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They’re waving hello to a new era.
The Rockaway Ocean Club will officially open its doors Saturday — marking the first time the public can enjoy the Jacob Riis Bathhouse in 54 years.
The Post was offered a sneak preview of the trendy, new beach house, which is located in the historic, city-owned facility under a contract with a private company that did an $88 million renovation.
“It’s not luxury. It’s just very approachable, it’s accessible and it’s fun. We just want it to be fun and not fussy,” said Ursula Damani, a founding partner of Rock Hospitality, which will operate the club.
It will cost members up to $1,700 a year to use all of the new facility — including the restaurant, butterfly garden and swank new pool, which will open next weekend.
But the company emphasized that more than half of the facility is free to the public, including various bars and a courtyard with space for lounging and games.
“Everybody is welcome. One of the things that makes Jacob Riis Beach so special is the People’s Beach. The beach is the ultimate democratizer. It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you come from, or what you have,” said Damani.
“We are going to remind New Yorkers that New York City is a beach town.”
The Rockaway Ocean Club — which will partially open Aug. 15 for a preview season before being fully opened next year — is a project nine years in the making.
It sprouted from what Damani called a “very New York” plan to breathe life back into the bathhouse that has sat empty since 1972.
The project faced a series of construction delays over the years, including in the final weeks that pushed back the initial July launch.
Most of the setbacks centered on the group’s ability to restore the historic aspects of the grounds and, when not possible, rebuild according to strict landmark regulations that require new builds to be “remarkably different” than the original.
That has resulted in plenty of quirks throughout the club, like shiny teal tiles neighboring the original aqua ones, and one window with one less divided light than the originals overlooking the U-shaped pool.
But Rock Hospitality says maintaining the original charm of the bathhouse and its reputation was vital — pointing to the still-standing 1932 bronze-turned-green plaque dedicating the shore to the people of New York as its “northern star.”
“How do we create a space where all people feel welcome and a space that touches all different price points from the boardwalk to the members club?” Damani, who partnered with Scott Shnay of SK Development, Aaron Broudo and Belvey Klein of Brooklyn Bazaar for the project, said of their mission.
The club has fallen under fire in recent weeks, with opponents slamming the four-figure membership fees and application form that asks for social media links.
When fully open, the members-only section of the Rockaway Ocean Club will make up about 40% of its campus, the company said. In Saturday’s preview, the courtyard will be open to the public.
The numerous food concessionaires, gift shops and bars will be open to the public, as well as the sprawling courtyard that offers games during the day and concerts at night.
Most of the building is still under construction, with the owners hoping to slowly roll out those amenities until their grand opening in the spring.
It could be another year after that before they open the 28-room hotel on the second floor or the massive rooftop bar offering brilliant views of both the Atlantic Ocean and Manhattan skyline that had been roped off for five decades.
“We didn’t set out to build something new on Riis Beach — we set out to finish something that started in 1932 and got interrupted. This has always been the People’s Beach, built for the people of New York, and restoring this building is how we carry that legacy forward for the next generation,” Shnay told The Post.
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