Rockaway Beach

Hammels used to be a summer beach community with boardwalks, a dock, and a nice hotel. Over the years, it deteriorated in condition but ironically, ended up with a more permanent population (as opposed to summer residents). Its poor condition and lack of popularity is ironic, considering the fact that it is located on the water and just over one hour from Manhattan. One thing to note is that only the A train runs to the Rockaways, making it difficult and time consuming to commute to the city. Hammels has been known as a pretty unsafe neighborhood because its main housing was designed to be somewhat of a tenement housing project. While Hammels housing is cheap and the town has worked to clean up its image, its reputation is still pretty bad.

While the town is improving every year due to the efforts of town officials and residents, it will be a while before it can attract a huge influx of residents. The main problems are its crime rates, the long commute to the city, and this area (like most of the Rockaways) is often hit the hardest by storms, tornadoes, etc.

Hammels is a neighborhood in Queens that was named after a local landowner named Louis Hammel. This southeast section of Queens used to be a summer destination based on the serious of boardwalks that ran between the Bay and Ocean shores. Hammels is located on the Rockaway Peninsula and is a portion of Rockaway Beach.

Hammels was considered a fairly rough neighborhood in the past, always mentioned in the news were bodies floating ashore and stray bullets hitting ten year old kids. But, the area has improved over the years. The housing in the area is provided by Hammel Houses, a public housing project that was built in the 1950s. The community watch program has cleaned the area up quite a bit, but there still remains much of what comes from a low income housing project.

Hammels does have its draw with it residing along the beach. The area is far away from Manhattan and thus crowds are limited. The distance provides a long train ride into the city, but living outward has benefits, less traffic, more space, and lovely beach views.

This is a neighborhood on the Rockaway Peninsula, between Arvene and Rockaway Park Seaside. The A train goes way out here, but it’s a far ride back into Manhattan, even if residents do bask in the benefits of being on the seaside. This Queens neighborhood may be a bit far from even the rest of its own borough, but it still resembles what you’d expect from a residential neighborhood there. The neighborhood buzzes the most around Beach Channel Drive (fun fact: this street is where the first transatlantic flight took off). Visitors can get a good look at Jamaica Bay from the street.