Tyler Williams Secures a Win for the Rockaway Ravens Field

By Katie McFadden

Sometimes, all you need to do is ask. A month ago, 17-year-old Arverne resident Tyler Williams had the opportunity to meet with Mayor Eric Adams at a roundtable meeting where he brought up an issue regarding the long-neglected Rockaway Ravens Football Field on Beach 32nd Street, which can use a hand. Three weeks later, the Williams family allegedly got a call with some good news from new NYC Parks Commissioner Iris Rodriguez-Rosa—the city is funding the renovation.

On March 19, The Heart of Rockaway Civic (THOR) attended the mayor’s town hall at P.S./M.S. 42. At that town hall, THOR Vice President Edwin Williams had an opportunity to speak and brought with him a list of concerns about the neighborhood, primarily infrastructure issues. Adams asked for the list and later invited THOR to a roundtable meeting with city agencies, to further discuss those concerns.

Among the THOR members at the Wednesday, June 4, meeting at City Hall was Edwin Williams’ son, Tyler, who had an issue close to his heart that he wanted addressed. As a player for the Rockaway Ravens football Team, Tyler Williams spoke about the conditions of the field that was damaged during Hurricane Sandy, just a few months after it opened, and has yet to be repaired.

Tyler Williams shared how the field doesn’t have real turf and it has concrete underneath, leading kids to fall and scrape themselves. It’s a field where the likes of Rockaway natives-turned NFL pros Foley Fatukasi and Christian Izien played on. But due to the conditions, visiting teams don’t want to play on it. Despite years of pleas for it to be fixed, the request has faced numerous delays, including needing another $1.6 million for the total $4 million renovation. “It’s important because that whole community comes to that field for many events, many sports, and for this new generation that’s coming up, they deserve a new field,” Tyler Williams, who will be going to Hartwick College this fall on a swimming and football scholarship, told Mayor Adams. Adams responded by asking where exactly this field was.  The field in question is a NYC Parks property.

Nearly three weeks after that meeting, on Saturday, June 21, Edwin Williams allegedly got a call from new NYC Parks Commissioner Rodriguez-Rosa. “The mayor is putting up the remaining $1.6 million so our young kids can have a new field,” Williams said. “We are so happy that our new Parks Commissioner Ms. Rodriguez-Rosa, longtime friend of Rockaway who has attended many beach openings over the years, and Mayor Eric Adams, have recognized the importance of this linchpin in the positive development of young men in Rockaway. THOR thanks the mayor and our new Parks Commissioner for putting money where it really counts!”