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Brooklyn firm plans indoor wave pool for Far Rockaway
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Jan 22, 2024
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By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Jan 22, 2024
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Chasing waves year-round may soon be a reality in Far Rockaway, Queens.
Local Office Landscape and Urban Design, a Brooklyn design firm, is in the midst of early negotiations with the city over an indoor wave pool in the neighborhood, which is just a stone’s throw away from the beachfront that is New York City’s only legal surfing destination.
The firm's founder Walter Meyer said the wave pool would cost around $30 million and bring free surfing and safety lessons to young residents of Far Rockaway, where the poverty rate is more than 20%. He said he’ll organize a fundraiser for the project, which would help teach swimming skills in a community where few can afford lessons.
“It's going to be about ocean safety because the majority of the drownings in Rockaway are not visitors, they're actually local residents and usually people of color,” said Meyer, who surfs and lives in the neighborhood. “We want to reduce drownings.”
Meyer is a professor at Stanford University. His firm has received an award from former President Barack Obama’s administration and advised states on climate resiliency plans.
Lou Harris, founder of the Black Surfing Association's east coast chapter, said he and Meyer are in talks with the city over a specific property, but declined to name the site due to ongoing negotiations.
“It's in the hood,” said Harris, who said the planned location was the size of a football field.
“Where it's at, it's not frequented by a lot of surfers and that's why we want to put a lot of people in that area to see how desirable it is,” Harris said.
If the deal fails, Meyer says he’s eyeing a privately owned plot of land. The project's details come less than a month after Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul launched an initiative to address equity gaps in swimming access.
“We had a mission: Protect public safety, revitalize the economy, and make this city more livable for hardworking New Yorkers. Every day, we are delivering on this vision for New Yorkers, including by investing in our children’s safety with new swimming infrastructure,” Adams said in a statement earlier this month.
Harris envisioned a wave pool facility with cabanas, locker rooms for surfboard storage, and discounted swimming and ocean safety lessons for locals.
“Let's say it's 6-foot, 8-foot [waves in the ocean] and it's not the ideal waves for your beginners or your novices. You can go right to the wave pool and you can work on your craft," he said. "When it's a thunderstorm, when it's raining, when it's snowing, cause it's going to be a year-round thing, you can go to the wave pool.”
Tagged
queens
surfing
parks
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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