HRT - Hormone Replacement Therapy in Rockaway, FL

Rockaways residents are sharing rebuilding tips, donating to nonprofit groups who helped them a decade ago and collecting gift cards.

Oct. 12, 2022

Last month, Elizabeth Duffy watched live coverage of firefighters wading through waist-high waters in Naples, Fla., to rescue people in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, the Category 4 storm that ripped through much of western and central Florida.

The news was a sober, chilling reminder of what Ms. Duffy, a resident of the Rockaways, in Queens, had lived through almost 10 years ago, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

“It was so cold that year and no one had heat or hot water or power,” she said. “The streets were full of sand and mud. There were spots where there was nothing,” she continued. “It was like a war zone.”

As images of Ian continued to haunt her, Ms. Duffy called her sister-in-law, another Rockaways resident who lost her house during Sandy and had to rebuild it.

While discussing those dark days, they also remembered the numerous volunteers who arrived to help. “Strangers were just coming and setting up food tents on the corner,” Ms. Duffy said. “These people came to the yacht club and handed out these little wool gray scarfs. It was the warmest scarf I’ve ever had.”

It dawned on the sisters-in-law that they could provide similar support for storm survivors in Florida. In the aftermath of Sandy, the most helpful assistance they received, Ms. Duffy recalled, were gift cards to Home Depot or Best Buy — stores that could help them replace destroyed items — or simply Mastercard or Visa cards that they could spend anywhere. Ms. Duffy, who is the president of Rockaway WISH, a local nonprofit, put out the call for donated gift cards — and advice about using them — throughout her community of volunteers.

One woman responded with a warning: To make sure gift receipts were attached to the card (she tried using one after Sandy, and discovered that she could not without the proof of purchase attached). So the organizers attached the receipts to the gifts. The group also called friends who lived in Florida to find out which stores were open and stocked, and which gift cards would be most useful. Schoolchildren illustrated notes to send with the cards.

The sisters-in-law collected $5,000 worth of cards in three days. Rockaways residents dropped them off in the pouring rain, Ms. Duffy recalled. “It was beautiful, and a little overwhelming.”

These New Yorkers know what it feels like to lose everything.

“After Hurricane Sandy I remember someone put up these hand-painted stars with words of inspiration. It was so moving to see these strangers really cared about us,” Ms. Duffy said. “After that, you feel that you want to pay it forward.”

Other ways of helping have been more practical, like sharing tips on how to work with insurance companies or procure quality contractors. Some have even visited Florida to roll up their sleeves.

Joanne Fogarty, who lives in Breezy Point, Queens, almost traveled to Florida after Ian. “I just wanted to help,” she said. But then she figured out a better way to contribute, based on her own hurricane experience.

When Sandy hit, Ms. Fogarty slept in a parking lot with her mother after trying to evacuate at the last minute and finding the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge closed. While they huddled in their car overnight, a fire destroyed 126 homes in Ms. Fogarty’s neighborhood. “It looked like a bomb had gone off,” she said upon seeing the destruction the next day.

Her house was spared, but a wave overwhelmed the front door, flooding everything. “The watermark was higher than the kitchen counters,” she said. “I remember seeing parts of my deck all over the beach. It’s this distinctive green color so I knew it was mine.”

Two volunteer organizations helped to get Ms. Fogarty back on her feet. Team Rubicon, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit led by military veterans, helped people remove muck and debris from their houses, she said. “They saw me using this ladder to get in and out of my house, so they were like, ‘Why don’t we build you a staircase?’” Operation Blessing, a faith-based humanitarian nonprofit, organized teams of volunteers to do everything from plumbing work to throwing Halloween parties for children. They didn’t leave the Rockaways until January. (Both groups are now on the ground in Florida.)

Recalling the monumental assistance she had received from these groups, Ms. Fogarty opted to stay put in New York after Hurricane Ian, and to donate money to both nonprofits instead. “I decided they didn’t need an almost 60-year-old to show up,” she said. “These were the people who were the most helpful and who were here the longest.”

For John Cori, a Rockaways resident whose house had $250,000 worth of damage after Hurricane Sandy, one of the biggest challenges was dealing with the insurance companies, he said.

After Hurricane Ian, he turned to the Friends of Rockaway Beach Facebook page to collect advice for Floridians about what worked (and didn’t) when dealing with insurance companies. Followers suggested everything from hiring contractors immediately to recruiting an independent insurance adjuster. He passed the tips along to his friends who lived in Florida and encouraged everyone in the almost 38,000-member group to do the same.

In 2015, Lisette Bocker, who had been a lifelong Rockaways resident, moved to Deltona, Fla., a city about 45 minutes from Orlando. There, she met a lot of other Florida newcomers who had never been through a bad storm, like Hurricane Irma in 2017. Last month, they all learned that Hurricane Ian was coming their way.

As a nurse, Ms. Bocker found herself telling patients to have to-go bags packed with nonperishable snacks and a transmitter radio, and to have evacuation routes planned. “I wish I had had those things before Sandy,” she said. She also spread the word that people living outside flood zones should evacuate just to be safe. During Sandy, she evacuated to a zone supposedly not in danger of flooding, but her car and belongings were ruined anyway.

Hurricane Ian unearthed all the emotions she felt years earlier during Hurricane Sandy. “I wasn’t afraid for my life as much this time as I was during Sandy, but it was scary,” she said. “It was the fact that we could lose everything again.”

Her Florida neighborhood is still flooded, she said, and people are still having to kayak to get from place to place. Her house is in one piece, but the ones around her still have no roofs. Ms. Bocker’s message to her neighbors, however, has remained consistent: “There is support around you if you need it.”

Local writer and director John J. Budion’s coming-of-age film “Rockaway” is set to make its Florida premiere at the Sunscreen Film Festival on April 28. “This is a small story from the tiny village of East Rockaway that we’re going all the way down to Florida with,” Budion said. “We’re resonating with people who — they don’t even know us.” The film chronicles Budion’s experiences growing up and forming friendships in East Rockaway. It was one of 16 feature films selected out of thousands to screen at the film festival. In total, there will be 130 films at the event. “Rockaway” is scheduled to premiere on April 28 at 4 p.m. at AMC Sundial 20, in St. Petersburg, Fla. The movie has already generated a buzz, beating out eight others to win the Best Feature Film Award after its West Coast premiere at the Catalina Film Festival in California last September. It received a standing ovation from the audience after it was screened. The feature made its debut at the Flickers’ Rhode Island Film Festival last August and won the Audience Award for Best Feature Film. It was also honored at the Hollywood Film Festival as the Most Impactful Film by Paramount Studios.

Budion said he is tempering his expectations for Florida, but is very excited the film is being screened in the company of many that were featured at the Sundance and South by Southwest festivals. “Every film is such high quality,” Budion said of the festival. “To be in that company is really validating that we have a great product that people are responding to.” Budion, 36, a 1999 East Rockaway Junior-Senior High School graduate who now lives in New York City, spent nearly three years writing, filming, directing, editing and tweaking the film, which is set in the summer of 1994. In it, characters based on John and his brother, Anthony, spend time with their best friends Brian, Sal, Billy and Dom, and devise a plan to take revenge on the Budions’ abusive father. Talented young actors carry the film, Budion said. He cast Maxwell Apple to play the younger version of himself, and other young actors in the film include Keidrich Sellati, of FX’s “The Americans,” who plays Anthony, James DiGiacomo (Dom), from the CBS sitcom “Kevin Can Wait” and Tanner Flood (Brian), of Huntington, who is featured in Netflix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” Veteran actors Wass Stevens (“The Wrestler”) and Marjan Neshat (“RoboCop”) play Budion’s parents. Budion said that members of the cast and crew, his parents, and his friends and family members would accompany him to Florida. Though the film has had early success, it still doesn’t have a distributor. Budion said that he hopes to have a late-summer theatrical premiere in New York and Los Angeles, and to eventually find a distributor for a larger theatrical release and to land a streaming deal with services like Netflix or Hulu. “We will continue to look for a distributor,” he said. “The film resonates with people from all walks of life.” Budion said he is very excited to see how the audience responds to “Rockaway,” and added that he is thrilled to have it shown in an AMC theater. “I’m excited to see the crowd’s reaction to the way that it plays back in a true theater,” he said. “I’m not going in with any expectations, but it would be really great to walk away and win something, especially with the films that we’re in there with.” To keep up with the latest news about “Rockaway,” visit Facebook.com/RockawayFilm or www.instagram.com/rockaway_film/. To learn more about the Sunscreen Film Festival and to purchase tickets, visit http://sunscreenfilmfestival.com/festival-2018/schedule/.

Plans to construct 19 new jetties or “groins,” are currently underway in Rockaway Beach.

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been working on plans to ensure the protection of the Rockaway Beach shoreline since Superstorm Sandy swept across the peninsula in 2012. Due to a lack of funding, however, the initial reformulation plans were parsed down to focus exclusively on the shoreline between Beach 9th and Beach 149th. The remainder of the project was absorbed by a larger federally funded effort to protect the Jamaica Bay area.

The now $114 million project aims to rehabilitate and install new stone jetties along the shore, after which the Army Corps will look to reinforce dunes with a stone skeleton, and then replenish and refill the sand over the next 50 years.

According to a recent article by James Bernstein with the Long Beach Herald a similar project was implemented in nearby Long Beach, where the USACE sought to rehabilitate 18 jetties along the coast.

The rapid erosion of sand from their beaches has Long Beach locals in an uproar over the new jetties, which they say are to blame.

USACE Project Manager Dan Falt said that while erosion has been a concern in regards to the Long Beach project, it is a misconception that jetties are solely responsible for the rapid sand depletion.

“There’s always an adjustment,” Falt said. “That was the concern in Long Beach but it wouldn’t work in Rockaway.”

Falt also said that while he feels “jetties are not the final answer,” there are many other factors at play in Long Beach that are causing the erosion.

The Long Beach project was completed in 2018, and since then it has been a constant concern.

According to a story published by Newsday last January, elected officials in Long Beach hired a coastal engineering firm from Florida to survey the project. That survey found that the Army Corps may not have designed the jetties properly, and the 30,000-pound boulders that create the jetties have already started to separate and sink into the sand.

Robby Schwach, deputy chief of staff for Councilmember Eric Ulrich, said that he has been in constant contact with both the Department of Public Works in Long Beach and the Army Corps of Engineers in an effort to be proactive about the project and to ensure they don’t repeat any such mistakes when they begin in Rockaway.

“[The Army Corps] assured us they learned their lessons,” Schwach said. “This design will be fixed in the Rockaway project.”

Schwach said that the Army Corps project started construction this past week. A staging area has been set up at Beach 19th Street and they intend to work down the peninsula towards Neponsit. In total the project is estimated to take three years to complete all three phases.

Still, however, some are skeptical, and fear that the new jetties will have similar issues as their Long Beach brethren.

“If you make a mistake with a jetty we’re stuck with it,” Rockaway resident Joe Hartigan said. “We’re not going to take the rocks out.”

Hartigan added that while he is thrilled with the plans to include new jetties along the coast, he would rather see the beaches in the 30s restored for the residents to use rather than being designated as a piping plover sanctuary.

In addition to the work being done to replace and restore the stone jetties, Eric Peterson, Rockaway administrator with NYC Parks Department, said that additional funding has been provided by the Queens office of Parks and Recreation to remove deteriorated wooden groins and posts from 26 locations along the shore.

“There could be some variation at the time of construction, as structure could wash away or be newly exposed,” Peterson said in an email, citing officials with Queens Parks and Recreation. “Some of these sites were not on our list from 5 years ago, and some from that time are no longer existent.”

John Signorelli, vice president of the Belle Harbor Property Owners Association, said he is concerned with the potential noise and damage caused by carting in the stone jetties by truck.

Based on a presentation delivered to the BHPOA on Aug. 25th, the Army Corps plans to use 20 trucks to deliver the stones, making two deliveries a day through Beach 126th Street and Beach 142nd Street.

When Signorelli asked if there were any other routes for the trucks to cart the stones that would not involve rumbling down roads lined with homes, he was told that National Park Services owns the land laying on any alternative routes, and they refused to allow access.

“In my opinion National Park Services should give the okay to allow trucks along their roadways to drop off the stones. Not disturbing many residents and homes,” Signorelli said. “By doing this they will need to remove bollards and baffle walls to plow a path through the dunes. What we fear is that the sidewalk and roadway may be damaged [in the process].”

Signorelli indicated that the Army Corps presentation also informed residents about the use of vibration monitors on each property in the areas adjacent to where the trucks pass. His main concern is whether the USACE plans to fix or restore any damage caused to the baffle walls, shrubs, signage, sidewalks, and water mains buried underground that might be damaged during the project.

According to Schwach, the staging areas listed by the Army Corps were designated as part of the initial bid process and would need the mutual support of the contractors and National Parks in order to change it.

“We share the concerns of our constituents,” Schwach said, adding that his office is currently in discussion with the contractor to try and mitigate any issues the construction may cause homeowners. “Nobody wants trucks going down their block.”

Schwach said that while the project is already underway, they do not anticipate beginning work on the west end of the peninsula until April 2021.

For more details and updates on the project visit https://www.nan.usace.army.mil/ and look up “Rockaway” under missions and civil works.

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Courtesy John J Budion

Local writer and director John J. Budion’s coming of age film “Rockaway” continues to pile up hardware. The film, set in 1994 and based on Budion’s experiences growing up with his friends in East Rockaway, made its Florida premiere at the Sunscreen Film Festival in St. Petersburg on April 27. The movie chronicles characters based on Budion and his brother, Anthony, as they plot revenge against their abusive father and spend time with their friends in East Rockaway. At the Sunscreen Film Festival, Keidrich Sellati was awarded Best Actor for his role as Anthony. “I started freaking out, man,” Sellati said after learning he won the honor. “I was so excited.” Sellati, 16, who has a prominent role on the FX drama “The Americans,” was selected by Budion and casting directors Billy Hopkins (“Good Will Hunting”) and Ashley Ingram (“Mudbound”) to play Anthony.

Budion said that Sellati has a lot in common with his real-life brother and was able to channel a range of emotions during his auditions. Because the movie is mostly about Anthony protecting his younger brother, Budion said, Sellati did a good job of portraying the character’s feelings. “Keidrich had to wear a lot of emotional hats in this film, and he nailed it,” Budion said. “He carried the film and he sets the tone for everybody else in this film, who are all amazing and wonderful.” Sellati’s win is just the latest of many awards for “Rockaway” since it made its debut last year. The film beat out eight others to win the Best Feature Film Award after its West Coast premiere at the Catalina Film Festival in California last September. The feature made its debut at the Flickers’ Rhode Island Film Festival last August and won the Audience Award for Best Feature Film. It was also honored at the Hollywood Film Festival as the Most Impactful Film by Paramount Studios.

Budion and Sellati each had the opportunity to speak on a panel at the Florida festival, and shared their experiences about directing and acting, respectively. Budion said having the movie premiere in an actual AMC theater was “a thrill,” and added that it continues to receive positive feedback. “They were laughing, there were some people crying,” he said of the audience. “There were people clapping. It was a great response from the Florida crowd.” With the Florida premiere behind them, Budion said, he is still trying to arrange for a New York premiere and, eventually, a theatrical release and to get “Rockaway” on a streaming service. Though many of the film’s supporters have likened it to “Stand By Me,” a favorite of Budion’s, the director said he is still looking for a distributor for it. Sellati said he too is hopeful that the whirlwind of success will continue. He said Budion has become a family friend to him and vice versa, and that he remains close with his young cast mates. “My favorite part of the entire project was getting to meet the guys and doing the work with John and all of them,” Sellati said. “I’ve made what I feel like will be some lifelong friends.”

To keep up with the latest news about “Rockaway,” visit Facebook.com/RockawayFilm or www.instagram.com/rockaway_film/.

A new, 219-unit mixed-use development looks to be on its way to Far Rockaway, as the far-flung Queens neighborhood continues to see a development boom.

Affordable housing developer Brisa Builders Corporation plans to build the nine-story project at 13-38 Central Avenue in Far Rockaway, according to an application pre-filed with the city’s building department.

The development would span just under 195,000 square feet, with about 132,000 square feet of that reserved for residential space.

The Brooklyn-based developer did not immediately return a request for comment.

The first floor of the new project would have classroom and gymnasium space, plus retail and storage space. The second floor will hold nonprofit offices and some residential units, and the remaining floors would house the rest of the apartments. The residential units would feature a mix of class-A and supportive housing units, according to the application.

It was not immediately clear if Brisa Builders has closed on the site yet. Property records indicate that an entity recorded as “Central Ave Reality Inc.” has held the deed since 2010. The site currently holds a one-story commercial property.

Far Rockaway has seen a slate of new investment and development in recent years, thanks to a zoning change and a new ferry service to Lower Manhattan that started in 2017. For example, in August, Red Group Management filed an application to construct a 17-story mixed-use project, at nearby 128 Beach 9th Street.