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All the United States New York State New York City Queens Jacob Riis Park Bathhouse

Jacob Riis Park Bathhouse

A former seaside jewel built for the everyman is now simply a neglected art deco fortress.

Queens, New York

Added By
Luke Spencer
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One of the two brick towers   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
One of the two brick towers   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
The abandoned bath house   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
Boarded up entrance to the bath house   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
The old restaurant and bar   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
Men’s changing rooms   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
The curved changing rooms   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
Jacob Riis was one of the first social documentarian photographers   Wikipedia
The People’s Beach in its heyday   Wikipedia
Inside of the changing rooms   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
The Champion of the Five Points, Jacob Riis   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
First Aid!   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
1930s light fixtures   Luke J Spencer / Atlas Obscura User
  wherearewedude / Atlas Obscura User
  missingfilm / Atlas Obscura User
  wherearewedude / Atlas Obscura User
  wherearewedude / Atlas Obscura User
  wherearewedude / Atlas Obscura User
  Housatonic / Atlas Obscura User
  Housatonic / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Nicknamed the "People's Beach," Jacob Riis Park at the southern most edge of Queens was designed as a public beach that might cater to every aspect of New York's economic landscape, from its rich to its poor. The grand Art Deco bathhouse built on the site was meant to act as a symbol of this democratic shore, but today the structure sits more as a mostly empty eyesore. 

Opening in 1932, the public beach was named in honor of New York social reporter and groundbreaking documentary photographer Jacob Riis. Himself an immigrant (from Denmark), Riis championed the inhabitants of the slums around the infamous Five Points area.

Once easily accessible public transportation was established from the city to the shore, the beach was finally crowned with a magnificent Art Deco bath house, which added a level of opulence to the site that many of the local visitors had not experienced. With two octagonal red brick towers and sweeping curved changing rooms more akin in style to Berlin's vanished Templehof airport, it was a lavishly tiled and glittering gift to the city's less well off. 

But time and neglect soon caught up with the bath house, and in the 1990's ownership was transferred to the federal Gateway National Recreation organization who planned on completely renovating the site. But after $20 million in restoration, funding dried up and the bath house was left abandoned. The windows were boarded up and the bath house started to be covered by sand dunes and weeds. In addition to the ravages of time, Hurricanes Irene and Sandy devastated the area.

In recent years, attempts have been made to make use of the bathhouse, with stalls from restaurants like Fletcher's Barbecue and Ample Hill Creamery now taking up residence, along with a rotating list of pop-up vendors under the banner of the Riis Park Beach Bazaar.

Related Tags

Abandoned Beaches

Know Before You Go

Take the 2 or 5 train to Flatbush Av-Brooklyn College and then board the Q35 bus on Avenue H (between Nostrand and Flatbush). Take that to Beach 169th and Rockaway Point Blvd (first stop after crossing the Gil Hodges Bridge).

Community Contributors

Added By

Luke J Spencer

Edited By

adbelsky, lampbane, missingfilm, Housatonic...

  • adbelsky
  • lampbane
  • missingfilm
  • Housatonic
  • wherearewedude

Published

July 2, 2014

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Sources
  • http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/nyregion/jacob-riis-bathhouse-envisioned-as-park-centerpiece-looks-abandoned.html?_r=0
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Riis_Park
  • http://nymag.com/listings/attraction/jacob_riis_park/
  • http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/2012/08/sad-state-of-riis-bathhouse.html
  • http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1218.html
  • http://riisparkbeachbazaar.com/
Jacob Riis Park Bathhouse
Jacob Riis Park
157 Rockaway Beach Blvd.
Queens, New York, 11694
United States
40.566623, -73.876081
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Wise Clock (Riis Park Memorial Clock)

Queens, New York

miles away

Fort Tilden

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miles away

Floyd Bennett Field

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miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Queens

Queens

New York

Places 76
Stories 12

Nearby Places

Wise Clock (Riis Park Memorial Clock)

Queens, New York

miles away

Fort Tilden

Queens, New York

miles away

Floyd Bennett Field

Brooklyn, New York

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Queens

Queens

New York

Places 76
Stories 12

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