Breezy Point is located at the far west point of the Rockaway Peninsula and was largely inaccessible before the construction of the first Cross Bay Bridge in 1925 and the Marine Parkway Bridge in 1937.
Summer bungalows rented for $20 a season, largely to Irish immigrants. By the early 1940s it was upgraded to the playground of the “chic” Brooklyn Irish. Because of the increase in summer population, a temporary post office was open from May to September at 3 Beach 209 St., in a leased converted bungalow.
The post office was under the jurisdiction of the Brooklyn post office. After World War II it was put under the legal authority of the Far Rockaway postmaster.
In 1960, 800 acres were sold to the Atlantic Improvement State Corporation for $17 million. Area residents got together and purchased half the land for $11 million and created the Breezy Point Cooperative.
On Sept. 13 of that year, Hurricane Donna hit, with 97 mph winds at Rockaway Point, seriously damaging or affecting 300 homes. This hurricane is still referred to as “the Big One,” when the ocean and the bay actually met over the submerged land. Though it was sinking, the post office was open the next day.
The one-man station was run by Dave Sherry for many years. The final clerk to run it was Todd Weinstein.
In 1990, the Breezy Point lease ran out and the building was converted into a learning center. Residents of the area now must travel to Fort Tilden on Beach 169th Street for their postal needs. Despite not having its own post office, the area is still regarded by many as the Irish Riviera.
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