Have you heard of Warnerville? The tiny neighborhood located within Rosedale, Queens is surrounded on three sides by Jamaica Bay, is home to just three streets, and only recently got a sanitary sewer system from the city. You wouldn't think it would have A-list Hollywood roots, but it was named for the Warner brothers, who used to summer there amongst the handful of bungalows.
When the NY Times took a look at the area nearly two decades ago, one local told them, "It's like the land of the lost. We're part of New York City, but no one could give two cents about us." Nothing much has really changed since then, except for that sewer system.
Needless to say, there's only room for one restaurant in the micro-neighborhood, and it's got unparalleled waterfront views. So while the sun is still out and the temperatures are still in the 70s, head over for a basket of fried shrimp and glass of Pinot Grigio.
(Photo by Nate Dorr/Gothamist)
Located at the head of Jamaica Bay, the Bayhouse bar has, according to the Bayhouse bar, "been a well-kept secret amongst locals and airport employees alike."
The full service spot offers both indoor and outdoor dining on the water, and views of planes taking off at JFK. Photographer Nate Dorr recently dropped in, and reports back from the oft-forgotten neighborhood.
The Bay House is an oddly inviting surprise amidst the alternating residential and industrial that makes up the rest of the area. The food is mostly of a general American comfort food and pub fare, though with an emphasis on fish, but the view is entirely unmatched, as most of the dining is on a wrap-around deck poised directly over the waters of the Bay, facing out through airplane traffic and into the setting sun on any given evening.
(Photo by Nate Dorr/Gothamist)
But how will you, pedestrian, get there? "It seems like the kind of place not really intended to be accessible without a car," Dorr notes, "but the intrepid are free to bike narrow, winding Brookville Boulevard through the marshes from the Rosedale LIRR station, or do what we did and make it the endpoint of a long trip along the length of the Rockaways."
Click through for a look around Warnerville.
