The Riis Bathhouse Came Back as a Courtyard First. Here's What Season One Gave Rockaway.

On the evening of Friday, August 14, about 300 people walked through the hotel lobby of the Riis Bathhouse, past a garden and a pool, and into a courtyard. Nobody had been served there in 54 years. The Rockaway Times reported that the crowd included representatives from civic associations across the peninsula, Assemblywoman Selvena Brooks-Powers and State Senator James Sanders Jr. That first weekend the staff found two water leaks and fixed them. Co-founder Ursula Damani told the paper her team "dealt with a rush of 300 people in a building that had not served the public in 54 years."

That night set the shape of the whole first season of the Rockaway Ocean Club, or ROC. Guests saw only a few parts of a building that will stay under construction into 2027. The part they got to use was outdoors, open to the public, and built for concerts. Season one put the Riis Bathhouse back on the map as Rockaway's backyard. The members' pool and garden opened a week later, and the hotel and indoor lounge are not due until 2027.

The public part opened first, and it was the courtyard

The big question around the project was always how much of the club regular people would get to use. In 2026 the answer came down to one large outdoor space. The pool and garden opened to members on August 21. The courtyard, the café and the Keg Stand were open to anyone who walked in. The club's own FAQ says dining, food kiosks and many programming areas are open to everyone. Preview-season hours ran Friday through Sunday:

• Courtyard: 12 p.m. to 9 p.m., public
• Keg Stand and ROC Café: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., public
• Pool and pool deck: 9 a.m. to sundown, members
• Garden: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., members

Getting in was cheap. On opening weekend, Saturday and Sunday evenings had a $5 cover. That paid for DJs Belinda Becker and Cassady Locke, drinks, light bites and lawn games, with food from the Rockaway Plate Lunch truck and La Cevicheria. Damani had already put the goal in neighborly terms before opening. "The local communities, Belle Harbor and Neponsit, have been so good to us," she told The Rockaway Times. "I want the Ocean Club to feel like an extension of their backyards."

The people running the courtyard have roots in this sand. The beverage program is run by Brian Carey, a Belle Harbor local who was general manager of the Riis Park Beach Bazaar and Rockaway Bazaar concessions. "As someone who played in the sand here for years with the Bazaar, this is an embarrassment of riches," he told The Wave.

The truck parked beside the stage

The most local detail of the season was a food truck. The Rockaway Plate Lunch truck came back to the peninsula to serve the courtyard after years upstate and repairs in Brooklyn. After Hurricane Sandy, Beastie Boys member Mike D, Sam Talbot, Robert McKinley and a few others bought the truck and fed people for free across Rockaway for two years. Damani told The Rockaway Times it ran "up and down from Far Rockaway to Breezy." Citing an April 2013 Daily News report, The Rockaway Times wrote that the menu was chicken, beans, rice and vegetables, and that the team served more than 19,000 platters.

That history explains how the season's biggest night came together. On Friday, August 28, Mike D brought his new project, Mike D 5D, to a packed ROC courtyard. That was the same day he released his solo album "Thank You." His sons Skyler Diamond and Davis Diamond played with him, and the Plate Lunch truck was parked just to the right of the stage. The Rockaway Times covered the show. Mike D said he reached out because of the post-Sandy work with the founders. "It was special to play music in front of so many friends and the Rockaway community," he said.

The concert also launched "Rockaway Sounds," a concert series the ROC describes as celebrating talent from near and far. Damani said the founders of Forest Hills Stadium have advised the team on staging and sound for six years. Through the fall the courtyard calendar stayed easygoing:

1. U.S. Open viewing parties over Labor Day weekend
2. Oktoberfest in the Courtyard, October 2 through 4
3. Sunday NFL Zone screenings, a Liverpool v. Man City soccer screening and Beach Bingo
4. On the Deck: Yacht Rock Edition, Sunday, October 11, 4:30 to 9 p.m.

As of today, that Yacht Rock night is the last event on the club's online calendar. In September, The Rockaway Times reported that the ROC would stay open through the fall and close for the winter. No closing date has been announced, so the club's site is the place to check before heading over.

What a Rockaway ZIP code changes about membership

Membership pricing points the same way as the courtyard. According to The Wave's July rundown, residents of ZIP codes 11691, 11692, 11693, 11694 and 11697 can buy a Rockaway Annual Membership. Here is how it compares with the general-public rate:

• Rockaway Annual, individual: $1,000, no joining fee
• Regular Annual, individual: $1,500 under 30 or $2,000 over 30, plus a $750 joining fee
• Rockaway Annual, family: $3,000, no joining fee
• Regular Annual, family: $4,000, plus a $750 joining fee

So in the first year, a local family pays $1,750 less than a family joining at the regular rate, and a local individual over 30 pays $1,750 less. Founding Memberships are a separate tier that covers both the 2026 and 2027 seasons. The Wave listed them at $1,200 under 30, $1,700 over 30 and $3,500 for families, each with a one-time $500 joining fee. Founding members also get reduced annual rates starting in 2028. The Rockaway Times reported that founding-member opportunities expire at the end of October 2026, which is about three weeks from now. The club's membership page currently shows more than one pricing table, so confirm current rates there before deciding anything. Members also get free parking through a rebate.

Why season one was only a few rooms

The small opening came from the building itself. The Wave reported that because the Jacob Riis Bathhouse is on the National Register of Historic Places, every restoration detail needed federal approval. The team had to keep original tile wherever possible and avoid "historic-looking" replacements. It also had to make new work visibly distinct from old, reopen windows that had been bricked over, and keep the original color palette. The only architectural change is the new elevator shafts. They make the building fully ADA compliant for the first time in its 94 years.

The building also opened in pieces once before. The bathhouse first opened on August 6, 1932, when it was 60% complete, and opened fully in 1933. In its peak years it held more than 8,000 beachgoers at once and had a cafeteria, a rooftop restaurant, a solarium and an orchestra hall. The National Park Service announced the partners' 60-year lease in October 2022, about four years before this August's opening.

What opens next, in order

"We're now coming out of preview mode," Damani told The Rockaway Times in September. "Our official grand opening will be next May." She described plans for "a really robust calendar with decent-sized music headliners," and pitched the courtyard as an alternative to the drive east: "You don't have to travel to Jones Beach. Come to Rockaway."

Here is what's on the schedule after that:

1. Spring 2027: a 28-room hotel on the second floor, with rooms facing the ocean or the city and sunset, plus a second-floor members' lounge with an ocean-facing bar and eatery. The Rockaway Times says an indoor event venue is also planned for the 2027 beach season.
2. Later in 2027, or possibly 2028: a public rooftop bar and restaurant with Atlantic views and, from one area, the New York City skyline. The Wave says it opens later in 2027. The Rockaway Times says it might not open until 2028.
3. Not yet decided: the octagonal red brick towers. Damani has floated a private dining room or a mezcal bar.

When the whole project is finished, 60% of the facility will be open to the public and the rest will be for members. The rooftop will be the second public space with a view, after this year's courtyard.

A restored landmark at the end of the west end changes what people expect from homes on the blocks near it, and that change shows up slowly in the numbers. If you own in Rockaway Park, Belle Harbor or Neponsit and want to know where your home stands before the grand opening next May, The Valvo Team can walk you through it. Request a free home valuation, and we'll give you a straight, local read.