It is located on the South Shore of Long Island. The community stretches between the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay, running from approximately Beach 73rd Street to Beach 98th Street.

The neighborhood is bounded by Arverne to the east and Rockaway Park to the west. It is named for Rockaway Beach, which is the largest urban beach in the United States, stretching for miles along the Rockaway Peninsula facing the Atlantic Ocean.

The beach is run and operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Rockaway Beach was once known as the "Irish Riviera" because of the large Irish American population in the area.

The origins of the name Rockaway Peninsula are closely related to the language of the Delaware and Chippewa Native Americans. Linguistic experts recognize both "Reckonwacky," meaning "the place of our own people," and "Reckanawahaha," meaning "the place of laughing waters," as the area's indigenous names. Following the region's European colonization during the seventeenth century, the present name was derived from these meanings. Other interpretations include "lekau," meaning sand, and "lechauwaak," for fork or branch. All interpretations reflect the historic and geographic traits of the peninsula.

Wikipedia articles for Rockaway Beach

• Rockaway Beach, Queens
• Beach 90th Street (IND Rockaway Line)
• Hammels, Queens
• Rockaways' Playland
• Beach 98th Street (IND Rockaway Line)
• Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge
• Beach Channel High School
• Beach Channel High School
• Scholars' Academy
• Beach 67th Street (IND Rockaway Line)
• Beach 105th Street (IND Rockaway Line)
• Stella Maris High School
• Beach 60th Street (IND Rockaway Line)
• Rockaway Park ? Beach 116th Street (IND Rockaway Line)
• Rockaway Park Yard
• Arverne, Queens
• Broad Channel (IND Rockaway Line)
• Rockaway Park, Queens
• Rockaway, Queens
• Beach 44th Street (IND Rockaway Line)
• Belle Harbor, Queens
• Belle Harbor, Queens
• American Airlines Flight 587
• The Raunt (LIRR station)
• Beach 36th Street (IND Rockaway Line)
• Edgemere, Queens
• Broad Channel, Queens
• American Airlines Flight 1
• Bayswater, Queens
• Ruffle Bar
• Jamaica Bay
• Bayswater Point State Park
• Far Rockaway High School
• Beach 25th Street (IND Rockaway Line)
• East Rockaway Inlet
• Far Rockaway, Queens