High Tide
We wish you a very happy and healthy New Year! Here’s to a great 2024!
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And we hope everyone had a great Christmas! It was a very long weekend of festivities with Christmas falling on a Monday this year.
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Happy Kwanzaa to our friends and neighbors who celebrate!
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Wow… this week will mark our one-year anniversary of taking the reins of The Rockaway Times from Kevin Boyle. We thank Kevin for his constant guidance over the past year, our loyal advertisers who are just plain awesome, and you, our readers, for your support!
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Congratulations to Rocco Pisani on being named The Rockaway Times Person of the Year! This tradition was started two years ago when Liz Hanna was crowned for all her efforts helping businesses and the community. Last year was Keith “Bugsy” Goldberg’s year for all he does for the community. Rocco is an amazing kid, who recently beat cancer and does a seemingly endless amount of charity work and advocacy for blood cancer awareness. Congratulations Rocco!
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For those of you looking to start 2024 with a bang, look no further than a polar plunge on New Year’s Day on Monday, January 1. While the original plunge on Beach 145th Street is still going strong, countless other blocks and groups do their own plunges from one end of the peninsula to the other.
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If you are heading into the city on New Year’s Day — Monday, January 1, 2024, the ferry will be operating on a modified holiday schedule that day. Check the NYC Ferry website for the full schedule.
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Look good in the New Year! Rockaway has a new barber and a new salon. Frank Ritorto, son of the late Rocco, opened up Frankie’s Barbershop at 115-06 Rockaway Beach Blvd. And Gus is back with His and Hers Salon at 92-03 Rockaway Beach Blvd. Congratulations to both.
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The Bayswater Civic Association will be holding a special meeting on Monday, January 8 at 7 p.m., to discuss the City Planning Department’s City of Yes plans. The guest speaker will be Paul Graziano, a city planner, who has worked with local civic groups over several years to improve local zoning. The meeting will be held at the Bayswater Jewish Center on the corner of Healy Avenue and Dickens Street, in Bayswater, Far Rockaway. You can check out some of the concerns and objections the association has for the proposed plan by visiting http://bayswatercivic.org/cityofyes.html
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Omnipresent sidewalk sheds and scaffolding have been an eyesore throughout New York City for an eternity, but this is ridiculous. Mayor Adams announced late last week that, as part of his “Get Sheds Down” plan (seriously, is the person naming these things in on the joke?), the longest-standing sidewalk shed in the city has been taken down after … 21 years! To put a cherry on top of it all, the building, located in Harlem, is designated as a city landmark. While the name needs some workshopping, the “Get Sheds Down” plan seems to be doing some good.
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When the IRS begins accepting returns in January, New Yorkers who earned $85,000 or less for families, or $59,000 or less as single filers in 2023 will be eligible to file for free with an IRS-certified VITA/TCE volunteer preparer using NYC Free Tax Prep. NYC Free Tax Prep offers a variety of free tax prep options, including in-person, virtual, and drop-off options. For more information, contact 311 or visit nyc.gov/TaxPrep.
