Meet the Rockaway Duo Building Community in New York’s Beloved Surf Outpost

Introducing winter surfing to otherwise skeptical, fair-weather students turned out to be something of a double-edged sword for Mike and Mike, who, yes, enjoyed winter waves in virtual solitude, but (and I can attest) the “off-season” crowd factor has swollen. “It’s so crowded,” says Reinhardt, “but this is what a vibrant surf community looks like: good waves, not just good weather.”

Teaching, especially year-round, took other tolls, too. “At first, I surfed a whole hell of a lot more [than I had before starting the school]. Mike and I were literally doing everything. We would be in the water teaching for 8 hours a day. It was mentally and physically exhausting. As soon as that was done, we’d have to go back, get on the phone, get on the computer. And because we were young we thought we had to go out and be part of the social scene. Then we were up again at 5:30 in the morning.”

And there were growing pains associated with a burgeoning business, too: “You become a victim of your own success, finding yourself on your computer or behind a desk so much…you say ‘Dude, I own a couple surf businesses and I haven’t been in the water in two weeks. This doesn’t make any sense at all.’”

A couple of long-distance surf trips per year, as well as a handful of quick-strike missions to the Caribbean or West Coast help fill their cups well enough so that they can weather the administrative rushes behind the desk.

“People tell me that I should actually run for mayor, but Mike [Kololyan] is mister limelight and naturally falls right into that,” Reinhardt says, explaining that he’s comfortable being at least a little more behind the scenes.

Mike and Mike recently joined forces with an anonymous investor on another endeavor, taking over Connolly’s Bar, a surfer-lifeguard-beach-bum watering hole and Rockaway Beach fixture dating back to the early 1960s. 

“Everyone was afraid it’d get demolished and turned into condo buildings, which is kind of a trend,” Reinhardt says of the breakneck rapidity of little-box development taking place along New York City’s precious lone stretch of Atlantic shoreline. “Connolly’s is a really special place and I’d say that even if I wasn’t the owner. I still have to pinch myself a bit and feel lucky to have been able to take advantage of that opportunity to take over the business. It’s an iconic location, it’s a staple of the community, embodying that whole culture of Rockaway that existed for years and years before I was even born. It’s the kinda place where there are pictures all over the walls. You could get lost looking at all the old memorabilia, pictures, knickknacks.”

“At a glance, it might seem like a departure from the surf scene,” posits Reinhardt, adding that he and the other Mike used to enjoy nightlife but are now living relatively sober lives. “But what ties everything that Mike and I do together is community. Connolly’s really does fit well within that. We try to curate community, connection, good times, and also Connolly’s is itself a beach-surf-themed bar. It’s just that the mechanism is drinks and partying, less surfing, I guess you could say.”