In a city of 8 million people distributed over only 305 square miles, it is hard to find a place that feels isolated and cutoff from the rest of the city. In a small neighborhood in the far western edge of New York City not far from the riches and glamor of Manhattan, is a neighborhood in constant change. Edgemere was founded in 1892 and the original designs for the community were to develop a system of canals similar to Venice, Italy the community was to be called New Venice. Plans for this were inevitably thrown out and in 1895 a large beachfront hotel called The Edgemere Club Hotel was built. Soon many small hotels and businesses opened turning the community into a popular summer resort area. In 1912 the neighborhood began to be sold as individual lots for private bungalows, by the 1940s an airport had been built called the Rockaway Airport. Edgemere is a very low-lying community and has been subject to floods many times; in 1960 Hurricane Donna destroyed most of the remaining bungalows and hotels. The area had been struggling to remain a popular destination and in 1961 city officials stepped in and began building lower income and public house developments. The neighborhood is now home to two of the cities most dangerous housing complexes one on the western end and one on the eastern end, and they are at a constant war with one another. What once was abright and vibrant vacation retreat fell victim to an unfortunate series of events changing it into a dirty run down and dangerous place. Though forgotten for many years, recently attention has been shown towards the neighborhood and city officials have begun constructing a system to control the flooding of the area, also newly paved streets and sidewalks are being laid. New housing and renovations are also underway, as well as demolition of houses deemed unsafe for living. In an attempt to restore this once vibrant neighborhood back to its original glory.
