Arverne East Nature Preserve Tour

The Arverne East Nature Preserve is a 35-acre natural area preserve stretching from Beach 56th Place to Beach 44th Street and from Edgemere Avenue south to the Rockaway Beach Boardwalk. The overall Arverne East development will include 1,650 units of housing -- 80 percent affordable and 20 percent market-rate -- serving low-income to middle-income individuals and families, a set aside for formerly homeless and market-rate townhouses and bungalows. The main retail corridor, connecting the 36th Street A train subway station to the beach, will be anchored by a new full production brewery and restaurant operated by the Rockaway Brewing Company as well as a beachfront hotel. The project will also include diverse neighborhood retail, responsive to community needs and promoting local businesses. The Preserve includes five ecological communities within the preserve, each contributing to a diverse ecosystem. Pathways traverse the site allowing visitors to experience each of these habitat types and the flora and fauna they support. The tour of this preserve will begin at the eastern edge of the site (Beach 44th St at Edgemere Ave) and provide participants the opportunity to hear about these ecological communities as well as the design considerations for the Preserve. The Preserve is part of the Arverne East project, which is an ambitious, socially and economically transformative project that will revitalize a vacant 116-acre oceanfront site in the Arverne and Edgemere neighborhoods in Queens' Rockaway Peninsula and set a new standard for resilient and energy efficient development in coastal areas. The tour will include a discussion of the overall Arverne East development, which will include 1,650 units of housing -- 80 percent affordable and 20 percent market-rate -- serving low-income to middle-income individuals and families, a set aside for formerly homeless and market-rate townhouses and bungalows. The main retail corridor, connecting the 36th Street A train subway station to the beach, will be anchored by a new full production brewery and restaurant operated by the Rockaway Brewing Company as well as a beachfront hotel. The project will also include diverse neighborhood retail, responsive to community needs and promoting local businesses. The terrain is mostly flat and on hard surfaces, but we will step up onto the boardwalk during the tour and use of stairs or a ramp will be necessary.

Host or Publisher Waterfront & Open Space Division, NYC Department of City Planning