Arverne, Queens
Arverne is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, on the Rockaway Peninsula. It was initially developed by Remington Vernam, whose signature "R. Vernam" inspired the name of the neighborhood. Arverne extends from Beach 54th Street to Beach 79th Street, along its main thoroughfare Beach Channel Drive, alternatively known as Rev. Joseph H. May Drive. Arverne is located in Queens Community District 14 and its ZIP Code is 11692. It is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 100th Precinct. History Original settlement Vernam's original plan was to name the neighborhood Arverne-by-the-Sea. One grandiose plan, influenced by his wife Florence, included a canal running through the neighborhood, reminiscent of the Amstel canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. When this plan fell through, the canal right-of-way was converted into a thoroughfare, Amstel Boulevard, which, except for a stub west of Beach 71st Street, was later incorporated into Beach Channel Drive. Located on the Rockaway Boardwalk, Arverne became well known as a beachfront community with inexpensive summer bungalows, hotels of varying expense and luxury, and amusements and boardwalk concessions. It also attracted year-round residents. On January 3, 1914, a storm devastated the peninsula's neighborhoods and swept the 1,200-seat Arverne Pier Theater out to sea. On June 15, 1922, a fire leveled a large part of Arverne, leaving about 10,000 people homeless, although the neighborhood was quick to rebuild. In 1928, a project to build 5,000 bungalows in Arverne was announced. Decline During the 1950s and 1960s, the advent of commercial jet air travel encouraged people to travel to distant destinations during the summer, rather than to local beaches and resorts. As a result, many of Arverne's summer bungalows became vacant. New York City's urban renewal projects of the 1960s leveled most of the summer resorts and some of the residences, many of which had been abandoned. In 1964, the New York City Planning Commission approved the designation of a Arverne renewal area. Two years later, the renewal area was expanded by 19 blocks. In expectation of the upcoming urban renewal, vacant bungalows were demolished. However, the renewal project was delayed, and a grand jury was convened to find the causes of the delay. A gap in funding from the U.S. federal government contributed to pressures to cancel the redevelopment. In 1970, the city announced it would develop 970 apartments in Arverne by 1972. By then, only about 100 of the original 900 bungalows remained. Controversy later arose when the city decided to place 100 mobile homes instead of permanent housing for low-income Puerto Ricans. By 1973, Mayor John Lindsay was calling for 500 of 3,650 proposed housing units to be deleted from the Arverne redevelopment plan. As of yet, the 970 apartments in Arverne had not been developed. When the city re-opened Arverne to redevelopment in 1984, a patch of Arverne only contained one structure: PS 106. In 1988, the administration of mayor Ed Koch started asking private developers to build on the site. The Dubos Point Wildlife Sanctuary