The Queens Historical Society hosts a lecture on Breezy Point at the Kingsland Homestead in Flushing on Sunday, Dec. 14, at 2:30 pm.
Paul Balukas and Cathy Murfitt will combine information on the Rockaway community’s past with current news on Hurricane Sandy’s impact and the residents’ response to it.
The two presenters helped found the Breezy Point Historical Society right after the hurricane, which destroyed homes via water damage and provoked fires that caused more devastation. Many residents lost photographs and other precious memorabilia. Balukas, who is the society’s curator, and Murfitt, who is the president, felt a strong need to preserve the area’s history for future generations.
At first, the society met at a church that had been flooded with about five feet of water during the superstorm, which hit on Oct. 29, 2012. Then they contacted residents to collect and digitize thousands of photographs, some of which will screen during the lecture.
Admission is $5 for adults, but $3 for students.
Breezy Point is located at the extreme west of the Rockaway peninsula with Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic Ocean on both sides. It’s run by the Breezy Point Cooperative, which collects dues and provides security and other services. It’s jokingly called “The Irish Riviera” due to the large number of Irish-Americans who live there.
The area was sparsely populated until the early 1900s, when a summer bungalow community sprouted up. Today, it has about 3,500 homes, many of which are only inhabited during the warm weather months. A recent Census found 4,337 year-rounders with about 12,000 summer residents.
Kingsland Homestead is a landmarked museum at 143-35 37th Ave. in Flushing.
Images: Breezy Point Historical Society. The bottom one is of a painting by Joan Hoblin Vogel
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