Events

Events

Check out RISE's upcoming Events calendar, and join family, friends, and neighbors in strengthening the resilience of our community! RISE events are free to all and intended to actively engage local residents.

 

Stay Healthy!

Monday, October 23, 2023,, to Friday, April 5, 2024
RISE, 58-03 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Far Rockaway, NY 11692

RISE wants to make sure you stay healthy this winter and spring. We encourage you to get a flu shot and/or COVID-19 vaccine and to order your free at-home COVID-19 test kits. We are working with New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene as a community partner to get the word out and help you make this happen. Together, we can keep our family, friends, and neighbors Rockaway strong!

Contact us at info@riserockaway.org or (718) 327-5919 for more information.

Raffle to Support RISE's Living Classroom

Monday, February 12, to Friday, April 5, 2024

100 percent of all proceeds will support RISE's Living Classroom, a pre-K to sixth-grade STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) program that brings the great outdoors into the classroom, utilizing the natural shoreline for hands-on experiential learning.

RAFFLE TICKETS: $100.00 each

DRAWING: Friday, April 5, 2024, 10:00 a.m. (EDT)

PRIZES:

  1. jetBlue 2 Round-Trip Travel Certificates to Any City
  2. Kennedy’s $100 Gift Card
  3. The Rockaway Hotel + Spa 1-Night Stay
  4. Skudin Surf Week of Half-Day Surf Camp

Many thanks to these local businesses for generously donating such fabulous and fun prizes to support our youngest Rockaway citizens.

Click here to purchase your lucky chance at winning! Under USE MY GIFT . . . , please select YOUTH PROGRAMS.

Community Spring Cleanup

Saturday, March 23, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Beach 60th Street & Rockaway Freeway

Join RISE for a spring cleanup to help make our community a better place!

We will be cleaning debris and removing invasive plants to prepare for the spring season. This event is rain or shine, so please dress accordingly and expect to get your hands dirty.

Adults and kids alike are welcome to participate. Students who want to do community service hours are encouraged to bring paperwork from their schools.

Special thanks to City Parks Foundation/Green Fund Tree Tops and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Flu Shot Friday

Friday, April 5, 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
RISE, 58-03 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Far Rockaway, NY 11692

Protect yourself and those you love.

Come and get your FREE flu shot at RISE and be entered into a raffle to win a $50 VISA gift card! The vaccine will be administered by medical professionals from St. John’s Episcopal Hospital. No appointment is necessary, and everyone who gets their flu shot will receive a goodie bag.

Special thanks to our community partner New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Community Dune Planting

Saturday, April 6, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
Beach 62nd Street & Beach Front Road

Join RISE for our community planting of "Greater Rockaway" Coastal Resilience Plan. To strengthen our natural protective buffer of dunes, we are planting native grasses and shrubs along the east end of the Rockaways.

Adults and kids are welcome to participate in this event. Please dress accordingly.

Students who would like to do community service hours are encouraged to bring paperwork from their schools.

Registration is encouraged!

Special thanks to National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and City Parks Foundation Green Fund Tree Tops Program.

Community Dune Planting

Saturday, April 13, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
Beach 62nd Street & Beach Front Road

Join RISE for a community volunteer day, culminating in a celebration of the land and the water.

We will be cleaning the shoreline and planting native plants and shrubs as part of "Greater Rockaway" Coastal Resilience Plan, to create a natural protective buffer of dunes along the east end of the Rockaways.

Adults and kids alike are welcome to participate. Please dress accordingly.

Students who are looking to do community service hours are encouraged to bring paperwork from their schools.

Special thanks to National Fish & Wildlife Foundation for sponsoring this event.

Tree Giveaway

Saturday, April 27, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
RISE, 58-03 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Far Rockaway, NY 11692

RISE is excited to partner with New York Restoration Project to host a FREE tree giveaway! Registration is required because supply is limited.

Check back soon to complete the required registration.

 

18th Annual Earth Day Rockaway

Saturday, May 4, 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm
RISE, 58-03 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Far Rockaway, NY 11692

Enjoy a day of fun in the Rockaways with FREE environmental activities and programs for families and kids of all ages.

This year's event will include live music as well as a mock dolphin rescue, plantings, composting, face painting, water testing, fire safety, and art-related booths to learn how to appreciate and conserve the earth's resources.

All activities are intended to raise awareness of the natural resources along the Rockaway shoreline.

Local organizations interested in participating or tabling at this event are encouraged to contact Juvie Anne Alfeche, RISE Public Programs Coordinator, at jalfeche@riserockaway.org.

Special thanks to our sponsors, Joan N. and Norman Bluestone Foundation and PSEG Long Island. 

Native Plant Nursery Planting

Saturday, May 11, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
Arverne East Welcome Center & Gardens, 190 Beach 44th Street, Far Rockaway, NY 11691

Rockaway residents of all ages are encouraged to participate in this community planting to establish RISE Native Plant Nursery at Beach 44th Street.

This event will take place rain or shine, so please dress accordingly. Students seeking community service hours are encouraged to attend. Registration is encouraged.

Special thanks to City Parks Foundation/Green Fund and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Rockaway Stop 'N' Swap

Saturday, May 11, 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Beach 60th Street & Rockaway Freeway

It's FREE! Give away items you no longer need or take home something new-to-you! You don't have to bring something to take something.

What to Bring

YES: Clean, reusable, portable items such as clothing, housewares, electronics, books, and toys.

NO: Furniture, large items, expired or open food, unsealed personal care products, medicine, dirty or ripped clothing, fabric scraps, incomplete toys and games, nonworking electronics, tube TVs, magazines, and sharp objects.

This event is brought to you by GrowNYC. Stop 'N' Swap is funded by New York City Sanitation.

Mother's Day Foraging Tour with "Wildman" Steve Brill

Sunday, May 12, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Arverne East Welcome Center & Gardens, 190 Beach 44th Street, Far Rockaway, NY 11691

Join us for RISE's special Mother's Day foraging tour with America's go-to guy for foraging, "Wildman" Steve Brill.

We will be exploring Arverne East Nature Preserve, which has an abundance of wild plants and wildlife. The sandy soil of the Rockaways is poor, limiting tree and grass growth, but it benefits other species that can take advantage of the sun and nutrient-poor soil. Wild greens grow great here, and there are dozens of species that thrive. Field garlic is a very tasty relative of onions and garlic.

This event is free, but registration is required.

Visit to Sang Lee Farms & Briermere Farms

Saturday, May 18, 8:00 am to 6:30 pm
RISE, 58-03 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Far Rockaway, NY 11692

Join us for a FREE all-day tour of Briermere Farms and Sang Lee Farms in Peconic, New York, in the North Fork of Long Island.

Sang Lee & Briermere Farms are the partner farms for RISE Farm to Family share. They provide seasonal, fruit and certified-organic produce  that is distributed at RISE every Wednesday, 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., from June 5 through November 13, 2024.

The general public is welcome to join us for this special tour!

The bus departs from RISE at 8:45 a.m. and will return by 6:30 p.m. The tour and bus ride are free of charge, but you must register in advance because seating is limited. Registration is limited to two (2) individuals. Registration will open in March. Check back to sign up. 

Shore Corps Year-End Awards Celebration

Friday, May 31, 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
RISE, 58-03 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Far Rockaway, NY 11692

RISE would like to invite family and friends of the 2024 Shore Corps participants to our year-end celebration, to reflect on the accomplishments of the students and to watch the presentation of two scholarship awards in honor of Rockaway champions Barbara Hillary and Barbara Eisenstadt.
 
We have had a year full of conservation, food justice, and urban planning and hope you will join us in recognizing the students' work and sending our graduating seniors off in style. Light food and refreshments will be served. RSVP to programs@riserockaway.org.

Rockaway Honeyworks & NYC Honey Fest

Saturday, September 14, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm
Boardwalk at Beach 106th Street

Rockaway Honeyworks, a RISE initiative, will be attending the 14th Annual NYC Honey Fest! Student interns from Shore Corps helped to raise and care for the bees and to extract honey, which will be on sale in eight-ounce, four-ounce, and 1.5-ounce containers. Bee the Change T-shirts, tote bags, lapel pins, and lip balm also will be for sale.

All proceeds will support RISE's youth programs, including Living Classroom. Come by to say hello and a taste of some of the best honey in New York!

Native Plant Nursery Planting

Saturday, September 21, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
Arverne East Welcome Center & Gardens, 190 Beach 44th Street, Far Rockaway, NY 11691

Join us for a planting of RISE Native Plant Nursery at Arverne East. This event is part of “Greater Rockaway" Community & Shoreline Enhancement Plan.

People of all ages are welcome to participate. Students seeking community service hours are encouraged to attend. Dress accordingly for outdoor conditions. Registration is encouraged.

Special thanks to National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Daffodil Giveaway

Saturday, October 5, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
RISE, 58-03 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Far Rockaway, NY 11692

It's almost planting time! Don’t miss out on New Yorkers for Parks 2024 Daffodil Project, a citywide living memorial, stewardship opportunity, and catalyst for transformative investment in our beloved parks and open spaces.

A living memorial to the victims of 9/11 and the largest civic effort in city history, Daffodil Project gives out bulbs for free to plant in public spaces across all five boroughs. RISE will be hosting one of the Queens distribution sites.

Bulb supplies will be distributed on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Check back soon to register to reserve your free daffodil bulbs!

Foraging Tour with "Wildman" Steve Brill

Saturday, October 5, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
RISE, 58-03 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Far Rockaway, NY 11692

"Wildman" Steve Brill will lead a session on plant identification, the natural habitat of the Rockaways, and all the best wild foods of the seashore.

The sandy soil limits tree and grass growth, but it benefits other species that can take advantage of the sun and nutrient-poor soil. Wild greens and dozens of species thrive here.

This event is FREE and will happen rain or shine. If the weather is bad, we will move indoors.

Registration is required.

Sandy Anniversary Planting

Saturday, October 12, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
Beach 64th Street & the Boardwalk

For the twelfth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, RISE is bringing people of all ages together to care for our shoreline and create a natural protective barrier for the Rockaway community.

As we learned from the hurricane, the natural vegetation and dunes that exist off our shores serve as a buffer to the homes and businesses in the area. Many of these dunes are compromised by storms and shoreline erosion, and they need to be cared for to be effective.

Families, friends, and neighbors are welcome to participate in this dune planting and restoration project. Students can receive community service hours. This event is rain or shine, so please dress accordingly. Registration is encouraged, in case of changes on the day.

Special thanks to National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

11th Annual Hip-Hop Halloween & Harvest Celebration

Saturday, October 19, 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm
RISE, 58-03 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Far Rockaway, NY 11692

Join RISE for the 11th Annual Hip-Hop Halloween & Harvest Celebration, as we celebrate with family and friends in Rockaway Hip-Hop Community Garden. Come and take part in decorating pumpkins, face painting, music, dancing, festive food, and more.

This event is FREE and open to all!

Rockaway Thanksgiving Feast

Saturday, November 16, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
RISE, 58-03 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Far Rockaway, NY 11692

RISE is hosting a special Thanksgiving meal to give thanks and to celebrate our amazing community of family, friends, and neighbors. This FREE sit-down meal is for attendees who register in advance (no more than three per household).

The meal includes all the Thanksgiving favorites, prepared by local Rockaway partners:

  • Batesy's BBQ
  • Cassey's Cookies & Cobblers
  • Cuisine by Claudette
  • Goody's BBQ Chicken & Ribs
  • La Cevicheria
  • Rockaway Beach Bakery
  • Rockaway Food Initiative