Kevin Boyle "Former Editor" of the WAVE - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish!

Kevin Boyle

Former Editor

The WAVE

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Back in December of 2012, after a 13 year hiatus, Kevin Boyle returned to assume the editorial stewardship of our local newspaper as Interim Editor after the departure of Howard Schwach.

At the time the WAVE reported on Kevin's return by stating..."Boyle, a resident of Rockaway for more than 20 years, will manage all things editorial. He will oversee columnists, reporters and interns while also looking for a permanent editor. “I might be like Dick Cheney,” he joked. “After being put in charge of looking for a Vice President, he chose himself. "  Boyle then added, “The Wave is a vital part of this community. It took a great hit with the storm and these next few months will be tough. But like the rest of Rockaway, The Wave will come back stronger than ever.”

Three months after assuming the editorial reigns, Kevin used the entire front page of the March 29, 2013 edition of the newspaper to publish his special editorial "READ THIS" informing all of us of the pending post-Sandy disaster which was about to wash over our community courtesy of our United States Congress, FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program.

Kevin's editorial was not unlike the witches warning in Shakespeare's Macbeth and made us all keenly aware that, although the five months after Sandy had imbued us with a new sense of hope and rebirth, 
that a new storm was on the horizon and that “…something wicked this way comes!”

Boyle picked up the flood insurance fiasco and ran with it.  He hammered away at the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 and served as a primary impetus in having that law amended earlier this year.

His quick discernment and reporting on the initial and abysmal functioning of the city's Rapid Repair Program
served, among other involved forces, to cause a complete overhaul of that program.

Kevin then turned his attention to the utterly disgraceful N.Y.C. Build It Back Program and used his position with the paper to make it clear, in no uncertain terms, that the program was both administratively moribund and basically useless. 

Just keeping up with and reporting on the above post-Sandy issues was a herculean task.  Kevin nevertheless managed to keep our local paper centered, making sure that that all the other issues, cultural, economic, infrastructure related, politics, etc., were covered and reported on.

And of course, while all of the above was going on Kevin also managed to crank out his weekly Boyleing Points column which I once described as being like a woman's mini-skirt - just long enough to cover everything but short enough to keep things interesting.     

Where else could we read such gems as:

" I shouldn’t have gotten chased by that grumpy priest"

"Yes, you see blue drinks with umbrellas in bars but then it looks like somebody’s drinking Tidy Bowl."

"If negativity is contagious some pandemics have started here in Rockaway."

"Here lies Boyle, covered in soil. They called him Kevin; he ain’t got a chance on making heaven."

"It comes as no surprise that Rockaway readers are great optimists. They go right to the obituaries. "

"So for you people out there who sometimes try to explain how cold weather gets the blood flowing, how it makes you feel alive. I say, yeah, yeah. You’re nuts."

"I’m putting this in a column because there’s no way the morons I’m addressing can read. "

"We drive 4000 pound machines past each other only separated by a yellow line! We are insanely brave. Or just insane."

"But the best way to pay back a tailgater is to move to the right and let him pass. And then speed up so you go the same speed as the car that’s in front of him. The tailgater can’t past either of you now. You box him in for as long as you can. Preferably for miles."

"I tell ya, good thing that hurricane happened, otherwise, I’d be a little cynical about humans."

71 editions of the Wave have gone to press since he returned to the WAVE back in December of 2012 but  buried halfway down in his Boyleing Points column in this week's paper Kevin wrote:

"I’m not dead but this column is. And so is my tenure at The Wave....Ooooh, that was a little abrupt. You see, when I first came back to The Wave I called myself the “interim editor” and now I’m changing it to former editor. There were things that couldn’t be worked out so it’s time to sail off. Destination unknown. "

Upon hearing this, Sophia Vailakis DeVirgilio, a neighbors contacted me and stated:

"This is tragic for the Rockaways and all Sandy impacted communities.  Kevin was one of the most effective voices fighting for us.  He was brought back because we needed him.  We still need him.  Kevin will be a huge asset wherever he lands but there will be an enormous and awkward silence heard in this end of the city without him."

Couldn't have said it better.

On behalf of all the residents of West 12th Road and the entire community of Broad Channel we just wanted to take this opportunity to thank Kevin for all he has accomplished on our behalf and wish him well in whatever future endeavors he should choose to pursue. 

In closing, So Long and Thanks For All the Fish....