COVER STORY: Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato

COVER STORY REDISCOVERING THE ROCKAWAYS POST-COVID

BY SHANE MILLER

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy decimated the Rockaway Peninsula. It was the strongest and most destructive storm of that year’s Atlantic hurricane season, and it didn’t

RESORTS WORLD

During our conversation with the assemblywoman, she also touched on the impact Resorts World New York City casino has had on the Rockaways.

In the April issue of This Is Queensborough, Pheffer Amato penned an opinion piece supporting a full casino license for Resorts World that would allow it to expand to include live gaming tables. Currently, Resorts World is only allowed to offer video gaming.

As part of the state’s economic recovery plan Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed awarding new casino licenses.

While on the campaign trail, Pheffer Amato said she met a number of constituents who are casino employees who praised the work environment.

She also called Resorts World a “great community partner,” not only by generating tax revenue but being a visible part of the fabric of the neighborhoods surrounding the casino.

Pheffer Amato argues granting Resorts World New York a full casino license would allow it to expand, which in turn would create jobs and generate new tax revenue, as well as allow it to grow its presence in the community.

“Resorts World brought this other level of jobs to our community,” the assemblywoman said “It is an economic boost to our community. If you live in Rockaway, in two train stops you’re getting a well-paying job that you would have to travel an hour-and-a-half to get to in Manhattan.” spare the southernmost point of Queens. But if the storm had any silver lining, the ensuing recovery efforts brought the beachfront communities of the borough to the attention of the rest of Queens and New York City.

“Hurricane Sandy was the first renaissance,” Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato told This Is Queensborough during a walk along the Rockaway Beach Boardwalk. “People came in to help us and discovered us. They never knew it was here, and it’s been growing ever since.

“Before Sandy, the Rockaways weren’t thriving, we were surviving,” the lifelong Rockaway resident added. “Now we’re thriving.”

And if there was any silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic for the peninsula, it was when the weather turned warmer and people were looking to be outside but still Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato on the boardwalk along socially distanced, the beach was Rockaway Beach overlooking one of New York City’s only legal the perfect spot. surfing beaches. The other is just blocks away. (Photo: Michael O’Kane)

“During the pandemic, what people discovered was Rockaway,” and the past year was so challeng- and cultivate that creativity. As an Pheffer Amato said. “It was our ing and difficult, but the mood is example, two years after Sandy, second renaissance. People were changing. I think we are going to the Museum of Modern Art curated comfortable outside on the board- have a great summer.” events, performances and installawalk and the beaches were packed. But it’s not just the beaches, tions in the Rockaways. The beach always brings comfort.” bustling boardwalk, and shops and “Again, locals always did it, but

That said, the restrictions on restaurants attracting visitors from more people are paying attention, indoor dining and other COVID- all over the city, the Rockaways so more funding is coming,” Phefera precautions hit Rockaway small is nurturing a thriving arts com- fer Amato added. business hard, many of which rely munity. on the influx of visitors the summer season brings to the peninsula to “There is so much culture developing,” said Pheffer Amato. “There Recently, the Queens Chamber of Commerce facilitated improve their bottom line. has always been an art and music grants of $20,000 to five small

But with the city moving toward community here, but the one thing businesses in the Rockaways, as a full reopening, indoor dining that has absolutely happened is well as one on Broad Channel. restrictions and curfews being lift- there is an underground art and (See related story on page 14.) The ed, and Memorial Day later this music scene.” Chamber was one of several orgamonth marking the unofficial start The assemblywoman said the art nizations tasked with distributing of summer, there is hope among scene attracts nonprofits and other money from a $17.5 million fund Rockaway small business owners. organizations that want to tap into made possible by new Mets owner

“Everyone feels good and they’re hopeful that we are “IT WAS OUR SECOND RENAISSANCE. PEOPLE WERE getting back to normal,” Pheffer Amato said. COMFORTABLE OUTSIDE ON THE BOARDWALK AND THE BEACHES WERE PACKED. THE BEACH ALWAYS BRINGS “Our restaurant business COMFORT.” is growing,

COVER STORY

Steve Cohen.

The Chamber has also been instrumental in jumpstarting the Rockaway Business Alliance.

“It will hopefully develop into a real conduit for the businesses in the Rockaway,” Pheffer Amato said of the alliance. “I think the Chamber really gets us, and that’s always been a struggle for people in the Rockaways. Everyone doesn’t get us.”

While there has been an influx of new residents as people discover the joys of peninsula life, Pheffer Amato said the Rockaways is still a community of locals that remembers the years they were largely forgotten and overlooked by the rest of New York City.

“In Queens, when we would get help it stopped at the bridge,” she said, referring to the span that connects the Rockaways to the rest of the borough. “There is a lack of belief in government or any organized effort. People think, ‘Oh what do they want now?’ Just dues and nothing for it.”

She said the Chamber understands that challenge, as well as managing the expectations of what a business group can accomplish.

As part of her commitment to small businesses, Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato launched her Small Business of the Month Award in 2018. Last month, she presented her 17th award to Avoid the Day Bookstore owners Jianna and Jason Heuer on Independent Bookstore Day.

“Avoid the Day Bookstore exemplifies what a true community partner and civic minded small business can mean to a community,” Pheffer Amato said. “Through their hard work and dedication to their business, they have firmly ensconced themselves as an important part of the community and are an invaluable addition to the culture and arts space in Rockaway.”

The award ceremony took place as a surprise addition to Avoid The Day’s Independent Bookstore Day programming, which included book readings from local authors. The Assemblywoman read a chapter from Rockaway resident Dan Brown’s book, “The Sometimes Why: Short Stories, Monologues, and Words to That Effect,” along with four other local readers.

Avoid the Day Bookstore in February 2020, seven weeks before the start of NY PAUSE. They are the 17th business to receive the Small Business of the Month award since its launch in 2018.

“We are so happy to still be here after this pandemic, the Heuers said. “It had been our dream to open up a bookstore in Rockaway Beach, and we’re only getting started.” Pheffer Amato said small business owner are beginning to understand that an organization like the Chamber doesn’t exist necessarily to promote individual businesses.

“Some of the negativity that happened out here with chambers back in the day was just not fully managing expectations about what any business alliance will do for you,” she said. “They’re not out there promoting your small business, they are promoting the concept of small business and opening doors.

“It’s not like years ago where a bunch of men just sat around a room and talked about whatever,” the assemblywoman said. “We want to teach businesses that there is going to be help.”

Pheffer Amato herself is married to a small business owner. Her husband and his brother work in a family-owned pizzeria that has history in the Rockaways dating back over 40 years. Like every other restaurant owner, her husband is trying to navigate the world of online ordering, a new experience for him.

She says a group like the Chamber could host information sessions for restaurant owners to teach them how to set up, manage, and profit from an online ordering system.

“It’s really about networking, resources, and block building,” Pheffer Amato said. “If I have an issue with a volunteer fire department, I can call the Chamber and ask if they have a member bank that works with nonprofits.”

Watching the surfers catch waves at the city’s only legal surfing beach, Pheffer Amato reflected on all of the changes that have occurred in the Rockaways since Sandy nearly destroyed it. With all the amenities the boardwalk has to offer, residents need only walk out their front door and head to the beach in the evening to get a bite to eat, have a drink (the assemblywoman has high praise for the frozen wine!), and catch an impromptu street performance.

“It’s changed for me, and I’ve lived here my whole life, it has a vibe” she said. “It’s a new experience in my hometown.”