So much for fun in the sun.<\/p>\n
A wet and not-so-wild Memorial Day capped a washout holiday weekend for the Big Apple, leaving Rockaway Beach empty during the unofficial start of summer except for diehard locals and frustrated business owners.<\/p>\n
Sean Aiken, 49, who owns Seany Pizza on the boardwalk near Beach 98th Street, said the bad weather meant a massive financial loss for the whole peninsula.<\/p>\n
There are nearly as many lifeguards as beach-goers in the Rockaways on Monday. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s only really four big, big holiday weekends: Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Fourth of July and Labor Day,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd everyone gets half their revenue from those four big weekends.<\/p>\n
\u201cA good Memorial Day will be like $12,000 for us, and this weekend will probably ring up $1,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody knows if you have a tough summer, you have a tough year,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019m optimistic that the weather will turn around.\u201d<\/p>\n
JFK Airport, a stone\u2019s throw from the popular beaches of Rockaway and Jacob Riis Park, saw nearly 2 inches of rain since Friday, according to the National Weather Service.<\/p>\n
The Post couldn\u2019t find a single person at the local beaches Monday who wasn\u2019t a Rockaway resident, even as the soggy weather subsided.<\/p>\n
Sean Aiken, a Rockaway Beach pizzeria owner, says he can make $12,000 on a good Memorial Day but only likely raked in $1,000 for this year\u2019s entire holiday weekend. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n
A sparse crowd greets the Rockaway Beach Memorial Day Parade. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the most people we\u2019ve seen on the boardwalk in four days,\u201d Aiken lamented Monday.<\/p>\n
A sparse crowd meanwhile cheered the Rockaway Beach Day Parade, including lifelong local Ray Otton, 44, and his wife, Moe Otton.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the most people we\u2019ve seen on the boardwalk in four days,\u201d Aiken said. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n
Kevin Paskewitz, 14, appears to be the sole swimmer at Rockaway Beach on Monday. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cRockaway won\u2019t stop for the weather,\u201d Ray Otton said. \u201cWe\u2019re out to enjoy the parade, and with this weather, they need our support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other locals also defied Mother Nature and gave area businesses a boost at the same time.<\/p>\n
Christa Bauer, 56, sipped a beer with husband Chris Bauer, 47, and their King Charles spaniel Rose at boardwalk bar Bar 97.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said it was too cold but, he said we\u2019re doing it,\u201d she said of her hubby. \u201cYou can only do so much Netflix and chill.\u201d<\/p>\n
Surfers enjoy the waves. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n
Christa Bauer, 56, sips a beer with husband Chris Bauer, 47, and their King Charles spaniel Rose. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n
Few people other than surfers actually went onto the beaches or into the water, though.<\/p>\n
Kevin Paskewitz, a 14-year-old Breezy Point resident, was the lone swimmer in the cold waves.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good for you,\u201d he said about the cold water. \u201cI go swimming all winter long. This is nothing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Justin, an 18-year-old lifeguard, bundled up in his chair, wearing two pairs of pants, two sweatshirts and a big heavy jacket.<\/p>\n
When asked if he went into the water, he was emphatic: \u201cHell no! Too cold!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So much for fun in the sun. A wet and not-so-wild Memorial Day capped a washout holiday weekend…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243319,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[7631,81735,57,9,56,63,65,64,294,23565,11304,58],"class_list":["post-243318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-beaches","tag-memorial-day","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-rockaway-beach","tag-rockaways","tag-summer","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}