Saturday, October 24 stacks four things into one day on the Rockaway peninsula, from a morning on a closed landfill that most residents have never set foot on to the last scheduled screening of the Rockaway Film Festival's season at the Arverne Cinema. All of it is in Rockaway, most of it is free, and the whole day can be done on foot and by the A train.

10 a.m.: a birding tour of the closed Edgemere Landfill

NYC Parks' Urban Park Rangers are leading what Parks calls an exclusive tour of the closed Edgemere Landfill. The tour is timed to the season's turnover: songbirds and other species heading south for the winter, and waterfowl arriving from the north to spend the cold months on Jamaica Bay.

The walk runs from 10 to 11:30 a.m. and meets at Beach 54th Street and Almeda Avenue, at Rockaway Community Park. It is free and no registration is required. The Beach 60th Street stop on the A is about a ten minute walk away.

10 a.m.: the November CleanSweep at Brant Point Wildlife Sanctuary

At the same hour on the bay side of the peninsula, the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy is running its November CleanSweep at Brant Point Wildlife Sanctuary. The conservancy says the winds and tides of the colder months carry a heavier load of debris into Jamaica Bay, and the cleanup is a volunteer push to clear it off the shoreline before winter.

It runs from 10 a.m. to noon, rain or shine. Gloves, bags and tools are provided. The conservancy asks volunteers to register in advance, complete its volunteer waiver before the start, and wear sturdy closed-toe shoes and weather-appropriate clothes, with their own water.

11 a.m.: Cardio Punch on the boardwalk

A free hour-long Cardio Punch class meets on the boardwalk at Beach 60th Street from 11 a.m. to noon, led by instructor Gloria Fernandez. NYC Parks describes it as a non-contact, total body workout for all levels, built on punches, hooks and kicks set to music. Registration is open through the NYC Parks events page until the day of the class.

7 p.m.: the last screening of the season at the Arverne Cinema

The Rockaway Film Festival has said the Arverne Cinema will close for the season at the end of October, and its only remaining listing is a Saturday night screening of Unless Something Goes Terribly Wrong, a documentary by Kaitlyn Schwalje and Alex Wolf Lewis.

The film follows one American wastewater treatment plant over a calendar year: the aging pipes and equipment, a new contaminant in PFAS, and the small crew keeping a plant running that can never shut down, including a young operator preparing for his entry level exam. The festival bills it as a buddy comedy. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., the screening starts at 7 p.m., and filmmaker Alexander Lewis will talk with the audience afterward. Tickets are sold through the festival's site.

The Arverne Cinema has two parts: an open-air venue at 72-02 Gouverneur Avenue, built in the summer of 2021 by festival co-founder and artistic director Sam Fleischner with neighborhood builders and volunteers and enclosed with recycled wood from the boardwalk destroyed in Hurricane Sandy, and an indoor space next door at 415 Beach 72nd Street, added in 2024. The Beach 67th Street stop on the A is the closest.

How to plan the day

  • Birding, Edgemere Landfill: 10 to 11:30 a.m., Beach 54th Street and Almeda Avenue. Free, no registration.
  • CleanSweep, Brant Point Wildlife Sanctuary: 10 a.m. to noon. Free, register and sign the waiver with the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy.
  • Cardio Punch: 11 a.m. to noon, boardwalk at Beach 60th Street. Free, register with NYC Parks.
  • Unless Something Goes Terribly Wrong: doors 6:30 p.m., film 7 p.m., Arverne Cinema. Tickets through the Rockaway Film Festival.

The birding walk and the cleanup overlap, so pick one for the morning. The festival has said programming returns next year and that its mailing list carries the updates.

Sources