Bridge of the Week #76: Meadowmere Park Bridge

I know with the Hawtree Basin Bridge I'd already said that was the last footbridge, but not so. This week's bridge is the Meadowmere Park Bridge between the extreme southern tip of Rosedale, Queens and Meadowmere Park in Nassau County.

This wooden footbridge is one of the little hidden gems of the city that I'm sure few people ever see. It's tucked away between two tiny neighborhoods along the marshy inlets east and south of JFK Airport that eventually feed into Jamaica Bay. This particular waterway if the Head of Bay Inlet according to some sources, Hook Creek according to others. I'm going with Head of Bay Inlet, not that it really matters much. The waters all kind of mingle among each other here.

The bridge itself is nice enough, although not entirely upkept, with the "EA" of the "MEADOWMERE PARK" lettering having fallen off (see 2nd picture). I haven't been able to find a date the bridge was built.

The location and the neighborhood is what's fascinating about this bridge. As Rockaway Boulevard runs through Rosedale, Queens along the eastern edge of JFK Airport south towards the Five Towns area of Nassau County, there is a tiny triangle of land west of the boulevard, called Meadowmere, that is home to 66 people and four short streets (1st-3rd Sts, and Meyer Ave.), no more than a couple hundred yards in any direction. The houses all look to be in some state of repair, or disprepair. The neighborhood only got sewer service from New York City in 2007. Through a quirk in geography, the tiny Nassau County neighborhood to which the bridge connects actually is to the west of the Queens neighborhood, as it's on a small island that hooks up to the north.

For runners, it's not easy to get to this area, but that's what makes it fun. There are no subways in the area, but there is bus service along Rockaway Blvd., and the Lawrence and Cedarhurst LIRR stations are not too far to the south. There is a long, isolated stretch of Rockaway Boulevard along the northeastern edge of the airport, that at least has a sidewalk. You can also get there by taking Brookville Blvd. south from Rosedale. Or, from Far Rockaway, you can go east to Inwood and Lawrence, up Rockaway Turnpike, which becomes Rockaway Blvd. Not an obious runners' destination, but worth making a visit if you're ready for a long run. There are also a couple of other bridges nearby that I will discuss in future posts.