From The Rockaway Times: Between the Bridges in Broad Channel

The Rockaway Times

July 17, 2014

Between the Bridges in Broad Channel

By: Peter J. Mahon

“The Pig Abides”

Our local Broad Channel V.F.W. at 705 Shad Creek Road is hosting a Pig Roast and BBQ this Saturday, July 19^th, from 2 pm to 6pm.  Now before you start thinking to yourself “Heck, it’s just another barbeque.” consider the following. A Pig Roast or “Hog Cooking” as it is often referred to, is an ancient tribal ritual practiced around the world.  Although around these parts the words alone invoke casual summertime pleasure ( the taste of ice cold draft beer, the smell of wafting smoke infused with the aroma of cooking pork, the comfortable feel of a soon to be greasy T-shirt, the ubiquitous summertime sound of flip flops, the constant (and annoying) questions of “is it ready yet?”, etc.) they tend to overshadow the fact that, in reality, a pig roast is an elaborate community affair requiring ingenuity and copious amounts of elbow grease.  Think about it…you have to dig the pit days before the roast - no easy feat in itself, fire it up in the wee hours on the morning of the roast to get the stones and charcoal hot without burning the block down, dress and wrap the pig and put it on the hot coals without causing burns to yourself or others, bury the pig with insulating dirt and then let it cook low and slow for…..well the pig will be ready when the pig is ready.  Remember, the pig is in control, not you…the pig abides!    

Of course, then there is the fun part.  You dig up the pig and eat it!  If you have never enjoyed roast pig before, stop by the V.F.W. this Saturday and you are in for a special treat. This is not just another BBQ, it’s a PIG ROAST, a veritable sensory overload of pork gone hog wild!  Of course, in addition to the roast pig there will be the usual BBQ staples of cold beverages, hot dogs and hamburgers with all the fixings for those of you who may be too timid to sample a recently unburied cooked dead pig.  And for all you Vegetarians and Vegans out there we will also have corn, salad and watermelon, but, c’mon…why bother?  $20 for adults, $10 for children and tykes 4 and under can sneak in free!  All are welcome. Don’t miss it!  And remember, what happens at the pig roast, stays at the pig roast!  As always, all proceeds will go to benefit our veterans.

By the time this edition of the Rockaway Times hits the stands on Thursday you will have noticed that designated parking stripes have been painted on both side of the Cross Bay Boulevard median between 10^th and 15^th Roads.  These spaces are intended for parking by residents of West 11^th, 12^th and 13^th Roads  who will have their side street parking displaced when construction starts shortly with the Tidal Flooding Mitigation Project which will see new end of street bulkheads and raised streets on each of the those roads.  Dan Mundy, President of the Broad Channel Civic Association has requested that “…anyone who does not live on the streets which will be affected by this project to refrain from parking in these designated spaces.”  In other words, play nicely people, please?

Congratulations are in order for Rob and Trish McCarthy and family on finally getting their house raised.  The house raising is yet another small step in their lengthy and arduous journey of attempting to move back home to West 12^th Road since Sandy evicted them!  [Due diligence requires that I advise you that the McCarthy's next door neighbor, Scott Valentine, laughingly told me I wouldn't be so quick to celebrate their pending homecoming if I lived next door to them!]

On a sadder note, directly across the street from the McCarthy’s recently raised house sits an empty lot that used to be home to Sophia and Lenny DeVirgilio and their daughter Louise.  Their battle with Build It Back and New York City is not unlike a Broad Channel version of Samuel Beckett’s absurdist play, Waiting for Godot.  Like the characters in the play, Sophia and Lenny  wait endlessly and in vain for assistance that never appears. 

Broad Channel – Why would anyone want to live anywhere else?  See y’all next week. 

Comments:  rtbetweenthebridges@gmail.com

[NOTE: If you missed any of the previous BTB columns, you can view them online at the Rockaway Times by clicking here.]