cost members up to $1,700<\/a> a year to use all of the new facility \u2014 including the restaurant, butterfly garden and swank new pool, which will open next weekend.<\/p>\nBut the company emphasized that more than half of the facility is free to the public, including various bars and a courtyard with space for lounging and games. <\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody is welcome. One of the things that makes Jacob Riis Beach so special is the People\u2019s Beach. The beach is the ultimate democratizer. It doesn\u2019t matter who you are, or where you come from, or what you have,\u201d said Damani.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to remind New Yorkers that New York City is a beach town.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rockaway Ocean Club \u2014 which will partially open Aug. 15 for a preview season before being fully opened next year \u2014 is a project nine years in the making.<\/p>\n
It sprouted from what Damani called a \u201cvery New York\u201d plan to breathe life back into the bathhouse that has sat empty since 1972.<\/p>\n
The original 1932 plaque dedicating the beach to the citizens of New York was the \u201cnorthern star\u201d for the developers, said Ursula Damani. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n
The project faced a series of construction delays over the years, including in the final weeks that pushed back the initial July launch.<\/p>\n
Most of the setbacks centered on the group\u2019s ability to restore the historic aspects of the grounds and, when not possible, rebuild according to strict landmark regulations that require new builds to be \u201cremarkably different\u201d than the original.<\/p>\n
That has resulted in plenty of quirks throughout the club, like shiny teal tiles neighboring the original aqua ones, and one window with one less divided light than the originals overlooking the U-shaped pool.<\/p>\n
The courtyard, seen here under construction in May, will be open to the public at all times. Stefano Giovannini<\/p>\n
The butterfly garden is open to paying members. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n
Most of the building is still under construction. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n
But ROC Hospitality says maintaining the original charm of the bathhouse and its reputation was vital \u2014 pointing to the still-standing 1932 bronze-turned-green plaque dedicating the shore to the people of New York as its \u201cnorthern star.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do we create a space where all people feel welcome and a space that touches all different price points from the boardwalk to the members club?\u201d Damani, who partnered with Scott Shnay of SK Development, Aaron Broudo and Belvey Klein of Brooklyn Bazaar for the project, said of their mission.<\/p>\n
The club has fallen under fire in recent weeks, with opponents slamming the four-figure membership fees and application form that asks for social media links.<\/p>\n
The rooftop will offer views of the Atlantic Ocean as well as the Manhattan skyline. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n
When fully open, the members-only section of the Rockaway Ocean Club will make up about 40% of its campus, the company said. In Saturday\u2019s preview, the courtyard will be open to the public.<\/p>\n
The numerous food concessionaires, gift shops and bars will be open to the public, as well as the sprawling courtyard that offers games during the day and concerts at night.<\/p>\n
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Most of the building is still under construction, with the owners hoping to slowly roll out those amenities until their grand opening in the spring.<\/p>\n
It could be another year after that before they open the 28-room hotel on the second floor or the massive rooftop bar offering brilliant views of both the Atlantic Ocean and Manhattan skyline that had been roped off for five decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t set out to build something new on Riis Beach \u2014 we set out to finish something that started in 1932 and got interrupted. This has always been the People\u2019s Beach, built for the people of New York, and restoring this building is how we carry that legacy forward for the next generation,\u201d Shnay told The Post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They\u2019re waving hello to a new era. The Rockaway Ocean Club will officially open its doors Saturday \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1000842,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,14079,18359,5248,405,403,7619,5226,5225,5228,5227,4413,33506,31417,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":["post-1000841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-beaches","tag-clubs","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-life","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-rockaway-beach","tag-rockaways","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-us-news","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117095447168289712","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1000841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1000842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1000841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1000841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1000841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}