Beach Channel Drive is the main thoroughfare of the
Rockaway Peninsula in the
New York City borough of
Queens. It extends from the
Nassau County border at
Inwood westward, to the
Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge at the end of
Jacob Riis Park. From
Hammels westward, it follows
Jamaica Bay
Jamaica Bay is an estuary on the southern portion of the western tip of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The estuary is partially man-made, and partially natural. The bay connects with Lower New York Bay to the west, ...
on the northern side of the peninsula.
Beach Channel Drive was opened on November 27, 1927, as a relatively short road west of the current site of the
Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge.
It was later expanded by consolidating a number of existing thoroughfares and constructing some linking roadways.
One of the roads that would become Beach Channel Drive was the launching point for the
first transatlantic flight. On May 8, 1919, four
United States Navy Navy-Curtis seaplanes took off in
Neponsit
Neponsit is a small affluent neighborhood located on the western half of the Rockaway Peninsula, the southernmost area of the New York City borough of Queens. The area starts at Beach 142nd Street and ends at Beach 149th Street. It borders the neig ...
and headed off to the British colony of
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
, the
Azores Islands, and Lisbon, Portugal. On May 31, one of the aircraft, piloted by Lieutenant Commander Albert C. Read, arrived in
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
,
England.
Transportation
The
Q22 serves Beach Channel Drive between Beach 73rd Street and Seagirt Boulevard. The northbound
Q52+ Select Bus Service serves Beach Channel Drive between Beach 54th Street and Beach 59th Street. The
QM17 express bus between Far Rockaway and
Midtown runs along Beach Channel Drive for the same segment as the Q22. The
IND Rockaway Line parallels Beach Channel Drive between both of its termini,
Beach 116th Street and
Mott Avenue.
References
Transportation in Rockaway, Queens
Streets in Queens, New York
{{NYC-road-stub