Growing up in the 70s, Rockaway Beach lost much of its summer seaside getaway panache peppered with quaint bungalows decades before. The community became the forgotten New York through its urban decay. My grandparents retired in one of the impersonal apartment towers along the shoreline. I never thought much of the area making the long ride on the A train, but the Atlantic Ocean big waves always made up for Rockaway's desolate burnt out landscape.