Water Taxi Beach facts for kids
Water Taxi Beach was a special, temporary beach that operated from 2005 to 2010. It was built on a dock next to the East River in the Long Island City area of Queens, New York City. The New York Water Taxi Company ran the beach. It was free for everyone to visit during the summer months. People could also rent the beach for private parties.
The idea for Water Taxi Beach was similar to the Paris Beach in Paris, France. Harry Hawk and Tony Rosciglione helped run the beach. It was a project between a private company and the Port Authority of NY and NJ.
A restaurant called Harry's at Water Taxi Beach served tasty barbecue food. You could get hamburgers, hot dogs, and drinks like beer and tropical drinks. They also had a full menu for events. In May 2008, Harry's won an award for having the best burger in the city!
The beach was created in 2005 as an experiment. New York Water Taxi wanted to bring people from Manhattan to Long Island City. They also wanted to make their weekend ferry rides more popular. The beach was a big success! Because of this, New York Water Taxi thought about making a similar beach in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Since 2007, Water Taxi Beach was one of the main places for the yearly NYC Food Film Festival. This festival shows movies about food.
In March 2008, more sand was added to the beach. This made it bigger and created space for three new volleyball courts.
The company also started planning a beach on Governors Island in 2005. This beach opened on July 10, 2009. Another beach was opened at the South Street Seaport in May 2009.
Why the Beach Closed
Water Taxi Beach was built on land owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In 2009, the land was sold to New York City. It is now managed by the New York City Economic Development Corporation.
The land is next to a new development called Queens West. This area is planned to have new homes and a park along the water. Because of these plans, Water Taxi Beach closed after the 2010 summer season. It closed to make way for new construction in the Hunters Point South area.
