Category Archives: Rockaway

Photo Highlights of The Decade



As the decade rolls to an end we’ve compiled a brief photographic retrospective with a few of our favorite photos of the 2010s.

Political foes Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo shake hands, seemingly at the urging of RWDSU’s Stuart Appelbaum, as they march in the 2016 Labor Day Parade. 9/10/16

Our decade highlight gallery is available here.

Our focus is on New York politics, both city and state, but the gallery includes other shots of New York.  Among the campaigns we’ve covered are the 2013 and 2017 mayoral races, the 2014 and 2018 gubernatorial races, congressional primaries in 2014, 2016 and 2018, the 2016 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary and the 2019 public advocate special election.  NYTrue.com began in late 2012, with mostly video and little photography in 2012 and 2013, so this is a somewhat truncated decade retrospective that covers 2014-2019.

Special Bonus – Unabridged Gallery:

For those of you who really love New York politics we have an expanded decade retrospective gallery with lots of great shots that didn’t make it into the decade highlight gallery.  Take a look, and a walk down memory lane, here.

We’ve included a few 2013 iPhone shots in a brief addendum at the end of the expanded gallery.

Our 2019 year in photos is available here.

All of our photo galleries are available here.

Photo Gallery: Flight #587 2019 Memorial



The annual commemoration of the crash of American Airlines Flight #587 was held Tuesday in Rockaway, with mourners gathering for a ceremony centered around a bell ringing and minute of silence marking the exact moment of the crash followed by a reading of the names of the 265 victims.  The flight was headed from JFK to the Dominican Republic and the passengers were predominantly Dominican and Dominican-American.  Five of the victims were Rockaway residents killed by the falling aircraft.

The cold wet windswept morning brought an added dose of misery to the attendees remembering the lost, with the temperature falling through the 40’s as a light rain fell.  There were fewer attendees than recent years, due perhaps to both the weather and the gradual fading that passing years brings, but the memorial remains a deeply sad annual moment in the City’s civic life, resurfacing the attendees’ grief as they gather to focus on their lost family and friends and recall the shock of tragedy as the City struggled to recover from the September 11th attacks that had just occurred.

Continue reading Photo Gallery: Flight #587 2019 Memorial

Photo Gallery: Flight #587 Memorial



Mayor Bill de Blasio joined mourners in Rockaway for the 17th anniversary of the crash of American Airlines flight #587.  The crash killed all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.  The flight was headed from JFK to the Dominican Republic and the deceased include many Dominicans and Dominican Americans.

Mayor de Blasio was late to the ceremony in 2014, drawing heated criticism for missing the bell tolling the exact moment of the crash.  This year, as in each year since 2014, he arrived early and greeted mourners ahead of the ceremony.  de Blasio, who did not take press questions, was the only elected official to attend.

Photo Gallery:

Our full photo gallery is available here.

Photo Gallery: Rockaway St. Patrick’s Day Parade



Fresh, sunny in places.  That’s how an Irish weather forecast might have described Rockaway Saturday afternoon as strong winds, cool temperatures and mostly bright skies greeted the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  The parade kicks off a month of St. Patrick’s Day parades around the region.

Attendance by both elected officials and spectators was light this year, with a handful of Queens elected officials appearing.  Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, NYS Senator Joe Addabbo, Assembly Members Stacey Pheffer Amato and Michael DenDekker and Council Member Eric Ulrich marched, receiving a friendly reception.  Mayor de Blasio, Comptroller Scott Stringer, Public Advocate Tish James and Council Speaker Corey Johnson did not attend, although James was reported to have attended the pre-parade breakfast.  Senator Chuck Schumer has often attended past Rockaway parades, but neither he nor any other statewide elected official attended.

Photo Gallery:

Our full photo gallery is available here.

2017 Year In Photos



Baseball fan Timothy Cardinal Dolan sports a borrowed Yankees hat while the hat’s owner sports Cardinal Dolan’s zucchetto.

Mayoral candidates fighting and occasionally smiling, a governor working his fellow electeds and the cameras, a hometown president passing through.  Those are among the images in our 2017 photo retrospective.

Shot entirely in the five boroughs, our photo retrospective reflects our 2017 focus on the mayoral election and particularly on challengers looking to defeat Mayor de Blasio.  There’s more, however, with a mix of light moments, conflict and loss.

Our photographic look back at 2017 is available here.

Republican mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis heads to her car following a Saturday morning appearance at a Queens GOP “Unity Breakfast” in Glendale.

Note:  Our more extensive photo retrospective on the 2017 mayoral race is available here.

de Blasio Rockaway Town Hall



Mayor Bill de Blasio recently ventured to the politically hostile Rockaway neighborhood of Belle Harbor for a town hall.  Antipathy for de Blasio runs strong in the area, with de Blasio having lost the assembly district to both Nicole Malliotakis and Joe Lhota, but the town hall audience engaged with de Blasio on many substantive topics.

Video:
Continue reading de Blasio Rockaway Town Hall

Flight #587: 2017 Memorial



Mayor Bill de Blasio attended the annual memorial service marking the November 12, 2001 crash of American Airlines Flight #587.   For the fourth time as mayor de Blasio  joined attendees at the service, held at the memorial constructed just off the beach on Rockaway’s Beach 116th Street. The flight was headed from JFK to the Dominican Republic and the majority of those onboard were Dominican Americans and Dominican nationals. The crash also killed five people on the ground in Rockaway.

de Blasio was infamously late to the 2014 memorial service, his first as mayor. He missed the moment of silence, provoking a firestorm of criticism over his then-frequent tardiness to public events. This year, as in 2015 and 2016, de Blasio arrived early and worked his way through the audience shaking hands, hugging and talking with attendees before the service began.  Assembly Member Stacey Pheffer Amato, who represents Rockaway,  was the only other elected official to attend.  Former Assembly Member Guillermo Linares, now the president of the New York State Higher Education Corporation, attended and spoke on behalf of Governor Cuomo. Continue reading Flight #587: 2017 Memorial

de Blasio Defends, Chapter 2



Mayor Bill de Blasio held a press conference today in which he defended himself for a second consecutive day against witness testimony in a federal corruption trial.  de Blasio spoke in the Arverne section of Rockaway, as part of a lengthy presentation and press conference marking the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Sandy and promoting the City’s ongoing rebuilding and resiliency efforts.  Mayor de Blasio held a press conference yesterday, following a Midwood synagogue visit, in which he similarly defended himself against that testimony.

de Blasio again cast the witness testifying in the trial of Norman Seabrook, Jona Rechnitz, as a “liar” and “convicted felon,” energetically rejecting the assertion that de Blasio committed any crime or legal but wrongful acts in return for Rechnitz’ campaign and political contributions.  de Blasio repeatedly emphasized that the U.S. Attorney’s office would have known all that Rechnitz has alleged, as he’s been cooperating with the U.S. Attorney, when the U.S. Attorney ended its investigation of de Blasio without bringing any charges.

Video:

Here is the full “off-topic” portion of the Q&A at today’s press conference.  All but one of the questions focused on Rechnitz’ testimony.

Photo Gallery: de Blasio On de Boardwalk



Mayor Bill de Blasio visited Rockaway Friday, touring a short stretch of the rebuilt boardwalk and making brief remarks but not answering any press questions.  Large portions of the five mile boardwalk were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, with rebuilding now just about complete.  The final unopened portions are scheduled to reopen in the next week.   Continue reading Photo Gallery: de Blasio On de Boardwalk

Photo Gallery: Rockaway St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2017



Rockaway Parade 3-2-17-5A cold, bitter wind blew across Rockaway Saturday afternoon.  It wasn’t the sentiment of residents toward Mayor de Blasio, but an actual wind blowing in from Jamaica Bay during the Rockaway St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

The cold temperature and strong wind dampened attendance, but those turning out appeared to have their usual good time.  It’s a world apart from the large Fifth Avenue parades, and even from many parades in other parts of the City, with a strong small town feel to it as the parade flows through a suburban neighborhood of single family homes.  Green-clothed crowds filled many front lawns and porches, with cheers for the marchers interspersed amid a steady flow of eating, drinking and talking.

Rockaway Parade 3-4-17-35

Continue reading Photo Gallery: Rockaway St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2017

Flight #587 Memorial – 2016



Flight #587 Memorial Service 11-12-16The annual memorial service marking the 2001 crash of American Airlines Flight #587 was held Saturday morning.  Mayor Bill de Blasio joined attendees at the service, held at the memorial constructed just off the beach on Rockaway’s Beach 116th Street. The flight was headed from JFK to the Dominican Republic and the majority of those onboard were Dominican Americans and Dominican nationals.  The crash also killed five people on the ground in Rockaway.

de Blasio was infamously late to the 2014 memorial service, his first as mayor.  He missed the moment of silence, provoking a firestorm of criticism over his then-frequent tardiness to public events.  This year, as in 2015, de Blasio arrived early and worked his way through the audience shaking hands, hugging and talking with attendees before the service began.

Flight #587 Memorial Service 11-12-16

Continue reading Flight #587 Memorial – 2016

No Shelter For Queens Electeds (Updated)



img_8436Council Member Eric Ulrich drew several Queens elected officials to a City Hall rally Friday, objecting to the de Blasio administration’s efforts at using hotels in Maspeth and Rockaway as homeless shelters.  The electeds’ objections, substantially focused on the process and lack of communication by the administration, left them exposed to the deep anger of the 150 or so people attending the rally.  Those attendees, predominantly from Maspeth with a minority from Rockaway, deeply oppose siting a shelter in their neighborhood no matter what process or communication is used.  Their anger eventually overwhelmed the elected officials’ efforts to conduct a press conference, driving those elected officials into City Hall as the crowd chanted outside on the City Hall portico and briefly marched on City Hall plaza.

Photo Gallery:

Our full photo gallery is available here.

Elected officials and candidates listen to a press question during a rally & press conference hosted by CM Eric Ulrich. 10/21/16
Elected officials and candidates listen to a press question during a rally & press conference hosted by CM Eric Ulrich. 10/21/16

Continue reading No Shelter For Queens Electeds (Updated)

Ulrich Condemns Build It Back (Updated)



Council Member Eric Ulrich harshly condemned the City’s Build It Back program Monday, calling for the resignation of Amy Peterson, the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing Recovery Operations who oversees Build It Back.  Speaking at a press conference on Beach 117th Street in Rockaway, Ulrich described Build It Back as hopelessly failing with little visible prospect of success.

The owner of the home Ulrich spoke in front of has been displaced since February, having moved out in anticipation of substantial work through Build It Back. Shortly after the owner relocated Build It Back erected a fence, effectively locking out the homeowner and preparing the property for that work.  According to Ulrich and the daughter of the homeowner that work has not yet begun, however.  Ulrich further described this homeowner’s experience as common, saying that many of his constituents are in similar circumstances.

Ulrich Rockaway 7-18-16

Continue reading Ulrich Condemns Build It Back (Updated)