The Rockaway Peninsula of Queens never disappoints an urban explorer. Physically separated from the rest of New York City by water, it often feels like a forgotten sixth borough. The borough's southwestern tip, Breezy Point is a collection of gated communities, military history, and unspoiled nature. Without a special parking pass, my only options here are either walking or biking. After parking my car in Roxbury, I explored this quiet cape.

Roxbury is bound on three sides by public parkland, and the Rockaway Inlet to its north. It is one of the three communities affiliated with the Breezy Point Cooperative, which runs the gated communities of the peninsula's tip. The public parkland is the Gateway National Recreation Area, and any private lands inside the park are designated as inholdings. This includes Roxbury, Rockaway Point and Breezy Point.

The neighborhood was founded in the early 20th century by Irish immigrants as a bungalow colony on a peninsula full of bungalows. While most bungalow colonies were replaced with housing projects and empty lots, the huts of Roxbury became year-round, kept their Irishness, and continue to prosper in their isolation.

Please ignore the sign, because inside is a collection of traffic-free streets. Sand is everywhere. While the demographics describe Roxbury as one of the city's whitest neighborhoods, there is plenty of individuality expressed on the homes, with diverse decorating tastes. But we'll talk more about race later.

New York is often criticized by some middle Americans as a secular, liberal hotspot. But in Roxbury is different. Its devotion to religion and patriotism give the impression of a Norman Rockwell painting. Local vehicles (below) wear their beliefs on their fenders. They also carry special permit stickers to park in the area.

Roxbury has its own regulation street signs, and like its parent city, some of its streets have been honorifically renamed for prominent local heroes. Bayside Avenue (below) fronts an expansive beach on Rockaway Inlet, with views of the Marine Parkway Beach. In the distance beyond the flagpole are the apartment projects of Coney Island, a world away from Roxbury. Resisting the street numbering grid of the peninsula, only Beach 181 and Beach 184 Street were admitted into Roxbury.

Glazed tiles are a popular method of designating addresses. With very narrow lots, some homes are expanding upward, but how far can they go before regulations step in? State Road is the continuation of Rockaway Beach Boulevard, which is the spine for much of the peninsula.

It's an endless highway between Beach 184th and 193rd Streets. While most of Fort Tilden has been reclaimed by nature, a small US Army Reserve Center keeps ties to the park's past. A flag hangs on every lamppost. The first fort on the peninsula was Fort Decatur, a blockhouse built in 1814, to guard against possible British raids. A year later, it was abandoned after the U.S. and Great Britain made peace. It was located near present-day Beach 137th Street, which marked the peninsula's western tip at the time.

The grounds of the former military base have been reclaimed by nature since its decommissioning in 1974. Former streets now ramble through thick shrubbery. From the top of Battery Harris East, the Marine Parkway Bridge dominates the view. Built in 1937, the bridge could be lifted to 150 feet above water, anticipating a major Jamaica Bay seaport that was never built. The bridge's name anticipated a waterfront parkway that was also never finished

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Resembling an overgrown hilltop, the defunct battery offers sweeping views of the tip. Hardly a building in sight, it's hard to believe that this scene is within New York City limits.

The underbelly of the fort offers enticing urban exploring opportunities, but my fear of strangers lurking got the best of me, and I decided not to venture further. Forgotten-NY has been here before.

The Silver Gull Club is the only address on Beach 193rd Street, an empty boulevard once destined for high rise housing in the 1960s. By 1979, local opposition killed the project, and the concrete building skeletons were demolished. The land on both sides of this street is now part of a larger nature preserve. As for the club, it sits at the end of the street, with its own private oceanfront beach, swimming pool, and cabanas overlooking the shore. Adult membership is $480 per year.