Welcome to the Rockaways YMCA

Rockaway Beach Blvd. & Beach 73rd St.
Arverne, NY 11692

Construction Updates // In the News // Facebook Fan Page


Construction Is Underway
At long last, construction has begun on the new 34,000 square-foot YMCA on 2.2 acres at Beach 73rd Street and Rockaway Beach Boulevard. The YMCA will be built as part of the 117-acre Arverne-by-the-Sea community of 2,300 residential units, but will serve the entire Rockaway Peninsula.

The first phase of the building will include the YMCA’s first Family Aquatic Center in the five boroughs, featuring two pools—a four-lane lap pool plus a family pool with a single depth entry, spray and climbing play features and an 18-foot sliding board. The facility will also include all-purpose space for youth and community activities, a large cardiovascular area and two aerobic studios. Outdoor space will include active recreation areas and playfields. A second phase is planned that will enable the YMCA to enclose a gymnasium and expand the all-purpose spaces.

At a ceremony to announce the project in 2006, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said, “When it opens, the YMCA will be the heart of neighborhood life, just like the Ys are and have been throughout the city for more than 150 years. Building this Y is something the people of the Rockaways have worked long and hard for. It’s going to make an enormous difference in this community.”

When completed in 2011, the YMCA will provide the only indoor aquatic center available to the community on the Rockaway peninsula. Surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay, introducing children to the water in a safe and welcoming environment, as well as training lifeguards, will be a high priority.

For information about the YMCA’s community-building capital programs for the Rockaways or any of our other projects, please contact Gary Laermer, SVP - Fund Development, at 212-630-9629 or glaermer@ymcanyc.org.