Beach 116th Street will shine once again this Saturday as Council Member Joanne Ariola hosts a community celebration featuring live music and a fireworks show to mark its long-awaited reopening.
Far Rockaway families are invited to gather on June 21 for an evening of entertainment, beginning with a performance by the Roadkill Country Outlaws at 7 p.m. on the Beach 116th Street Boardwalk. The festivities will culminate in a fireworks display shortly after 9 p.m.
Attendees are encouraged to arrive early to enjoy local food vendors, stroll the boardwalk, and take in the summer atmosphere before the show begins.
Ariola said the reopening of Beach 116th Street is a long time coming for community members. “We wanted to mark the moment in a big way, and what better way to say welcome back than fireworks over the ocean? This is going to be a great summer for Rockaway, and we are getting it started off with a bang,” Ariola said.
Local business owners and community leaders weighed in on the upcoming celebration.
“These fireworks will let everyone know that the beach is finally open, and the businesses on Beach 116th Street are ready to welcome visitors and locals alike for a great summer,” said Matt Mazzone, owner of Beach 116th Street’s ACE Mazzone Hardware and a member of the Beach 116th Street Merchants Association. “After years without beach access here, this is exactly the spark we needed to start the season right. Huge thanks to CM Ariola for making this happen.”
“Beach 116th Street has been a major center of commerce and community in Rockaway since the 1800s,” said Harold Paez, president of the Rockaway Civic Association. “We are very grateful for Councilwoman Ariola’s leadership in working with our Civic Association and our local Merchants Association towards the goal of opening up our beaches for visitors and residents this summer. The summer of 2025 will be starting off on a major high note with the fireworks show planned for this Grand Opening.”
Beginning in 2023, Beach 116th Street was part of a section of Rockaway Beaches that was closed for the summer due to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Atlantic Shorefront Resiliency Project. The $336 million project, which began in 2020, is projected to be completed in 2026. It aims to lessen the impacts of erosion and flooding from coastal storms by creating rock structures and a reinforced dune system.
