the 38th annual Queens County St. Patrick’s Day Parade at Rockaway Beach. But Brennan, a Limerick-born 30-year Rockaway resident and Vice-President of the parade committee, told Irish Central it didn’t takeRead more..
The devastation of the Rockaways has been well-documented in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. In many stories in local papers and international news, Irish Americans featured large. In spite of the destruction, the message they sent was one of determination to rebuild. And lending a hand in the rebuilding effort are many Irish immigrants. TheRead more..
Monsignor Martin Geraghty, pastor for 13 years at the St. Francis de Sales Church in Belle Harbor, presided over 12 memorial services for the members of his church who perished on September 11. Belle Harbor and neighboring Rockaway, a middle-class seaside enclave of police officers, firefighters, nurses and civil servants, was hit hard by theRead more..