Rockaway
JOURNAL Since 1883
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MARCH 19 - 25, 2026
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Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, fixing potholes Leadership and team members of Episcopal Health Services marched in the annual Rockaway St. Patrick’s Day Parade, on March 7. Among the EHS marchers were Dr. Donald Moorish, chief executive officer; Karen Paige, chief operating officer and executive vice president; and Pamela J. Yu s u f , c h i e f medical officer and senior vice president, who was also honored as the 2026 deputy g rand marshal. To celebrate the community’s rich Irish herit a g e, r e ve l e r s cheered along the sidewalks Zohran Kwame and received mamdani EHS beads and Mayor clappers as they showed their support for the community. Episcopal Health Services includes St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Far Rockaway and several other healthcare facilities on the Rockaway Peninsula that also serves the Five Towns and surrounding communities.
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afe, accessible streets are a basic promise of city government.
Repairing city streets
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and New York City Department of Transportation NYC Commissioner Mike Flynn announced a citywide pothole repair blitz on March 13 after a historic winter marked by record snowfall and sustained cold temperatures. More than 80 NYC DOT crews were deployed across city streets and highways in all five boroughs on March 14. The city expects to fill thousands of potholes in a single day, with additional repair blitzes planned in the weeks ahead. Since Jan. 1, NYC DOT has repaired more than 50,000 potholes, maintaining a response time of just over two days. More than 10,000 potholes have been filled in the past week alone. The accelerated repair effort coincides with the City’s annual road resurfacing season, which begins this month and includes
Courtesy Episcopal Health Services
Leadership and team members of Episcopal Health Services marched in the annual Rockaway St. Patrick’s Day Parade, on March 7. full curb-to-curb repaving projects. NYC DOT plans to resurface 1,150 lane miles of roadway this year. New York City is also one of the few cities in the country that operates its own asphalt plants, allowing crews to respond quickly to road damage and complete repairs efficiently. “While most New Yorkers are still asleep, 80 DOT crews will take to the streets to repair potholes in a five-borough blitz,” Mamdani said in a news release. “In a single day, they'll fill thousands of potholes that pop up every year as spring arrives and our city streets begin to thaw. Safe, accessible streets are a basic promise of city government, and after a historically brutal winter,
I'm incredibly grateful to the DOT teams who are not wasting a moment of time in delivering the street improvements we need.” “New Yorkers have braved a rough winter, and we can see and feel the resulting potholes from wear-and-tear on our roads,” Flynn said in the release. “That’s why the men and women of NYC DOT are doubling down on repair efforts in recent weeks and will step it up this weekend with a five-borough, 80-crew blitz. We appreciate New Yorkers’ patience on the roads as we complete this critical work and encourage the public to report road defects to 311.” Pothole season begins in New
York City around the spring, when more potholes form on our roadways because of high-moisture, winter weather conditions and the cycle of freezing and thawing conditions. New Yorkers should report any potholes they come across to NYC311 to be addressed as soon as possible. — Melissa Berman and Jeffrey Bessel