East Rockaway

East Rockaway, a small boating community in the southwest corner of Nassau County, is composed of a village and the unincorporated area of Bay Park.

"One out of three or four homeowners in the Bay Park area has a boat," said Ed McNulty, a longtime resident and broker-owner of Ed McNulty Realty on Atlantic Avenue. There are two parks along the water with fishing and picnic areas and athletic courts.

East Rockaway also has shops, restaurants, houses of worship, a museum, recreation center, senior center, a recently expanded library and two railroad stations. "We only have one supermarket [Pathmark], though, so everyone sees each other there," McNulty said with a laugh.

In the past half decade, the village has been working on a variety of projects, including waterfront revitalization. "We are big into making improvements to the infrastructure," said Dennis McCabe, village clerk-treasurer.

The downtown area by the Centre Avenue Long Island Rail Road station has new curbs, brick pathways, antique-style lighting and benches. Storefronts have new facades, and the parking fields at both train stations have been renovated. "It's been a long process, but we're coming to the homestretch," McCabe said.

The community's eclectic housing stock includes cottages (near the water), various ranch styles, capes, Colonials, split-levels and a smattering of contemporaries, Victorians and Tudors. New homes replacing razed ones are usually priced between $600,000 and $750,000.

To learn more about the village, which incorporated in 1900, visit www.villageofeastrockaway.org.

-Lisa Doll Bruno(3/24/2006)