Cultural Landscape Report for

Floyd Bennett Field

Gateway National Recreation Area

Site History, Existing Conditions, Analysis and Evaluation

Cultural Landscape Report

for Floyd Bennett Field

Gateway National Recreation Area

Brooklyn, New York

Site History

Existing Conditions

Analysis and Evaluation

By Sarah K. Cody and John Auwaerter

George W. Curry, Project Director

State University of New York

College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

National Park Service, Boston, Massachusetts 2009
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR FLOYD BENNETT FIELD

ii

This report was produced by the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation in 

partnership with the Department of Landscape Architecture at the State University of 

New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, New York. The 

Olmsted Center promotes the preservation of signifi cant landscapes through research, 

planning, stewardship, and education, and accomplishes its mission in collaboration 

with a network of partners including national parks, universities, government agencies 

and private nonprofi t organizations. 

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

Boston National Historical Park

Charlestown Navy Yard, Quarters C

Boston, MA 02129

617.241.6954 

www.nps.gov/oclp/

This report was prepared under Cooperative Agreement Number H1850010002 

between the Department of the Interior, National Park Service and the State University 

of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, for the preservation 

of cultural landscape resources at national park service units through research, 

documentation, and planning. 

Publication Credits: Information in this publication may be copied and used with the 

condition that full credit be given to authors and publisher, except where copyright 

protection is noted in the caption. Appropriate citations and bibliographic credits 

should be made for each use. 

National Park Service, Denver Technical Information Center report NPS 646/100213.

 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cody, Sarah K., 1982-

 Cultural landscape report for Floyd Bennett Field, Gateway National Recreation Area 

/ Sarah K. Cody and John Auwaerter.

 p. cm.

 Includes bibliographical references.

 1. Gateway National Recreation Area (N.J. and N.Y.)--History. 2.

Historic sites--New York (State)--New York. 3. Cultural parks--New York (State)--

New York. 4. Landscape assessment--New York (State)--New York. 5.

Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)--Buildings, structures, etc.--History. 6. Floyd Bennett 

Field (New York, N.Y.)--History. 7. Airports--New York (State)--New York--History. 

I. Auwaerter, John E. (John Eric), 1964- II.

Title.

 F127.G15C63 2009

 711’.5580974723--dc22

 2009035471

Cover Image: Aerial view looking north over Hangar Row and Flatbush Avenue, 

c.1937. (Photograph 19008, Gateway National Recreation Area Museum Collection.)
iii 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES, DRAWINGS, AND TABLES V

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS XIII

INTRODUCTION 1

 Project Scop, Organization and Methods 2

 Project Setting 4

 Project Area 5

 Summary of Findings 7

I. SITE HISTORY 15

 Barren Island and Tidal Estuary, Pre-History to 1928 15

 Floyd Bennett Field: New York City Municipal Airport, 

 1928–1941 45

 Floyd Bennett Field in World War II: NAS New York, 

 1941–1945 99

 Floyd Bennett Field in the Cold War: NAS New York, 

 1945-1972 137

 Floyd Bennett Field in the National Park System, 

 1972–Present 167

II. EXISTING CONDITIONS 195

 Landscape Setting 196

 Park Administration and Use 197

 The Floyd Bennett Field Landscape 199

III. ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION 225

 National Register Evaluation 226

 Cultural Landscape Evaluation 244

TABLE OF CONTENTS

(continued)
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR FLOYD BENNETT FIELD

iv

IV. PRELIMINARY TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS 349

 Treatment Approach 351

 General Treatment Issues and Recommended Tasks 354

REFERENCE LIST 261

APPENDICES 369

A. Research Contacts 369

B. Select Glossary of Airport and Military Terms 371

C. Recommendations for Further Research 373
v 

List of Figures, Drawings, and Tables

Figures, Drawings, and tables

Figures

0.1. Aerial view looking east towards Floyd Bennett Field, 2007. 1

0.2. Map showing regional location of Floyd Bennett Field. 4

0.3. Aerial view of Floyd Bennett Field and its context, 1994. 5

0.4. Map of Gateway National Recreation Area. 5

0.5. Aerial view of Floyd Bennett Field showing immediate setting, 

project area boundaries, and areas of the landscape. 6

1.1. Relationship of Jamaica Bay to glacial and ocean forces. 15

1.2. Map made in 1776 illustrating Barren Island as a barrier beach. 16

1.3. Map made in 1839 illustrating the natural changes to Barren Island. 17

1.4. Map made in 1898 illustrating the changes in the barrier islands 

along Jamaica Bay 17

1.5. View of remnant native beach, dune, and shrub communities 

on Barren Island, 1931 18

1.6. Approximate location of Canarsie and Rockaway archeological 

settlement sites around Jamaica Bay 19

1.7. Map of western Long Island made in c.1844 illustrating rural character of 

Flatlands 21

1.8. Map of the Town of Flatlands in 1873. 22

1.9. Survey made in 1818 showing location of two buildings on Barren Island. 23

1.10. Map showing the configuration of Barren Island in 1839. 24

1.11. A map of Barren Island made in 1877 showing location of factories 

and other buildings. 25

1.12. One of the Barren Island fertilizer/waste processing factories, c.1900. 26

1.13. Detail of an 1898 coastal survey showing two distinct clusters of 

development on the uplands of Barren Island. 26

1.14. View of the New York Sanitary Utilization Company plant at the southeastern tip of Barren Island, c.1918. 27

1.15. Barren Island’s Sacred Heart Church and rectory, 1931. 29 

1.16. Barren Island’s Public School #120 and teacher’s residence, 1931. 29

1.17. The boardwalk known as the Long Bridge leading to the southwestern 

part of the Barren Island community, 1931. 29

1.18. The Barren Island community showing dilapidated conditions, 1931. 31

1.19. Aerial view looking southeast across the Flatbush Avenue causeway 

toward Barren Island, 1928. 32

1.20. City tax map showing planned roads, channels, and park development 

along newly built Flatbush Avenue, c.1925. 32

1.21. Sanborn Fire Insurance map of Barren Island, 1930. 33

site history
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

vi

1.22. The busy bathing beach on Barren Island’s eastern shore, 1931. 33

1.23. Barren Island Airport looking east from Flatbush Avenue, 1931. 34

1.24. Proposed Jamaica Bay harbor looking northwest toward Manhattan. 46

1.25. Coast Guard survey showing Barren Island and changes to adjoining 

estuary, 1926. 47

1.26. Naval Air Station Rockaway, c.1918. 48

1.27. Atlantic City Airport, established in 1919 purportedly as the country’s 

first municipal airport, 1933. 49

1.28. Flushing Airport, a small airfield established in 1928 in northern 

Queens, photographed c.1932. 49

1.29. Site chosen for Floyd Bennett Field shown on a 1934 map. 51

1.30. City zoning map showing park and parkway system in the vicinity of 

Floyd Bennett Field, 1938. 52

1.31. View of the Marine Parkway Bridge looking northeast toward 

Barren Island, c.1937. 53

1.32. Plan of a rejected layout for Floyd Bennett Field by American Airports 

Corporation, c.1927. 53

1.33. Detail of earliest Department of Docks plan for Floyd Bennett Field, 

January 30, 1928. 54

1.34. Detail of the original Department of Docks master plan for Floyd 

Bennett Field, c.1928. 55

1.35. Aerial photograph looking north over Barren Island showing extensive 

filling for Floyd Bennett Field, 1929. 57

1.36. View of the steel bulkhead holding the airport fill looking north of 

the bathing beach on the east side of Barren Island, 1931. 57

1.37. Department of Docks plan specifying work on the preparation of the

airfield and construction of the runways, 1929. 58

1.38. View along a partially constructed runway, c.1929. 58

1.39. Aerial view of the recently completed Floyd Bennett Field looking east 

showing contrast with surrounding estuary, 1931. 59

1.40. Collage of photographs showing construction of the hangars, c.1929. 60

1.41. Hangars 5-8 looking north with the concrete apron at right and 

Flatbush Avenue at left, c.1930. 60

1.42. View of the Administration Building nearing completion, c.1931. 61

1.43. The Administration Building several years following its completion 

showing the control tower and terrace, 1934. 61

1.44. Aerial view of Floyd Bennett Field probably during the official 

dedication on May 23, 1931. 62

1.45. One of the two Sperry floodlight towers built within the airfield in 1932. 64

1.46. The Hangar Row apron showing the gate area. 65

1.47. The widened Hangar Row apron and one of the new taxiways, c.1933. 65
vii 

1.48. Plan of the seaplane base following completion of the site work, 

roads, pier, and ramp, c.1933. 66

1.49. Location of seaplane runways associated with Floyd Bennett Field. 67

1.50. A model of Floyd Bennett Field showing the proposed improvements 

begun in c.1934 with assistance of the WPA. 68

1.51. View of Hangar Row looking north showing four new hangar 

infill buildings, c.1937. 69

1.52. Planting plan for the airport entrance by the Department of Docks, 

approved May 6, 1935. 71

1.53. Detail of the entrance area landscape installed in 1935, 

photographed 1938. 72

1.54. The airport entrance area following completion, 1936. 72

1.55. The rustic airport entrance sign shortly after installation, c.1935. 73

1.56. Aerial view of Hangar Row looking south at the end of the 

WPA-funded improvement program, August 1938. 73

1.57. The nearly complete Field House, 1936. 74

1.58. View of the gate area and apron showing recently built passenger 

tunnel hatches and rotating platforms, c. 1936. 74

1.59. Annotated aerial of Floyd Bennett Field showing recently completed 

runways, graded runway approach, and airfield lights, July 1936. 75

1.60. Map of Floyd Bennett Field updated to June 30, 1941 showing various 

aids to navigation installed in 1932 and 1935. 76

1.61. The New York Sanitary Utilization chimney being demolished 

to clear the flight path of runway 12-30, 1937. 77

1.62. The Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn one year after completion, 1939. 78

1.63. Map of Floyd Bennett Field updated to June 30, 1941 showing 

completed Coast Guard Air Station. 79

1.64. Aerial view of Floyd Bennett Field showing newly built Naval Aviation 

Patrol Base, 1940. 82

1.65. Map of Floyd Bennett Field updated to June 30, 1941 showing 

completed Naval Aviation Patrol Base. 83

1.66. The audience gathered on the apron at the official dedication 

ceremony of Naval Air Station, New York on June 2, 1941. 101

1.67. Property survey entitled “Map Showing Land to be Acquired for 

Naval Air Station (Floyd Bennett Field), Brooklyn, N. Y,” surveyed 

December 29, 1941. 102

1.68. A WAVES squadron on parade at the apron in front of the 

Administration Building, July 29, 1944. 104

1.69. World War II-era map of the primary ferry routes of the Navy’s 

Aircraft Delivery Unit, c.1943. 104

1.70. View of Hangar Row just prior to the Navy’s purchase of Floyd 

Bennett Field, circa January 1942. 106

List of Figures, Drawings, and Tables
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

viii

1.71. The former airport entrance area showing temporary security fencing 

and a gatehouse, c.1941. 107

1.72. NAS Quonset Point on Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, c.1945. 108

1.73. Aerial view of Floyd Bennett Field showing nearly complete expansion 

into NAS New York, 1943. 109

1.74. Oblique aerial view of NAS New York showing major areas of 

expansion and new construction, 1944. 110

1.75. The airport entrance area showing cyclone fence and frame addition to 

the Administration Building, from later photograph, c.1954. 111

1.76. An aerial photograph showing Navy additions to Hangar Row 

and widened Flatbush Avenue, 1943. 112

1.77. Later view of the Navy synthetic training building showing one type of 

construction for temporary buildings. 113

1.78. Hangar 9, built in c.1943 and used as the base for Squadron VFR-1 of 

the Naval Air Ferry Command, c.1944. 113

1.79. A plane on a runway or taxiway showing character of the airfield 

turf, c.1944. 114

1.80. The airfield looking northeast from the former passenger boardinggate area during an unidentified ceremony, 1944. 115

1.81. An aerial photograph showing the recreation area and boat basin 

in the former airport seaplane base, and the Coast Guard Air Station, 

Naval Aviation Patrol Base, and maintenance area, 1943. 116

1.82. Hangar B looking from the roof of Hangar A, c.1944. 117

1.83. The Coast Guard Air Station with the maintenance area and 

Aviation Patrol Base barracks in the background, c.1945. 118

1.84. An aerial photograph showing construction to date on the ammunitioncommunications area at the north end of the naval air station, 1943. 119

1.85. Aerial view of the east end of Barren Island showing clearing in

preparation for redevelopment, photographed January 24, 1942. 120

1.86. An aerial photograph showing construction to date on Barren Island in 

the main barracks area, seaplane base, and west barracks area, 1943. 121

1.87. A Navy boot camp graduation showing character of one of the 

temporary buildings constructed in c.1942 and open lawn in 

the main barracks area, 1949. 121

1.88. The main barracks area from the marginal wharf, 1953. 122

1.89. The marginal wharf with its concrete curb and iron cleats, c.1950. 122

1.90. View toward the airfield showing the dispensary (87) and adjoining 

storage buildings (122, 123, 124) in the main barracks area, c.1944. 123

1.91. Aerial view of Floyd Bennett Field showing general character of the 

landscape shortly after the end of the war, March 12, 1947. 124

1.92. Aerial photograph of Floyd Bennett Field illustrating addition of state 

veteran housing in the west barracks area, 1948. 138
ix 

1.93. The expanded apron and taxiway at the Coast Guard Air 

Station, c.1955. 140

1.94. A squadron of Navy personnel in formation on the Hangar Row apron

during the Korean War, October 9, 1950. 141

1.95. Aerial photograph of Floyd Bennett Field taken in March 1954 showing 

changes made during the Korean War. 142

1.96. The new Flatbush Avenue entrance to NAS New York constructed 

in c.1951, photographed c.1955. 142

1.97. The recently completed barracks complex (29-32) within the 

main barracks area, 1952. 143

1.98. The Jamaica Bay shoreline of NAS New York, 1953. 144

1.99. Air National Guard jets on the Hangar Row apron, with hangars 9 

and 10 in the background, c.1960. 145

1.100. Aerial photograph of Floyd Bennett Field, c.1967, showing expanded 

Hangar Row apron and runway 15-33. 146

1.101. Hangar Row showing the Air National Guard’s nose hangar (265) built 

in 1965, from a later photograph, c.1992. 147

1.102. The main barracks area showing remains of the former Enlisted 

Men’s Mess Hall that was lost to fire, 1969. 149

1.103. Plan showing boundaries of NARDET within the former Naval

Aviation Patrol Base, c.1970. 150

1.104. Map of proposed New York Harbor National Seashore, 1969. 167

1.105. Plan of Floyd Bennett Field showing areas not transferred to the 

National Park Service, 1983. 169

1.106. The reopened airport entrance with park sign and obelisk, 1979. 171

 1.107. Aerial view of Floyd Bennett Field illustrating increased tree cover,

c.1980. 171

1.108. Children camping in the airfield, c.1975. 172

1.109. Plan of Floyd Bennett Field showing the National Register district 

and approximate boundaries of the three management zones 

prescribed in the General Management Plan and Development 

Concept Plan, 1980. 173

1.110. World War II-era hangars 9 and 10 being demolished, c.1979. 174

1.111. A youth softball game on the Hangar Row apron, c.1980. 174

1.112. Aerial photograph of Hangar Row and adjoining areas of the airfield 

in c.2007 indicating changes since c.1979. 175

1.113. Successional woods in the North 40 Natural Area, formerly part of 

the airfield and flight-path clear-zone for runway 6-24, 2005. 176

1.114. Aerial photograph of the Jamaica Bay facilities and adjoining areas of 

the airfield in c.2007 indicating changes since c.1979. 177

1.115. The Jamaica Bay shoreline showing Doppler radar tower and former

Coast Guard main hangar in background, 2006. 178

List of Figures, Drawings, and Tables
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

x

1.116. The former main and west barracks areas in c.2007 indicating changes 

since c.1979. 178

1.117. Remains of former Enlisted Men’s Mess Hall (67) with 

abandoned barracks (62, 72) and empty Korean War-era 

barracks complex (129-132), 2006. 179

DRAWINGS

1.1. Barren Island and Tidal Estuary Period, 1928 43

1.2. Municipal Airport Period, 1928–1941 97

1.3. World War II Period, 1941–1945 135

1.4. Cold War Period, 1945 – 1972 165

1.5. National Park Service Period, 1972 – 2008 193

TABLES

1.1. World War II Period Building-Structure Key 130

1.2. Cold War Period Building-Structure Key 159

1.3. National Park Service Period Building-Structure Key 187

figures

2.1. Plan of Floyd Bennett Field (NAS New York) showing landscape 

character areas and existing National Register district boundary. 195

2.2. Flatbush Avenue with Hangar Row and the bike path to the left. 196

2.3. Hangars 3-4 showing condition and remaining original asphalt 

block apron. 200

2.4. View from the Administration Building roof showing the 

contemporary parking lots built on the Hangar Row apron. 200

2.5. The north end of the Hangar Row apron showing Aviator Sports and 

Recreation outdoor fields. 200

2.6. Aviator Sports infill building between hangars 5-6 and 7-8. 201

2.7. The Dope Shop (26) with the smaller sewer pump house (30). 201

2.8. The transformer vault (57) at the south end of Hangar Row. 202

2.9. Remains of the World War II-era paint storage building (237). 202

2.10. The vacant Navy fire house (50). 202

2.11. The former Synthetic Training Building (54). 203

2.12. The closed World War II-era Navy entrance drive. 203

2.13. The Administration Building (1) and airport entrance area. 203

2.14. The airport entrance sign and circular walk. 204

Existing conditions
xi 

2.15. The airport entrance area showing the fence and assorted small-scale 

features added in c.2000. 204

2.16. The south side of the airport entrance area looking southwest from 

the roof of the Administration Building. 204

2.17. The four-lane entrance road constructed over Runway 15-33. 205

2.18. The berms installed to close off the intersection of runway 1-19 and the 

public entrance road (runway 15-33). 205

2.19. The announcer’s booth along the west side of the remote-controlled 

airplane flying field on the Runway 1-19. 206

2.20. The southwestern approach to runway 1-19. 206

2.21. The North 40 Area pond within the approach to runway 12-30. 206

2.22. Taxiway 5 near the maintenance area showing mulch piles and fence. 207

2.23. The airfield showing winter condition of the managed grasslands. 207

2.24. Taxiway 6 at the northeastern side of the airfield showing dense 

successional woods that have grown up on formerly open airfield. 207

2.25. One of the Ecology Village campgrounds in the pine woods at the 

south side of the airfield. 208

2.26. A picnic shelter and open area at the campgrounds in the eastern side 

of the airfield at the former dirigible landing area. 208

2.27. The community gardens and taxiway 10 (runway 15-33). 208

2.28. The southeast end of the airfield in the approach to runway 12-30 

showing the FAA Doppler radar tower and Coast Guard hangar. 209

2.29. The airfield and one of the minor roads and an unidentified small-scale 

feature dating from the landscape’s use as an active airfield. 209

2.30. Seaplane ramp B looking and timber bulkhead at the Naval Aviation 

Patrol Base apron. 209

2.31. Remnants of Hangar A (door tracks) in the patrol base apron. 210

2.32. Tylunas Hall (278), a former Navy barracks at the south end of the 

Naval Aviation Patrol Base. 210

2.33. Hangar B (100), presently home to H.A.R.P. 210

2.34. One of the H.A.R.P. volunteers working on an aircraft inside Hangar B. 211

2.35. The jet engine run-up stands at the north end of the patrol base apron. 211

2.36. The scrap yard north of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base apron. 211

2.37. The maintenance area showing the general storehouse (98), torpedo 

storage building (94), and Power Plant B (96). 212

2.38. Two World War II-era storage buildings (90, 91) in the south half of the 

maintenance area presently leased to the city police. 212

2.39. The contemporary police memorial garden at the south end of the 

maintenance area. 212

2.40. The Coast Guard hangar (CG-1), north side. 213

2.41. The Coast Guard garage (CG-2) and police storage building. 213

2.42. Edwards Hall (CG-3), a former Coast Guard barracks. 214

List of Figures, Drawings, and Tables
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

xii

2.43. The Mill Basin shoreline along the North 40 Natural Area. 214

2.44. The trailhead to the North 40 Natural Area looking north from 

runway 6-24. 214

2.45. The World War II-era patrol road through the North 40 Natural Area. 215

2.46. The former practice bomb storage building (109). 215

2.47. One of the high explosive magazines (112) in the North 40 

Natural Area. 215

2.48. The main entrance to Floyd Bennett Field at Flatbush Avenue. 216

2.49. Floyd Bennett Boulevard, the main road through the South 

Administrative Area. 216

2.50. The entrance to the Department of Defense property (Marine Corps 

Reserve Center). 217

2.51. The World War II-era Ecology Village gym (70). 217

2.52. The Korean War-era park maintenance garage (258). 217

2.53. The park headquarters building (69), a former World War II barracks. 218

2.54. Building 62 and 72, two of three buildings remaining from the 

World War II-era enlisted men’s barracks complex. 218

2.55. The park police headquarters (275), a former Navy dispensary. 218

2.56. The vacant Job Corps gym (74), a World War II-era recreation building. 219

2.57. The vacant Korean War-era brick barracks complex (129-132). 219

2.58. Two vacant single-family houses (157, 158) built during World War II as 

married officer’s quarters. 219

2.59. Three ranch houses (268-270, at left) erected in c.1960 as married 

officer’s quarters. 220

2.60. The Gateway Environmental Education Center (274) erected in c.1968. 220

2.61. The nursery looking south showing the greenhouse and

 ornamental plantings. 220

2.62. The vacant World War II-era laundry (85) and Power Plant A (87). 221

2.63. Ruins of the marginal wharf. 221

2.64. The west barracks area along Aviation Road showing staff 

housing (267). 221

2.65. The abandoned Navy sewage plant (60). 221

DRAWINGS

2.1. Existing Conditions, 2008 223
xiii 

Figures

3.1. Map showing existing and proposed National Register boundaries, 

and existing and prior ownership within the historic limits 

of NAS New York. 227

3.2. USGS map showing boundaries of the Floyd Bennett Field Historic 

District from the 1980 National Register of Historic Places 

nomination form. 227

3.3. Near-historic (1947) and current aerial views of Floyd Bennett Field 

looking northeast. 246

3.4. Historic (1944) and existing views looking northeast from the 

Hangar Row apron in front of the Administration Building. 248

3.5. Historic (c.1938) and existing views looking in the same general easterly 

direction along taxiways 1 and 2 (original runway 6-24). 250

3.6. Historic (c.1938) and existing views of the airport entrance area. 251

3.7. Historic (c.1945) and existing views showing Hangar B and its adjoining 

apron. 256

3.8. Historic (c.1945) and existing views of the Coast Guard Air Station 

and maintenance area in the Naval Aviation Patrol Base. 257

3.9. Historic (c.1935) and existing views of hangars 5-6 and 7-8 in Hangar 

Row. 258

3.10. Historic (1936) and existing views of the airport entrance area 

looking east from Flatbush Avenue. 259

3.11. Historic (1943) and existing aerial photographs of the South 

Administrative Area. 332

3.12. Historic (c.1944) and existing views of the eastern side of the west 

barracks area looking north toward the airfield and Coast 

Guard Air Station 333

3.13. Near-historic (c.1949) and existing conditions of World War II-period 

temporary construction in the main barracks area. 334

DRAWINGS

3.1. Analysis and Evaluation Plan 347

TABLE

3.1 Floyd Bennett Field Historic District Landscape Features

Evaluation Summary 322

List of Figures, Drawings, and Tables

Analysis and evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

xiv
xv 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field was produced through a 

partnership between the National Park Service Olmsted Center for Landscape 

Preservation and the Department of Landscape Architecture at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. The authors 

would like to thank the many people who assisted with the completion of this 

report. 

From Gateway National Recreation Area, the authors thank Historical Architect 

Barbara Judy, Park Project Lead John Lincoln Hallowell, and Archivist Felice Ciccione for their assistance with research, existing conditions documentation, and 

review of draft documents. Other park staff who aided in research and project 

administration include former Superintendent Lisa Eckert, Chief of Cultural Resources Kathy Foppes, GIS Specialist Kathy Mellander, former Management Assistant Mark Colburn, former Deputy Superintendent Bill Nelligan, Park Ranger 

Pete McCarthy, Chief of Natural Resources Doug Adamo, and Chief of Maintenance Richard O’Neill. 

From the Northeast Regional Offi ce, thanks to David Uschold, Resource Planner, for his assistance with project scoping and review of draft materials. From the 

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, the authors thank Director Robert 

R. Page, Senior Project Manager Margie Coffi n Brown, and Historical Landscape 

Architects Lisa Nowak and Jeff Killion for assistance with project administration 

and support, research, and review of draft materials. Many thanks also to Rose 

Marques for her careful proofreading of the fi nal report, and to Lisa Nowak for 

coordinating fi nal printing. 

Lastly, at the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, the authors thank 

former Visiting Instructor Thaisa Way for her assistance with research and writing, and Distinguished Teaching Professor George W. Curry for his expertise and 

invaluable assistance with the research, writing, and completion of this report. 
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

xvi
1 

Introduction

introduction

On the approach to busy John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New 

York City, travelers fly over another airport on the opposite side of Jamaica Bay 

(fig. 0.1). This airport is Floyd Bennett Field, the predecessor to JFK that was 

dedicated in 1931 as the city’s first municipal airport. Considered one of the 

finest airports in the world during the 1930s, Floyd Bennett Field was the site of 

numerous record-breaking flights and home to private aircraft operators as well as 

the U. S. Navy and Coast Guard, which built their own facilities at the field. Never 

a commercial success, the Navy ultimately took over the entire field in 1941 and 

expanded it into Naval Air Station New York, which served a major role in the 

World War II home front. Following three decades of decreasing military activity, 

the Navy transferred most of Floyd Bennett Field to the National Park Service in 

1972 as a part of Gateway National Recreation Area. Closed to civilian aviation 

for more than sixty years and to military aviation for more than thirty years, Floyd 

Bennett Field today still reflects its origins as one of the country’s first-generation 

municipal airports and a World War II naval air station as evident in its Art Deco 

hangars and neoclassical terminal building lining Flatbush Avenue, runways, 

Moderne-style Coast Guard hangar, seaplane ramps, and numerous war-time 

buildings.

Figure 0.1: View east across Floyd 

Bennett Field upon approach to 

its successor, John F. Kennedy 

International Airport, partially 

visible at the upper left corner, 

2007. (Photo courtesy of David 

Washburn, SUNY ESF.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

2

Although most major features remain, the landscape of Floyd Bennett Field has 

changed over the past thirty years of civilian administration as management 

shifted from military and aviation uses to recreation and natural resource 

conservation. Faced with more infrastructure than it could use or maintain, the 

park demolished buildings while adding new roads, parking lots, and minor 

buildings for park operations. Runways and taxiways have been obscured, and 

successional woods have grown up within the airfield. While not managed as 

a historic site, the park has worked over the years to enhance features from the 

original municipal airport, which was listed in the National Register of Historic 

Places in 1980. The development by the Coast Guard and subsequent military 

development during World War II, however, have only recently been recognized 

as having historic significance. 

Today, Floyd Bennett Field is the largest expanse of open land in New York 

City, totaling approximately 1,300 acres. Located at the southeastern extent of 

Brooklyn at the end of Flatbush Avenue, nearly one million people visit the field 

annually for its range of recreational facilities and natural habitat that overlay 

the earlier aviation and military landscape. Many of the more than sixty existing 

buildings on the field are leased to governmental agencies, concessionaires, and 

not-for-profit organizations, while a large number stand vacant. 

The information in this Cultural Landscape Report will provide the 

documentation necessary to make informed decisions about both the short- and 

long-term management of the Floyd Bennett Field landscape. This will aid the 

park in its ongoing efforts to adaptively reuse the enormous infrastructure of the 

field and to appropriately balance cultural and natural resource management. 

project scope, Organization, and Methods 

In the National Park Service, a Cultural Landscape Report is the principle 

treatment document for cultural landscapes and the primary tool for their 

long-term management. The park service defines a cultural landscape as a 

geographic area that includes both built and natural resources, and is associated 

with a historic event, activity, or person.1

 A cultural landscape includes not 

only topography, circulation, and vegetation features, but also buildings and 

small-scale features such as light standards and fences. This report employs a 

landscape approach to research that provides comprehensive documentation 

of a property’s physical development and its associated historic contexts. This 

landscape approach addresses a breadth of cultural and natural resource types, 

and establishes relationships among history, architecture, landscape architecture, 

planning, and archeology, among other disciplines.2
3 

Introduction

In accordance with the project agreement, the scope of this report includes a site 

history, existing conditions, and analysis and evaluation (Cultural Landscape 

Report Part I) in support of five main objectives. The first is to document 

the physical evolution of the municipal and military landscape. Second, the 

report provides contextual documentation on the history of American airfield 

landscapes, both civilian and military, sufficient to evaluate the historical 

significance of the Floyd Bennett Field landscape. The third objective is to 

evaluate the changing historical appearance of the landscape’s characteristics and 

associated features to inform management decisions regarding the nature and 

appropriateness of proposed repair and replacement efforts. Fourth, the report 

provides documentation supporting park consultation responsibilities under 

Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, including the evaluation 

of the landscape outside the existing National Register historic district. The fifth 

objective is to recommend preliminary treatment strategies for the long-term 

management of the cultural landscape, as well as short-term recommendations 

particularly to address a proposed project to replace eight miles of primary 

electrical cables on the field and construct new entrances off Flatbush Avenue. 

The report does not include a full treatment plan (Cultural Landscape Report Part 

II).

This report has been developed according to the methods in A Guide to Cultural 

Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and Techniques (National Park Service, 

1998). The first chapter, Site History, provides a narrative on the complex physical 

history of Floyd Bennett Field from pre-settlement through the present. The 

chapter is broken down into five periods, each representing a distinct time defined 

by changes in land use, development, and ownership. The subsequent chapters 

have been developed in a more technical style to meet park management needs. 

Chapter 2, Existing Conditions, provides an overview of the present character of 

the landscape and its administration and use, organized by landscape character 

areas. Chapter 3, Analysis and Evaluation, assesses the historic significance and 

integrity of the landscape based on the National Register Criteria, and evaluates 

the historic character of the landscape according to National Park Service cultural 

landscape methodology. The fourth chapter provides preliminary treatment 

recommendations that would be refined and expanded in completion of a full 

treatment plan (Cultural Landscape Report Part II). These recommendations 

identify current landscape treatment issues and propose preliminary tasks based 

on the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties

and the overall objective of enhancing the historic character of the landscape. 

Research for this report has been undertaken at a thorough level of investigation, 

involving primary holdings at the Gateway National Recreation Area archives 

at Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, and at the National Archives in Washington, 
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

4

D.C. and College Park, Maryland.3 Primary and secondary sources such as 

photographs, aerial images, written descriptions, land use plans, and existing 

management documents were examined to gain information regarding the 

physical development of Floyd Bennett Field as well as its significance in aviation 

and military history. Research included examining all available documentation 

dating from early settlement of the local area through present-day. Interviews 

and consultation with park staff and architectural historians helped inform 

the understanding of the landscape’s evolution. Research into primary-source 

textual materials in New York City archives and at the National Archives was not 

undertaken for this project. 

This report includes graphic plans that document and evaluate the cultural 

landscape. These include period plans in the site history that illustrate change 

in the landscape during each period; an existing conditions plan (2008) that 

graphically depicts the landscape as it presently exists; and an analysis and 

evaluation plan that locates landscape features and contrasts those that existed 

during the period of significance with those that were added afterward. These 

plans were developed from a combination of historic maps, field inventory, and 

historic photographs. 

Project Setting 

Floyd Bennett Field is located on the western end of Long Island at the southeast 

corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn (Kings County) (fig. 0.2). 

Manhattan is approximately twenty miles to the northwest. Floyd Bennett Field, 

built on fill within a tidal estuary, is bounded by water on all sides except to the 

west along Flatbush Avenue (fig. 0.3). The field is located along the western shore 

of Jamaica Bay, which retains a number of undeveloped islands. The Atlantic 

Ocean is approximately a half mile to the south 

across the Rockaway Peninsula, part of the system 

of barrier beaches along the south shore of Long 

Island. 

While Floyd Bennett Field is geographically 

isolated from residential areas, the surrounding 

region is densely developed. To the north and west 

in Brooklyn are the neighborhoods of Flatlands, 

Sheepshead Bay, and Manhattan Beach, and to 

the south on Rockaway Peninsula in Queens are 

Nesponsit and Breezy Point. Shore Parkway, also 

known as the Belt Parkway, was completed in 1940 

and is the only limited access highway through 

Figure 0.2: Floyd Bennett Field 

showing regional location 

relative to the five boroughs 

of New York City and the 

surrounding region. (SUNY ESF.)
5 

Introduction

the area. The major commercial arterial is Flatbush 

Avenue, an early road that extends southeast from 

the Manhattan Bridge and downtown Brooklyn. It 

was extended to Rockaway Inlet in 1923, and was 

completed to Rockaway Peninsula across the Marine 

Parkway Bridge (recently renamed the Gil Hodges 

Memorial Bridge) in 1937. 

Floyd Bennett Field is situated within a concentration 

of parks and natural areas, most of which are part of 

Jamaica Bay Unit of Gateway National Recreation 

Area, part of the National Park System established 

in 1972 from city parks and military bases (fig. 

0.4). These include Jacob Riis Park, formerly a city 

park built in the 1930s; Fort Tilden, a former Army 

installation developed during World Wars I and 

II; Breezy Point, a natural area on the Rockaway 

Peninsula; the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge that 

encompasses most of the islands within Jamaica 

Bay; and Plumb Beach west of the Gerritsen Inlet. 

Brooklyn Marine Park, at the head of Gerritsen Inlet, 

is a New York City park developed in the 1930s that extends along the west side of 

Flatbush Avenue, north of Shore Parkway.

Project area

The National Park Service administers most of the federally owned property 

historically associated with Floyd Bennett Field. This property encompasses 

all land east of Flatbush Avenue and south of the Shore Parkway, except for 

approximately 100 acres under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense and 

used as a Marine Corps Reserve Center, and a two-acre parcel administered by the 

U. S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration as a Doppler 

Figure 0.3 (top): Recent aerial photograph of Floyd Bennett 

Field illustrating setting of surrounding communities and 

natural features. The red line indicates the cultural landscape 

report project area boundary. (Detail, USGS Brooklyn aerial 

photograph, 1994, annotated by SUNY ESF.)

Figure 0.4 (bottom): Map of Gateway National Recreation 

Area showing context of Floyd Bennett Field to adjoining 

park units. (National Park Service, “The National Parks of New 

York Harbor Regional Map,” 2004.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

6

radar facility (fig. 0.5). For the purposes of this Cultural Landscape Report, the 

project area includes only the property historically associated with Floyd Bennett 

Field and Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn, which was later transferred to the 

National Park Service in 1998. This is the landscape under National Park Service 

management, and includes within it the 329-acre National Register historic district 

that generally corresponds with the boundary of the original municipal airport. 

The land west of Flatbush Avenue bordering Dead Horse Bay and Gerritsen Inlet, 

including Gateway Marina, is administered as part of Floyd Bennett Field but is 

excluded from the project area because it was historically part of Brooklyn Marine 

Park. 

While this report focuses on the project area, it also addresses areas outside 

of it. The Site History chapter includes the Marine Corps Reserve Center and 

Doppler radar facility, since both properties were originally part of Floyd Bennett 

Field. The site history also documents, in lesser detail, the development of the 

surrounding landscape context, notably Flatbush Avenue and Shore Parkway. 

The project area more strictly defines the content of the Existing Conditions, 

Figure 0.5: Current aerial photograph of Floyd Bennett Field illustrating immediate setting, project area boundary, and areas 

of the landscape. (Detail, USGS aerial photograph c.2006, accessed from Microsoft Live Search website, annotated by SUNY 

ESF.)
7 

Introduction

Analysis & Evaluation, and preliminary treatment recommendations since these 

chapters address landscape subject to National Park Service management. Within 

the project area, the Analysis & Evaluation focuses on the National Registerlisted Floyd Bennett Field Historic District. Areas not under the jurisdiction of 

the National Park Service, such as Flatbush Avenue, are addressed in the Existing 

Conditions and Analysis & Evaluation chapters only to the extent that they 

influence the treatment of the landscape within the project area.

Summary of findings

Site History

Tidal Estuary and Early Development, Pre-History–1928

Prior to development, the site of Floyd Bennett Field was comprised of numerous 

small islands, creeks, bays, and channels that were part of the tidal estuary of 

Jamaica Bay. Barren Island, located on the south side of the site and the only 

upland within this part of the estuary, was formed as part of the system of barrier 

beaches along the south shore of Long Island. Barren Island was naturally low 

dunes and sandy beach, surrounded by the wide, open expanses of the Atlantic 

Ocean to the south, Jamaica Bay to the north, and the low-lying south shore of 

Long Island in the distance. Salt grasses covered the marshes while trees and 

shrubs grew on the dunes and uplands. By the nineteenth century, Barren Island 

was transformed into an interior island within Jamaica Bay due to storms and 

longshore currents, which extended Rockaway Beach, the barrier beach to the 

east, westward beyond Barren Island. 

The cultural history of Floyd Bennett Field extends back well before the arrival 

of Europeans. At the time of European contact in the seventeenth century, the 

site was part of the homeland of the Canarsie people, who named Barren Island, 

“Equendito.” There is no evidence of Native American habitation on Barren 

Island, but the island probably served as fishing and hunting grounds. 

European settlement reached the Canarsie homeland in southern Brooklyn by 

1626, but remained distant from the project area for many years. Initially used for 

grazing and harvesting salt hay and sand, it was not until about 1800 that the first 

structures were built on the island, a hotel that catered to fishermen. Between 

1850 and 1918, Barren Island was transformed into an industrial community built 

off the processing of dead animals and garbage from New York and Brooklyn. 

These industries were lured to Barren Island on account of its remote location, 

where offensive odors would not reach populated areas, and its access to deep 
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

8

navigable waters in Rockaway Inlet. The factories made use of the wetlands and 

bays at the north or inland side of Barren Island for dumping their refuse. A small 

community developed around the industries, with residences, churches, bars, 

and a school. At the height of the industrial development in the second decade 

of the twentieth century, the popular of Barren Island reached approximately 

1,500 people. In 1923, the island’s isolation from the mainland was ended with the 

construction of Flatbush Avenue, which extended to the Rockaway Inlet shoreline 

of Barren Island. By the late 1920s as public pressure mounted against the waste 

factories, the population declined to 400 with only one of the factories remaining 

in business. 

Municipal Airport Period, 1928–1941

During the 1920s as the garbage industry on Barren Island was disappearing, 

commercial aviation was gaining popularity and municipalities throughout the 

country were constructing airports. In 1927, city officials chose Barren Island, 

site of the private Barren island Airport, and the tidal flats to its north as the 

location of the city’s first municipal airport, named after the noted Navy aviator, 

Floyd Bennett. New York City officials chose this location for its access to water 

for seaplanes and because the city already had jurisdiction over the site and had 

been filling and dredging the area as part of unrealized plans for major port 

development. Construction of the airport began in 1928 with filling that raised 

the elevation to sixteen feet above mean tide levels, construction of two concrete 

runways, and building of hangars and a terminal building lining the west side of 

Flatbush Avenue. The city officially dedicated the airport on May 23, 1931, and it 

became a favorite location for record-breaking flights, and home to private aircraft 

companies, the Navy, and the Coast Guard. 

In the years after the dedication, the city made numerous improvements to the 

field, including beginnings of a seaplane base along Jamaica Bay and the addition 

of nighttime navigation lighting, two new runways, and maintenance buildings. 

Many of these improvements were undertaken through the federal Works 

Progress Administration (WPA). In 1936, the U. S. Coast Guard built its own 

hangar and seaplane ramp along the Jamaica Bay shoreline on land leased from 

the city, adjoining the city’s seaplane base. In 1940 following the declaration of a 

national emergency, the Navy began to develop its own facilities on land leased 

from the city. These included a reserve base along Flatbush Avenue and a separate 

Aviation Patrol Base north of the Coast Guard station with a hangar, seaplane 

ramp, and two barracks. 

Although Floyd Bennett Field was busy with private aircraft and Coast Guard and 

Navy operations, it never became a commercial success for the city, owing in large 

part to its remote location and failure to secure the Post Office’s exclusive airmail 
9 

Introduction

contract, which had been awarded to Newark (New Jersey) Airport. For only a 

brief period in 1937-1938 did a commercial airline operate regular service from 

Floyd Bennett Field. 

To the south of the airport, the Barren Island community was slowly disappearing 

during this period. The city cleared the western part of the island in the mid-1930s 

for redevelopment as part of Brooklyn Marine Park, to be linked by other parks 

in the area by the Marine Parkway Bridge completed across Rockaway Inlet in 

1937. The eastern end of the island remained in private ownership with its houses, 

church, and foundations of demolished factories. To the north of the airport, the 

city continued its filling operations, but remnants of the tidal estuary remained.

World War II Period, 1941–1945

As U.S. involvement in the war appeared imminent in early 1941, the Navy 

required a Naval Air Station in the New York City area and decided to locate 

the new facility at Floyd Bennett Field, where the Navy had already developed 

numerous facilities on land leased from the city. While the city was reluctant to 

give up the airport despite its lack of commercial success, it did agree to a longterm lease. On May 26, 1941, the city closed Municipal Airport #1, Floyd Bennett 

Field. The Navy quickly took over the airport and one week later on June 2, 1941, 

it commissioned Naval Air Station (NAS), New York. With U. S. entry into the 

war following Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Navy pressed the city for 

purchase of the airport and surrounding city-owned land to the north and south 

in order to redevelop and expand NAS New York. The Navy condemned the 

remaining private property on Barren Island by January 1942 and on February 9, 

1942, took ownership of the city property through condemnation. 

Immediately following acquisition of the property, the Navy began its extensive 

redevelopment and expansion. Within the original airport property, the Navy 

extended the runways, built a circumferential taxiway system, constructed a 

maintenance complex on the east side of the airfield, and expanded Hangar Row 

and the Aviation Patrol Base with new hangars and support buildings. In the 

tidal estuary to the north of the airport, the Navy filled the area to expand the 

airfield and build a new runway, and constructed a communications-ammunitions 

complex with radio towers and high-explosive magazines. The most substantial 

change occurred on Barren Island, where the Navy demolished all remnants 

of the community and expanded the land out into Rockaway Inlet and Jamaica 

Bay to build two barracks areas, a seaplane base, and a wharf. In total, the Navy 

expanded Floyd Bennett Field from 387 acres to more than 1,280 acres, and 

constructed three new hangars and approximately 100 other buildings. Despite 

the extensive redevelopment, the Navy retained much of the original municipal 
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

10

infrastructure of Floyd Bennett Field and the open, expansive character of the 

landscape.

Cold War Period, 1945-1972

While Floyd Bennett Field played a vital function in the World War II home 

front, its military role in the decades after the war rose and fell with the vagaries 

of the Cold War. In the immediate post-war years, military activity at NAS New 

York dropped significantly as the Navy reduced its war-time arsenal at bases 

across the country. The Navy was faced with much more infrastructure than 

it needed, and so removed a number of frame barracks and began to lease out 

portions of the field to other public agencies as the city had done prior to the 

war, notably the New York Air National Guard and the New York City Police 

Aviation Unit. Beginning in 1950 with the Korean War, the Navy invested in a 

program of improvements including lengthening of runways and construction of 

a new barracks complex. Change continued through the 1960s with additional 

demolitions and some new construction, notably a nose hangar constructed by 

the Air National Guard in Hangar Row. By the closing years of the Vietnam War in 

the early 1970s, the Navy had little use for NAS New York and in June 1971 it was 

decommissioned as part of a plan for its transformation into a public recreation 

area. A year prior to this time, the Navy established Naval Air Reserve Detachment 

(NARDET) at the Aviation Patrol Base and would retain ownership of this small 

part of the field. It retained ownership of the rest of the field until late 1972 while 

plans were finalized for its post-military future. These plans included transferring 

the bulk of the property to the National Park Service, except for approximately 

100 acres along Rockaway Inlet that the Department of Defense retained as a 

reserve base. The Coast Guard retained ownership of its air station along Jamaica 

Bay, and incorporated additional property including a part of the maintenance 

area and a runway.

National Park Service Period, 1972-Present

Numerous alternatives were circulated for the future of Floyd Bennett Field 

following its decommissioning, notably a large-scale housing development for 

180,000 people, but the site was ultimately included in federal legislation passed in 

October 1972 establishing Gateway National Recreation Area. Gateway included 

over 26,000 acres of former military bases and city parks in New York and New 

Jersey. Floyd Bennett Field encompassed approximately 1,450 of the total acreage 

and included most of the former naval air station as well as parts of Brooklyn 

Marine Park. The new park opened to the public in 1974. The size of Floyd 

Bennett Field was increased upon incorporation of the Navy’s NARDET base, 
11 

Introduction

which was decommissioned in 1983, and the Coast Guard’s air station, which was 

decommissioned in 1996. 

Over the three decades following establishment of Gateway, the landscape 

of Floyd Bennett Field changed considerably as management shifted toward 

recreation and natural resource conservation and as limited budgets curtailed 

maintenance of the sprawling former military base. Conspicuous changes to the 

landscape during the National Park Service period include growth of woods 

and planting of trees on formerly open airfield; demolition of buildings, notably 

three World War II-period hangars as well as several barracks; and conversion of 

runways and aprons for roads and parking lots. Other changes relate to conversion 

from military to recreational uses. With much more infrastructure than it can 

use, the park has turned to partners and concessionaires for use of the field. 

These outside users have built community gardens, outdoor playing fields, and 

a connector building between two hangars as part of a large indoor recreation 

center. 

Existing Conditions

Floyd Bennett Field is today an expansive landscape characterized by open 

fields, extensive areas of concrete and asphalt pavement, young second-growth 

woods and thickets, engineered and natural shorelines, and a variety of buildings 

clustered into what were historically flight-path clear zones. Although no longer 

used for military or aviation purposes (except for city police helicopters), the 

landscape still reflects its origins as New York City’s first municipal airport and 

as a major naval aviation base in the World War II home front. The Floyd Bennett 

Field park site consists of most of the former Naval Air Station, New York 

property and the much smaller U. S. Coast Guard Air Station property. 

The National Park Service manages Floyd Bennett Field primarily for recreation 

and natural resource conservation, although the park maintains other uses 

through leases and partnerships. The park offers the public a number of 

recreational opportunities at Floyd Bennett Field, including environmental 

programs, youth camping, nature trails, a model airplane flying field, sports 

fields, a remote-control car track, and an archery range. The largest recreation 

concession is Aviator Sports that occupies the north half of Hangar Row. Other 

park partners include the Floyd Bennett Garden Association, a cricket club, 

the Historic Aircraft Restoration Project (H.A.R.P.), the New York City Board 

of Education (Gateway Environmental Education Center), and Polytechnic 

University, part of New York University. 
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

12

In addition to partners and concessions, the National Park Service also maintains 

special use permits with two city agencies for exclusive, non-public use of portions 

of Floyd Bennett Field, including the New York City Police Department, which 

occupies the former U. S. Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn property. Within 

the police’s special use area is a 1.8-acre parcel used by the Federal Aviation 

Administration for a Doppler radar tower. North of the city police, the park 

maintains a special use permit with the New York City Department of Sanitation 

to provide vehicle training for sanitation workers.

Analysis and evaluation

The site history and existing conditions documented in this report reveal that 

the cultural landscape of Floyd Bennett Field has a layered character that 

illustrates its development over the course of the past seventy-five years since 

its dedication in 1931. While the earlier landscapes of tidal estuaries and the 

community on Barren Island that existed in part prior to 1941 are no longer 

visible, the original municipal airport and its World War II expansion continue to 

characterize the landscape today. The post-1945 naval development did not alter 

the overall character of the landscape, although it did change some of its details, 

particularly in the South Administrative Area through new building construction 

and demolition. National Park Service management since 1972 has had a more 

pronounced impact on the character of the landscape through alteration of 

historic aircraft circulation patterns, demolition of major buildings, and changes 

in maintenance that have allowed open airfield to grow into woods. 

The Analysis and Evaluation chapter provides recommendations regarding 

the historic significance and historic character of the landscape. These pertain 

to updating the existing National Register historic district documentation to 

document significance under Criteria A and C in the areas of both transportation 

and military history under city and Navy ownership. The present listing 

documents significance related only to the municipal airport under the area of 

transportation. The Navy’s World War II expansion of Floyd Bennett Field into 

Naval Air Station (NAS) New York left a lasting imprint on the character of the 

landscape and was associated with significant operations in the World War II 

home front. Further research and evaluation may be required to fully document 

other potential areas of significance, such as architecture, engineering, and 

military history. 

As part of the expansion of the statement of significance, it is recommended that 

the period of significance for the property be extended to 1945 to incorporate 

the World War II history of Floyd Bennett Field. The later period of Navy 

administration during the Cold War is not recommended for inclusion within 
13 

Introduction

the period of significance because available documentation does not indicate 

that use of the field was associated with historic events in the area of military 

history. NAS New York after 1945 functioned primarily as a Navy and Air Force 

reserve center. Aside from some new construction during the Korean War that 

adapted the airfield to jet aircraft, the Navy did not undertake a comprehensive 

program of improvements to the World War II-period landscape. Based on the 

level of integrity in the landscape and the lack of militarily significant associations 

after World War II, it does not appear that further evaluation under other areas 

of significance would extend the period of significance beyond 1945, with the 

possible exception of the period of significance for the Coast Guard Air Station. 

Little documentation was found for this report on the role of the air station during 

the Cold War and its associated physical improvements, including a new seaplane 

ramp and helicopter landing pad, barracks, a memorial, and several secondary 

buildings built between the 1950s through the 1970s. 

The Analysis & Evaluation chapter also recommends expanding the existing 

historic district boundaries to incorporate those portions of NAS New York 

landscape, including the Coast Guard Air Station, that retain integrity to the 

World War II period. The proposed expanded boundaries correspond with 

the entire airfield, Hangar Row, the Aviation Patrol Base, and the Coast Guard 

Air Station. The North 40 Natural Area, location of the Navy’s ammunitionscommunications area, and the South Administrative Area, location of the main 

barracks area, west barracks area, and seaplane base along Rockaway Inlet, are 

excluded from the enlarged boundaries due to lack of integrity in the landscape 

resulting from building demolition, new construction, and change in setting from 

open field to woods. The seaplane base, outside of the CLR project area because 

it is under separate federal administration by the Department of Defense, has 

lost integrity due to the construction of large buildings in the 1970s used as a 

Marine Corps Reserve Center. Depending on future documentation under other 

areas of significance, it is possible that resources outside of the proposed district 

boundaries, such as individual buildings, structures, and archeological sites, may 

meet the criteria for listing in the National Register. However, based on the level 

of integrity in the landscape, it is unlikely that additional research would further 

expand the proposed boundaries with the possible exception of the North 40 

Natural Area where the concentration of World War II ammunitions magazines, 

if intact, may warrant incorporation into the district for their significance in 

architecture and engineering. These magazines were not inventoried due to lack 

of access from dense vegetation. 

The landscape evaluation section of the Analysis and Evaluation chapter 

identifies all landscape features that existed during the historic period (1928-

1945) and remain largely unaltered as contributing to the historic character of the 
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

14

landscape. Features added after 1945 are evaluated as non-contributing and either 

compatible with or detracting from the historic character of the landscape. Several 

landscape features are not evaluated due to lack of documentation on their 

historic and/or existing condition. A total of 134 landscape features are evaluated 

within the expanded historic district, including seventy-three, contributing; fiftyone, non-contributing; and ten, unevaluated.

Preliminary treatment recommendations

The report concludes with preliminary recommendations on the treatment of 

the cultural landscape within the proposed expanded boundaries of the Floyd 

Bennett Field Historic District. Treatment of the landscape warrants further 

study and elaboration in a full treatment plan (Cultural Landscape Report Part 

II) that would implement the management direction of the new Gateway General 

Management Plan anticipated for completion within the next few years. The 

preliminary treatment recommendations in this report include definition of an 

overall treatment approach that identifies the character of the landscape in 1945 

as a benchmark for treatment. This treatment date would allow interpretation 

of both the municipal airport and World War II periods. Given its distinct 

spatial limits and recent park restoration efforts, the airport entrance area is 

recommended for a separate treatment date of 1941 to focus interpretation on 

the municipal airport period. The report identifies a number of general treatment 

issues and recommends specific tasks that would enhance the historic character 

of the landscape. These issues and tasks pertain to upcoming projects to replace 

eight miles of underground electrical lines and build two new entrances off 

Flatbush Avenue, as well as to the growth of woods on historically open airfield 

and the loss of historic circulation patterns. 

ENDNOTES

1 Robert Page, Cathy Gilbert, and Susan Dolan. A Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and Techniques, 

(Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Cultural Resource and Stewardship and 

Partnerships, Park Historic Structures and Cultural Landscapes Program, 1998), 129.

2 Suzanne Keith Loechl, Samuel A. Batzli, and Susan I. Enscore, “Guidelines for Documenting and Evaluating 

Historic Military Landscapes: An Integrated Approach” (AEC Technical Guideline, prepared by U. S. Army 

Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, c.1995), 3.

3 According to NPS-28: Cultural Resource Management, a thorough level of investigation is defined 

as reviewing “published and documentary sources of known or presumed relevance that are readily 

accessible without extensive travel and that promise expeditious extraction of relevant data, interviewing all 

knowledgeable persons who are readily available, and presenting findings in no greater detail than required by 

the task directive.”
15 

Site History

1. Site History

The history of the Floyd Bennett Field landscape is a story of dramatic natural 

and cultural changes set within the enduring character of its seaside location. 

This story begins with the native environment that remained little changed by 

humans through the mid-nineteenth century, and then continues with periods 

of transformation for industrial, transportation, military, and recreational uses. 

While the industrial period has been largely lost, the natural forces and layers of 

transportation and military development still characterize the landscape today. 

Barren Island and Tidal Estuary, Pre-History To 

1928

Prior to human settlement and development, the site that planners chose for 

Floyd Bennett Field was a place where water and land intermixed, a naturally 

dynamic site between the Long Island mainland and the Atlantic Ocean. This 

remote location together with its access to deep waters suitable for navigation led 

to industrial development in the nineteenth century, thereby transforming the 

landscape not only with construction of factories and houses, but also through 

stabilization of its shifting shoreline and filling of the adjoining estuary.1

Native Environment

The native environment of Floyd Bennett Field—the natural landscape as it 

existed prior to human use—was a tidal saltwater estuary along the Atlantic shore 

of Long Island consisting of an ocean beach and series of islands, marshes, creeks, 

and small bays. This environment was largely the product of the end of the last 

Ice Age and the ongoing erosive force of the Atlantic 

Ocean. Roughly 50,000 years ago, the Wisconsin 

glacier reached its farthest southern extent along 

the East Coast, stopping at present-day Long Island 

and Staten Island (fig. 1.1). Along its terminal edge, 

the glacier created a moraine or area of accumulated 

earth that formed a line of hills to the north of 

Jamaica Bay running in a general east-west direction. 

As the glacier melted and retreated northward, its 

meltwaters deposited sand, silt, and clay south of the 

moraine, forming a broad outwash plain extending 

into the ocean. A river of meltwater formed through 

the present area of Jamaica Bay, forming a wide delta. 

With final retreat of the glacier approximately 12,000 

Figure 1.1: Relationship of Jamaica 

Bay to glacial and ocean forces, 

overlaid on current map of area. 

(SUNY ESF, based on Bradford B. 

Van Diver, Roadside Geology of 

New York, 1985.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

16

years ago, the low-lying delta flooded due to rising 

sea levels, forming Jamaica Bay.2

In the centuries following the retreat of the glacier, 

Jamaica Bay became separated from the Atlantic 

Ocean by a series of narrow, shifting islands and 

peninsulas that were formed by wind, waves, and 

westward-running longshore currents (see fig. 

1.1). These islands, the largest of which today 

include Fire Island National Seashore, formed 

barrier beaches characterized by sand dunes that 

protected the inland from the ocean surf and 

currents. These islands shifted with major storms 

and currents, often creating new openings into 

the bays. As documented on eighteenth-century 

maps, Barren Island was one of the barrier 

beaches protecting Jamaica Bay, together with 

Rockaway Neck (later known as Rockaway Beach or Peninsula) to the east, and 

another peninsula later known as Plumb Beach and Pelican Beach to the west 

(fig. 1.2).As a barrier beach, Barren Island shifted considerably and frequently 

prior to construction of wharfs and bulkheads. As late as the mid-nineteenth 

century, a Brooklyn newspaper reported: “There is scarcely a decade that, through 

storm and wind, the configuration of the [Barren Island] shore and even interior 

divisions of it, is not more or less changed.”3

While it is not known when Barren Island first took shape as a barrier island, 

it underwent considerable reconfiguration through natural forces during the 

nineteenth century. By 1839, major storms had joined Barren Island with Pelican 

Beach and Plumb Beach to the west, and created a new opening known as Plumb 

Inlet that separated the elongated barrier beach from Coney Island to the west 

(fig. 1.3).The main inlet into Jamaica Bay at this time was Rockaway Inlet along the 

east side of Barren Island. At some point between 1844 and 1898, major storms 

once again reconfigured the barrier islands, separating Barren Island from Plumb 

Beach by creating a new inlet, identified in 1898 as Dead Horse Inlet and today 

corresponding with Gerritsen Inlet (fig. 1.4, see also fig. 0.3). 

One of the most dramatic changes to the system of barrier beaches at Jamaica 

Bay was the elongation of Rockaway Beach toward the west (see fig. 1.4). While 

aligned with Barren Island’s barrier beach during the eighteenth century, over the 

next century Rockaway Beach extended into the ocean west and south beyond 

Barren Island, lengthening more than a mile between 1866 and 1911.4

 Although 

created by natural forces, this accelerated lengthening of the beach was caused 

Figure 1.2: “An Accurate Map 

of Staten Island: With That 

part of New York, Long Island 

and the Jerseys...” (October 

3, 1776) illustrating Barren 

Island (indicated by arrow) 

as one of the barrier beaches 

along Jamaica Bay. This map 

also shows Dutch settlements 

dating to the previous century, 

including Flatlands to the north 

of Barren Island. (Digital image 

ID 434726, copyright New York 

Public Library, annotated by 

SUNY ESF.)
17 

Site History, Pre-History to 1928

in part from construction of jetties, groin fields, and other beach stabilization 

structures that were erected to protect beach-front communities. Aside from 

changing the setting of Barren Island and its ecological function as a barrier beach, 

the extension of Rockaway Beach also shifted Rockaway Inlet from the east to the 

south sides of Barren Island, causing the old ocean beach on Barren Island to be 

washed away. By the early twentieth century, Barren Island had become one of the 

many interior islands within Jamaica Bay, from which large areas of tidal marsh 

continued to extend north toward the Long Island mainland (see fig. 1.4).

The native ecosystem of the future site of Floyd Bennett Field prior to 

development consisted of a diversity of ecological communities, including 

Figure 1.3: “Map of New-York and 

its Vicinity” (John Disturnell, 1839) 

illustrating the natural changes to 

Barren Island (indicated by arrow), 

here shown as incorporating barrier 

beaches to its west once known 

as Plumb Beach and Pelican Beach. 

(Detail, digital image 434632, 

copyright New York Public Library, 

annotated by SUNY ESF.)

Figure 1.4: Map made in 1898 

illustrating the changes in the barrier 

islands along Jamaica Bay since 

1839 (preceding figure). Note the 

westward lengthening of Rockaway 

Beach and the separation of Barren 

Island (indicated by arrow) from 

Pelican Beach to the west. (Detail, 

U. S. Geologic Survey, Brooklyn 

Quadrangle, 1898, annotated by 

SUNY-ESF.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

18

marine, estuarine, and terrestrial systems within what is today classified as the 

Coastal Lowlands ecozone.5 Prior to the extension of Rockaway Beach in the 

early nineteenth century, the southern shore of Barren Island would have been a 

marine intertidal sand beach (ocean beach), characterized by rough, high-energy 

waves with high fluctuations in salinity and moisture, with no vegetation but 

abundant with marine life and shorebirds. Above the high-tide level, the beach 

would have transitioned to a maritime dunes community, dominated by grasses 

and low shrubs, including beach grass, dusty miller, beach heather, bearberry, 

beach plum, poison ivy, and possibly stunted pitch pines or post oaks.6

 By the 

late nineteenth century, these ecosystems largely disappeared from Barren Island 

through erosion from currents in Rockaway Inlet, as well as nineteenth-century 

industrial development. 

Beyond the ocean beach and dunes, the 

native ecosystem of the uplands of Barren 

Island—approximately 200 acres in the late 

nineteenth century—encompassed maritime 

shrubland and grassland communities that 

occur on dry seaside headlands exposed 

to offshore winds and salt spray (fig. 1.5).

Within the shrubland, species may have 

included many of those on the dunes, 

along with eastern red-cedar, Atlantic 

white-cedar, shining sumac, highbush 

blueberry, American holly, and shadbush. 

The grasslands, distinguishable from the 

shrubland by dominance of grasses rather than shrubs, may have included 

bluestem, common hairgrass, poverty grass, Pennsylvania sedge, rush, Indian 

grass, Atlantic golden aster, bayberry, and bitter milkwort.7

The majority of the future 1,300-acre site of Floyd Bennett Field beyond the 

ocean beach, dunes, and uplands of Barren Island was an estuarine intertidal 

ecosystem dominated by tidal creek and salt marsh communities. The numerous 

tidal creeks that meandered through the estuary were rich in marine life, and were 

probably lined by widgeon-grass. High salt marsh was found in areas subject to 

periodic seasonal flooding, and was dominated by salt-meadow grass, cordgrass, 

spikegrass, and black-grass. Low salt marsh occurred in areas extending from 

mean high tide down to mean sea level that were subject to regular flooding. 

Characteristic vegetation included cordgrass, glasswort, salt marsh sand-spurry, 

and various algaes that formed dense mats.8

Figure 1.5: View of remnant 

native beach, dune, and shrub 

communities on Barren Island, 

view looking southwest from 

Flatbush Avenue, 1931. The 

purpose of the fence is not known. 

(Digital ID 731875F, copyright New 

York Public Library.) 
19 

Site History, Pre-History to 1928

Canarsie Homeland 

On the eve of European contact in the sixteenth century, Long Island was 

inhabited by the Lenape people, members of the Algonquian linguistic family 

who lived along the mid-Atlantic coast and its inland watershed. Known by the 

English as the Delaware Indians, the Lenape lived in semi-autonomous groups 

associated with specific geographic places. With abundant marine life and forests, 

the location of their seasonal camps allowed them to live primarily by fishing and 

hunting within seasonal camps. Their dwellings, called longhouses, were made 

of saplings covered by bark and were built to be moved in keeping with their 

nomadic life. 9 It was probably not until around the time of European contact that 

the Lenape began to farm extensively and settle in more permanent villages.10

Much of their Long Island homeland remained forested, with expansive open 

areas in the marshes along the shores and inland waterways. 

The western end of Long Island was home to two 

Lenape groups at the time of European contact in the 

sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: the Canarsie 

(also spelled Canarsee, from the native Canaryssen), 

who occupied most of present-day Kings County 

(Brooklyn); and the Rockaway (probably from the 

native Rechqua Akie), who lived in southern Queens 

and Nassau Counties. Jamaica Bay, from the native 

name Yemacah, straddled the two homelands.11

Within the Canarsie homeland was the western part 

of the bay, including Barren Island and the future site 

of Floyd Bennett Field. Archeological study over the 

years has identified a number of Canarsie and Rockaway sites around Jamaica Bay. 

Those near the site of Floyd Bennett Field include Narriock near Sheepshead Bay, 

Ryders Pond (Shanscomacoke) at Brooklyn Marine Park, Winnipauge at Bergen 

Beach, and Keskaechqueren at the present neighborhood of Canarsie (fig. 1.6).

Keshkaechqueren, a settlement dating to the period of contact with Europeans, 

is believed to have been the chief community of the Canarsie people at that time. 

This site was described as being a village with immense shell heaps and extensive 

fenced agricultural fields.12

The Lenape named Barren Island, “Equendito,” the meaning of which has been 

lost. While historians and archeologists have uncovered no evidence of their 

use of the island, the Lenape most likely fished off its shores and perhaps set up 

seasonal campsites on its uplands.13

Figure 1.6: Approximate location 

of Canarsie and Rockaway 

archeological settlement sites 

around Jamaica Bay in the 

eighteenth century. (“An Accurate 

Map of Staten Island: With That 

part of New York, Long Island and 

the Jerseys...,” October 3, 1776 

[figure 1.2], annotated by SUNY 

ESF based on Frederick Black, 

Jamaica Bay: A History, 1981, and 

URS Corporation, “Modified Phase 

IA Cultural Resource Inventory, 

2005.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

20

the town of flatlands

The arrival of European settlers on Long Island in the seventeenth century forever 

changed the Canarsie people as well as their native landscape. In June 1636, more 

than a decade after arrival of the Dutch on Manhattan Island and establishment of 

the colony of New Netherlands, Dutch speculators purchased from the Canarsie 

approximately 15,000 acres along the southwestern side of Jamaica Bay, north 

of Barren Island. They subsequently conveyed the land to Dutch settlers who 

established farms in the woods, grasslands, and fields inland from the bay. To 

the new settlers, the flat topography and marshes were a familiar landscape that 

was reminiscent of their Dutch homeland. By 1654, a small settlement known as 

Achtervelt and later renamed Amersfoort developed at the present intersection of 

Flatbush and Flatlands Avenues, two old Indian paths about two miles northwest 

of Barren Island.14 With transfer of New Netherlands to British rule in 1664, 

Amersfoort was organized into the Town of Flatlands.

By 1684, Canarsie leaders had signed twenty-two land conveyances, transferring 

much of their homeland to Dutch settlers, including Barren Island.15 While 

the Canarsie initially retained rights to small areas of land, including their 

fields at Keskaechqueren (Canarsie), the widespread transformation of their 

hunting grounds into farms left little to sustain their traditional life, and many 

moved away. At the same time, fights with the Dutch and the introduction of 

European diseases, to which they had no natural resistance, decimated the native 

populations. The Dutch settler Daniel Denton wrote in 1670 how he “...admired 

how strangely they [Native Americans] have decreast by the Hand of God...; 

for since my time, when there were six towns, they are reduced to two small 

villages.”16 By the end of the seventeenth century, the Canarsie were largely gone 

from their native Long Island homeland. 

While Dutch settlement occurred primarily in the interior areas away from the 

marshy shoreline, Jamaica Bay, including Barren Island, provided valuable natural 

resources for the settlers. Aside from its rich fisheries, the grasslands and marshes 

supplied reed grass, salt grass, and hay to feed to livestock.17 A Dutch visitor to 

Flatlands in October 1679 described this landscape of marsh and agriculture, 

recalling its similarity to the Netherlands:

There is toward the sea [Atlantic] a large piece of low flat which is overflown 

at every tide, like the schoor [marsh] with us, mirry at the bottom, and 

which produces a species of hard salt grass or reed grass. Such a place they 

call valey and mow it for hay, which cattle would rather eat than fresh 

hay or grass...Their adjoining corn lands are dry and barren for the most 

part...All the land from the bay [Jamaica Bay] to ‘t Vlacke Bos [Flatbush, 

village to the northwest of Flatlands], is low and level without the least 
21 

Site History, Pre-History to 1928

elevation...[the] meadow (schoor), like all the others, is well provided with 

good creeks which are navigable and very serviceable for fisheries. 18

Throughout the colonial period and into the late nineteenth century, the Town 

of Flatlands remained agricultural, as reflected in an account published in 1839: 

“The surface of this town 

is, as its name indicates, 

a perfect level; the soil, a 

light sandy loam, warm 

and pleasant to till, and 

from the skill and industry 

of its farming population, 

yields a large amount over 

and above the wants of 

its inhabitants.”19 Fishing 

also was an important 

part of the economy, 

centered at Canarsie 

Landing, the town’s only 

port. Despite its nearness 

to the burgeoning city of 

Brooklyn, the population 

of Flatlands grew slowly, 

from 256 in 1698 to 810 by 

1840. 20 Development was 

concentrated along two 

roads: Flatbush Avenue, 

also known as the Ferry 

Road, running southwest 

from Brooklyn where the ferry ran to Manhattan; and King’s Highway, also 

known as Flatlands Avenue, running roughly parallel to the ocean and Jamaica 

Bay shore (fig. 1.7).The only substantial community in the town at this time was 

the hamlet of Flatlands, formerly Achtervelt, which consisted of a collection of 

houses, stores, and a church at the intersection of the two major roads. Several 

secondary roads extended south a short distance from Flatlands, but terminated 

at the edge of the marshlands, well north of Barren Island. 

The Town of Flatlands began to grow during the mid and late nineteenth century, 

nearly tripling its 1840 population to 2,286 by 1870.21 Despite this, it remained 

rural and the extensive marshlands along Jamaica Bay stayed largely undeveloped, 

although storms had reconfigured them considerably since 1844. As shown on an 

atlas of the town published in 1873, the hamlet of Flatlands had expanded and 

Figure 1.7: Map of western Long 

Island made in c.1844 illustrating 

the rural setting with the City of 

Brooklyn well to the northwest. 

The map shows Barren Island at the 

lower right (“Barren Id”) attached 

to Pelican Beach. The shaded area 

indicates the current approximate 

limits of Floyd Bennett Field. (E. 

& G. W. Blunt, New York Harbor 

and Entrance, c.1844, digital image 

434593, copyright New York Public 

Library, annotated by SUNY ESF.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

22

a new community, South Greenfield, had 

developed to the west along Kings Highway 

(fig. 1.8).Canarsie had grown from a string 

of perhaps six houses into a community 

larger than Flatlands, apparently due to its 

port and location along the Brooklyn & 

Rockaway Branch Railroad. 

The growth of Flatlands continued 

through the late nineteenth century as 

urban development extended south and 

east from the City of Brooklyn. In 1896, 

the Town of Flatlands, which by then had 

more than doubled its 1870 population, 

was incorporated into the City of Brooklyn, 

which in turn became the Borough of 

Brooklyn as part of the establishment of 

Greater New York City in 1898.22 While this 

change in municipal boundaries brought 

the old farming and fishing community into 

the boundaries of the great metropolis, a 

remote part of the town—Barren Island—

had already been indirectly transformed by 

the growth of New York City. 

Barren Island

Despite its isolation from the rest of Flatlands, Barren Island appears to have 

figured prominently as a geographic place since prior to the arrival of the 

Europeans, as reflected in its naming by the Canarsie, Equendito. In 1664, the year 

of transfer to English rule, the Canarsie leaders Wawnatt-Tappa and Kackawashe 

sold Barren Island to Samuel Spicer and John Tilton Senior, twenty-eight years 

after selling the adjoining 15,000 acres that became the Town of Flatlands.23 A 

nineteenth-century history recorded that at the time of its initial sale, Barren 

Island was substantially larger than it was in the nineteenth century, and “covered 

with cedar and other timber.”24The Dutch called the island Beeren Eylant, or 

Bears Island, from which the modern name was purportedly corrupted.25 The 

name Barren Island perhaps also reflects changes to the landscape from clearing 

of its trees during colonial times, notably Atlantic white-cedar that dominated 

the marshy shorelines of Long Island and was widely used for roof and siding 

shingles. The name Barren Island could have also simply reflected the remote and 

expansive character of the environment. 

Figure 1.8: Map of the Town 

of Flatlands in 1873 showing 

growth since the 1840s (compare 

with Figure 1.7) and marshlands 

extending south to Barren Island. 

The map does not show the small 

amount of development that 

existed at the time on Barren 

Island (the lower part is cut off 

on the original). The shaded area 

indicates the current approximate 

limits of area of Floyd Bennett 

Field. (F. W. Beers, Atlas of Long 

Island, New York, 1873, digital 

image 1527273, copyright New 

York Public Library, annotated by 

SUNY ESF.)
23 

Although it bordered the main inlet into Jamaica Bay, Barren Island remained 

largely undeveloped and uninhabited for more than a century after its 1664 

purchase. For most of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the island was 

probably used for harvesting salt hay and for grazing.26 The island was accessible 

by foot from the mainland at low tide, although it would have been a long, difficult 

walk from Flatlands across more than a mile of tidal flats. Aside from informal 

grazing and harvesting, the earliest documented land use was for mining sand, 

which was dug up on the island’s ocean beach and shipped to New York. The 

person who leased Barren Island for this purpose, William Moore, began mining 

sand in the 1740s, probably choosing the site for its access to deep water provided 

by Rockaway Inlet that bordered the east side of the island. 

In 1762, when Moore described Barren Island as being vacant and unoccupied, 

coastal storms had probably already reduced its size considerably. 27 Although still 

a substantial part of the barrier beaches protecting Jamaica Bay, Barren 

Island by the late eighteenth century was not much bigger than the 

adjoining islands and peninsulas to its east and west (see fig. 1.2).28

Early Development, 1800-1850

By about 1800, the first recorded buildings had been constructed on 

Barren Island by a person named Dooly (also spelled Dooley). One of 

these included an inn that catered to fishermen and was located on the 

east side of the island near Rockaway Inlet. Another was a home for 

Dooly’s family on the west or inland bay side. While the appearance 

of these buildings is not known, their location was documented on 

a survey of western Long Island made in 1818 (fig. 1.9). 29 The inn 

operated throughout the next several decades, and was still documented 

as a hotel on an 1852 map. Over this period, the business changed hands 

and several other families moved to Barren Island and built houses, 

of which there is little record. Whether these people owned the land 

or leased it is not clear, although by 1835 the island had been divided into five 

separate parcels.30

The landscape of Barren Island was suggested on the 1818 survey as having dunes 

and scattered cover of trees. By this time, the island had become connected to the 

adjoining barrier beach to the west, with the ocean beach named Pelican Bar (see 

fig. 1.9). The survey showed Rockaway Inlet along the southeastern side of Barren 

Island. This same general configuration to the island was documented on an 1839 

map, at the beginning of what was apparently a stormy period in which the island 

was substantially reshaped (fig. 1.10).31 By 1844, the island had become integrated 

with Pelican Bar, also known as Pelican Beach, to the west and Rockaway Inlet had 

Figure 1.9: An early nineteenthcentury survey showing location 

of two buildings (indicated by 

arrows) on Barren Island belonging 

to “Dooly.” By this time, Barren 

Island had become connected to the 

adjoining barrier beach to the west. 

(Detail, Charles Lofs, Topographical 

Survey of Western Part of Long 

Island...,” 1818, reproduced in 

Ingrid Wuebber and Edward M. 

Morin, “Modified Phase I A Cultural 

Resources Inventory, Floyd Bennett 

Field,” 2005, annotated by SUNY 

ESF.)

Site History, Pre-History to 1928
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

24

widened, with a depth of nearly thirty feet 

directly along the Barren Island shore (see 

fig. 1.7). 32 The deep inlet, where the waters 

and marine life of Jamaica Bay flushed in and 

out daily, were most likely the conditions that 

made Barren Island a lure for anglers. 

Barren Island was probably a well-known 

landmark to sailors during the early 

nineteenth century, given its location along 

Rockaway Inlet and proximity to increasingly 

busy New York harbor, with its fishing and 

cargo ships heading up the Hudson River 

and through the Erie Canal to the Great Lakes. The ocean waters near Barren 

Island were mostly shallow, with small islands known as breakers extending out 

from Rockaway Inlet. Just east of the inlet were the Rockaway shoals, scene of the 

wreck of the English ship, the Bristol, on November 21, 1836 that claimed the lives 

of as many as sixty people.33 The location of the wreck was indicated on period 

maps (see fig. 1.7, 1.10). During the same decade as the wreck, Barren Island 

secured fame as the site of buried treasure. An 1839 history of Long Island noted: 

“It was upon Barren Island that the notorious pirate Gibbs [Charles Gibbs], and 

his associates in crime, secreted a portion of the money that they had plundered 

upon the high seas, part of which was only recovered.”34 There were also tales 

of Captain Kidd burying his treasure in one of the island’s “many sandhills or 

sinks.”35 The depth of the waters in Rockaway Inlet along the shore of Barren 

Island would have made it relatively easy to dock a large ship such as Gibbs and 

Kidd might have pirated. 

Industrial Heyday, 1850-1919

Beginning in the 1850s during a period of tremendous growth for New York 

City and Brooklyn, remote Barren Island became the home of a succession of 

industrial plants, lured by the deep-water access provided by Rockaway Inlet. 

Along the south shore of Kings County and across Long Island, ports were mostly 

limited to the bays behind the barrier beaches. Direct portage on the ocean in 

almost all places was not feasible due to the shallow depths that would have 

required ships to anchor far off shore. Dredging was not an answer due to the 

continually shifting sands from the longshore currents. The rushing currents 

through Rockaway Inlet, however, provided continual natural dredging that 

maintained deep-water access to Barren Island, one of only a few such places 

along the entire ocean shoreline of Long Island. Despite this, a drawback of 

Barren Island for industry was the lack of land routes and physical isolation from 

the mainland. 

Figure 1.10: Map showing the 

configuration of Barren Island 

in 1839 prior to significant 

reconfiguration due to storms in 

the early 1840s. The present site 

of Floyd Bennett Field probably 

corresponds with the upper right 

(east) half of Barren Island. (D. 

H. Burr, Map of New York City 

and Vicinity, 1839, digital image 

1260604, copyright New York 

Public Library, annotated by SUNY 

ESF.)
25 

For a certain industry, however, remoteness was beneficial. Beginning in the 

middle of the nineteenth century, offal industries—industries that dealt with the 

highly odorous processing of fish and other dead animals and refuse—found 

Barren Island an ideal location. Here far from any community, they produced 

such things as horsehair, hides, glue, tallow, grease, and fertilizer in the form of 

dried blood, ground bone, and fish waste that was brought in by boat. The growth 

of fish processing on the island paralleled the growth of the menhanden (an oily 

herring-like fish) industry that flourished in Long Island waters following the 

Civil War. The first known operation at Barren Island, established in the 1850s 

by Lefferts R. Cornell, processed horse and other animal carcasses shipped from 

New York and Brooklyn. The firm E. P. White and Sons (later White Brothers) 

opened its fertilizer factory around 1870, based on its sole contract with Board 

of Health to remove dead animals 

from city streets, a contract it would 

retain for more than sixty years.36

As shown on an 1877 map, these 

early industries were clustered on 

the uplands along the south shore 

and eastern tip of Barren Island, 

which since the westward growth 

of the Rockaway Peninsula was 

then protected from ocean waves. 

The western-most factory, later the 

Products Manufacturing Company, 

was located near the present foot 

of Flatbush Avenue. It processed 

horse and fish offal and became 

purportedly the largest fertilizer plant of its kind in the world.37 Farther east was 

the White fertilizer factory, and another two factories occupied the eastern tip. 

These factories made use of the wetlands and bays at the north or inland side of 

Barren Island for dumping their refuse. A narrow bay at the southwest side of the 

island was apparently one of the main dumping grounds for the carcasses of dead 

horses. The 1877 map indicates “Dead Horse Inlet” on the west side of the island, 

which fed into a narrow inland bay that was known as Dead Horse Harbor (fig. 

1.11, see also fig. 1.8). 

Aside from their general footprint and associated wharfs extending out into 

Rockaway Inlet, little is known about the physical appearance of these early 

factories. A later photograph of what may be the Products Manufacturing 

Company shows a complex of multiple gable-roof buildings up to four stories in 

height, tall brick and iron chimney stacks, iron tanks, and a horse-drawn railway 

Figure 1.11: A map of Barren 

Island made in 1877 showing 

location of factories and other 

buildings on upland areas. The 

white buildings or structures 

are not identified. (Copyright 

Queen Public Library, Long Island 

Division, annotated by SUNY ESF.) 

Site History, Pre-History to 1928
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

26

for transport of waste materials to and from the processing 

buildings (fig. 1.12).Many of these factories had a fleeting 

existence, due not only to a relatively frequent turn-over 

in operation and ownership (there were upwards of thirtytwo companies that operated on Barren Island between 

the 1850s and the 1930s), but also due to fires and to the 

physical instability of the sandy land on which they were built, 

which could be quickly undermined by the swift currents 

of Rockaway Inlet. There were several instances of major 

landslides that consumed entire factories, such as the one in 

1890 in which the Wimpfheimer fertilizer plant at the eastern 

tip of the island fell into the inlet.38 

The establishment of the offal industries on Barren Island 

led to development of a small community, reflecting not only 

the nineteenth century pattern of workers living close to factories, but also the 

remote nature of the site away from established populations. The 1880 census 

listed twenty-three residences on the island and a population of 309 residents. 

Six of the residences were company-owned dormitory-style housing for the 

laborers working at the factories, housing anywhere from twenty-two to fifty-five 

single men.39 The earliest community was probably located at the more protected 

southeastern end of the island, where the Dooly inn had been located as well as 

the first industries. Houses and commercial establishments were built inland, 

behind the waterfront factories (see fig. 1.11). By 1885, this area contained the 

“W. Dudley Hotel”—possibly the successor to the Dooly establishment—and a 

“U.S. Boat House”—possibly a Coast Guard station—near the eastern shore along 

Jamaica Bay.40 As early as the 1870s, another cluster of development had formed 

on the south-central part of the island around the Products Manufacturing 

Company just east of 

the present-day foot of 

Flatbush Avenue, as shown 

on an 1898 survey (fig. 

1.13). 

By the 1890s, fish-oil 

shortages and a national 

economic depression 

caused a downturn in the 

Barren Island industries, 

but a turn-around came by 

the middle of the decade 

due to the opening of 

Figure 1.12: One of the Barren 

Island fertilizer and waste 

processing factories, possibly the 

Products Manufacturing Company, 

showing multiple buildings, tall 

chimney stacks, and elevated 

horse-drawn railway, c.1900. The 

direction of view is not known. 

(Photograph 18859, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)

Figure 1.13: Detail of an 1898 

coastal survey (Figure 1.4) 

showing two distinct clusters of 

development on the uplands of 

Barren Island. (Detail, U.S. Coast 

and Geodetic Survey, Brooklyn 

Quadrangle, 1898, annotated by 

SUNY-ESF.)
27 

the New York Sanitary Utilization Company, an enormous concern founded in 

1896 with $1,000,000 in capital to process all of New York City’s waste based on 

a fi ve-year contract. Headed by the White brothers, the new waste-processing 

facility was built on the southeastern tip of the island, adjoining the family’s earlier 

fertilizer and horse-processing plant established in c.1870. The location was cited 

as ideal for the purpose, as reported by the New York Times in September 1896: 

Barren Island aff ords an excellent site for this new industry. Its position in 

Jamaica Bay is so remote from all important lines that few New-Yorkers 

would know how to fi nd it. It has a limited neighboring population to be 

annoyed by any off ensive odors, and it is within convenient distance of the 

city.41

The company’s plant employed the modern Arnold sanitary process which 

involved sanitary processing of garbage that was transported to the site by boat 

and then carried by conveyor up an inclined plane into the processing plants 

where it was boiled.42 Covering upwards of sixteen acres, the complex included 

an extensive wharf along the Rockaway Inlet with big derricks and rigging 

equipment; large frame boiler buildings with a tall brick chimney where garbage 

was boiled at 300 degrees for fi ve hours; a three-story brick digester building 

where the boiled garbage was processed into oils and fertilizers; a compacting 

plant housing fi fty-two hydraulic presses; and drying plants, which occupied two 

great buildings a city-block long.43 In 1906, the complex suff ered a devastating 

fi re that also consumed many other buildings on Barren Island, but the company 

rebuilt the complex, consisting of massive new concrete buildings surrounded by 

a stockade. The rebuilding included a new chimney built of yellow brick that rose 

227 feet and could purportedly be seen twenty miles out at sea.44 The factories 

of the complex and the chimney dominated the horizon as viewed from the 

Rockaway Peninsula (fi g. 

1.14).

Establishment of the 

New York Sanitary 

Utilization Company 

resulted in a spurt of 

growth in Barren Island. 

From the 309 residents 

in 1880, the community 

increased to a population 

of 520 residents in 103 

households in 1900, with 

many non-residents on the 

Figure 1.14: The New York 

Sanitary Utilization Company 

plant looking northeast across 

the Rockaway Inlet, c.1918. This 

photograph illustrates the plant 

as rebuilt following a 1906 fi re. 

The smaller complex to the left 

is probably the White fertilizerhorse processing plant. (Adams 

Collection photograph, Copyright 

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.)

SITE HISTORY, PRE-HISTORY TO 1928
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

28

island as day laborers. At the time of the 1906 fire, the New York Times reported 

that six hundred families fled the island.45 By the 1910s, the population reached 

its height of approximately 1,500.46 This growth led to additional commercial 

establishments, including a barber, butcher, grocer, dry-goods merchant, hotels, 

and boarding houses.47 Public and religious institutions were also established, 

including the Roman Catholic Sacred Heart Church and New York City Public 

School #120, which both opened in 1900. A Protestant church was built on the 

island around the same time. Although still isolated, the growth of the community 

made regular ferry service to Rockaway, Sheepshead Bay, and Canarsie 

economically viable.48

By the turn of the century, Barren Island was owned by only several entities. The 

eastern end of the community existed on a seventy-two acre parcel belonging to 

the New York Sanitary Utilization Company, with the property held by the White 

family. Within this lot, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Long Island owned a small 

parcel containing Sacred Heart Church and rectory. The middle section of the 

island totaling 110 acres was acquired by Kings County “for charitable purposes” 

at some point prior to 1899; and the lot to the south was private property, 

probably owned by the Products Manufacturing Company. Residents either lived 

in company housing or built their own houses on leased land. 49

The local population of workers in the fertilizer and waste industries, a mix of 

African-Americans and European immigrants, was known as a fairly rough crowd. 

The New York Times reported in 1910 that across from the New York Sanitary 

Utilization Company there was “...a small yellow hut in which two policemen are 

stationed by the city to keep Barren Island’s unruly foreign population in order 

when the four saloons begin to do their regular nocturnal business.”50 Despite this, 

Barren Island was also home for families as evidenced by the presence of churches 

and the school. Some residents also farmed the land, probably in small garden 

plots, and raised animals that were pastured in the meadow that surrounded the 

community. 

Development associated with the growth of the New York Sanitary Utilization 

Company after 1896 spread westward in a linear fashion from the eastern part 

of the community along what was known as Main Street, where the majority of 

buildings faced south toward Rockaway Inlet. With several cross streets, this part 

of Barren Island contained upwards of forty residences by its height during the 

1910s.51 The older eastern end of Main Street closer to the factories probably 

contained the commercial area around the intersection of White Street and Bay 

Street. The area included Sacred Heart Church, a small Gothic Revival frame 

building with a corner tower constructed in c.1900, with an adjacent two-story 

rectory (fig. 1.15).The remote western end of Main Street was anchored by 
29 

Public School #120, a large, two-story building 

constructed in 1908 (fig. 1.16). Adjoining the 

school to the east were playgrounds with a flag 

pole, and at the rear was a water tower. To the 

west was a two-story residence that served as 

the teachers’ residence.52 As was characteristic 

of most properties along Main Street, the school 

and church were enclosed by simple wood 

paling fences, which probably served multiple 

functions including exclusion of farm animals 

and as sand traps.

Just east of the school, Main Street was 

connected to the western part of the Barren 

Island community by a 700 foot-long boardwalk 

bridge across the marshes (fig. 1.17). Anchored 

by the Products Manufacturing Company 

plant and adjoining factories to the west near 

the present foot of Flatbush Avenue, this part 

of the community may have initially been the 

larger part prior to the establishment of the 

New York Sanitary Utilization Company in 

1896. It contained upwards of forty one-story 

bungalows, the two-story Empire Hotel, a 

ground-level water tank, a post office, and 

factory offices.53 Unlike the eastern part of 

Barren Island, development in this area was 

arranged in a haphazard fashion, with buildings 

linked by a series of walks and narrow roads that 

may have been shaped by uneven topography, 

possibly remnant dunes. 

The marshlands and waterways to the north 

and west of Barren Island changed with the 

Figure 1.15 (top): Barren Island’s Sacred Heart Church and rectory, from a later photograph looking northwest across Main Street, 1931. 

Fences enclosed most buildings on the island. The adjoining building (right) may have been a store. (Digital image 731878F, copyright 

New York Public Library.)

Figure 1.16 (middle): Public School #120, looking north across west end of Main Street, 1931. The building to the left was the teachers’ 

residence. (Digital image 731866F, copyright New York Public Library.)

Figure 1.17 (bottom): View looking southwest from Main Street across the boardwalk known as the Long Bridge leading to the 

southwestern part of the Barren Island community, 1931. By the time of this photograph, the Products Manufacturing Company complex 

which would have dominated the horizon, had been removed. (Digital image 731869F, copyright New York Public Library.)

Site History, Pre-History to 1928
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

30

development of the island as well as regional plans for commercialization of 

Jamaica Bay. Much of this area, particularly the shallow waters adjoining Barren 

Island, was used as a dumping ground. This practice had begun as early as the 

1870s as indicated by the naming of Dead Horse Bay, but probably increased with 

growth of the New York Sanitary Utilization Company, which apparently dumped 

refuse it could not process into other goods, such as glass bottles.54 Beginning in 

1910, the city began work on improving Jamaica Bay into a major port, with plans 

calling for filling the estuary north of Barren Island and constructing fourteen 

piers off the fill extending into Jamaica Bay (see fig. 1.4). In 1918, the city approved 

construction of the piers, but only built one. This pier, located near Barren Island, 

was intended for unloading debris for use in creating the filled land, which by the 

1920s was 700 feet wide from the shore of Little Bay on the west to Jamaica Bay on 

the east, and extended for over a mile north from Barren Island. 55 

Industrial Decline, 1919-1928

While the Barren Island industries had suffered periods of decline in the past, the 

final blow occurred in the years after World War I, brought on by a combination of 

changes in regional development, political opposition to waste processing within 

the city, changes in transportation, and continued planning for redevelopment 

of Jamaica Bay. Up until World War I, Barren Island continued to serve as New 

York City’s dump through its contract with the New York Sanitary Utilization 

Company. Two other plants were still operating at the time: the White family’s 

fertilizer/horse-rendering plant and the Products Manufacturing Company. The 

political opposition to the plants arose over the strong, foul odors that blew into 

surrounding communities. To Barren Island residents, however, these odors had 

long been part of their identity, according to one observer:

Odors, pervading the entire history of the island, contrived to bring it 

the only measure of prosperity—nay, fame—that it has known. What 

the Grand Canyon is to Colorado, [sic] the aroma of garbage and dead 

animals is, in a sense to Barren Island. As long as the city continued 

to empty its ash cans and dead pets in their factories, the people were 

content. The olfactory sense is easily fatigued, and although each 

northwest wind brought new complaints from the Rockaways across the 

bay, the islanders remained untroubled.56

While political opposition to the odors began as early as 1899 when the city 

and state legislature considered bills to halt the waste industries, it was not until 

the years leading up to World War I that it mounted to the point where the city 

took action to close down the plants. Much of this political pressure arose in 

tandem with increasing suburban and seasonal development of nearby areas on 

Rockaway Peninsula, Flatlands, and elsewhere. By World War I, the Rockaway 
31 

Peninsula barrier beach had extended west well beyond Barren Island, allowing 

development to move closer to Barren Island. Directly across the Rockaway Inlet 

from Barren Island, the U.S. military established Fort Tilden and the Rockaway 

Naval Air Station in 1917. Developers were also looking to the barrier beach to the 

west of these bases to build summer communities. 

While the military personnel apparently did not complain about the odors, 

those who spent their summers along the ocean did. The Citizens’ Committee 

of Nesposit, the Rockaway Beach community closest to Barren Island, was 

organized to “obtain relief from the odors created by the garbage disposal plants 

on Barren Island,” as reported in 1915 by the New York Times. The article cited 

the president of the Citizens’ Committee who stated that there were 750,000 

people living within a radius of eight or ten miles of Barren Island “who suffer 

because the proprietors of the plants are not made to keep within the law.” 57

With growing political opposition, the city 

finally decided to end its contract with the 

New York Sanitary Utilization Company in 

1919, leading to the closing of the plant. The 

White family, organized as the Thomas F. 

White Company, retained ownership of its 

property at the southeastern end of Barren 

Island, but within two years of the plant’s 

closure, began dismantling the massive 

complex.58 The adjoining White fertilizer 

factory closed around the same time, given 

its common ownership and the fact that the 

number of horses on New York streets was 

declining due to the rise of the automobile. 

The Products Manufacturing Company remained the sole industrial plant on the 

island through the 1920s. The loss of two of the three factories on Barren Island 

represented a major blow to the island’s economy, and by the end of the 1920s, the 

population had declined from its height of 1,500 down to 400.59 This decline led 

to closure of many of the island’s commercial establishments and probably loss of 

regular ferry service. Many houses were abandoned and the once well-kept streets 

were no longer maintained (fig. 1.18).

While regional development forced this change indirectly, growth in southern 

Brooklyn and the Rockaway Peninsula also led to a direct change to the island. 

Soon after World War I, the city moved on plans to provide access from the 

western end of the barrier beach to Brooklyn by extending Flatbush Avenue 

south from Avenue U at Flatlands and establishing ferry service across the 

inlet to Rockaway Beach. Then-mayor Hylan had identified this project as 

Figure 1.18: Remains of the 

Barren Island community showing 

dilapidated conditions that spread 

with industrial decline during the 

1920s, photographed 1931. The 

view is looking east along Main 

Street with the remains of a New 

York Sanitary Utilization Company 

complex in the right background. 

(Digital image 731866F, copyright 

New York Public Library.)

Site History, Pre-History to 1928
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

32

one of his public works priorities, along with 

construction of a tunnel under the Narrows 

to Staten Island.60 Work on the three-mile 

Flatbush Avenue Extension began in 1921. From 

the Long Island mainland, the construction 

included a 200 foot-wide earthen causeway 

across the open marshlands to Barren Island 

(fig. 1.19). The new road terminated at the 

Rockaway Inlet immediately adjacent to the 

Products Manufacturing Company plant, and 

was substantially completed, although not 

paved, by 1925, when municipal ferry service 

across the inlet was inaugurated. A terminal with 

two automobile ferry slips, dominated by large hoists that loomed over the inlet 

where factories had once stood, was constructed on the west side of Flatbush 

Avenue. On October 18, 1926, the ferry service and new but still unpaved road 

were dedicated in a ceremony on Barren Island attended by about 1,000 people 

including the mayor.61

The building of Flatbush Avenue was part of a larger regional plan for developing 

what was then considered wastelands—the extensive marshes along the Brooklyn 

shoreline and around Jamaica Bay—into developable land. City tax maps from 

the 1920s indicate that the area around Barren 

Island was to be transformed through a program 

of road building, channelization, and filling (fig. 

1.20).The waterways were to be channelized based 

on a pierhead and bulkhead line approved by the 

Secretary of War in 1911.62 The entire area of water 

and wetlands from Barren Island north to Mill 

Basin—the future site of Floyd Bennett Field—was 

still proposed for port development. Deep Creek, 

which was cut off by the Flatbush Avenue causeway, 

was to be made into Deep Creek Basin. The city’s 

tax map also indicates that the western end of 

Barren Island surrounding Dead Horse Bay, west of 

Flatbush Avenue, had been acquired as public park 

land. 

Figure 1.19 (above): Aerial view 

looking southeast across the 

Flatbush Avenue causeway toward 

Barren Island, 1928. Visible are 

remnant wetlands and the stack 

of the defunct New York Sanitary 

Utilization Company in the distance. 

The filling in the foreground was 

early work on Floyd Bennett Field. 

(Copyright Smithsonian Institution, 

reproduced from Porter R. Blakemore 

and Dana C. Linck, “Historic 

Structures Report...Floyd Bennett 

Field,” 1981.)

Figure 1.20: City tax map showing planned roads, channels, 

and park development along newly built Flatbush Avenue, 

c.1925. The entire parcel marked 11⁄2, comprising the wetlands 

north of Barren Island, was to be filled north to Mill Basin. 

(New York City tax records, annotated by SUNY ESF.) 
33 

While the completion of Flatbush Avenue provided Barren Island with its first 

vehicular connection to the Long Island mainland, it also signaled the first step 

in plans that would eventually remove the entire community. Initial plans called 

for redevelopment of the land to either side of the foot of Flatbush Avenue into a 

public park that would require clearing of the western part of the Barren Island 

community (fig. 1.21). Plans also called for new roads, named Pelican Street and 

Hassock Street, although these were not built. Instead, Main Street was extended 

west beyond Public School #120 to Flatbush Avenue, and another connection 

was made with the roads in the western cluster near the Products Manufacturing 

Company. 

The new connection to the mainland 

provided some initial benefit to the Barren 

Island community. For a number of island 

residents, the new road provided ready access 

to jobs on the mainland, replacing those lost 

Figure 1.21: A map of Barren 

Island in c.1930 showing 

relationship of the community to 

Flatbush Avenue and the ferry 

across the Rockaway Inlet, five 

years after completion of Flatbush 

Avenue. This map also shows 

two proposed roads and land to 

be acquired as a public park, but 

does not indicate the extension of 

Main Street to Flatbush Avenue. 

(Sanborn Fire Insurance Company, 

Brooklyn, volume 19, sheet 82, 

1930, annotated by SUNY ESF.) 

Figure 1.22: The busy bathing beach on Barren Island’s 

eastern shore, view looking southeast across Jamaica 

Bay with Rockaway Beach in the distance, 1931. Note 

cars parked in right distance (probably at end of Main 

Street), tents, and natural dunes covered in beach 

grasses. (Digital image 731881F, copyright New York 

Public Library.)

Site History, Pre-History to 1928
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

34

on the island. With few services left, the new road also probably made it easier 

for those able to afford a car to purchase groceries and other necessities.63 The 

new automobile access also attracted visitors to Barren Island’s sandy beaches, 

such as the one along Jamaica Bay, adjoining the city pier and sheltered by grasscovered dunes (fig. 1.22). The extension of Flatbush Avenue also made possible 

the building of an airfield on the island. Conceived by pilot Paul Rizzo in 1927 and 

known as Barren Island Airport, the grass strip was located west of Public School 

#120 and included two hangars (fig. 1.23).64 Rizzo probably selected the site for 

the wide, open spaces and clear sight lines provided by the surrounding wetlands 

and water. Few island residents probably knew the changes that the establishment 

of the Barren Island Airport foreshadowed. In 1928, the year after the grass 

strip was opened, the City of New York would announce plans to build its first 

municipal airport in the wetlands north of Barren Island. 

Landscape characteristics, 1928 (Drawing 1.1)

By the end of this period in the late 1920s, Barren Island and the tidal estuary to its 

north corresponding with the current site of Floyd Bennett Field was a landscape 

in transition. Newly connected to both the urbanizing Brooklyn mainland and 

the resort communities and military bases on the Rockaway Peninsula, the site 

was losing its historic isolation, undermining the essential context for its offal 

industries. Barren Island would soon succumb to the city’s plans for port and 

park development in the Jamaica Bay region. The following description of the site, 

Figure 1.23: View looking east 

across Barren Island from Flatbush 

Avenue with Barren Island Airport 

in the foreground, 1931. A plane 

and hangar are at the right and 

the main runway is at left. In the 

distance is Public School #120 and 

the chimneys of the defunct New 

York Sanitary Utilization Company 

and White horse renderingfertilizer factory. The building 

with a cupola in the middle 

ground is a Protestant church. 

(Digital image 731873F, copyright 

New York Public Library.)
35 

organized by landscape characteristics, provides an overview of the landscape in 

1928 on the eve of the construction of Floyd Bennett Field. 

Natural Systems and Features 

By 1928, the current site of Floyd Bennett Field—covering approximately 1,300 

acres of land and water—retained much of its native tidal estuary, but most of the 

uplands and beach had been altered through development. A small area of sand 

beach with dunes remained on the eastern side of Barren Island south of the city 

pier (see fig. 1.22). Along the middle of the island’s south side was an area of tidal 

flats fed by a small creek that meandered through wetlands. The western end of 

Barren Island remained in more of its natural state than the eastern end, with large 

areas of wetlands surrounding Dead Horse Bay and dunes with upland woods 

(see fig. 1.5). 

Some of the tidal estuary north of Barren Island had been altered by 1928 

through dumping and filling. The wetlands and waterways immediately north of 

Barren Island, including Dead Horse Bay, Factory Creek, and Black Bank, were 

probably heavily tainted by decades of industrial dumping. Little Bay was the 

largest expanse of water, occupying the eastern half of the future airport site. 

Once rimmed by small marshes including John’s Point Marsh, by 1928 Little Bay 

had become completely separated from Jamaica Bay through filling operations 

that had begun in c.1911 as part of the city’s anticipated port development. West 

of Little Bay remained extensive tidal marshes, the largest of which was named 

Riches Meadows. The marshes were crisscrossed by meandering tidal creeks 

named Deep Creek, Irish Channel, and Factory Creek, and were bordered on 

the north by Mill Basin, a dredged channel. The construction of Flatbush Avenue 

between 1921 and 1925 cut through these marshes with a raised earthen causeway, 

separating Deep Creek in two (see fig. 1.19). 

Cluster Arrangement

Development of Barren Island in 1928 was clustered in two areas: near the foot 

of Flatbush Avenue and along the east end and north side of the island. These 

southwest and northeast clusters related primarily to the location of buildable 

uplands, and secondarily to the proximity of the factories, which were located on 

the south shore fronting on the Rockaway Inlet. 

Spatial Organization

Typical of marine and barrier beach environments, Barren Island in 1928 had an 

open and exposed spatial character created by the expanses of water and marsh as 

well as the low-lying topography. Within this overall open character were several 

Site History, Pre-History to 1928
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

36

minor enclosed spaces defined by trees, dunes, buildings, and structures. Most 

of the creeks within the tidal estuary were defined by a vertical plane created 

by tall marsh grasses lining the banks. Along the remnant beaches, such as the 

Jamaica Bay beach on the eastern side of the island, grass-covered dunes defined a 

spatial edge between the open, flat beach and the adjoining uplands (see fig. 1.22). 

Scattered groves of trees also interrupted the overall open spatial character (see 

fig. 1.5).

The most conspicuous spatial character was created by the developed areas, 

particularly the large factory complexes that formed a vertical edge along the 

Rockaway Inlet. By 1928, however, this enclosure had greatly diminished due to 

removal of some of the buildings, notably at the New York Sanitary Utilization 

Company complex, which had been delineated by a stockade. Within the 

residential areas, the northeastern cluster had a strong linear spatial character 

formed by the row of buildings and fences along the north side of Main Street, 

bordered by open marsh to the north and south. At the east end of Main Street, 

several side streets lined on both sides by buildings and the adjoining factories 

created an area of enclosure. The southwestern cluster had an irregular spatial 

character due to its largely random pattern of development, tied together 

by a network of small roads and walks and anchored by the large Products 

Manufacturing Plant along the shore. 

The Flatbush Avenue extension, begun in 1923 and built on a raised causeway, 

created a north-south corridor through the landscape that would form the 

boundary of Floyd Bennett Field. Although spatially open, this corridor was 

marked by a line of utility poles (see fig. 1.19).

Land Use

In 1928, Barren Island and the surrounding estuary was home to a variety of 

residential, industrial, commercial, religious, agricultural, transportation, and 

recreational land uses. By this date, only one major factory remained in business—

the Products Manufacturing Company located at the foot of Flatbush Avenue, 

which continued to produce fertilizers from fish and animal offal. Since the 

closing of the New York Sanitary Utilization Plant in 1919, the island’s population 

had plummeted, resulting in the loss residential uses including both single-family 

and boarding houses. Commerce, which at the height of the island’s industrial 

activity included a barber, butcher, grocer, dry-goods merchant, hotels, and four 

saloons, had probably disappeared by 1928, especially given the new access to 

the mainland provided by Flatbush Avenue. Despite the decline, Barren Island 

continued to support a public school and a Roman Catholic church. Some of the 

remaining residents kept farm animals that they pastured in the island’s meadows, 

and many residents also probably maintained small garden plots. Automobile 
37 

and air transportation was a recently introduced land-use to Barren Island by 

1928 that included the extension of Flatbush Avenue with its automobile ferry 

terminals, and Barren Island Airport, the small private landing strip built in 1927. 

The new access allowed people from the mainland to drive to Barren Island for its 

sandy beaches. Fishing, probably both recreational and small-scale commercial, 

may have also still had a presence on the island and its surrounding waters, as 

reflected in a fishing pier that extended into Rockaway Inlet from the middle of 

the island. 

Topography

The constructed land forms within the current site of Floyd Bennett Field by 1928 

included extensive areas of fill added since 1911 by the city from the dredging of 

Jamaica Bay and also by the refuse from the island’s garbage plants. The largest 

area of fill was between Little Bay and Jamaica Bay along the current east side of 

the site. Other areas of fill included the north end of Riches Meadows along Mill 

Basin, and the 200-foot wide Flatbush Avenue causeway. While there were no 

conspicuous topographic features within Barren Island, the uplands and shoreline 

had been reshaped over time to accommodate development.

Vegetation

Little is known about specific varieties of planted, ornamental, or managed 

vegetation that existed in 1928 within the current limits of Floyd Bennett Field. 

Deciduous trees dotted the developed areas of the island, such as around the 

Sacred Heart Church and near the public school (see figs. 1.15, 1.16). Some 

residents maintained garden plots, flowerbeds, and small patches of lawn around 

their houses. Most of the landscape was dominated by native vegetation such as 

coastal grasses, shrubs, and trees described under Natural Systems and Features. 

Circulation

In 1928, the primary circulation feature within the current site of Floyd Bennett 

Field was the extension of Flatbush Avenue begun in 1923, substantially 

completed by 1925, and paved by 1928 (see fig. 1.19). In 1926, municipal ferry 

service to the Rockaways was begun from a terminal with two slips at the foot 

of Flatbush Avenue on the Rockaway Inlet next to the Products Manufacturing 

Company plant. 

Circulation within the Barren Island community consisted of narrow unpaved 

roads and walks. Within the northeast cluster, there were several named streets, 

notably Main Street that ran the length of the community in an east-west direction 

(see figs. 1.15, 1.18). It connected on the west with Flatbush Avenue through an 

Site History, Pre-History to 1928
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

38

extension built soon after the new road was completed in 1925. In the southwest 

cluster, there was a network of irregular, apparently unnamed streets and walks. 

A 700 foot-long boardwalk known as the Long Bridge connected the northeast 

and southwest clusters across the wetlands in the middle of the island (see fig. 

1.17). The community also included a number of piers and wharfs that serviced 

the factories, but by 1928, most were probably abandoned. The runway for Barren 

Island Airport, constructed in 1927, was turf or bare earth and extended in a 

north-south direction.

Two roads—Pelican Street extending off Flatbush Avenue and Hassock Street 

extending south to the Products Manufacturing Company plant—were platted by 

the 1920s, but never built (see fig. 1.20). These extended from a network of new 

roads to the west of Flatbush Avenue that were laid out as part of residential and 

industrial development that never occurred. 

Buildings and Structures

In 1928, all buildings and structures were located on Barren Island, the area 

corresponding with the southern side of the current site of Floyd Bennett 

Field. They included four general types: industrial, residential, institutional, 

and commercial. The factories along Rockaway Inlet were the largest and most 

conspicuous buildings, ranging from massive concrete factories at the defunct 

New York Sanitary Utilization Company on the southeastern tip of the island, to 

brick and frame factory complexes of the defunct White fertilizer factory and the 

still active Products Manufacturing Company (see figs. 1.12, 1.14). Each of these 

factory complexes featured at least one chimney stack that loomed over the flat 

landscape; the 227-foot tall yellow-brick chimney at New York Sanitary was the 

tallest and was a landmark for boats far out at sea (see fig. 1.23). By 1928, portions 

of the New York Sanitary complex had been demolished, leaving just foundations. 

Ruins from other factories were probably scattered along the Rockaway Inlet 

shoreline. Associated with these factories were maritime structures, including 

bulkheads, wharfs, and piers, most probably built of wood. The largest pier was 

the so-called City Pier, which was built in 1918 as part of filling operations for 

a planned major port development along the west side of Jamaica Bay north of 

Barren Island. 

Residential buildings consisted primarily of small, one-story wood-frame houses 

built in a variety of vernacular styles with shed or gable roofs, front porches, and 

clapboard siding (see figs. 1.17, 1.18). Most were probably built between 1870 and 

1910. The most distinguished buildings on the island were institutional: Public 

School #120, built in 1908, was a large, neoclassical-style two-story concrete or 

stucco-faced building with a pedimented gable front, fan-light attic widow, and 

large multi-paned sash windows (see fig. 1.16). Next door was a house in a similar 
39 

style that probably served as the teachers’ residence. A water tower stood behind 

the school. Sacred Heart Church, built in c.1900, was a small Gothic Revival-style 

frame church with clapboard siding, pointed-arch windows, and a corner tower 

topped by a short pyramidal spire (see fig. 1.15). It had an associated rectory 

built in c.1908 with a wide modillioned cornice, front porch, and pointed-arch 

windows. The Protestant church was a gable-front frame building with a ridge 

cupola. 

Views and Vistas

The relatively level lay of the land and broad expanses of marshes and water 

made possible expansive views throughout most of the landscape throughout this 

period. From the shoreline of Barren Island, the southern horizon was lined by 

the communities on Rockaway Beach. There is little evidence of designed views or 

vistas, although the length of Flatbush Avenue provided a directed line of sight, as 

did the runway of Barren Island Airport. 

Small-Scale Features

Small-scale features present by 1928 within the current site of Floyd Bennett 

Field included wood utility poles with street lamps, and wooden picket and lattice 

fences that lined most of Main Street and probably enclosed most residential lots 

(see figs. 1.15 to 1.18). These fences were most likely used to keep livestock out 

and possibly also to trap blowing sand. The public school included several smallscale features, including a fence and a flagpole. The factories had numerous smallscale features, such as tanks and machinery, but there is little detailed visual record 

of them (see fig. 1.12). 

endnotes

1 This period relies primarily on regional maps and a series of photographs in the New York Public Library of the remnant 

Barren Island community taken during the 1930s, as well as on U.S. Coast Guard surveys and a Sanborn Fire Insurance map 

made in 1930.

2 New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, “Marine Park” website, “Glaciers in Marine Park” page, 6 June 2001, 

www.nycgovparks/org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=97; Bradford B. Van Diver, Roadside 

Geology of New York(Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 1985), 29-31, 75-76.

3 “Barren Island,” Brooklyn Union, 4 September 1876, www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Town/1876.Barren.Island.html.

4 National Park Service, Fort Tilden visitor display, reproduced by U.S. Geological Survey, “Breezy Point (Gateway 

National Recreation Area),” New York City Regional Geology website, http://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/ nyc/parks/loc69.htm.

5 New York Natural Heritage Program, Ecological Communities of New York State (New York State Department of 

Environmental Conservation, n.d.), 1, 4, 38.

6 Ecological Communities of New York State, 39.

Site History, Pre-History to 1928
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

40

7 Ecological Communities of New York State, 39-40.

8 Ecological Communities of New York State, 4-5.

9 New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, “Lenape Playground: Marine Park,” Online article, www.

nycgovparks/org/sub_your_park/ historical/signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=11.

10 Frederick R. Black, “Jamaica Bay: A History” (National Park Service North Atlantic Regional Office: Unpublished 

report, 1981), 8;Mangi Environmental Group and Lone Tree Archeology and Environmental, Inc., “Jamaica Bay Units 

Archaeological Overview and Assessment” (Unpublished report prepared for the National Park Service, September 2005), 

47. 

11 Native American Genealogy, “The Canarsee,” Peconic Homestead website, http://www.peconic.homestead.com/index.

html.

12 Black, quoting Bolton, 8.

13 Ingrid Wuebber and Edward M. Morin, “Modified Phase 1A Cultural Resources Inventory, Floyd Bennett Field, 

Jamaica Bay Unit, Gateway National Recreation Area” (Unpublished report prepared by URS Corporation for the National 

Park Service, April 2005), 5. This report states that John Milner Associates, in a 1978 study, suggested Equendito was a 

Canarise village, but more recent research by Panamerican Consultants (2003) refutes that finding, citing it only as a place 

name. Because of the level of disturbance on Barren Island, intact archeological remains are most likely scarce. 

14 Black, 12-13; Encyclopedia of New York State, s. v. “Brooklyn.”

15 Encyclopedia of New York State, s. v. “Brooklyn.”

16 Quoted in Black, 12.

17 Black, 13.

18 Quoted in Black, 13.

19 Benjamin F. Thompson, History of Long Island: An Account of the Discovery and Settlement, With Other Important and 

Interesting Matters to the Present Time (New York: E. French, 1839), 449. 

20 Black, 14, 65. The 1840 census reflected division of the eastern section into the Town of New Lots.

21 Encyclopedia of New York State, s. v. “Brooklyn.”

22 Encyclopedia of New York State, s. v. “Brooklyn.”

23 Native American Genealogy, “The Canarsee,” Peconic Homestead website; Black, 91. The amount of acreage at the 

time of this 1664 sale is not known.

24 Thompson, 447.

25 Wuebber and Morin, 7.

26 Black, 17.

27 Black, 17.

28 Although accuracy of early maps is questionable, the c.1700 map shown below indicates a much larger Barren Island. 

New York Public Library Digital Gallery, annotated by SUNY ESF. 
41 

29 Black, 18; Wuebber and Morin, 7-8.

30 Black, 19.

31 D. H. Burr, Map of New York City and Vicinity (New York: J. Disturnell, 1839). 

32 E. & G. W. Blunt, New York Harbor and Entrance, c.1844, New York Public Library Digital Gallery, digital ID 253225.

33 Thompson, cited in “Wreck of the Bristol,” http://longislandgenealogy.com/bristol.html. 

34 Thompson, 450.

35 “Barren Island,” Brooklyn Union, 4 September 1876. 

36 “To Use New-York Garbage, The Plant on Barren Island Will Soon Be Finished,” New York Times, 27 September 1896, 

14.

37 Black, 18 and Figure 4; “$1,500,000 Fire Loss on Barren Island,” New York Times, 21 May 1906, 1. Black provides a 

complete account of the industries on Barren Island. 

38 Black, 35.

39 Black, 36.

40 Map of New York City, Brooklyn, and Vicinity Showing Surface & Elevated Railroads in Operation and Proposed (New 

York: G. W. & C. B. Colton & Co., 1885).

41 “To Use New-York Garbage.”

42 “To Use New-York Garbage.”

43 “$1,500,000 Fire Loss on Barren Island,” New York Times, 21 May 1906, 1.

44 “$1,500,000 Fire Loss on Barren Island;” “2 U.S. Ships Afire at Barren Island,” New York Times, 21 June 1921, 2.

45 “$1,500,000 Fire Loss on Barren Island.” 

46 “Barren Island is Fading,” New York Times, 19 February 1939, Travel & Recreation, 141.

47 Black, 36, 40. Barren Island population figures for 1890 were not separated out from the rest of Flatlands.

48 Black, 40.

49 Survey, “City of New York Proposed Municipal Airport, Borough of Brooklyn, General Location Plans” (30 January 

1928), National Archives, College Park, Maryland; “Barren Island School Shuts Doors June 30, Ending 18-Year Service of 

Popular Teacher,” New York Times, 15 April 1936, 23.

50 “Fatal Explosion on Barren Island,” New York Times, 1 May 1910, 4.

Site History, Pre-History to 1928
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

42

51 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Chart 542, 1926; Sanborn Fire Insurance Company map, Brooklyn, volume 19, sheet 

82, 1930.

52 “Barren Island School Shuts Doors June 30.” 

53 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Chart 542, 1926; Sanborn Fire Insurance Company map, Brooklyn, volume 19, sheet 

82, 1930.

54 Elizabeth Royte, “Less than Barren,” P.O.V.’s Borders.Environment Talk, 5 March 2004, http://www.pbs.org/pov/

borders/2004/talk/er.html.

55 Black, 77-79.

56 “Barren Island is Fading.” 

57 “Will Continue War on Barren Island,” New York Times, 6 November 1915, 8.

58 “2 U.S. Ships Afire at Barren Island,” New York Times, 21 June 1921, 3.

59 Black, 41.

60 “Rockaway Ferry Opened by Hylan,” New York Times, 18 October 1925, 41.

61 “Rockaway Ferry Opened by Hylan.” 

62 Survey, “City of New York Proposed Municipal Airport, Borough of Brooklyn, General Location Plans” (30 January 

1928).

63 “Barren Island is Fading.”

64 Wuebber and Morin, 17.
x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x

x

Municipal

ferry to 

Rockaway

Beach (1925)

City pier

(1918)

DEAD HORSE BAY

FACTORY CREEK

L I T T L E B A Y

B A R R E N

I S L A N D

R O C K A W A Y I N

L

E

T

R I C H E S M E A D O W S

D E E P C

R E E K

I R I S H C H A N N E L

BLACK

BANK

DOOLY S’ COVE

G E R R I T S E N I N L E T

JOHN’S POINT 

MARSH

M I L L 

B A S I N

MILL

ISLAND

Flatbush Avenue Extension (1923)

Products

Manufacturing

Company

(fertilizer plant)

Factory office

Sacred Heart Catholic Church (1900)

(Diocese of Long Island)

Barren Island

Airport

(1927)

Major aircraft

hangar

Boardwalk

(Long Bridge)

Area of fill

(since 1911)

I S L A N D C H A N N E L

J A M A I C A B A Y Former New York Sanitary

Utilization Company

(closed 1919)

Wharf

Site of factory

(removed c.1925)

Abandoned

wharf

Area of fill

(since 1911)

Causeway

(1923)

East 38th Street

(paper road)

Bay (marine) shacks 

in this area

Post office

Pelican Street

(paper road)

Hassock Street

(paper road)

Public School

120 (1908)

Water tower

Empire

Hotel

White

Street

Bay

Street

227’

chimney

Main Street

Current location of

Administration

Building

Private property

Kings County

property

Runway

Fishing pier

Ruins

Wharf

ruins

R I C H E S M E A D O W S

D E E P C R E E K

W A G A S P O R C R E E K

Former White fertilizerhorse rendering plant

Bathing

beach

Site of factory

(removed pre-1925)

Water

tank

Tidal flats

Private property

(Thomas F. White)

Hangar

Protestant

church

Tidal flats

Main Street

extension

(c.1925)

Pre-fill shoreline

of Barren Island

(pre-1911)

200’

Area of estuary

used as garbage dump 

Drawing 1.1

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter and Sarah K. Cody

Illustrator CS3, 2008

1. Jamaica Bay Improvement Commission

 survey, 1909

2. U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Chart 542, 

 1911, 1926, 1934

3. Sanborn Fire Insurance map, Brooklyn,

 Vol. 19, sheet 82, 1930

4. Fairfield Aerial Camera photograph, 1924 

Barren Island and 

Tidal Estuary, 1928

Cultural Landscape Report

for Floyd Bennett Field

Gateway National Recreation Area

Brooklyn, New York

LEGEND

Property boundary

Building or structure

Unimproved road or walk

Improved road or walk

Fence

Woods, specimen trees

Upland/fill, low scrub

Marsh

Open water

Site of removed feature

Date feature constructed, if known

0’ 400’ 800’ 1200’ 1600’

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

SOURCES

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with: 

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental 

Science and Forestry

NOTES

(1925)

x x x

1. All features shown in approximate scale and location.

2. Detailed documentation on vegetation, walks, and

 small-scale features not found.

3. Most buildings are dwellings, except where noted.

4. Plan shows conditions in 1928 and not prior changes

except where noted.

45 

Site History, 1928-1941

Floyd Bennett Field: New yOrk City Municipal 

airport, 1928–1941

In 1928, work began on transformation of the waterways, marshes, and fill to the 

north of Barren Island into New York City’s first municipal airport, Floyd Bennett 

Field. Completed within three years and dedicated in May 1931, the airport 

represented one of the city’s major accomplishments in its plans to transform 

Jamaica Bay into a major port. With the hangars and administration building lining 

the recently built Flatbush Avenue extension, the field extended west to Jamaica 

Bay where two runways and a seaplane base were built on engineered fill. Through 

another three phases of construction during this period, the city expanded the 

airport with new runways and additional buildings through both city and federal 

funding. Never a big commercial success, the municipal airport nonetheless was 

the site of numerous record-breaking flights and also served as a base of military 

operations. Beginning in 1931, the U.S. Navy occupied some of the airport 

hangars for its Naval Reserve Aviation Base Brooklyn, and in 1940 developed a 

separate facility, the Naval Aviation Patrol Base, on land leased from the city along 

Jamaica Bay. This facility adjoined the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn that 

was built four years earlier on another leased parcel. The municipal airport, Naval 

Aviation Patrol Base, and the Coast Guard Air Station all made use of the waters of 

Jamaica Bay as runways for seaplanes, allowing for a significant expansion of the 

airport’s capacity. 

Immediately south of the airport, remnants of the Barren Island community 

persisted through the end of this period. By the mid-1930s, the City of New York 

had cleared all buildings from the western two-thirds of the island in preparation 

for its redevelopment as part of Brooklyn Marine Park, which would be newly 

linked to a larger system of parklands around Jamaica Bay and Rockaway Beach 

through completion of the Marine Parkway Bridge in 1937. The eastern third 

of Barren Island, which remained privately owned, retained some houses and a 

church. This last vestige of the community would also soon succumb not to park 

development but rather to the Navy’s expansion of Floyd Bennett Field that 

would begin in 1941 during the lead-up to World War II. 

Early Port, Park, & Military development near barren island

While construction of Floyd Bennett Field began in 1928, its origins trace back to 

earlier efforts to develop the surrounding area for port, park, and military uses. 

For decades prior to construction of the airport, plans had been underway to 

transform Jamaica Bay into a new commercial port for New York City. In 1886, the 

U.S. Engineering Department made initial plans for deepening Rockaway Inlet 

as a means to enhance port development in the bay, but the plan was abandoned 

due to lack of existing commerce. In 1906, the commercial statistics of the bay, 
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

46

including the Barren Island industries, were presented to Congress as part of an 

effort to revive the 1886 federal plan. Over the two decades following this effort, 

arguments for the new Jamaica Bay port and industrial center were bolstered by 

the heady economic growth of New York City and resulting congestion in New 

York Harbor, the city’s main port along the Hudson River.1

 The 1905 census 

valued New York’s manufacturing business at more than $1.5 billion, an increase 

of over one billion dollars from the year 1900. Proponents of the Jamaica Bay 

project also cited plans for designating the proposed port as the Atlantic terminal 

of the New York State Barge Canal system that was planned to connect the 

Hudson River with the Great Lakes along the lines of the old Erie Canal and its 

branch lines. Begun in 1906, it was anticipated that the barge canal system would 

bring New York City a dramatic increase in business and commerce. 2

New York City officials saw the port project as a way to turn Jamaica Bay from 

perceived wasteland into a “great world harbor,” as reported by the New York 

Times in 1910 in an article complete with a future birds-eye view of the project 

as fully built (fig. 1.24).3

 The plan was to create a sheltered harbor with an area of 

over twenty-five square miles of wharves by dredging out the bay and using the 

material to fill surrounding marshes, creating 4,200 acres of developable land.The 

proposal, estimated to cost over one hundred million dollars, included building a 

series of docks with warehouses along two interior islands and the bay shoreline. 

Railroad tracks would be built on the docks so that cargo could be loaded and 

unloaded quickly and efficiently. Beyond the waterfront would be factories and 

further inland, residential neighborhoods for the workers. A railroad terminal 

was also planned for the site, occupying an area the size of 600 city lots, as well as 

a canal extending north to the Long Island 

Sound.4

The project began in 1911 following the 

federal Secretary of War’s approval of 

bulkhead and pierhead lines throughout 

Jamaica Bay.5

 The following year, the New 

York City Department of Docks began 

dredging the main inlet and using the 

material to fill the marshes. Near Barren 

Island, this work included creating the 

extensive area of fill between Jamaica Bay 

and Little Bay, as well as areas along Mill 

Basin to the north. By 1918, the filling was 

sufficiently complete for the city to begin 

implementing plans for fourteen piers 

extending into Island Channel between 

Figure 1.24: Rendering of 

proposed Jamaica Bay harbor, 

view looking northwest with 

Manhattan in the background and 

Jamaica Bay in the foreground. 

Barren Island is at the lower 

left. (“Jamaica Bay to be a Great 

World Harbor,” New York Times, 

Sunday Magazine, 13 March 1910, 

annotated by SUNY-ESF.)
47 

Barren Island and Mill Basin. Each pier was to be 1,000 

feet long and 200 feet wide, with 300 feet separating 

them. The city constructed a pier just north of Barren 

Island as part of the first 1,000 foot-long pier, to be used 

for city sanitation scows to unload their refuse (fig. 

1.25). No further work was done on the system of piers 

following World War I, and the original plans for the 

port were largely abandoned due mainly to legal and 

financial limitations, loss of the barge canal terminal 

designation, and questions about the feasibility of the 

project from an engineering standpoint.6

 Despite this, 

the Department of Docks continued with dredging and 

maintaining the main ship channel through Jamaica Bay, 

including Island Channel along the east side of Barren 

Island.7

While the city kept active its plans for commercial 

development of Jamaica Bay despite the lack of progress, 

others in city government began to envision a different 

future through development of public parklands, 

building on the existing resort areas on Rockaway 

Beach. Already by 1922, plans were underway by the city for establishing what 

would become Jacob Riis Park on Rockaway Beach across from Barren Island.8

In 1924, the city accepted a private donation of 150 acres along Flatbush Avenue 

near the Brooklyn shoreline that would form the core of the proposed Brooklyn 

Marine Park. Additional park development in the area began to gain considerable 

political support beginning in the mid-1920s with the backing of Robert Moses, 

the future city parks commissioner who had recently drafted a plan for expanding 

state parks in New York. Moses envisioned an interconnected system of parks 

and parkways across Long Island and New York City, a plan that would be 

implemented in large part during the late 1920s and 1930s. In the vicinity of 

Barren Island, plans included a circumferential parkway along the Brooklyn and 

Queens shoreline, and extension of Flatbush Avenue across a bridge spanning 

Rockaway Inlet linking Brooklyn Marine Park and Jacob Riis Park.9

Despite the growing political backing for park development, the U.S. military 

continued to maintain its strategic interest in the west end of Jamaica Bay. Across 

the Rockaway Inlet from Barren Island was Fort Tilden, an Army post with 

four twelve-inch mortars established in 1917 as part of the coastal defenses of 

New York Harbor. Adjacent to Fort Tilden was the U.S. Coast Guard Station 

Rockaway, built in c.1912, and the Naval Air Station Rockaway, commissioned 

in 1917 as one of the first such facilities in the country and active until 1930. At 

Figure 1.25: Coast Guard survey 

made in 1926 showing area of 

fill along Little Bay and city pier 

constructed as part of proposed 

Jamaica Bay port development 

that began in 1911. (Detail, U.S. 

Coast and Geodetic Survey, “East 

Coast, New York, Jamaica Bay 

and Rockaway Inlet,” Chart #542, 

annotated by SUNY ESF.)

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

48

its height, the Naval Air Station included 

over eighty buildings and was stationed 

with as many as 1,200 men. From here, the 

Navy operated a flotilla of seaplanes, then 

known as flying boats, as well as dirigibles 

and balloons.10 (fig. 1.26, see also fig. 

1.14). With its access to wide open water 

suitable for landing aircraft, good weather, 

relative lack of surrounding development, 

and site adjoining Army and Coast 

Guard installations, the Naval Air Station 

Rockaway portended the aviation and military future of Barren Island and its 

adjoining marshlands directly across Rockaway Inlet. 

barren island, site for New York’s municipal airport

When the city announced its plans for the Jamaica Bay port in 1910, aviation 

was not yet considered a viable means of transportation. Flight prior to World 

War I was largely the realm of the military and private enthusiasts, with private 

air fields numbering just 115 across the country by 1918.11 World War I proved a 

time of great advances in aviation, as residents of Barren Island and the Rockaway 

Peninsula were well aware from the war-time flights out of the Rockaway 

Naval Air Station.The war had proven the capability of flight and witnessed the 

development of larger and more powerful aircraft capable of carrying cargo and 

passengers. In the decade following the war, planes became widely accepted for 

commercial transport, and increasingly for passenger travel. 12 The growth of 

commercial aviation during the 1920s was encouraged by the federal government, 

notably through the Post Office Department. The Post Office had launched one 

of the earliest commercial uses of aviation with its experimental airmail service 

begun in 1911. By the mid-1920s, the Post Office had become a major force behind 

development of commercial aviation and airport facilities through its airmail 

business, offering exclusive contracts to municipal airports in each metropolitan 

district. For most municipal airports, securing the airmail contract was the key to 

financial success because it not only provided a major source of revenue for the 

airport, but also attracted airline companies who could provide commercial and 

passenger airline service. 13.

The country’s acknowledged first municipal airport in Atlantic City, New Jersey 

opened in 1919 under private ownership and was taken over by the municipality 

in 1922. The establishment of the airport was largely a result of the prospect of 

airmail business as well as need to provide passenger service to tourists. Initially 

named Bader Field, the term “airport” was purportedly coined for this facility in 

Figure 1.26: Naval Air Station 

Rockaway looking southwest 

toward the Atlantic Ocean with 

the Coast Guard Station Rockaway 

and Fort Tilden in the background, 

c.1918. The air station was located 

directly across Rockaway Inlet 

from Barren Island. (Copyright 

Queens Public Library, Long Island 

Division.) 
49 

1919 by a local reporter to refer to seaplanes that provided 

limousine service between Atlantic City and New York 

City.14 The airport was laid out with the hangars and 

administration building (passenger terminal). aligned 

with the public highway, and the runways extending to the 

rear (fig. 1.27). There were apparently two perpendicular 

runways, surfaced in gravel.15 The first comprehensive 

plan for a municipal airport, providing a unified design for 

runways, hangars, and a passenger terminal, is believed to 

be the one for Cleveland’s Hopkins Airport, dedicated in 

July 1925, although the plan was not fully executed until 

well after the airport opened.16

While Atlantic City and Cleveland both had operating municipal airports by 1925, 

New York City officials by this time were just beginning the planning process. 

As in many metropolitan regions, there were a large number of small private 

airfields serving the still limited amount of commercial and passenger air traffic. 

Small grass strips such as the Barren Island Airport established in 1927 served 

air enthusiasts, while larger private fields, such as Flushing Airport in northern 

Queens east of today’s LaGuardia Airport, also serviced fledgling commercial 

service. Opened in 1927 as Speed’s Airport, Flushing Airport became New York’s 

busiest airport for a time and also served also as a base for a flight school. The 

airfield featured clay runways and a line of hangars paralleling the public road—a 

typical arrangement for the time—with parking off the main road providing 

quick access to the planes.17 (fig. 1.28). Without a city-owned municipal airport, 

Flushing Airport was able to bill itself as “New York City Airport” as painted on 

the roof of one of its hangars. 

The origins of New York City’s efforts to establish 

its own municipal airport began in 1925 when 

many were realizing the inadequacy of the private 

fields and competition was emerging for building 

a regional commercial airport. That year, the city 

began an official search for a suitable site for its 

Figure 1.27: View of Atlantic 

City Airport, established in 1919 

purportedly as the country’s first 

municipal airport, photographed 

1933. Note what appear to be 

the original two perpendicular 

runways and hangars aligned 

with the public highway at 

right. The diagonal runway was 

probably a later addition. (Airport 

Directory Company, Airports and 

Established Landing Fields in the 

United States, 1933 Edition, s.v. 

Atlantic City.)

Figure 1.28: Flushing Airport, a small airfield established in 

1928 in northern Queens, photographed c.1932. This was 

an example of the private commercial airfields that were 

common in the New York City region prior to establishment 

of large, regional municipal airports. Note alignment of the 

hangars along the public road. The letters on the roof of 

the hangar in the foreground read “New York City Airport.” 

(Copyright Cradle of Aviation Museum, Garden City, New 

York.) 

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

50

municipal airport.18 However, city officials took no action until 1927, when the 

Port Authority of New York became involved in the efforts and began to develop 

detailed plans for siting the airport.19 The need for such an airport was not only 

due to the city’s hopes of securing the airmail contract, but also to increasing 

public pressure that New York would become the country’s base for transAtlantic flights, following Charles Lindbergh’s landmark transatlantic flight to 

Paris from Roosevelt Field, Long Island in May 1927. Perhaps most importantly, 

nearby Newark, New Jersey, was making great progress by 1927 on building its 

own municipal airport. Given its proximity to Manhattan with the newly opened 

Holland Tunnel, the Newark airport had the potential to serve as the regional 

municipal airport and secure the exclusive airmail contract. On October 1, 1928, 

Newark Municipal Airport officially opened.20

In August 1927 while construction of Newark airport was underway, Secretary of 

the U.S. Department of Commerce, Herbert Hoover, established a fact-finding 

committee to recommend suitable sites for a municipal airport to handle the 

exclusive airmail contract in the New York City region. The committee consisted 

of twenty-three New York and New Jersey officials, commercial and industrial 

aircraft representatives, and the famous transatlantic aviator Clarence D. 

Chamberlin, who served as the aeronautical advisor.21 On November 29, 1927, 

the committee released its report recommending six sites, two in New Jersey 

(including Newark Municipal Airport) and four in New York.22 New York City 

officials quickly began investigating the recommended sites within the city limits. 

The fact-finding committee had recommended a site near Queens Village known 

as Juniper Swamp as a prime location. Because this site was privately owned 

and therefore required a large investment simply for acquisition, city officials 

moved down the list to a site north of Barren Island that was already owned by 

the city under the jurisdiction of the Department of Docks. Although listed as 

a secondary site and requiring substantial filling of the watery spot, Clarence 

Chamberlin advised the city that Barren Island could indeed make a fine airport.23

By 1928, however, Newark Airport was complete and as the only operational 

municipal airport in the region, it was awarded the exclusive contract for airmail 

service. Despite this, New York City officials continued with their plans for a 

municipal airport, confident they could secure the airmail contract from Newark 

once their airport was complete.24

Even without the exclusive airmail contract, New York City officials had good 

reason to proceed with building their own municipal airport. Although the 1910 

proposal for the Jamaica Bay port had not been realized, the city still hoped to 

increase commercial development in the area despite the new interest in park 

development. By 1927, millions of dollars in city and federal funds had been 

spent on improving navigation in the bay, and many public officials felt if the 
51 

airport were located at Barren Island,the city could still achieve its goal of turning 

Jamaica Bay into a thriving commercial and industrial hub. While city ownership 

was one of the key factors favoring the Barren Island site, there were also several 

other important benefits. Clarence Chamberlin had recommended that Barren 

Island could make a fine airport because of its wide, open spaces, and most 

importantly, its access to water for use as seaplane runways.25 Chamberlin also 

cited the favorable weather conditions, with a low record of fog, haze, or storms. 

While remote from Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn and lacking a train 

connection, the Barren Island location was easily accessible by automobile and 

bus along Flatbush Avenue, as well as having potential for ferry and boat access. 

Given all these conditions, city officials considered Barren Island the optimal 

site. On February 2, 1928, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment approved a 

rectangular 380-acre site north of Barren Island for the city’s 

first municipal airport.26 (fig. 1.29). 

By October of 1928, the city had decided to name the 

new airport Floyd Bennett Field in honor of the recently 

deceased hero of American aviation who died on April 25, 

1928 in a rescue attempt for a failed trans-Atlantic crossing. 

Floyd Bennett was a Brooklyn resident, Navy pilot, and local 

aviation hero most famous for the Distinguished Service 

Medal and the Congressional Medal of Honor he received 

for his arctic flights with Commander Richard E. Byrd in 

1925-26.27 

At the time city officials chose the site for Floyd Bennett Field in February 1928, 

the community to its immediate south on Barren Island was still inhabited, 

although declining. All of the industries had closed except for the Products 

Manufacturing Company, which operated in its long-time plant at the foot of 

Flatbush Avenue. The abandoned hulk of the New York Sanitary Utilization 

Company plant with its tall chimney stack loomed over the eastern tip of the 

island. While the Barren Island community would not be physically impacted by 

construction of the neighboring airport, most residents probably realized that the 

tremendous changes in the area together with the demise of their industrial base 

left them little hope for maintaining their community. By 1930, only 400 residents 

remained, down from the 1,50o at the height of the island’s prosperity over a 

decade earlier.28 By 1931, the City had acquired a fifty-eight acre tract on Barren 

Island bordering Flatbush Avenue that together with an adjoining 110-acre tract 

owned by Kings County would be redeveloped into the city’s proposed Brooklyn 

Marine Park.29 These two parcels encompassed two-thirds of Main Street and 

the entire southwest cluster. At or soon after the city acquired the property, the 

Products Manufacturing Company closed and the plant was demolished. 

Figure 1.29: Site chosen for New 

York’s first municipal airport, 

Floyd Bennett Field, north 

of Barren Island. (Detail, U.S. 

Navy Aeronautical Chart, 1934, 

annotated by SUNY ESF. )

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

52

The development of Brooklyn Marine 

Park was part of the larger park and 

parkway plan for the Jamaica Bay area 

developed by City Parks Commissioner 

Robert Moses. During the 1930s, the 

city officially replaced earlier plans for 

a major commercial port with plans for 

park development; the only area zoned 

for industrial use was at Mill Basin (fig. 

1.30). The city’s plan would largely 

surround Floyd Bennett Field with parks 

and parkways. North of the airport 

site, the Circumferential Parkway, 

later renamed Shore Parkway, was 

conceived in 1930 as part of an arterial 

highway known as the Belt System that 

would link Manhattan, Brooklyn, and 

Queens. The Shore Parkway was begun 

in 1934, completed to Flatbush Avenue by c.1937, and was dedicated in 1940 upon 

completion of the bridge over Mill Basin.30 As with all parkways in New York, the 

Shore Parkway was a limited-access highway open to non-commercial vehicles 

only, thus providing limited use to commercial uses at Floyd Bennett Field. 

As work was underway on the Shore Parkway, the city was implementing plans for 

expanding the parks near Floyd Bennett Field. In 1934, state legislation backed by 

Robert Moses was passed establishing a commission to oversee the $10,000,000 

improvement of Brooklyn Marine Park and Jacob Riis Park, and to connect them 

with a parkway including a bridge spanning Rockaway Inlet. Moses envisioned 

the project as the city counterpart to Jones Beach, the famous state park farther 

east on Long Island.31 At Jacob Riis Park, the city built an elaborate bath house and 

boardwalk along the ocean beach, partly on the site of the old Naval Air Station 

Rockaway that was closed in 1930. At Brooklyn Marine Park, the city greatly 

expanded the acreage of the original 150-acre core of the park along Flatbush 

Avenue on the Brooklyn mainland that had been donated to the city in 1924. By 

1937, the city had incorporated into the park all of the land along the west side of 

Flatbush Avenue in addition to the property on Barren Island, totaling 1,822 acres 

(see fig. 1.30).32

Moses’s proposed parkway and bridge linking Brooklyn Marine Park and Jacob 

Riis Park with Shore Parkway entailed improvement and extension of Flatbush 

Avenue, leading to the final end of Barren Island’s isolation. Work on Flatbush 

Figure 1.30: City zoning map 

showing park and parkway 

system in the vicinity of Floyd 

Bennett Field, 1938. The plan 

shows all of Barren Island as part 

of Marine Park, although by this 

date the eastern tip remained 

in private ownership. In stark 

contrast to the 1910 Jamaica Bay 

port plan, the only area zoned 

industrial is around Mill Basin, 

shown in black. The stippled area 

along the Shore Parkway was 

zoned residential. (Detail, City of 

New York, Jamaica Bay Zoning 

Map, 1938, image 805907, New 

York Public Library.)
53 

Avenue and the bridge began in c.1936 

under the auspices of the Marine Parkway 

Authority and the 4,000-foot long steel-truss 

lift bridge was opened for traffic in July 

1937 (fig. 1.31). 33 Plans also called for the 

improvement of Flatbush Avenue, which was 

renamed Marine Parkway south of Avenue 

U, with a tree-lined median, but this work 

was not completed until several years after 

the bridge was built. 34

The city began to implement its plans for the portion of Brooklyn Marine Park 

on Barren Island in 1936, as work was beginning on the Marine Park Bridge. That 

year, the city began to survey the site and design the landscape. Plans included a 

golf course east of Marine Parkway and a yacht basin to the west at Dead Horse 

Bay. In preparation for the park development, Barren Island residents on city 

property received a notice in spring 1936 to vacate within fourteen days, and 

after a two-month extension, city crews began demolition work on all buildings. 

Twenty-five families remained on the approximately ninety acres of private 

property at the eastern tip of the island belonging to Thomas F. White and his 

associated New York Sanitary Utilization Company. This land, according to city 

plans, was also to become part of Brooklyn Marine Park. 35 

plans for floyd bennett field

Design concepts for Floyd Bennett Field probably began during the fall of 1927 

while the Hoover fact-finding committee was doing its work, well before city 

officials had given final approval to the Barren Island site on February 2, 1928. The 

city initially solicited designs from outside consultants including the American 

Airports Corporation of New York 

City, which produced a plan in 

c.1927 for the still unnamed airport 

entitled “Sketch of Proposed Layout, 

Municipal Airport---Barren Island, 

Borough of Brooklyn, N.Y.” The 

company’s plan featured a circular 

layout with two runways in an ‘X’ 

formation, eleven hangars along 

Flatbush Avenue, and a seaplane base 

on Jamaica Bay (fig. 1.32). 

Figure 1.31: View of the newly 

completed Marine Parkway Bridge 

looking north with Floyd Bennett 

Field and the remains of Barren 

Island in the background, 1937. 

(Image 730897F, copyright New 

York Public Library.) 

Figure 1.32: Plan of a rejected 

layout for Floyd Bennett Field by 

American Airports Corporation of 

New York City, probably dating to 

the fall of 1927. (National Archives, 

reproduced from Porter Blakemore 

and Dana C. Linck, “Historic 

Structures Report...for Floyd 

Bennett Field, Volume 1,” 1981, 

annotated by SUNY ESF.)

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

54

By January 1928, the Department of Docks had shifted to an apparent in-house 

design for the Barren Island airport, with the help of aviator Clarence Chamberlin 

who had assisted with the site selection and now held the post of “Consulting 

Aeronautical Engineer.” Although it is not certain who designed the overall airport 

layout, final plans were developed within the department’s Bureau of Engineering, 

Division of Port Planning. Drawings were submitted by Division Engineer William 

Lansing, and approved by Chief Engineer Thomas F. Keller and Department 

Commissioner Michael Cosgrove in addition to Clarence Chamberlin.36

On January 30, 1928, the Department of Docks finalized its conceptual plan for 

the municipal airport at Barren Island, entitled “Proposed Municipal Airport, 

Borough of Brooklyn, General Location Plans.” (fig. 1.33). The plan for the 387-

acre rectangular site featured two runways, hangars lining Flatbush Avenue, and 

Figure 1.33: Detail of the earliest 

Department of Docks plan for 

Floyd Bennett Field dated January 

30, 1928 with later annotations. 

The area north of the airfield was 

designated as a potential dirigible 

landing field. (City of New York 

municipal archives, reproduced 

from Porter Blakemore and Dana 

Linck, “Historic Structure Report...

for Floyd Bennett Field,” 1981.) 
55 

a seaplane base on Jamaica Bay. A future expansion into the area north of the 

field was shown on the plan although it may have been a later annotation. This 

427-acre area was designated as a dirigible landing field. While the city had not 

yet approved the Barren Island location, the Department of Docks most likely 

developed the plan to convince city officials about the feasibility of the site. 

From this conceptual plan, the Department of Dock’s produced a more detailed 

design by the fall of 1928, entitled “Layout of Municipal Airport, Floyd Bennett 

Field.” (fig. 1.34). The design, which would serve as the master plan for the 

airport, followed the federal Air Commerce Act of 1926, which promoted 

standards and guidelines for commercial airlines and airport design as part of 

the federal government’s regulation of interstate commerce.37 The city developed 

specifications for the airport based on the ‘A1A’ rating, the highest standards 

set by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The plan featured two perpendicular 

concrete runways in a ‘T’ formation, one measuring 3,110 and the other 4,000 feet 

long, set within a grass field protected by a sand-trap privet hedge. The primary 

buildings and parking areas were sited along Flatbush Avenue within a paved 

apron and included a two-story administration building and a two-story terminal 

building, a garage, gasoline filling station, central heating plant, fourteen square 

hangars with attached lean-tos, and a concession area at the north end of the 

complex. These buildings were set back uniformly approximately 500 feet from 

the edge of the runway to provide a flight-path clear zone. A separate seaplane 

base was proposed on Jamaica Bay with its own set of four hangars and a seaplane 

ramp, incorporating the pre-existing city pier built in c.1918. The seaplane base 

Figure 1.34: Detail of the original 

Department of Docks master plan 

for Floyd Bennett Field entitled 

”Layout of Municipal Airport, Floyd 

Bennett Field” circa fall 1928. (City 

of New York municipal archives, 

reproduced from Porter Blakemore 

and Dana Linck, “Historic Structure 

Report...for Floyd Bennett Field,” 

1981, annotated by SUNY ESF.)

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

56

was to be accessed from a paved road along the south boundary with its own 

parking area. The parking areas were designed as paved roadways with unsurfaced 

parking spaces.38

From the beginning, the city realized that the new airport could not succeed based 

solely on commercial aviation, and made plans to lease hangars to other public 

agencies. Likely candidates included the Naval Reserve Air Service (the Rockaway 

air station was soon to close), the National Guard, the city police department, and 

the city Board of Education for the purpose of adding aeronautics to the public 

school curriculum.39

Construction of Floyd Bennett Field began in May 1928 before plans were 

finalized, and by the spring of 1930 the initial phase of construction was 

substantially complete. Over the course of the following decade, the airport 

would undergo additional refinement, expansion, and development in four 

distinct phases of construction. In total, construction costs for the airport 

amounted to nearly $10,500,00.40 The first phase, from 1928 to 1931, included 

filling and grading of the site, and construction of the primary facilities, including 

runways, aprons, hangars, and an administration building-passenger terminal. 

The second phase, from 1932 to 1933, included construction of the seaplane 

base along Jamaica Bay, and addition of landing guidance systems, maintenance 

buildings, and a sewage disposal facility. A substantial expansion of the airport 

occurred during the third phase between 1934 and 1938, made possible through 

assistance from federal work-relief programs and corresponding with the city’s 

development of Brooklyn Marine Park and removal of most of the Barren Island 

community. Work included addition of two runways, enlargement of the hangars, 

improvement of the airport entrance landscape, new parking lots, two new 

runways, and construction of a Coast Guard air station along Jamaica Bay. During 

the fourth construction phase between 1939 and 1941, the Navy expanded its 

presence at the airport in the run-up to World War II through construction of 

a reserve base south of Hangar Row and development of a seaplane patrol base 

along Jamaica Bay. 

Building of Floyd Bennett Field: First Construction Phase, 

1928-1931

Before construction of the primary facilities could begin, substantial work was 

necessary to transform the watery site into a dry, level terrace suitable for an 

airport. The first construction contract, awarded in May 1928, was for hydraulic 

filling and grading of the rectangular parcel’s 387 acres between Jamaica Bay and 

Flatbush Avenue, creating a wide expanse of sandy upland to the north of Barren 

Island that filled in remains of Little Bay and Deep Creek (fig. 1.35). Hydraulic fill 

was deposited on the site by pumping dredge material from Mill Basin and Jamaica 
57 

Bay. The large amount of fill required 

the addition of steel bulkheads along the 

boundaries of much of the site to meet the 

pre-existing grade which varied from sea 

level along Jamaica Bay to sixteen feet above 

mean low tide at Flatbush Avenue. At the 

bathing beach on the east shore of Barren 

Island, the change in grade resulted in an 

exposed bulkhead upwards of fourteen feet 

high (fig. 1.36). By mid-1929 after about 

one year of work, the filling and grading 

operations were complete.41

Construction of the Airfield

In January 1929 prior to completion of 

filling and grading, the Department of 

Docks awarded an extensive contract 

encompassing a range of projects related to 

preparation of the field and construction 

of the runways (fig. 1.37). This contract 

was completed by late 1929. To facilitate 

transport of construction materials to the 

site by boat, a “T”-shaped wooden pier 

was constructed at the head of Deep Creek 

Basin on the west side of Flatbush Avenue.42 This pier, opposite from the airport 

terminal building, was later used as a ferry terminal once major construction had 

been completed.

Once the sandy fill was dredged onto the airport site, contractors began work on 

grading and building a stable surface for the airfield. This included laying down a 

four-inch thick layer of clay subsoil and three-inch layer of topsoil that provided 

a growing base for turf. Plans called for creating eighteen-inch gravel-filled square 

openings in the sub and top soils, scattered throughout the field, to serve as 

drainage openings. To prevent sand from blowing onto the field from surrounding 

areas, a privet hedge was planted along the north boundary in the direction of 

the prevailing winds; this proved inadequate and a board fence was added shortly 

thereafter. The stable and open surface of the field was meant not only to provide 

open sight lines, but also to serve as an emergency landing surface in the event that 

planes could not use the two concrete runways due to adverse wind directions.43

Construction of the two runways proceeded as work on the field was underway. 

The first, runway 15-33 was built parallel to Flatbush Avenue and was 3,100 feet 

Figure 1.35 (top): Aerial 

photograph looking north over 

Barren Island showing extensive 

area of sand fill (white area) 

being created for Floyd Bennett 

Field, 1929. The defunct New York 

Sanitary Utilization Company 

plant is in the right foreground. 

(Uncatalogued maintenance file 

photograph, Floyd Bennett Field, 

Gateway National Recreation 

Area.)

Figure 1.36 (bottom): View of 

the steel bulkhead holding the 

airport fill (left background), 

looking north from the bathing 

beach on the east side of Barren 

Island, 1931. The cranes in the 

background are probably working 

on construction of the airport’s 

seaplane base completed under 

the second phase of construction. 

(Digital image 731877F, copyright 

New York Public Library.)

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

58

long (see fig. 1.37).44 The second, runway 6-24, was perpendicular to the first and 

was 4,000 feet long, making it the longest concrete runway in the country. The 

New York Times reported that both were of “...ample length for use in any wind 

by the largest of the nation’s air transport planes or the fastest landing of the 

racing ships now used.”45 Both were initially fifty-feet wide and eight inches thick, 

constructed of steel reinforced concrete (fig. 1.38). Gravel strips were specified 

to run along the edges of the runways, each two feet wide and eight inches deep 

to provide drainage and a shoulder between the grass and runways.46 Before the 

runways were completed, the Department of Docks awarded a separate contract 

to double the width of the runways to 100 feet. This was done to meet the 

requirement of the Department of Commerce A1A rating.47 Runway lighting, a 

technology still under development at the time, was not part of the initial plan for 

the runways. 

By 1930, Floyd Bennett Field included seeded fields and two concrete runways. 

While construction of the buildings had not yet begun, the distinct character 

of the airport was already emerging. From the air, its geometric form and 

Figure 1.37: Detail, Department of Docks plan dated January 31, 1929 specifying work on the preparation of the airfield and construction 

of the runways. (City of New York municipal archives, reproduced from Porter Blakemore and Dana Linck, “Historic Structure Report...

Floyd Bennett Field,” 1981, annotated by SUNY ESF.)

Figure 1.38: View showing 

construction of the concrete 

runways, c.1929. (Photograph 

29602, Gateway National 

Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)
59 

manicured, engineered landmass stood out starkly from the surrounding natural 

estuary (fig. 1.39). The landscape was kept as open as possible, without trees or 

other obstructions, to maximize sight lines and eliminate possible obstructions 

along the flight paths, although buildings, trees, and a tall chimney remained 

on Barren Island to the south. The perpendicular arrangement of the runways 

illustrated the highly geometrical forms common in airport design. The placement 

of runway 15-33 parallel to Flatbush Avenue also defined the strong linear 

arrangement of the western side of the airfield, to be further emphasized with the 

construction of the airport’s hangars and administration building. 

Construction of Hangar Row

While construction of the runways was beginning in late 1929, the Department 

of Docks awarded contracts for the construction of the major buildings and 

surrounding apron in the part of the airport that would become known as Hangar 

Row.48 For this part of the construction, the department made a few modifications 

to the original master plan. Instead of separate administration and passenger 

terminal buildings, the city decided to erect a single building housing both 

functions. For the hangars, the contracts were limited for financial reasons to eight 

of the fourteen paired hangars proposed on the master plan. The city planned 

on building the additional hangars at a later date, but this never happened. 

Construction drawings were finalized in late 1929 and work began first on the 

hangars in early 1930 and was completed a year and a half later. Upon completion 

Figure 1.39: Aerial view of the 

recently completed Floyd Bennett 

Field looking east showing 

contrast with surrounding 

estuary, 1931. (Digital image 

727099F, copyright New York 

Public Library.)

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

60

in 1931, Hangar Row consisted of two clusters of 

four paired hangars parallel to Flatbush Avenue 

that defined the western edge of the airfield and 

the public face of the airport. 

Each steel-frame fireproof hangar, measuring a 

clear span of 120 by 140 feet, consisted of trussed 

steel frames and concrete floors built on concrete 

piles extending thirty-five feet into the sandy fill 

(fig. 1.40). The hangars were designed according 

to a unified architectural style that would be 

used on all airport buildings, with the exception 

of the Administration Building and a few other 

buildings. The hangars reflected their modern 

function and advanced structural engineering 

with stylized classical detailing in the Art Deco style. Each was enclosed by large 

sliding doors and anchored by buff-colored tapestry brick corner piers with caststone detailing including quoins, coping, lintels, and water tables (fig. 1.41). The 

aluminum alloy and glass doors were located on the north and south sides of 

the hangars, with an overhead clearance of twenty-two feet. The stamped metal 

parapets above the doors featured the hangar number and titles ‘City of New 

York,’ and ‘Floyd Bennett Field.’ These titles later changed as different agencies 

occupied the hangars. Each hangar had a 30 by 140-foot lean-to attached to either 

the east or west side for office and shop space. 

As part of the hangar construction, the parking and taxi areas surrounding each 

building were surfaced in three-inch black asphalt blocks, and to the east facing 

the airfield, a large concrete apron was constructed, parallel to runway 15-33. The 

apron was designed as a taxiway, aircraft parking area, and passenger boarding 

area. 

While construction of 

the hangars was nearing 

completion, work 

began in 1930 on the 

central Administration 

Building. Located 

directly between the 

two groups of hangars 

on Hangar Row, the 

Administration Building 

served as the airport’s 

Figure 1.40: Collage of 

photographs showing 

construction of the trussed 

steel-frame hangars, c.1929. 

The bottom right photograph 

is looking south along Flatbush 

Avenue toward Barren Island 

(tree-covered area in background). 

(Photograph 18986, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)

Figure 1.41: Hangars 5-8 looking 

north with the concrete apron at 

right and Flatbush Avenue at left, 

c.1930. The wings on the outer 

sides of the hangars are the leantos, and the dark ground surfaces 

are asphalt pavers. (Photograph 

18883, Gateway National 

Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)
61 

passenger terminal and 

housed administrative offices. 

Unlike the hangars, the twostory, three-bay rectangular 

building was designed in a 

conservative neoclassical 

style typical for public 

buildings of the period such 

as post offices, court houses, 

and train stations. Such a 

familiar style was chosen 

to help passengers feel at 

ease with what many still 

considered an untried mode 

of travel.49 Characteristic 

neoclassical features included 

a symmetrical façade with a 

central portico, simple red 

brick walls set on a raised 

water table with cast-stone 

and marble detailing, and 

double-hung multi-paned 

sash windows (fig. 1.42). The 

main entrance of the building 

faced Flatbush Avenue, with 

the entablature reading “City 

of New York, Department of 

Docks, Floyd Bennett Field, 

Municipal Airport.” The one unusual feature—the control tower—appeared as 

a traditional cupola from the front of the building. The base of the tower was a 

brick half-octagon projecting from the rear of the building facing the airfield, 

with a steel frame, metal-clad tower cab that rose above the building’s roof line. 

This cab was detailed with classical arched window openings and pilasters (fig. 

1.43). Passengers entered from the front of the building and could wait inside in a 

central waiting room and lounge, dine in a restaurant, or watch planes taking off 

from a balustraded terrace that ran across the entire length of the façade facing 

the airfield. Steps led down from the terrace to the apron where passengers would 

embark at the awaiting planes on the concrete apron. 

Opening and Dedication

By the summer of 1930, most of the initial construction had been completed on 

the hangars and runways, allowing the airport to open for limited operations 

Figure 1.42 (top): View of the 

main or Flatbush-Avenue façade 

of the Administration Building 

nearing completion, c.1931. 

(Photograph 18883, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.) 

Figure 1.43 (bottom): The rear or 

airfield side of the Administration 

Building several years following 

its completion showing the 

control tower and terrace, c.1938. 

(Photograph 18392, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

62

on June 26, 1930. Mrs. Cora 

Bennett, Floyd Bennett’s 

widow, and Rear Admiral 

Richard E. Byrd were both 

present at an initial dedication 

held that day.50 The official 

dedication ceremony was held 

nearly one year later, on May 

23, 1931 (fig. 1.44). By this time, 

the first phase of construction 

was largely complete, except 

for the Administration 

Building and its surrounding 

parking areas and entrance 

drives, at a cost of nearly 

4,500,000. Approximately 

25,000 spectators attended the 

ceremony, including famous 

pilots, notable military personnel, and foreign dignitaries. New York City Mayor 

James Walker officiated and Mrs. Cora Bennett unveiled a plaque dedicating 

the field to her late husband. The occasion was broadcast live on nationwide 

radio, with opening remarks by General Douglas MacArthur, reporting via radio 

from Washington, D.C. 51 The Army Air Corps provided an aerial maneuver 

show during the ceremony. The first planes to arrive following the dedication 

and official opening were eight Navy planes commanded by Lieutenant R.F. 

Whitehead, stationed at the nearby Valley Stream (Long Island) Airport. 52

Initial Navy Presence at Floyd Bennett Field

After World War I, it became common for the military to establish aviation bases 

at municipal airports. The American public had grown weary of military spending, 

particularly on the development of new bases. It was easier and less expensive 

for the military to associate themselves with established airports. 53 Having the 

military at municipal airports may have also made American travelers more 

comfortable with the still new technology of flight. 

When Floyd Bennett Field officially opened for commercial traffic on May 23, 

1931, the Navy had already made an agreement with the city to occupy some of 

the new airport facilities beginning June 1, 1931. This coincided with the closing 

of the nearby Naval Air Station Rockaway, which was being redeveloped as part of 

the city’s Jacob Riis Park. When that air station closed, the Navy relocated some 

of its operations to Floyd Bennett Field. A 1931 memo from a Department of 

Figure 1.44: Aerial view of 

Floyd Bennett Field looking east 

probably during the official 

dedication on May 23, 1931 with 

crowds on the Hangar Row apron. 

Visible in the right distance is the 

fill for the proposed seaplane 

base. Also note unfinished area 

surrounding the Administration 

Building. (Digital image 730522F, 

copyright New York Public 

Library.)
63 

Docks official to the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics also reflected a broader sharing 

of facilities:

Permission is hereby granted to the United States to use and occupy one of 

the hangars at...Floyd Bennett Field... the exact hangar to be designated by 

the Commissioner of Docks. This permit also includes the right of the United 

States Navy to have full use of the field and all the airport facilities.54

The Commissioner of Docks chose hangar 1 (the southeastern-most hangar in 

Hangar Row) for the Navy to occupy, for which they paid one dollar per year. 

The Navy trained reservists and maintained some of their aircraft in the building. 

The city allowed the Navy to use other facilities as needed, although they were 

required to pay for any services used, such as necessary lighting and power. The 

Navy soon requested use of more facilities, and in May of 1932, the city granted 

the Navy permission to occupy hangar 5, under the same conditions as the use of 

hangar 1.55

Second Construction Phase, 1931-1934

By the end of the year following the formal dedication in May 1931, Floyd Bennett 

Field had become one of the country’s leading airports as the city had planned. 

The 1932 National Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce Aircraft Yearbook 

reported, “The year witnessed the opening of several of the finest new airports yet 

constructed, including New York’s new municipal port, Floyd Bennett Field, with 

the longest runways in the world.” The Department of Docks’ Sixtieth Annual 

Report reported that from May 23 through December 31, 1931, Floyd Bennett 

Field accommodated 1,153 commercial planes and 605 military planes, had 

approximately 25,000 landings, carried 17,700 passengers, handled 4,000 pounds 

of mail (outside of the exclusive airmail contract held by Newark), and instructed 

fifty students. Within another two years, traffic at Floyd Bennett Field had more 

than doubled. It had become the second busiest airport in the nation with 51,828 

landings, second only to Oakland, California, with 66,000 landings. Rival Newark 

airport, however, carried more passengers and retained the exclusive airmail 

contract. 56 The number of passengers at Floyd Bennett Field was not, however, 

from regularly scheduled commercial service, but rather by small private aircraft 

companies that offered sight-seeing and custom transport.

To maintain its place as one of the nation’s most advanced airports and keep its 

hope of securing the airmail contract, the city still had a long list of improvements 

to make. Under the second phase of construction following the airport’s official 

dedication, one of the city’s chief objectives was to receive its Class A1A rating 

from the Department of Commerce. In order to receive this rating, the airport had 

Site History, 1928-1941
CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR FLOYD BENNETT FIELD

64

to add equipment for night fl ying and other navigational aids, as well as storage 

and repair shops that were apparently accommodated within the hangar leantos.57 To install the night-fl ying equipment, in late 1931 the city awarded a contract 

to the General Electric Company for installation of lighted initials ‘NYC’ on the 

roofs of hangars 2 and 6, and a north arrow on the roof of hangar 4. 58 A lighted 

windsock installed on the roof of hangar 5 was most likely included in this work, 

and a wind tee was probably added around the same time off the north end of the 

apron. Probably as part of another contract to General Electric, white boundary 

lights were installed on the ground along the perimeter of the fi eld on the north, 

east, and south sides, and on the east along the outer edge of the Hangar Row 

apron.59

In 1932 around the same time that General Electric was at the airport, the city 

installed a fl oodlight system to illuminate the entire fi eld. This system, designed 

by the Sperry Gyroscope Company of Brooklyn, included a series of individual 

fl oodlights mounted along the parapet of the Administration Building, and 

two towers in the fi eld each housing 5,000,000 candle-power fl oodlights. One 

fl oodlight tower was located 

along the northern boundary 

in the center of the airfi eld, 

and the other was located off 

the south end of the Hangar 

Row apron. Each tower stood 

approximately twenty-eight feet 

tall and fourteen feet square, 

with a fl at roof and projecting 

concrete balcony for the 

fl oodlight. The structures were 

designed in the standard airport 

style found on the hangars 

with tapestry brick, metalframe windows, and cast-stone 

classical detailing.60 (fi g. 1.45). 

As part of the navigation-light system, an underground electrical system was 

installed throughout the fi eld. This included several above-ground features, 

notably a transformer vault completed in 1932 at the south end of Hangar Row. 

This was a ten-foot by twelve-foot, fl at-roofed building also designed in the 

airport’s standard style with tapestry brick and cast-stone classical detailing.61

Around the same time, a twenty-fi ve foot, square building constructed in the 

standard airport style with a stepped parapet was added next to the transformer 

vault to house a pump for the sewage disposal system. 62 These two buildings were 

Figure 1.45: One of the two 

Sperry fl oodlight towers built 

within the airfi eld in 1932 during 

the second construction phase, 

looking northwest toward 

Hangar Row. Note the airfi eld 

boundary light in the foreground. 

(Photograph 18879, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection, from negative 78-

17670, Smithsonian Institution.)
65 

the first parts of a maintenance area that 

was apparently developed because of 

the need for unforeseen maintenance 

and support facilities that outgrew 

the originally intended area near the 

Administration Building indicated on the 

original master plan (see fig. 1.34). 

Aside from addition of the maintenance 

area, other work undertaken to Hangar 

Row during the second phase of 

construction included two improvements 

to public-use areas surrounding the 

Administration Building. In c.1932, the city built two diagonal entrance drives 

lined by sidewalks that converged at a central parking area in front of the 

Administration Building. The area between the drives was designed as a parklike lawn area, and the areas outside of the drives were surfaced in gravel as 

public parking lots. 63 This work was probably undertaken with funds from the 

Temporary Emergency Relief Administration (TERA), a state program begun by 

Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1931. Funds were apparently insufficient to 

complete work on the entrance area landscape, which was to feature plantings 

and light standards. Other improvements undertaken to the area surrounding 

the Administration Building included installation of a fence along the edge of 

the Hangar Row apron to separate the planes and boarding area from waiting 

passengers. 64 (fig. 1.46). A black-and-white checkered curb ran along the length of 

the fence on the apron as a visual marker for pilots. Within the fence were a series 

of gates, which served as the boarding entrance to specific planes. This became the 

equivalent of what is known in today’s airports as the gate area. The area between 

the gates and the Administration Building, surfaced in asphalt block, was used by 

cars and taxis as a passenger drop-off area. 

Beyond the gates, the airfield saw several 

improvements during this phase of 

construction aside from the installation 

of the Sperry floodlight towers. The most 

conspicuous change was the addition 

of three short thirty-foot wide taxiways 

completed on October 12, 1932 that 

connected Hangar Row with runway 

15-33 (fig. 1.47). As part of the project, 

the apron was widened along its east 

side.65 These improvements were made 

Figure 1.46: View of the gate area 

showing the fence installed in 

c.1932, looking northeast from the 

Administration Building terrace, 

c.1937. The fence separated 

awaiting passengers and vehicles 

from the planes on the concrete 

apron. (Photograph 18963, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)

Figure 1.47: View northeast 

from the Administration Building 

showing the widened apron and 

one of the new taxiways, c.1933. 

The object within the white circle 

is a windsock that was removed by 

1935. (Photograph 18997, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

66

to reduce what had probably become a point of 

congestion on the single connection from the 

Hangar Row apron to the runways provided 

by runway 6-24. The only other improvement 

to the airfield included the installation of a 

four-foot tall wire mesh sand fence along the 

airport’s southern boundary to control drifting, 

completed on February 2, 1932.66 A privet hedge 

and board fence had previously been installed 

along the north boundary for a similar purpose. 

One of the primary projects during the second 

phase of construction was completion of 

the seaplane base at the southeast corner of 

the airfield on Jamaica Bay, a facility highly 

recommended by the city’s aeronautical 

engineer Clarence Chamberlin that was part 

of the airport’s master plan (see fig. 1.34). The 

site had been filled behind a steel bulkhead as 

part of the initial construction of the airfield that began in 1928. By August 1931, 

the city had completed a seaplane ramp, measuring fifty feet wide and extending 

220 feet into Jamaica Bay on a wood-pile structure (fig. 1.48). To the south of the 

ramp, they city built a pier for seaplanes to dock while waiting to come ashore. 

Measuring 480 feet long and thirty feet wide, the pier may have incorporated part 

of the earlier city pier built in c.1918, which had probably been removed in part 

due to extension of the shoreline out into Jamaica Bay as part of the initial filling 

operations. In addition to the pier, three seaplane anchorage buoys were installed 

in Jamaica Bay as additional places for waiting seaplanes. 67

The seaplane base was accessed from the main facilities in Hangar Row along a 

narrow road extending from the south end of the Hangar Row apron east along 

the south boundary of the airport, paralleling the paper road on Barren Island, 

Pelican Street. Probably laid out in c.1929 during the initial phase of construction 

with an oiled gravel surface, the road turned north along the bulkhead where 

it was surfaced in macadam. The road included three slots along the field side 

apparently designed as seaplane parking areas (see fig. 1.48). 

As part of the seaplane base, one or more seaplane runways were laid out in 

Jamaica Bay. These were designated in the water by buoys or similar anchored 

guides. Runway 18-36 paralleled the shoreline and extended along Island 

Channel, also known as the Jamaica Bay Main Channel (fig. 1.49). At the south 

end of the runway in Rockaway Inlet off the southeastern tip of Barren Island 

Figure 1.48: Map of the seaplane 

base following completion of 

the site work, roads, pier, and 

ramp, c.1933. The macadam road 

provided vehicular access to 

Hangar Row. (Detail, Department 

of Docks, “General Location 

Plan, Floyd Bennett Airport,” 

21 December 1931, updated 26 

August 1933 (apparently to show 

seaplane base) and 17 January 

1936.) 
67 

was a square turning basin. Runway 7-25, 

running parallel with Rockaway Inlet and 

Rockaway Beach, and runway 12-30, running 

southeasterly in the open expanse of Jamaica 

Bay south of Ruffle Bar, may have been added at 

a later date.68

The seaplane base at Floyd Bennett Field 

was envisioned as part of a commuter service 

to Manhattan, meant in part to compensate 

for the remote location of the airport from 

the center of the city. By August 1931, the 

Department of Docks was still planning on 

expanding the seaplane base to include not 

only the four paired hangars shown on the 

airport master plan, but an additional two sets of hangars for a total of eight, as 

well as two additional seaplane ramps.69 The city did not proceed with building the 

hangars and additional ramps because the airport’s overall commercial passenger 

service remained very limited—as of 1934 there was still no daily passenger 

service offered by any of the major commercial airlines. Despite these limitations, 

the seaplane base was actively used for experimental and show flights. A notable 

landing occurred there in 1933, as described in a 1939 guide to New York City:

Its site on Jamaica Bay makes Floyd Bennett Field particularly suitable for 

seaplanes, an advantage impressively demonstrated in 1933 by the visit of 

twenty-four giant Italian seaplanes under General Italo Balbo on their way 

home after a transatlantic trip to the Century of Progress Exposition in 

Chicago. A ramp for seaplanes, 50 by 220 feet, at the eastern end of the field, 

gives access to ample water space.70

The WPA and the Third Construction Phase, 1934-1938

The 1930s witnessed many advances in aviation, both in airplane technology 

and airport design. Planes became larger and heavier, requiring wider and 

longer runways, and lighting and radar systems were devised to aid navigation 

upon landing and take-off. New methods of easing boarding and creating a 

more welcoming experience for airport travelers were also being developed at 

many airports. The introduction of the Douglas DC-2 in 1934 and DC-3 in 1936 

made air travel more comfortable and popular. These planes, which became the 

standard for commercial passenger flights, led to significant increases in air travel, 

with the total number of passengers rising nationally from 474,000 in 1932 to 

1,102,000 in 1937 and to 1,176,858 passengers in 1938.71

Figure 1.49: Location of seaplane 

runways associated with Floyd 

Bennett Field; based on “Naval 

Air Station New York...General 

Development Map,” 1960. 18-36 

may be the original runway, with 

12-30 and 7-25 added later. (Detail, 

U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey, 

“Jamaica Bay and Rockaway Inlet,” 

1934, annotated by SUNY ESF.)

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

68

In response to these advances, the Department of Docks began to draft plans for 

a major program of improvements to Floyd Bennett Field in c.1934, coinciding 

with planning for the adjoining park development and construction of the Marine 

Parkway Bridge. Over the course of a four-year period, the airport improvements 

would cost more than the original construction in 1929-31. The city was fortunate 

that the development of these improvements coincided with passage of federal 

work-relief programs that would greatly ease the city’s financial burden. Of 

particular importance was the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA), 

authorized in April 1935 to put the unemployed back to work on public projects. 

The WPA funded thousands of blue-collar construction jobs, as well as jobs 

in the arts and administration. Across the country, the WPA funded significant 

improvements to transportation infrastructure, including the construction 

of over 150 new airfields and 280 miles of runways by 1938.72 While the city 

Department of Docks continued to administer Floyd Bennett Field and design 

its improvements, federal funding covered most of the costs and labor. Between 

1934 and 1938, federal spending at the airport totaled approximately $4.7 million. 

During the same period, the City of New York contributed just over $339,000.73

The WPA work included two new runways, installation of navigational aids, 

expansion of the hangars and aprons, building of secondary support and 

maintenance buildings, and improvement of the airport entrance landscape with 

lawn and plantings. These improvements were shown on a model of the airport, 

probably made at the beginning of the improvement program in 1934 or 1935 

(fig. 1.50). The city also used the WPA to build utilities, including additional storm 

drains within the airfield, sewer 

lines, water mains, underground 

fuel tanks, and electrical 

cables.74 These improvements 

had minimal impact on the 

character of the landscape.

Although Floyd Bennett Field 

would not see significant 

increases in passenger travel 

that were being experienced 

elsewhere across the country, 

the improvements made to 

the airport between 1934 and 

1938 reflected the growing 

acceptance of flight as a 

viable means of passenger 

Figure 1.50: Photograph of a 

model of Floyd Bennett Field taken 

in November 1935 showing the 

proposed improvements begun 

in c.1934 with assistance of the 

WPA. The origin and location 

of the model is not known. 

(Photograph 18860, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)
69 

transport as well as the city’s continuing efforts to attract the airmail contract and 

commercial passenger carriers. With many of the airport improvements complete 

or underway, the city secured the first daily commercial passenger service from 

Floyd Bennett Field in 1937. That year, American Airlines began daily service 

between New York and Boston, which continued through 1938. To address 

the long distance between Manhattan and the airport, the city also operated a 

commuter connection using seaplanes that departed from piers at Wall Street and 

31st Street.75 Despite American Airlines’ presence and the seaplane connection, 

no other commercial passenger airlines decided to follow.76 Most passengers at 

Floyd Bennett Field were sightseers on private craft—numbering over 20,000 in 

1937. The airport did see increased use by other agencies, notably the Navy which 

moved into hangar 2 in addition to hangars 1 and 5; and the U.S. Coast Guard 

and New York City Police Aviation Division, which shared hangar 4 beginning in 

1936.77

Additions to Hangar Row

Among the first projects undertaken through the WPA was expansion of the 

hangars, including the construction of infill buildings between each pair, and the 

addition of a second floor on some of the lean-tos (fig. 1.51). These additions were 

planned to provide space for machine shops, utilities, and offices. A major need 

for the additional space arose from the Navy’s expanded presence at the airport, 

as reflected in a December 1936 letter from the Naval Reserve Aviation Base 

commanding officer to the city upon completion of one of the projects: 

A separate WPA project sponsored by the City of New York, involving the 

quarters occupied by this Base is nearing completion. This project involves 

remodeling the first floor, and the 

addition of a second floor to the 

existing lean-to on hangar no. 1. 

Also, the construction of a building 

between the hangars no. 1 and 

2 to house a storeroom, plane 

overhaul shop, machine shop, and 

dormitory. The part concerning 

the lean-to is 99% complete and 

this base is occupying the offices, 

etc., in this two story lean-to.78

The infill and lean-to additions were 

designed to match the style of the 

original hangars, with buff tapestry 

brick and stylized classical detailing. 

Figure 1.51: View of Hangar Row 

looking north showing four new 

hangar infill buildings, c.1937. 

This photograph also shows 

the landscape improvements 

to the airport entrance, and 

construction underway on the 

Dope House in the maintenance 

area at the south end of Hangar 

Row. The lighted “NYC” signs 

on the hangars were installed 

in c.1932. (Copyright Cradle of 

Aviation Museum, Garden City, 

New York.)

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

70

The additions were finely detailed with a curved parapet above the main entrances 

containing a cast-stone bas-relief panel with stylized wings and propellers, and 

the letters ‘N.Y.C.’ and ‘F.B.A.’ for Floyd Bennett Airport (the word airport was 

sometimes substituted for field).The first infill building, constructed in 1934, was 

a boiler room and machine shop located between hangars 3 and 4. Between 1934 

and 1937, the WPA constructed the infill buildings connecting hangars 1 and 2, 5 

and 6, and 7 and 8. 79

Another focus of work undertaken through the WPA was enlarging the 

maintenance facilities at the south end of Hangar Row near the earlier pump 

house and transformer vault. In 1935, two garages and a gasoline house were built 

here, forming a line of buildings between the apron and Flatbush Avenue. These 

were utilitarian wood-frame and sheet-metal buildings with gable roofs, probably 

intended to be temporary (see fig. 1.51). The largest and most elaborate of the new 

maintenance buildings, the Dope Shop, was constructed in 1937 according to the 

standard architectural style of the airport with buff tapestry brick and cast-stone 

detailing. Built to house a maintenance shop where waterproof varnish known 

as dope was applied to aircraft, the Dope Shop was a 135-foot long, one-story 

building with a parapet roof and two large glazed garage bays wide enough for 

aircraft. Immediately upon its completion, the Navy and the City of New York 

shared occupancy of the Dope Shop. 80

Improvements to the Airport Entrance & Gate Area

In 1935, the city with the help of the WPA undertook a number of landscape 

improvements around the Administration Building that would complete a 

welcoming, familiar, and park-like atmosphere for passengers apprehensive of 

flying. Following initial work that included the two diagonal entrance drives 

that converged a central parking, the Department of Docks finalized plans for 

completing the entrance area landscape in May 1935. Plans called for a central 

lawn with light standards and clipped privet hedges along the drives enclosing 

massings of shrubs (fig. 1.52, see also fig. 1.51). The front of the Administration 

Building was to be lined by foundation shrubs and flower beds, with specimen 

junipers flanking the entrance stairs. An island of shrubs bordered by hedges 

was designed to the south of the building. In addition to privet and juniper, the 

specified plantings included sycamore, spirea, lilac, forsythia, rose-of-sharon, 

roses, cannas, hydrangea, azaleas, vinca, and ivy, among others. In concept, 

the design extended the park-like landscape of Marine Parkway—the planned 

improvement of Flatbush Avenue—into the airport. The plan also called for 

formalizing the drives to the Deep Creek Basin dock across Flatbush Avenue as a 

sort of miniature mirror image of the main entrance landscape.81
71 

Work on completing the entrance landscape began in 1935 using WPA labor 

and funds, and was finished by fall 1936. The plan was implemented largely as 

designed, except that the massings of shrubs bordering the diagonal driveways 

were replaced with lawn.82 (fig. 1.53). Individual shrubs sheared into mounds lined 

the drives while clipped privet hedges bordered the outer walks. A low clipped 

border hedge, probably privet, extended around foundation shrubs planted along 

all sides of the Administration Building.83

Aside from plantings, the landscape improvement project also added a central 

walk through the front lawn, on axis with the front entrance of the Administration 

Building (fig. 1.54). This walk was lined by sycamore trees that tied into a line 

of roadside sycamores along Flatbush Avenue, where the walk was marked by 

two cast-iron light standards. Within the lawn, the walk formed a circle around 

a flagpole and a rustic oak sign consisting of a signboard hung within a nine-foot 

tall gable-roofed pavilion set on a brick base (fig. 1.55). This rustic sign, designed 

according to a plan developed by the Department of Docks approved in October 

1935, reinforced the park-like feeling of the landscape.84 This character was 

further enhanced through the addition of two rustic bracketed-arm wood light 

standards that were installed along the edge of the front lawn and parking area 

(see fig.s 1.53, 1.54). These were the same style of light standards installed on the 

region’s state park and parkway system then under development. 

Upon completion of the central lawn area, the public gravel parking areas to north 

and south of the Administration Building were formalized by the addition of 

Figure 1.52: Detail, planting plan 

for the airport entrance by the 

Department of Docks, approved 

May 6, 1935. The plantings in 

this plan were implemented as 

designed, and a central walk 

was added in the lawn. (City of 

New York municipal archives, 

reproduced from Judith A. Quinn, 

“Historic Structures Report, The 

Administration Building,” 2004, 

annotated by SUNY ESF.)

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

72

Figure 1.53: Detail of the entrance area landscape installed in 1935 looking southeast showing concrete walks and diagonal 

drive with lawn lined by privet hedge and shrubs, 1938. In the background is the central parking area and one of the rustic 

wood light standards. (Photograph 18394, Gateway National Recreation Area Museum Collection.)

Figure 1.54: The airport entrance area upon completion showing central walk, photographed November 20, 1936. Note the 

park-like rustic entrance sign and wood light standards in the background. (Photograph 69-N-7763D, Still Pictures Branch, 

National Archives II.)
73 

walks and railings along the gate area and lawn along Flatbush 

Avenue. Since the parking capacity had been decreased with 

the landscape improvements, two new lots were completed 

at the north end of Hangar Row in 1936, probably designed 

primarily to handle parking for major events given their 

distance from the Administration Building.85 (fig. 1.56). These 

lots were also surfaced in gravel, and had five entrances (curb 

cuts) off Flatbush Avenue. Pedestrian connection to the 

Administration Building was possible along a sidewalk that 

paralleled Flatbush Avenue. 

Prior to the entrance area landscape improvements, the 

parking and gate area around the Administration Building had 

served as a place for a variety of temporary stands and booths 

selling refreshments.86 With completion of the entrance 

landscape, the city moved ahead with the WPA project 

shown on the c.1935 airport model (see fig. 1.50) to build 

a permanent facility for visitor services known as the Field 

House. Completed in late 1936 and opened in 

1937, the one-story, thirty-seven by twentysix foot building was constructed north of 

the Administration Building straddling the 

north parking lot and gate area. Designed 

in the more conservative neoclassical style 

of the Administration Building, the building 

featured a central block with two lower wings, 

red brick walls, multi-paned windows, and 

cast-stone trim (fig. 1.57, see also fig. 1.56). 

The wings housed public lavatories and the 

central block contained space for sale of 

cigars, cigarettes, and light refreshments, 

Figure 1.55 (above): The rustic airport entrance sign shortly 

after installation, c.1935. The names “Floyd Bennett Airport” 

and “Floyd Bennett Field” were both used at the time. The 

person at left may be Ken Behr, the airport manager; the 

other person is unidentified. (Photograph 19622, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum Collection.)

Figure 1.56: Aerial view of Hangar Row looking south 

at the end of the WPA-funded improvement program, 

August 1938. Note new entrance landscape, parking 

areas north of Hangar Row, new runways, and a 

realigned south boundary road. Barely visible are the 

Field House, sprinkler pump house, and gasoline pump 

house in the north parking lot. The small building at 

the bottom along Flatbush Avenue was a refreshment 

stand. This photo also shows the compass rose added 

in the turf east of the Hangar Row apron in c.1935. 

(Photograph 18951, Gateway National Recreation Area 

Museum Collection.)

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

74

supplementing primary retail services 

within the Administration Building.87

Soon after the Field House was built, 

the city and the WPA added two utility 

buildings within and adjoining the north 

parking lot, including a pump house 

that serviced a site-wide fire sprinkler 

system (see fig. 1.56). The small onestory building was built in the standard 

airport style with buff-colored tapestry 

brick and a cast-stone parapet inscribed 

with the title “Pump House.” North of 

this building across a fence separating 

the north parking lot from hangar 6, the 

city and WPA erected a six by eight-foot brick gasoline pump house, also designed 

in the standard airport style. Gas was pumped from eight underground storage 

tanks.88 

As part of the improvements to passenger services that included the entrance 

landscape and Field House, the city also made several changes to the gate area 

and apron, again through the WPA. In order to facilitate passenger circulation to 

the aircraft and bypass the busy drop-off area, the city built a passenger tunnel 

extending from the basement of the Administration Building to the Hangar Row 

apron. Built in 1935, the central stem of the tunnel headed 124 feet east below the 

gate area, then branched beneath the apron 120 feet to the north and south. At 

the end of each of the tunnel branches, flights of stairs led to a pair of rectangular 

hydraulically lifted hatches that opened onto the apron (fig. 1.58). 89 As a part of 

the same project, the WPA also 

installed four turn tables on the 

apron to either side of the tunnel 

hatches. These were installed in 

Figure 1.57: View looking 

southeast from the north parking 

lot at the nearly complete Field 

House, 23 December 1936. 

(National Archives, reproduced 

from Porter Blakemore and Dana 

Linck, “Historic Structure Report...

Floyd Bennett Field,” National Park 

Service, 1981.)

Figure 1.58: View of the gate area 

and apron looking southwest showing 

recently built rectangular passenger 

tunnel hatches and rotating platforms, 

c.1936. The annotations are on the 

original photograph. The hipped-roof 

booth at the corner of the parking lot 

was probably removed with opening 

of the Field House in 1937. (Photograph 

22017, Gateway National Recreation Area 

Museum Collection.)
75 

order to decrease the turning radius of the aircraft, facilitating quicker arrival and 

departure times.To accommodate the turn tables and tunnel hatches, the concrete 

apron was widened by fifty-four feet east into the airfield. 90

Improvements to the Airfield 

While the majority of projects undertaken through the WPA were within Hangar 

Row, the most conspicuous (from the air) and functionally key improvements 

occurred on the airfield with the expansion of the runway and taxiway system, 

designed to accommodate larger and heavier aircraft. Work on two new 150-foot 

wide concrete runways, designated 1-19 and 12-30, and widening of the taxiways 

connecting runway 15-33 with the Hangar Row apron from thirty to one hundred 

feet, was completed in 1935. Runway 1-19 ran diagonally across the field from 

north to south, extending 3,500 feet from the southern end of runway 15-33, 

which was lengthened 400 feet to 3,500 feet (fig. 1.59). The second new runway, 

12-30, ran diagonally across the field from northwest to southeast, extending 3,200 

feet from the northern end of runway 15-33.At the intersection of the runways, 

the pavement was expanded between 1-19 and 12-30, creating a large expanse of 

concrete in the center of the airfield. The purpose of the two new runways was not 

only to expand the capacity of the airport, but also to give aircraft four directions 

Figure 1.59: Annotated aerial 

of Floyd Bennett Field showing 

recently completed runways, 

graded runway approach, and 

airfield lights, July 1936. The 

photograph also indicates the 

proposed site of the proposed 

U.S. Coast Guard Air Station 

along Jamaica Bay. (Photograph 

18917, Gateway National 

Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

76

in which to land into the wind, rather than two. With the heavier aircraft such as 

the DC-2 and DC-3, the option of landing into the wind on the open airfield turf, 

as the airport had originally been designed, was no longer possible. To land safely, 

these aircraft required stable pavement. 91 

As a further improvement in the landing facilities, a runway lighting system was 

installed upon completion of the new runways in 1935. This system included a 

row of green end-of-runway lights, consisting of between four and eight individual 

lights within the airfield turf approximately 100 feet or more from the ends of each 

runway (fig. 1.60). The major component of this system was reserved for runway 

12-30, which was designated as the “blind landing runway” for use at nighttime 

and inclement weather. The runway was lined on both sides by white ground 

lights spaced one hundred feet apart, and was also equipped with an “instrument 

landing beam signal.” Probably to service this new navigational lighting system, a 

transformer vault building was constructed in c.1935 north of hangars 7 and 8, in 

the standard airport style.92

Figure 1.60: Detail of a map of 

Floyd Bennett Field updated to 

June 30, 1941 showing various aids 

to navigation, including boundary 

lights and floodlights installed in 

1932, and runway lights installed 

in 1935. (Uncatalogued drawing, 

Gateway National Recreation Area 

Museum Collection, annotated by 

SUNY ESF.) 
77 

Aside from the electrical navigational aids, the city also built a compass rose in the 

turf between runway 15-33 and the Hangar Row apron in c.1935, as called for on 

the airport model (see fig. 1.50). Consisting of a central thirty-foot solid concrete 

circle and an outer sixty-foot diameter ring set flush with the ground, the compass 

rose was used by pilots to recalibrate their on-board compasses, a process known 

as compass swing. The outer ring was probably marked 

to indicate true cardinal directions and the inner circle, 

magnetic cardinal directions.93 

One of the improvements made to the airfield during this 

time occurred to the south on Barren Island, on what was still 

private property. The flight path of runway 12-30, the blind 

landing runway built in 1935, came very close to the 227-foot 

chimney that remained at the southeastern tip of Barren 

Island, a relic from the defunct New York Sanitary Utilization 

Company. The New York Times reported on the project, 

complete with a photograph (fig. 1.61):

After again expressing his determination to make Floyd 

Bennett Field the air mail terminus for New York, Mayor 

La Guardia pressed a button at 11:30 o’clock yesterday 

morning and set off a dynamite charge which brought 

down, like a mighty tree, a brick chimney near the seaplane ramp on the 

south edge of the field. More than 1,000 persons attended the ceremonies.94

Development of the Coast Guard Air Station

The model created in c.1935 for planned airport improvements (see fig. 1.50). 

did not identify new development along the Jamaica Bay waterfront. The model 

only showed the existing pier, ramp, and parking slots at the airport seaplane 

base, and not the additional seaplane ramps and hangars that had been shown on 

earlier plans.95 Aside from less than anticipated seaplane traffic, the city may have 

eliminated these structures from its plans because of their location in the flight 

path for runway 12-30, added in 1935. A related change the model did show was 

a realignment of the south boundary road that provided access to the seaplane 

base from Hangar Row. The model showed the road realigned to run straight to 

Flatbush Avenue rather than curve north to the Hangar Row apron. This change 

to the road was probably made by August 1938 (see fig. 1.56). 

With plans for expansion of the seaplane base gone by 1935, the city entered 

into a fifty-year lease with the U.S. Coast Guard on July 9, 1936 for land north 

of the seaplane ramp and pier. This was a ten-acre, 650-foot square parcel that 

had probably been bulkheaded and filled by the time of the lease as part of the 

Figure 1.61: Photograph of the 

New York Sanitary Utilization 

Company chimney being 

demolished to clear the flight 

path of runway 12-30. (New York 

Times, 21 March 1937. Copyright 

New York Times.)

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

78

initial construction of the airfield in 1928-1929 (see fig. 1.59).96 Here, the Coast 

Guard—a quasi-military agency under the Department of the Treasury—planned 

to build an air station to house its air-sea rescue activities, using seaplanes. While 

plans were underway for development of its new facilities along Jamaica Bay, the 

Coast Guard leased space in hangar 4, where it stored a single seaplane.97

The first Coast Guard air station in the country was commissioned at Cape May, 

New Jersey in 1926. The creation of the Floyd Bennett facility was part of an 

expansion of the air station system that began in 1934 under the leadership of 

aviation-enthusiast Henry Morgenthau, Jr. in his position as Secretary of the 

Treasury. By 1936 when the lease with the city at Floyd Bennett Field was signed, 

there were six operational Coast Guard air stations. The new base, named the 

U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn, was intended both as a central base 

of operations for the eastern seaboard and as a regional base responsible for 

regulating air and sea traffic between existing air stations at Cape May and Salem, 

Massachusetts. 98 The site was located just north of the flight-path for runway 12-

30, which was under construction around the time the station was commissioned. 

Plans for the new air station were publicized in November 1935 and construction 

was complete within two years of the lease signing in July 1936. Plans called 

for a large hangar, garage, taxiway, and seaplane ramp extending off the access 

road to the airport seaplane base. Most of the work was undertaken by private 

contractors, although the WPA assisted with portions such as construction of the 

water supply.99 After initial work on seeding the sandy soil, construction began 

on the hangar, located in the center of the site and the garage at the northwest 

Figure 1.62: View looking east 

across the Coast Guard Air Station 

Brooklyn, one year after final 

completion, 1939. This view 

shows the hangar with its apron 

and taxiway connecting to the 

seaplane ramp on Jamaica Bay. 

Barely visible at the right edge 

is the airport seaplane base. 

(U.S. Coast Guard photograph, 

reproduced from www.uscg.mil/

History/stations/airsta_ brooklyn.

html.)
79 

corner, both completed in 1937 (figs. 1.62, 1.63). The hangar, which at 161 by 182 

feet was substantially larger than the 120 by 140-foot airport hangars, featured an 

innovative steel-frame barrel vaulted roof with glazed sliding doors facing south, 

one-story lean-tos on the east and west sides, and a large two-story wing along 

the north side housing offices and barracks.100 The hangar was designed in the 

Moderne style with strong horizontal lines and white-painted concrete walls in 

stark contrast to the standard architectural style of the earlier airport buildings. 

Moderne-style details included octagonal projections on the one-story side 

lean-tos, horizontal parapets, unadorned concrete (stucco) walls, and bands of 

windows with horizontal divisions. The parapet over the hangar doors featured 

the Coast Guard insignia in bas-relief, and the parapet over the main entrance on 

the two-story office wing also featured the insignia but set within stylized wings. 

On the roof of the hangar was an illuminated north arrow and name “U.S. Coast 

Guard.” The one-story garage matched the style of the hangar with its horizontal 

massing, white concrete walls, flat roof, and horizontal bands below the parapet. 

The Coast Guard air station was outfitted with similar site features as the rest 

of the airport. These included a concrete apron extending south of the hangar, 

and a forty-foot wide and 750-foot long concrete taxiway that ran east-west, 

terminating in a creosoted wood seaplane ramp measuring fifty feet wide and 260 

feet long (see figs. 1.62, 1.63). The vehicular drives leading from the access road, 

Figure 1.63: Detail of a 

map of Floyd Bennett 

Field updated to June 30, 

1941 showing completed 

Coast Guard Air Station, 

along with later access 

road and radio towers 

north of the hangar. 

(Uncatalogued drawing, 

Gateway National 

Recreation Area Museum 

Collection, annotated by 

SUNY ESF.)

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

80

past the north front of the hangar and terminating at the garage were surfaced in 

macadam. Three thirty-foot radio towers were built in the open area along the 

north side of the station, probably for ship-to-shore communication. An 8,000 

square-foot compass rose, referred to as a calibrating circle, was planned for 

the site, but never built. Aside from its connection to the south boundary road, 

the Coast Guard base was a self-contained unit, without any direct access to the 

airfield runways. Work on the air station was substantially complete by March 

3, 1938, when the Coast Guard moved from hangar 4 to the new facility. Coast 

Guard Air Station Brooklyn was officially commissioned on April 23, 1938.101

Subsequent site improvements included ornamental plantings around the hangar, 

which incorporated hedge-enclosed lawn panels on the front (north) and east 

sides of the building, and shade trees along a parking strip to the north.102

Expanding navy presence: Fourth COnstruction Phase, 1938-1941 

With completion of the extensive improvements undertaken with the WPA 

between 1934 and 1938, the city began to turn its attention toward developing 

another municipal airport that could attain the commercial traffic that Floyd 

Bennett Field had failed to attract in its first decade of operation. Despite the 

millions of dollars spent on the improvements, the remote location of Floyd 

Bennett Field proved too great of a hindrance to overcome. In contrast, Floyd 

Bennett Field was proving to be ideal location for military aviation, and as these 

needs increased in the lead-up to World War II, the Navy began to develop new 

facilities in 1939 for its exclusive use along the Jamaica Bay shoreline. 

Commercial Decline 

The city, led by Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, had fought hard over the years to 

wrest the exclusive airmail contract away from rival Newark Airport in the hopes 

of making Floyd Bennett Field a commercial success. For LaGuardia, who was 

elected mayor in 1934, it was not only an economic issue, but also one of pride. 

His effort traced back to a return flight he and his wife made from Florida aboard 

a TWA flight in November 1933. The destination on their tickets was listed as New 

York City, so when the plane landed in Newark, New Jersey, LaGuardia refused 

to disembark, insisting that Newark was most definitely not New York City. He 

put up such a fuss that eventually the plane took off and brought LaGuardia and 

his wife to Floyd Bennett Field.103 Despite his determination, LaGuardia had 

little luck in luring airlines to the city airport. While he succeeded in convincing 

American Airlines to operate daily commercial service from Floyd Bennett Field 

to Boston for two years beginning in 1937, the company ceased its service in 1938 

after carrying only 1,269 passengers during the year, and closed its ticket counter 

in the Administration Building on April 30, 1939.104
81 

After the demolition of the New York Sanitary Utilization Company chimney 

on March 21, 1937, Mayor LaGuardia shifted his effort to secure the airmail 

contract to the city’s planned second and larger municipal airport. The new 

550-acre New York City Municipal Airport #2 at North Beach, later renamed 

LaGuardia Airport, was estimated to cost over $46,000,000, compared with the 

total $10,500,000 cost of the 380-acre Floyd Bennett Field.105 Of key importance 

was the airport’s closer proximity to Manhattan compared with its Jamaica Bay 

counterpart. Located along the north shore of Long Island in Queens, North 

Beach Airport was along one of the city’s new parkways with direct connection 

to Manhattan via the recently completed Queens-Midtown tunnel. Even before 

the new airport was built, the city had pledges from five commercial airlines to 

operate from there. Less than one month after its dedication on October 15, 1939, 

North Beach Airport received an airmail contract from the Post Office (although 

the contract was split with Newark Airport), thus sealing the fate of Floyd Bennett 

Field as a non-commercial airport.106 While the lack of the air mail contract was 

critical, ultimately the fault of Floyd Bennett Field was its perceived distance from 

Manhattan, as a 1939 guide to New York City explained: “Carefully planned to 

handle a large volume of traffic...Floyd Bennett Field has not been a commercial 

success because of its distance from the heart of the city.”107

Despite the opening of North Beach Airport and the loss of American Airlines 

service, Floyd Bennett Field in the late 1930s remained active and a favorite 

location for record-breaking long-distance flights, such as Howard Hughes’ 

record round-the-globe flight in 1938. The field also was the eastern terminal for 

all coast-to-coast record flights, and remained a very popular location for sightseeing tours, which counted over 19,000 passengers in 1939 alone. Over 140 

private planes were hangared there that year, a slight increase over the previous 

year. However, the only true growth at Floyd Bennett Field was in Coast Guard 

and Naval operations. The year 1939 witnessed more naval aircraft as well as the 

introduction of permanently stationed Navy and Coast Guard personnel.108

Development of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base

The timing of the opening of North Beach Airport and declining commercial 

operations at Floyd Bennett Field coincided with a major expansion of naval 

bases throughout the country in response to growing military threats in Europe 

and the Pacific. On December 27, 1938, the so-called Hepburn Board made its 

report to Congress requesting a three-year, $65,000,000 expansion program for 

the Navy. Within a year, however, events had escalated and the Navy accelerated 

its expansion program, which included development at Floyd Bennett Field.109

On November 27, 1939 following the outbreak of war in Europe and President 

Roosevelt’s resulting proclamation of the Limited National Emergency, the Navy 

publicized its plans for development of an air base at Floyd Bennett Field that 

Site History, 1928-1941
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82

would house seaplanes used to patrol the coast. Plans for the project, estimated 

to cost $600,000, called for two large hangars to house two squadrons with leantos to house offices and workshops, storage for ammunition, and barracks for 

stationing 400 men. At the time, the proposed Floyd Bennett patrol base was one 

of several in the Navy’s expansion program designed, as reported by the New 

York Times, “...with seaplanes keeping watch over the waters of this area to see 

that no belligerent nation violates the neutrality laws or President Roosevelt’s 

proclamation.”110

By the time plans for what was called the U.S. Naval Aviation Patrol Base were 

made public in November 1939, the Navy had requested ownership of an 

eighteen-acre plot immediately north of the Coast Guard Air Station. Rather 

than granting ownership to the Navy, the city adopted a resolution on January 

18, 1940 allowing the Navy to lease the area for its new base. The lease, for one 

dollar per year, stipulated that if the Navy ever ceased use of the facilities, all 

occupancy and use would be given back to the City of New York. Under the 

conditions of the lease agreement, the city allowed the Navy to construct several 

structures necessary for the operation of both boats and seaplanes, including 

hangars, ramps, bulkheads, docks, and wharves. Although given freedom to design 

and construct their own facilities, the documents contained a clause limiting the 

height of hangars and other structures to sixty-seven feet above mean low water; 

structures whose highest point was above thirty-five feet above mean low water 

were to be constructed no closer than 700 feet to the existing south side of runway 

12-30.111

Fig 1.64: Aerial view of Floyd 

Bennett Field looking southeast 

showing newly built Naval 

Aviation Patrol Base on lower 

left, November 26, 1940. 

(Photograph 18927, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)
83 

Construction on the Naval 

Aviation Patrol Base began 

soon after the lease was signed 

in January 1940. Initial work 

involved filling and grading 

what was then open water, 

beach, and marsh to conform 

to the adjoining Coast Guard 

station at an elevation of 

sixteen feet above mean water 

level (see fig. 1.62). The Navy 

constructed a timber bulkhead 

and filled the area with dredge 

material pumped from Jamaica 

Bay. Along the bay side of the 

bulkhead, a natural sand beach 

formed as it had along the 

Coast Guard bulkhead. The 

main facility at the base was the 

seaplane hangar, later named 

Hangar A, a standard Navy 

design built at other air stations 

during the period, such as Naval Air Station Annapolis. The standardized plan may 

have been designed by the renowned industrial architect, Albert Kahn, who was a 

consultant to the military during World Wars I and II. Kahn’s firm produced many 

of the designs for naval installations, especially those for air hangars.112

Although the Navy had planned two hangars at Floyd Bennett Field, it initially 

built just one, but at approximately 250 feet wide and 400 feet long, it was more 

than triple the size of the Coast Guard hangar and more than five times as big 

as the airport hangars (figs. 1.64, 1.65). Built of a clear-span trussed steel frame 

with angled skylights, sliding glazed doors on the north and south sides, and 

narrow one-story lean-tos on the other ends, the hangar was reported to cost 

$600,000 and was designed to house the patrol squadron’s twelve PBY flying 

boats (PB =”Patrol Bomber”, and “Y” the code for “Consolidated Aircraft”). 

These seaplanes, introduced to the Navy in 1936, were designed to carry bombs, 

torpedoes, and machines guns.113 Unlike the Coast Guard and airport hangars, 

the new Navy hangar was a strictly utilitarian structure without architectural 

adornment.

As with the Coast Guard Air Station, the Navy patrol base included a number of 

other buildings, structures, and circulation features that were largely completed 

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84

by November 1940 (see figs. 1.64, 1.65). Along the east side of the hangar was a 

concrete apron that extended to the bulkhead along Jamaica Bay. At the north 

end of the apron, there was a wood seaplane ramp, and at the south end, a 

wood pier for small boats. The base was accessed on land by a new road that 

ran north from the airport’s south boundary road, through the airport seaplane 

base and Coast Guard Air Station, parallel to the airfield. As with both of these 

other facilities, there was no direct access to the runways on the airfield. North 

of the hangar, there was a small heating plant close to the building, and a large 

rectangular open area framed by roads that may have been intended as the site 

of the planned second hangar. Along the north boundary of the base was a row 

of three ammunition magazine buildings, one of which was underground. South 

of the hangar bordering the Coast Guard Air Station, the Navy constructed two 

wood-frame barracks with gable roofs and white-painted clapboard siding. The 

larger building, forming an “H” in plan, was probably for enlisted men, and the 

other building, forming a “T” in plan, was bachelor officers’ quarters. These two 

buildings were connected to the main access road and apron by an orthogonal 

system of roads and walks, probably paved in asphalt.114 

Expansion of the Naval Reserve Aviation Base

As construction of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base was underway in 1940, the Navy 

began to make plans for expanding its operations in hangars 1 and 2 at Hangar 

Row, which housed the Naval Reserve Aviation Base. This was part of a program 

that the Navy began in the fall of 1940 to improve its primary flight training 

facilities during the national emergency.115 At Floyd Bennett Field, plans called 

for creating housing and other support buildings at the location of the airport 

maintenance area at the south end of Hangar Row. By the spring of 1941, the Navy 

began demolition on the sheet-metal and wood-frame garages and pump stations 

in the maintenance area east of the Dope Shop in preparation of construction of 

a large, two-story “H”-plan frame barracks estimated to cost $100,000. This new 

building would be the same design as the barracks at the patrol base along Jamaica 

Bay with white-painted clapboard siding, gabled roofs, and six-over-six doublehung sash windows. It was intended to provide a mess hall and housing for one 

hundred reserve student pilots.116
85 

Landscape characteristics, 1941 (Drawing 1.2)

Municipal operation of Floyd Bennett Field came to a halt in May 1941. In its 

more than a decade of operation as New York City’s first municipal airport, 

Floyd Bennett Field had gained wide renown as a symbol of the possibilities of 

flight despite its lack of commercial success. Decades later, the New York Times

reflected:

In the drab days of the Depression, the words Floyd Bennett Field were 

magic to millions around the country and the world. The names of the 

aviators operating from the field—Amelia Earhart, Wrong Way Corrigan, 

Col. Roscoe Turner, Gen. Italo Balbo of Italy and Jacqueline Cochran—

conjured up images of daring flights that advanced aviation beyond its 

infancy and lifted men’s hopes for better days. One of the most notable of the 

flights was Wiley Post’s first solo trip around the world, which started and 

ended at Floyd Bennett in July, 1933.117

The following description of the site, organized by landscape characteristics, 

provides an overview of the landscape in 1941 on the eve of the transformation 

of Floyd Bennett Field into the U.S. Naval Air Station, New York. At this time, the 

landscape corresponding with the current site of Floyd Bennett Field consisted 

of three different areas. To the south was Barren Island, including the remnant 

community and extensive areas of cleared land consisting of scattered trees and 

sand dunes. In the middle was the airport, a large area of filled land with its row of 

buildings along Flatbush Avenue, expansive open airfield with concrete runways, 

and the line of buildings along Jamaica Bay belonging to the Naval Aviation Patrol 

Base and the Coast Guard Air Station, Brooklyn. North of the airport extending 

to Mill Basin and the recently completed Shore Parkway was another large open 

expanse consisting of recently filled land and remnants of the tidal estuary that 

existed prior to the airport’s development in 1928. The site was bordered along 

its west side by Flatbush Avenue, renamed Marine Parkway and extended over 

Rockaway Inlet across the Marine Parkway Bridge to Jacob Riis Park. 

Natural Systems and Features 

In 1941, a large portion of the Floyd Bennett Field landscape consisted of 

engineered fill, with most of the native tidal estuary removed or significantly 

altered. Remnants of John’s Point Marsh remained along the Jamaica Bay 

waterfront north of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base, and fragments of Riches 

Meadows remained between the airport and Shore Parkway. The only remnant 

tidal creeks within the site were Irish Channel, which extended from Mill Basin 

south through the undeveloped area north of the airport, and the unnamed creek 

that ran north from Rockaway Inlet through the middle of Barren Island. Natural 

Site History, 1928-1941
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86

sand beach, which was replenished by wave and tidal forces, existed along much 

of the Jamaica Bay shoreline along newly developed areas lined by bulkheads. 

Spatial Organization

While most of the Floyd Bennett Field landscape was an open expanse in 1941, 

there were a number of distinct spaces within the landscape formed by buildings 

and vegetation. Within the airport, the airfield was delineated by Hangar Row 

on the west, the Naval Aviation Patrol Base and Coast Guard buildings on the 

east along Jamaica Bay, and remnant trees and buildings to the south on Barren 

Island. To the north, the airfield was open to the remnant estuary and filled land 

extending to Mill Basin. Secondary spaces were formed by large buildings, notably 

the airport entrance framed by the Administration Building and hangars to either 

side. On Barren Island, the remnant buildings at the east end of Main Street 

continued to define a linear corridor, although much less defined than earlier due 

to building demolition. 

Land Use

Throughout this period, Floyd Bennett Field was primarily used for aviation 

and aviation-related services, with secondary or remnant residential uses on 

Barren Island south of the airport. While the city had hoped that commercial 

passenger aviation would be the dominant use for the airport, by 1941 these plans 

had disappeared with the securing of the airmail contract at the city’s second 

municipal airport, North Beach (LaGuardia) Airport, in 1938. Despite the loss of 

commercial passenger service, there remained several commercial ventures at the 

airport in c.1941, including a barber shop, photography business, and restaurant 

in the Administration Building, several flying schools, sightseeing lines, and six 

fuel companies.118 The New York City Police Department Aviation Unit also 

operated at the airport out of Hangar Row. The primary aviation uses at Floyd 

Bennett Field, however, were military. The Coast Guard operated its Air Station 

along Jamaica Bay with its fleet of seaplanes that monitored the commercial 

activities of the surrounding waters. The Air Station also included barracks and 

offices. The Navy maintained a Reserve Aviation Base on Hangar Row and its 

recently completed Naval Aviation Patrol Base along Jamaica Bay, which patrolled 

the coast for enemy craft and also contained two barracks. 

Cluster Arrangement

The Floyd Bennett Field landscape contained three distinct clusters of 

development in 1941. The most conspicuous was Hangar Row, with its four 

large hangars, Administration Building, and numerous support buildings lining 

Flatbush Avenue, bordering the flight-path clear zone for runway 15-33. At the 
87 

opposite end of the field along Jamaica Bay was the second major cluster formed 

by the Naval Aviation Patrol Base and the Coast Guard Air Station, located north 

of the flight-path clear zone for runway 12-30. The airport seaplane base area 

was south of the Coast Guard air station within the flight path of runway 12-30. 

Apparently due to lack of commercial seaplane traffic and the construction of 

runway 12-30 in 1936, this area contained no buildings as originally planned, 

although it did have a pier and seaplane ramp. The third cluster was the remnant 

community at the southeastern end of Barren Island. By 1941, this cluster 

consisted of only a scattering of small houses plus the larger Sacred Heart Church 

and rectory along the north of side of Main Street. 

Topography

The topography of Floyd Bennett Field in 1941 was largely the result of extensive 

filling operations undertaken in 1928 and 1929 that raised 387 acres of the former 

estuary to a level terrace measuring sixteen feet above the mean low tide or twelve 

feet above sea level. This terrace was supported by steel sheet-pile bulkheading 

along the southern and eastern edges of the airfield. The area of fill by 1941 

also included the latter development of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base, which 

extended the sixteen-foot high terrace farther north and east along Jamaica Bay. 

The Naval Aviation Patrol Base fill was supported by timber rather than steel sheet 

pile bulkheading. The topography north of the airport reflected ongoing filling 

that had raised much of the approximately 472 acres in this area to dry ground, 

although one creek and several large areas of wetlands remained. South of the 

airport, Barren Island retained the topography that existed prior to development 

of the airport, although some filling occurred along its northern boundary where 

the pre-existing grade transitioned to the sixteen-foot elevation of the airfield. 

The airport bulkheading was clearly visible at the east end of the island, where it 

formed a high wall upwards of fourteen feet tall where Barren Island sloped down 

toward the beach along Jamaica Bay. 

Vegetation

The dominant vegetation (managed plant material) of the Floyd Bennett Field 

landscape in 1941 was the airfield turf, which covered hundreds of acres with 

closely-shorn grasses necessary to stabilize the top soil and underlying sandy 

base. This turf also served as a secondary landing area for planes. The species 

composition of the grasses is not known. Similar turf covered the grounds of the 

airport seaplane base and Coast Guard Air Station. 

A neatly maintained ornamental lawn, of a finer and denser character than 

the airfield turf, covered the grounds within the airport entrance between the 

Administration Building and Flatbush Avenue. This area was designed for flightSite History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

88

leery passengers as a park-like landscape meant as a comforting atmosphere that 

reflected the landscape character of the state park and parkway system then being 

developed in the region. Here were located ornamental plantings that included 

clipped privet hedges lining the axial entrance drives, and a variety of shrubs 

including foundation plantings around the Administration Building. Flower 

beds were designed along the front of the building as well. According to plans 

developed by the Department of Docks in 1935, plant species were to include 

privet, juniper, spirea, lilac, forsythia, rose-of-sharon, roses, cannas, hydrangea, 

azaleas, vinca, and ivy, among others. It is not known if these were all planted. The 

central walk was lined by sycamore trees, which tied into the sycamore street trees 

along Marine Parkway (Flatbush Avenue). The grounds immediately surrounding 

the Coast Guard Air Station hangar were also ornamented with lawn and shrubs. 

These included clipped hedges that framed lawn panels on the north front and 

west sides, and specimen trees.119 

South of the airport, vegetation within Barren Island included specimens and 

groves of deciduous trees, and probably some garden plots at the remaining 

houses on the east end of the island. The trees within the west end of the island 

were apparently retained during the demolition of the buildings in 1936-37. 

Circulation

The dominant circulation of the Floyd Bennett Field landscape in 1941 consisted 

of the four runways, two perpendicular ones constructed during the initial 

development of the airport in 1929-30, and two diagonal runways added in 1935. 

Each runway was designated by cardinal directions according to standard airport 

nomenclature. Runway 12-30, added in 1935, was equipped with landing lights 

as a blind landing runway for use at nighttime and in inclement weather. Each 

runway was also equipped with a row of green end of runway lights. The runways 

were connected to Hangar Row by three short taxiways, which led to the apron 

that ran along the east side of Hangar Row. The apron served as a parking area for 

planes. The portion of the apron in front of the Administration Building, where 

four rotating platforms and passenger tunnel hatches were located, served as the 

passenger loading area. All of the runways, taxiways, and the Hangar Row apron 

were built of reinforced concrete. The portion of the apron surrounding each 

hangar was surfaced in black asphalt block pavers, designed for the movement of 

planes and vehicles. 

Circulation within the airport entrance area, completed in 1935, included two 

diagonal concrete drives off Flatbush Avenue, one designated for two-way 

traffic, the other one-way. These drives featured concrete curbs and terminated 

at a central forecourt used as a parking area and paved in black asphalt blocks. 

The drives were lined to either side by concrete walks, which connected to a 
89 

central walk that ran through the central lawn on axis with the entrance of the 

Administration Building. This walk formed a circle around the airport flagpole 

and sign. The drives also provided access to the two gravel-surfaced public 

parking lots, one north of the Administration Building, the other to the south. Two 

additional gravel-surfaced parking lots were located at the north end of Hangar 

Row. These were probably intended for overflow parking during major events. 

Vehicular access to the facilities on Jamaica Bay was by a narrow paved road that 

ran along the south boundary of the airport, extending from Flatbush Avenue 

east to the airport seaplane patrol base. An unpaved service road also ran along 

the north and east boundaries of the airfield. At the seaplane base, the south 

boundary road turned north along the bulkhead to access the pier and ramp used 

by seaplanes, as well as three seaplane parking slots. The road continued north 

to Coast Guard Air Station, where it provided access to the hangar and garage. 

The air station featured its own concrete taxiway and apron, which extended to 

a wood seaplane ramp. Another road ran north from the south boundary road 

toward the Naval Aviation Patrol Base, where it led to the facility’s hangar, apron, 

seaplane ramp, and small boat pier. A road ran around the perimeter of the patrol 

base to access the two barracks along the south side and ammunitions magazines 

along the north. Associated with these three facilities were one or more seaplane 

runways in Jamaica Bay. Runway 18-36, probably the original runway, ran northsouth along Island Channel and featured a turning basin at its south end in 

Rockaway Inlet. The other two runways were located to the east. 

On Barren Island, Main Street remained the primary circulation feature, linking 

the remnant community on the east end of the island with Flatbush Avenue. 

Portions of the roads and walks within the western part of the island cleared by 

the city may have remained in 1941. 

Buildings and Structures

Within the municipal airport, the Floyd Bennett Field landscape was characterized 

in 1941 by buildings with a unified architectural style. All permanent buildings 

with two exceptions were designed in an Art Deco style with stylized neoclassical 

details, using buff-colored tapestry brick, cast-stone details, flat parapeted roofs, 

and steel windows and doors. This style, used on the large hangars down to the 

small Sperry floodlight towers and transformer vaults, reflected the modern 

use of the buildings for aviation. The most elaborate buildings were the four 

groups of paired hangars, which featured trussed steel structures that provided 

enormous interior clear-spans, with lean-tos for offices and workspace to either 

side and later infill buildings that spanned each pair. Aside from several temporary 

frame and sheet-metal maintenance buildings at the south end of Hangar Row, 

the only buildings that departed from the airport style were the Administration 

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Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

90

Building and Field House, the latter a sort of outbuilding to the Administration 

Building housing restrooms and concessionaires. Both were designed in a 

conservative neoclassical style using red brick, double-hung and multi-paned 

casement windows, marble, and cast-stone. This design reflected the style of 

traditional public buildings and provided a comforting appearance to passengers 

apprehensive of flying. 

The hangar and garage at the Coast Guard Air Station had their own distinct 

architecture using the Moderne style with white-painted concrete walls, 

horizontal bands of windows, and parapeted flat roofs. The hangar, substantially 

larger than those in Hangar Row, featured a barrel vault framed on three sides 

by lean-tos housing offices and repair shops. The air station also featured three 

thirty-foot radio towers positioned along the north side of the facility. 

In contrast to the airport and Coast Guard buildings, buildings constructed by the 

Navy were utilitarian, reflecting the near-wartime conditions under which they 

were built. They were also standardized designs employed at other Navy bases 

throughout the country. The most prominent Navy building at Floyd Bennett 

Field was the hangar (later Hangar A) at the Aviation Patrol Base, an enormous 

steel-trussed structure with an interior clear span nearly five times the size of the 

airport hangars. The exterior featured skylights and was simply sheathed in glass 

and metal, with sliding doors that ran on tracks in the floor. Secondary buildings 

constructed by the Navy, including two barracks at the patrol base and a barracks 

under construction as part of the Naval Reserve Aviation Base at the south end of 

Hangar Row, were simple wood-frame structures with white-painted clapboard 

siding, gable roofs, and six-over-six double-hung sash windows. 

South of the airport on Barren Island, there were approximately twenty-four 

buildings left in 1941, plus foundations from the New York Sanitarily Utilization 

Company and White fertilizer factory, on private property belonging to Thomas 

F. White and his associated company. These remnant buildings included small 

houses and Sacred Heart Church and Rectory, owned by the Roman Catholic 

Diocese of Long Island. There were also remnants of docks and wharfs lining the 

shore of Rockaway Inlet and Jamaica Bay. All buildings and structures on the west 

end of the island, located on city-owned property, had been cleared by the city in 

1936-37 in preparation for redevelopment as part of Brooklyn Marine Park. 

Views and Vistas

The Floyd Bennett Field landscape was characterized in 1941 by expansive, 

panoramic views that were critical to its use as an airport. The expansiveness of 

these views was due not only to level topography and lack of tree cover, but also 

the wide expanses of open water and low-lying estuary in the surrounding area. 
91 

Within the airport, clear zones were maintained at either end of the runways to 

maintain open sight lines and prevent obstructions. It was for this reason that the 

city demolished the tall chimney on Barren Island belonging to the New York 

Sanitary Utilization Company. The airport also had open panoramic views to the 

north across the undeveloped tract originally planned as a dirigible landing field. 

To the east, west, and south, views were limited in part by buildings in Hangar 

Row and along Jamaica Bay, and by tree-cover on Barren Island. The Manhattan 

skyline could be seen from the roof of the Administration Building. 

Small-Scale Features

There were a variety of small-scale features in the Floyd Bennett Field landscape 

in 1941. Within the airfield, these included a system of runway and boundary 

lights, some or all of which were mounted on metal bases in the shape of cones 

(see fig. 1.45). The north and south sides of the field were lined by wood and 

wire fences intended in part to act as traps to prevent sand from blowing onto 

the field. Within Hangar Row and the airport entrance area, small-scale features 

included several fences, such as a cyclone fence that separated the passenger 

loading area on the apron from the passenger drop-off area along the east side 

of the Administration Building. This fence featured a number of gates that led to 

awaiting planes ready for boarding. These gates were marked by pipe-frame arches 

containing the airline name and flight information. Other fences within this area 

separated the main parking lots within the entrance area from the gate area and 

hangars. Within the entrance area, small-scale features enhanced the park-like 

quality of the landscape. These included two cast-iron light standards marking the 

head of the central walk, two rustic wood light standards near the entry drives, 

and a steel flagpole and rustic wood sign within the circle in the central walk. This 

sign featured a signboard set within a wood pavilion with a shingled gable roof. 

Within Barren Island, there remained a number of small-scale features in the 

remnant east end of the island, including fences and utility poles. All small-scale 

features in the west end of the island had most likely been removed by the city in 

1936-37 in preparation for redevelopment as Brooklyn Marine Park. 

Endnotes

1 Frederick R. Black, “Jamaica Bay: A History” (National Park Service North Atlantic Regional Office: Unpublished 

report, 1981), 73.

2 “Jamaica Bay to be a Great World Harbor,” Sunday Magazine, New York Times, 13 March 1910, SM-1.

3 “Jamaica Bay to be a Great World Harbor.”

Site History, 1928-1941
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92

4 “Jamaica Bay to be a Great World Harbor.”

5 “Proposed Municipal Airport, General Location Plans” (City of New York, Department of Docks, 1929), 30 January 

1928 with updates to c.1936, RG 71, National Archives II, College Park, Maryland.

6 Black, 73. Civil engineers questioned if this project was feasible, given the shifting nature of the sandy land and strong 

tidal action in Jamaica Bay. Although Rockaway Beach, fronting on the Atlantic Ocean, would serve as a buffer to the port 

from the ocean, it was unclear whether sand would shift back into the bay. Engineers were also unsure of the possible 

effects of the proposed topographical changes on the surrounding areas, such as Rockaway Beach and Rockaway Inlet. 

Nevertheless, the decision was made to proceed with the project. There was probably no awareness at the time of the 

potential ecological impact of the project.

7 Black, 78-79.

8 “The Rockaway Naval Air Station,” New York Times, 15 August 1922, 10.

9 Black, 76.

10 “History of the Naval Air Station Rockaway,” “History of Fort Tilden” website, http://www.geocities.com/fort_tilden/

rnas.html.

11 Henry Ladd Smith, Airways: The History of Commercial Aviation in the United States (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 

1944), 52-53.

12 Porter R. Blakemore and Dana C. Linck, “Historic Structures Report, Historical Data Section, Floyd Bennett Field, 

Gateway National Recreation Area, Volume 1” (National Park Service, Denver Service Center: Unpublished report, May 

1981), 2-3.

13 R.E.G. Davies, A History of the World’s Airlines (London: Oxford University Press, 1964), 53-55, quoted in Black, 2; 

Smith, 52-53.

14 Paul Freeman, “Abandoned and Little-Known Airports: New Jersey/Atlantic City Area: Atlantic City Airport,” http://

members.tripod.com/airfields. This airport remains in active use today.

15 Janet R. Daly Bednarek, America’s Airports: Airfield Development, 1918-1947 (College Station, Texas: Texas A & M 

University Press, 2001), 16; Freeman, “Abandoned and Little-Known Airports: New Jersey/Atlantic City Area: Atlantic City 

Airport.”

16 James Warren, “National Historic Landmark Nomination for Floyd Bennett Field” (National Park Service, draft form, 

2005), 15. 

17 “Abandoned and Little-Known Airports: New York City/Queens: Flushing Airport,” http://members.tripod.com/

airfields.

18 Herbert Kaufman, Gotham in the Air Age (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Company, Inc., 1952), 149-150.

19 Kaufman, 150.

20 Blakemore and Linck, “Historic Structures Report,” 5.

21 “Municipal Airport is Ready,” New York Times, 17 May 1931, 128.

22 Kaufman, Gotham in the Air Age, 150.

23 “Municipal Airport is Ready.” The airport was cited as being on Barren Island, even though geographically it was in the 

estuary to the north of the island. 

24 Blakemore and Linck, 34.

25 “Floyd Bennett Field Grows from Sand Waste,” New York Times, 20 July 1930, Special Features Section, 6.
93 

26 Kaufman, Gotham in the Air Age, 150.

27 Blakemore and Linck, 26, 29.

28 “Barren Island is Fading,” New York Times, 19 February 1939, 141.

29 “Proposed Municipal Airport, General Location Plans,” 30 January 1928, with updates to c.1936. The park was not 

officially named Brooklyn Marine Park until 1937.

30 Eastern Roads, “Belt Parkway Historic Overview,” undated article, http://www.nycroads.com/roads/belt/.

31 “Governor Signs Bill for Marine Parkway,” New York Times, 9 April 1934.

32 New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, “Marine Park,” 2001, www.nycgovparks.org/sub-your-park/

historical.

33 “Belt Parkway Historic Overview.”

34 Aerial photographs of Floyd Bennett Field, August 1938 and August 1943, photographs 18951, 18950Gateway National 

Recreation Area archives, Fort Wadsworth (hereafter, “GATE archives”).

35 “Barren Island is Fading;” City of New York, Jamaica Bay zoning map, 1938, New York Public Library digital image 

805907u.

36 “Floyd Bennett Field Grows from Sand Waste;” plans for Floyd Bennett Field reproduced in Blakemore.

37 Sheri Olson, Review of exhibit “Building for Air Travel: Architecture and Design for Commercial Aviation,” in Journal 

of the Society of Architectural Historians, vol. 56, no. 4 (December 1997), 496. 

38 City of New York Department of Docks, “Layout of Municipal Airport, Floyd Bennett Field,” c. November 1928.

39 “Floyd Bennett Field Grows from Sand Waste.”

40 Blakemore and Linck, 140.

41 Blakemore and Linck, 75.

42 Blakemore and Linck, 93-97.

43 “Floyd Bennett Field Grows from Sand Waste;” Blakemore and Linck, 127.

44 The runway numbers refer to the cardinal magnetic direction from either takeoff or landing, measured clockwise from 

north and rounded off with the last digit dropped. The second number is always reciprocal, meaning it is 180 degrees from 

the lower number. Runway 15-33 is thus 150 degrees from the north/east, 330 degrees from the south/west. If the plane is 

landing on the northeast end of the runway, it is using runway 15; on the southwest end, runway 33.

45 “Municipal Airport is Ready,” New York Times, 17 May 1931, 128.

46 Blakemore and Linck, 79.

47 Blakemore and Linck, 93. When construction began in 1929, the Department of Docks did not have enough money 

to build runways 100 feet wide; however, once the project was underway, the department realized the price to modify the 

runways was not as expensive as they had initially estimated.

48 An apron, sometimes called an airport ramp, is an area, typically concrete, where aircraft are parked to be loaded and 

unloaded, refueled, and boarded by passengers. 

49 Richard Greenwood and Ricardo Terres. “National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form, Floyd 

Bennett Field Historic District” (National Park Service: Unpublished document, 1978), 2.

50 Blakemore and Linck, 29.

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

94

51 Tony P. Wrenn, “General History of the Jamaica Bay, Breezy Point, and Staten Island Units, Gateway National 

Recreation Area” (National Park Service: Unpublished report, October 1975), 3.

52 “Air Show Dedicates New Bennett Field,” New York Times, May 23, 1931, 1.

53 M. L. Shettle, Jr. United Stated Naval Air Stations of World War II, Volume I: Eastern States. (Bowersville, Georgia: 

Schaertel Publishing Co., 1995), 7.

54 Memorandum, First Deputy Commissioner S. Goldenkranz to Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, 15 July 1931, Bureau 

of Yards and Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, Box 823, NARA II. 

55 Letter, Commissioner of the Department of Docks to Navy Department Bureau of Aeronautics, 17 May 1932, Bureau 

of Yards and Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, Box 823, NARA II.

56 Wrenn, 4-8.

57 “Municipal Airport is Ready.”

58 Blakemore and Linck, 98-99.

59 Department of Docks, “General Location Plan, Floyd Bennett Field,” 21 December 1931, updated 26 August 1933, 17 

January 1936.

60 Federal Writers’ Project, New York City Guide (New York: Random House, 1939), s.v. “Floyd Bennett Field;” Ingrid 

Wuebber and Edward M. Morin. “Modified Phase IA Cultural Resources Inventory, Floyd Bennett Field, Jamaica Bay Unit, 

Gateway National Recreation Area, Brooklyn, New York” (National Park Service, Denver Service Center: Unpublished 

report, April 2005), 20.

61 Blakemore and Linck, 111.

62 Blakemore and Linck, 117.

63 Blakemore and Linck, 117.

64 Blakemore and Linck, 118; photograph 18392, c.1938, GATE archives. 

65 Photograph 18997, c.1933, GATE archives.

66 Blakemore and Linck, 117-118.

67 The existing seaplane ramp and pier, and proposed hangars and ramps are shown on the plan, “City of New York 

Proposed Municipal Airport...General Location Plans,” January 30, 1928 with updates to August 1931. 

68 U.S. Navy, “Naval Air Station New York...General Development map Existing and Planned Pre M-Day,” Drawing 

627994, 1960, RG 71, NARA II. 

69 “City of New York Proposed Municipal Airport...General Location Plans,” January 30, 1928 with updates to August 

1931. 

70 The WPA Guide to New York City, s.v. “Floyd Bennett Field.”

71 U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, “Commercial Flight in the 1930s,” undated article, http://www.

centennialofflight.gov/essay/Commercial_Aviation/passenger_xperience/Tran2.htm.

72 E.H. Net Encyclopedia, s.V. “Works Progress Administration,” citing Office of Government Reports 1939, 79, http://

eh.net/encyclopedia/article/couch.works.progress.administration.

73 Blakemore and Linck, 123.

74 Wuebber and Morin, 20.
95 

75 “City of New York Municipal Airports” poster, c.1939, reproduced in Daniel M. Hendrick, Jamaica Bay, Images of 

America (Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Arcadia Publishing, 2006), 87.

76 In 1938, five passenger carriers in addition to American Airlines, including Eastern and United, operated passenger 

flights out of Floyd Bennett Field, but these were apparently very limited and only occurred that year. Airport statistics for 

1938 in Quinn, 137. 

77 Quinn, 130-137.

78 Letter, Commanding Officer of Naval Reserve Aviation Base to Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, 15 December 1936, 

General Correspondence, Bureau of Aeronautics Records, NARA II; quoted in Blakemore and Linck, 136. 

79 Blakemore and Linck, 135-136.

80 Blakemore and Linck, 139. 

81 Department of Docks, Floyd Bennett Airport, entrance area landscape plan, 6 May 1935, in Judith A. Quinn, “Historic 

Structures Report, The Administration Building (The Ryan Center), Gateway National Recreation Area, Floyd Bennett 

Field” (National Park Service Northeast Region, Northeast Cultural Resources Center: Unpublished report, 2004), 183. 

The designer of the plan is not known. A complete list of the plants specified on the plan could not be deciphered due to 

the poor quality of the available copy. 

82 It is not know whether the plant species specified on the plan were used.

83 Photograph 18392, GATE archives.

84 Department of Docks, “Detail of Field Sign at Entrance to Floyd Bennett Airport,” 4 October 1935, reproduced in 

Quinn, 189.

85 1937 airport annual report, cited in Quinn, 80.

86 Use statistics in Quinn, 127-132.

87 Blakemore and Linck, 139; Use statistics in Quinn, 137.

88 Blakemore and Linck, 139.

89 Blakemore and Linck, 127, 135.

90 Blakemore and Linck, 127, 135.

91 Blakemore and Linck, 123-127.

92 Blakemore and Linck, 139.

93 Joe Escobar, “Aircraft Compass Swing,” Aircraft Maintenance Technology (updated 8 July 2008), http://www.amtonline.

com/publication/article.jsp?pubId=1&id=1935. 

94 “Chimney is Razed at Bennett Field,” New York Times, 21 March 1937, 1.

95 The WPA work at the seaplane base (Blakemore and Linck, Appendix A, page 22) lists a “ramp” and a “ramp to pier,” 

the latter a ramp along the south side of the pier, built by 1938.

96 Blakemore and Linck, 54; U.S. Coast Guard, “Air Station Brooklyn, New York,” undated, www.uscg.mil/History/

stations/airsta_brooklyn.html.

97 Airport use statistics, cited in Quinn, 134. The Coast Guard had also leased rooms in the Administration Building dating 

back to at least to 1935.

98 Arthur Pearcy, A History of U.S. Coast Guard Aviation (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989), ii; “Coast 

Guard Plans Big Air Base Here,” New York Times, 30 November 1935.

Site History, 1928-1941
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

96

99 Blakemore and Linck, Appendix A. No documentation was found on the designer of the Coast Guard buildings; the 

contractor was Graves & Quinn Corporation.

100 Barbara Judy, “USCG Air Station Brooklyn Property Map 1936-1988” (Draft, National Park Service, 23 May 2008). 

101 Coast Guard Station, runway construction record, in Blakemore and Linck, Appendix A; Pearcy, 88; “Map of U.S. 

Naval Aviation Patrol Base and U.S. Naval Reserve Aviation Base Located at Floyd Bennett Field” (U.S. Navy Third Naval 

District, 30 June 1940 with updates to 30 June 1941), GATE archives.

102 Unidentified photograph looking northwest over the hangar, c.1945, Historic Floyd Bennett Field website, http://

www.geocities.com/ floyd_bennett_field/uscg.html. 

103 Kaufman, Gotham in the Air Age, 153.

104 Floyd Bennett Field statistics, in Quinn, 137.

105 “Along the World’s Far-Flung Airways, City Plane Base Grows” New York Times, 16 April 1939, page 4; Blakemore and 

Linck, 140. North Beach was renamed LaGuardia Airport in 1947.

106 Kaufman, Gotham in the Air Age, 159.

107 The WPA Guide to New York City, s.v. “Floyd Bennett Field.” 

108 The WPA Guide to New York City, s.v. “Floyd Bennett Field;” Floyd Bennett Field statistics, in Quinn, 136-139.

109 United States Navy, Building the Navy’s Bases in World War II: History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil 

Engineer Corps, 1940-1946 (Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1947), 4, online transcription by Hyper War 

Foundation, http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Building_Bases/bases-10.html.

110 “Navy to Construct Big Air Base Here for Coast Patrol,” New York Times, 28 November 1939, 1. Aside from a 1940 plan 

of the airport and newspaper articles, little documentation was found on the development of the Navy aviation patrol base. 

111 Lease NOd-1347, Commissioner of Docks, City of New York and the United States of America, 8 February 1942, 

Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, Box 823, NARA II.

112 National Park Service, “From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary” 

website, “United States Naval Air Station Wildwood” webpage http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/aviation/wil.htm; M. 

L. Shettle, Jr., United States Naval Air Stations of World War II, Volume I: Eastern States (Bowersville, Georgia: Schaertel 

Publishing Co., 1995), 12.

113 “Changes in Navy Field,” New York Times, 25 May 1941, Travel-Recreation section, 6. 

114 “Map of U.S. Naval Aviation Patrol Base and U.S. Naval Reserve Aviation Base Located at Floyd Bennett Field” (30 

June 1940 with updates to 30 June 1941).

115 Building the Navy’s Bases in World War II, chapter X.

116 “Map of U.S. Naval Aviation Patrol Base and U.S. Naval Reserve Aviation Base Located at Floyd Bennett Field;” 

“Changes in Navy Field.”

117 “Phasing Out is Started at Floyd Bennett,” New York Times, 5 April 1970, 90.

118 Airport use statistics for 1940, in Quinn, 139-140.

119 No specific documentation was found on the design of the Coast Guard plantings.
x

x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x

x

x x x

x x x

x x x x x x x x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

0’ 200’ 400’

DEAD HORSE BAY

B A R R E N

I S L A N D

R O C K A W A Y I N

L

E

T

R I C H E S M E A D O W S

D E E P C R E E K B A S I N

I R I S H C H A N N E L

JOHN’S POINT 

MARSH

M I L L 

B A S I N

MILL

ISLAND

Flatbush Avenue (Marine Parkway) 

Sacred Heart

Catholic Church

Diocese of 

Long Island 

(0.2 acres)

J A M A I C A B A Y 

New York 

Sanitary Utilization 

Company

(20 acres)

Main Street

White

Street

Site of 227’

chimney

(demolished 1937)

Thomas F. White Company

(72 acres)

Bay

Street

Pelican Street

(paper road)

3,500’ -- Blind landing ruway

S h o r e P a r k w a y (1934-1940)

City of New York

(168 acres)

Sperry

floodlight

tower (1932)

Runway 6-24 (1930) 4,200’

Runway 1-19 (1935) 3,200’

Runway 12-30 (1935)

Runway 15-33 (1930, lengthened 1935) 3,500’

 7

 8

 5

 6

 3

 4

 1

 2

North boundary road,

dirt (c.1929)

White boundary

lights (typ.)

(c.1932)

South boundary

road (c.1929, c.1938)

Hassock Street

(paper road)

Garages (c.1935, r.1941)

Transformer vault (c.1932)

Pump house (c.1931)

Dope Shop (1937)

Gasoline house (c.1935)

Airport boat/ferry

terminal (c.1929-32)

Apron (1930)

Taxiways

(1932, 

widened 1935)

Hangars

INSET

Center 

parking lot

asphalt pavers (c.1935)

South parking lot

gravel (c.1932)

North parking lot 

gravel (c.1932)

Wood 

railing

Pipe 

railing

Sprinkler pump house (c1938)

Concrete 

sidewalks (typ.)

(c.1932) Administration

Building

(1931)

Turn tables

(1935)

Passenger

tunnel hatches

(1935)

Cyclone fence

with airline

gates (c.1932)

Field 

house

(1936)

Asphalt-paver

apron (c.1930)

Concrete entrance

drives (c.1932)

Sycamores

(1935)

Flatbush Avenue (Marine Parkway) 

Walk (1935)

Flagstaff (c.1936)

Sign (1935)

Cast-iron light standards (1936)

Rustic wood

light standards

(1936)

Taxiway

(1932)

End of runway

lights (1935)

Shrubs,

border hedge

(1935)

Hedges, shrubs

(typ.) (1935)

Entrances (typ.)

Parking Lot

(1936)

Parking Lot

(1936)

Airport seaplane

base (c.1931)

U. S. COAST GUARD

AIR STATION (1936)

Hangar 

(1940)

Sperry

floodlight

tower (1932)

Coast Guard

seaplane ramp

(1937)

Garage

(1937)

Navy barracks

(1940)

Navy bachelor 

officers’ quarters (1940)

Airport seaplane pier (c.1931)

Airport seaplane 

ramp (c.1931)

Site of privet hedge

(1929, removed c.1932)

6’ wood

fence (c.1930)

4’ wire fence

(1932)

Bridge Authority

garage (1937)

Small boat

pier (c. 1940)

Compass

rose (c.1935)

Marine

Parkway

Bridge

(1937)

Toll canopy (1937)

End of runway 

lights (typ.) 

(1935)

Hangar (1937)

U. S. NAVAL AVIATION

PATROL BASE (1940)

Navy seaplane

ramp (1940)

Sand beach

30’ radio 

towers (3)

(c.1938)

Subsurface 

magazine (c.1940)

Timber bulkhead (1940)

Heating

plant

(1940)

Sheet pile

bulkhead (c.1929)

Pyrotechnic house (c.1940)

Taxiway

(1932,

widened 1935)

Naval Reserve Aviation Base 

(Hangars 1 &2)

SEE INSET

Wind tee

(c.1932)

 B E N N E T T 

 

F L O Y D

F I E L D

To airport

seaplane base

To Administration Building

Maintenance area 

Asphalt-paver

apron (c.1930)

Site of proposed

dirigible landing field

(Department of Docks jurisdiction)

Magazine

(c.1941)

Administr.

Building

Hangars

Lean-to (1930)

Hangar (1930)

Infill addition (1934-37)

Hangar (1930)

Lean-to (1930)

Typical hangar complex:

Gate area

Area cleared by 1937 for

development of

Brooklyn Marine Park

BROOKLYN MARINE PARK

(under development)

BROOKLYN MARINE PARK

(under development)

BROOKLYN MARINE PARK (under development)

Areas of fill

(since 1928)

Green end of runway 

lights (1935)

White runway lights

(1935)

Transformer vault

(c.1935)

Road extension

(c.1937)

NYC Police 

Aviation Unit

(Hangar 4)

U. S. Navy 

(Hangar 5)

Gasoline pump house (c.1938)

Refreshment stand

(c.1938)

Graded runway approach

(c.1935)

Expanded concrete apron (1935)

White flash

lights (c.1935)

White flash

lights (c.1935)

Lighted windsock

(c.1932)

Ramp to pier (c.1938)

Access road (c.1937-40)

Navy barracks

(under construction,1941)

Field house

(c.1938)

Lighted windsock

(c.1932)

Instrument landing

beam signal (1935)

Apron

(1937) 

Taxiway 

(1937) 

Seaplane achorage

buoys (c. 1931)

Naval Reserve

Aviation Base

(under development)

Plantings

(c.1938)

Drawing 1.2

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter and Sarah K. Cody

Illustrator CS3, 2008

1. Aerial photograph, 1935

2. USGS, Coney Island quadrangle, 1939 

3. U S Navy, map of Floyd Bennett Field,

 June 30, 1940

4. Lockwood, Kessler, & Bartlett survey of

 Floyd Bennett Field, December 29, 1941

Cultural Landscape Report

for Floyd Bennett Field

Gateway National Recreation Area

Brooklyn, New York

LEGEND

Property, lease boundary

Building or structure

Paved, unpaved vehicular circulation

Sidewalk

Fence, light

Woods, specimen tree

Managed turf/lawn

Upland/fill, low scrub

Marsh

Open water

Site of feature removed since 1928

Date feature constructed during period,

if known

0’ 400’ 800’ 1200’ 1600’

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

SOURCES

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with: 

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental 

Science and Forestry

NOTES

(1935)

x x x

Municipal Airport Period

1928-1941

1. All features shown in approximate scale and location.

2. Features added prior to 1928 not dated.

3. Vegetation unknown except where indicated.

4. Plan shows conditions at end of period in 1941.

5. Buildings and structures not numbered during period.

Seaplane runway 18-36

99 

Site History, 1941-1945

Floyd Bennett Field in World War II: 

NaS New York, 1941–1945 

By the spring of 1941, it was clear that the future of Floyd Bennett Field was as a 

military base, not as a commercial airport. The Navy’s construction of its Aviation 

Patrol Base along Jamaica Bay in 1940 and expansion of the Naval Aviation 

Reserve Base at the south end of Hangar Row begun in early 1941 were clear 

indications of this future. With the continuing national emergency and increasing 

likelihood of U.S. involvement in World War II, there was little the city could do 

to halt the complete military transformation of Floyd Bennett Field. On June 2, 

1941, New York City Municipal Airport #1, Floyd Bennett Field, was officially 

redesignated Naval Air Station, New York, N.Y (NAS New York). 

With the United States’ declaration of war following the attack on Pearl Harbor on 

December 7, 1941, the Navy began a massive expansion of Floyd Bennett Field. 

Within the original airport property, the Navy enlarged the airfield north into the 

area originally designated as a dirigible landing field, built a new maintenance 

complex on the east side of the airfield, and expanded Hangar Row and the 

Aviation Patrol Base. The most substantial change occurred on Barren Island, 

where the Navy demolished all remnants of the community and expanded the 

land out into Rockaway Inlet and Jamaica Bay for construction of two barracks 

areas, a seaplane base, and a wharf. To the north of the airport, the Navy filled in 

the remnants of the tidal estuary and developed an ammunitions-communications 

area with radio towers and high-explosive magazines. Despite the extensive 

redevelopment, the Navy retained much of the original municipal infrastructure 

of Floyd Bennett Field and the open, expansive character of the landscape. 

Navy Acquisition of Floyd Bennett Field

The Navy’s formal interest in acquiring Floyd Bennett Field traces back to 1939 as 

part of its establishment of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base along Jamaica Bay. On 

November 24, 1939, Navy officials held an initial meeting with Mayor LaGuardia 

regarding the proposal for transforming the entire field into a naval air station. 

LaGuardia was hesitant to give up the airport despite its lack of commercial 

activity, but ultimately realized the urgent need for the naval air station during 

the national emergency and with the likelihood of war. LaGuardia insisted at 

the meeting that if the city were to sell the property, it would not be without 

considerable cost to the Navy. LaGuardia at first felt that the cost should be 

equal to the city’s financial contribution to the joint city-WPA improvements 

undertaken during the mid-1930s, which he claimed totaled approximately $6 

million. He also made clear that if the United States held title to the field, the city 

would retain the right to land commercial aircraft in the event of emergency or 

over-crowded conditions at North Beach (LaGuardia) Airport.1

 After this initial 
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

100

meeting, the Navy did not immediately move to purchase the airport, giving 

Mayor LaGuardia time to reconsider his proposal. 

By the summer of 1940 as construction of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base was 

underway, word had spread of the Navy’s possible takeover of the municipal 

airport. In August of that year, the New York Times published an editorial that, 

recognizing the commercial failure of the airport, stated “...purchase of that field 

by the Navy is ‘in the wind.’ It may well be a wind that will blow good to both the 

city and the defense program.” 2 With the Navy enjoying public support for the 

military conversion and the city trying to preserve its investment, negotiations 

dragged on over the course of the following year into the late spring of 1941. 

During this time, the Navy continued to both assess the potential of Floyd Bennett 

Field as a naval air station, and explore alternate sites for development of a 

completely new facility elsewhere in the New York City area. 

To assist in making sure Floyd Bennett Field was a suitable site for a naval air 

station, the Navy conducted a security survey in February and March of 1941. On 

the positive side, this survey identified the Navy’s existing presence and newlydeveloped infrastructure at Floyd Bennett Field, including the only Naval Reserve 

Aviation Base in the Third Naval District. On the negative side, the security survey 

identified the conflict between naval and civilian flight patterns which made for 

what was assessed as deplorable flying conditions. The survey stressed that it was 

“...imperative for the safety of life and equipment that either the entire field be 

taken over by the Navy or that all Navy activities be withdrawn and a new base 

developed.”3

 Under city ownership of the field, the Navy only had direct control 

over the Aviation Patrol Base. This meant they could not control any other site 

facilities or access. The survey stressed that being in such close proximity to 

civilian hangars was unsafe; the civilian aircraft operated with different flight paths 

and there had already been at least two fatal collisions between civilian and naval 

aircraft.4

Soon after the security survey had been completed in the spring of 1941, the 

city, having previously negotiated for sale of the airport and adjoining city lands, 

offered instead to lease the property to the Navy for eight years. This was a similar 

arrangement the city had worked out with the Navy for the Aviation Patrol Base 

the previous year. The New York Times reported that Mayor LaGuardia preferred 

this arrangement because “...sale of the airport would mean its control by the 

[federal] government in perpetuity, while a lease would enable the city to get it 

back after the emergency to aid commercial aviation.”5

 Under this offer, the city 

maintained its lease with the Coast Guard. The Navy accepted the city’s lease 

offer as an interim measure and Floyd Bennett Field, New York City Municipal 

Airport #1, was closed to commercial traffic on May 26, 1941. 6 One week later, 
101 

on June 2, 1941, the Navy opened Naval Air 

Station, New York with approximately 50,000 

people in attendance at the commissioning 

ceremony held on the former gate area 

adjoining the Administration Building.

7

 (fig. 1.66) Over the course of the next 

eight months, the Navy operated out of the 

existing leased city facilities while it made 

plans for the establishment of a permanent 

air station, either at Floyd Bennett Field or at 

another site in the New York City area. 

By November 1941 after six months of 

searching for alternative sites following the 

dedication, no other site had been found and 

the Navy determined Floyd Bennett Field to 

be the only suitable location for its New York air station.8

 With the declaration of 

war following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Navy quickly 

moved forward with its plans to acquire Floyd Bennett Field plus a large amount 

of surrounding land from the city and private owners for development of the naval 

air station. The entire property, amounting to over 1,280 acres (including some 

land under water), was documented on a survey completed on December 29, 

1941 (fig. 1.67) The survey identified three major areas for acquisition: the airport 

and the undeveloped city-owned land to the north, totaling 993 acres, plus the 

sixteen-acre tract leased to the Coast Guard and the eighteen-acre Aviation Patrol 

Base leased to the Navy; a city-owned 171-acre tract to the south of the airport 

on Barren Island intended for development as part of Brooklyn Marine Park; and 

three privately owned tracts totaling ninety-two acres at the east end of Barren 

Island that contained remnants of the Barren Island community. At the time of 

the survey, the private property was owned by Thomas F. White Company (doing 

business as Barile Development Corporation), the New York Sanitary Utilization 

Company, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Long Island. The amount of area 

surveyed included potential filling out to the 1911 pierhead and bulkhead line.9

 In 

total, these acquisitions would give the Navy control over all land east of Flatbush 

Avenue from the Shore Parkway and Mill Basin south to Rockaway Inlet. 

By the time the property survey was complete in December 1941, the city was 

asking $15 million for Floyd Bennett Field, more than double its earlier price 

of $6 million.10 Mayor LaGuardia felt this higher price was considerably less 

than the actual value of the site. Offering the airport at such a price, LaGuardia 

insisted, was “...not only a sacrifice, but a direct contribution [to the war effort] 

because of [the city’s] desire to be helpful in every way to the government and 

Figure 1.66: View looking 

southwest at the audience 

gathered on the apron (former 

airport gate area) for the official 

dedication ceremony of Naval Air 

Station, New York on June 2, 1941. 

Hangars 3 and 4 are visible in the 

background with “U.S. Navy” on 

their parapets. (Photograph 18949, 

Gateway National Recreation Area 

Museum Collection.)

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

102

the United States Navy in any matter in which national defense [was] involved.”11

The Navy believed the city’s asking price was unjustified and instead calculated an 

assessment based on 1,047 acres of upland, valued at almost $6 million, and $3.5 

million worth of improvements, totaling $9.5 million. However, once the Navy 

considered costs already born by the federal government, such as the Coast Guard 

facilities and WPA improvements, the total was actually just over $8.5 million. The 

Navy Department decided to offer the city $8.75 million.12

Figure 1.67: Property survey 

entitled “Map Showing Land to 

be Acquired for Naval Air Station 

(Floyd Bennett Field), Brooklyn, 

N. Y,” surveyed December 29, 

1941. The Coast Guard Air Station 

was previously recorded as ten 

acres. (RG 71, National Archives II, 

annotated by SUNY ESF.)
103 

As these negotiations were going on, the Navy had completed condemnation 

proceedings by January 1942 for the private land on the eastern end of Barren 

Island, and had apparently also worked out an arrangement with the city to 

acquire the adjoining city-owned land intended for redevelopment as Brooklyn 

Marine Park. The Navy was unable to convince the city to give up the park land 

across Flatbush Avenue from the airport.13

With disagreement over acquisition cost for the airport proper, city and naval 

officials met in Washington, D.C. in January 1942 to discuss transferring 

ownership of the airfield through “friendly condemnation proceedings.”14

The condemnation proceedings led the Navy to file a declaration of taking on 

February 9, 1942. This document gave immediate possession of the entire airport 

property as well as the undeveloped city land to the north to the Navy at a slightly 

higher price of $9.25 million for approximately 942 acres.15 All prior city leases 

were terminated, except for the Coast Guard lease, which the Navy continued 

with the provision that the Coast Guard not interfere with any naval operations.16

Together with the land on Barren Island, the Navy had secured ownership of the 

land that would be redeveloped over the following two years into NAS New York.

war-time Function of Floyd Bennett Field

The physical expansion of Floyd Bennett Field into NAS New York was 

undertaken to fulfill the site’s role as one of the most important naval installations 

and military airports in the World War II home front. Although the Navy had 

utilized aircraft during World War I, as evidenced by its Rockaway air station, 

it was during World War II that the Navy’s air power came into its own. As 

Navy historians published soon after the war’s end, “During a war which saw 

the aircraft carrier assume at least equal importance with the battleship in fleet 

operation, the air station took its place with the navy yard, the training center, 

and other important shore units as an indispensable and major element of the 

Navy.17 In 1938 prior to the national emergency and declaration of war, the Navy 

maintained seven Naval Air Stations—the flagship type of naval air facility—and 

ten Naval Reserve Aviation Bases, including the one at Floyd Bennett Field. 

During the war, these numbers rose to 257 air stations, of which eighty-six were 

in the East, and many smaller, satellite fields.18 NAS New York served as the main 

air stations for the New York City area, with the primary Navy installation at the 

New York Navy Yard located on the East River in Brooklyn, a facility dating back 

to 1801. The largest naval air station on the East Coast was NAS Quonset Point, 

Rhode Island, a facility built between 1940 and 1941.19

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

104

At the time NAS New York was 

commissioned on June 2, 1941, 

there were just six officers and 

twenty-four enlisted men at Floyd 

Bennett Field. After Pearl Harbor, 

work began on developing facilities 

to accommodate 6,500 personnel.20

By 1944, there were 897 officers, 

3,101 enlisted personnel, and 

740 civilians at NAS New York, 

including detachments of Women 

Accepted into Volunteer Service 

(WAVES).21 (fig. 1.68)These 

people ran numerous units and 

departments within the naval air 

station. 

In its enlarged military role, the primary function of NAS New York, as recorded 

in a 1944 Navy publication, was “...to provide base facilities for the Fleet and 

the North Atlantic Naval Frontier, and to assemble, service, equip, and deliver 

naval aircraft from factory to fleet.”22 This latter function was directly related to 

the concentration of aircraft manufacturing plants in the New York City area, 

including Grumman, General Motors, and Vought-Sikorsky. The function was 

carried out by the Aircraft Commissioning Unit, which handled the receipt, 

equipping, and checking of hundreds of naval aircraft per month from eastern 

factories. By the end of the war, some 46,000 aircraft had been commissioned at 

NAS New York and then delivered to fight in the major battles, primarily in the 

Pacific.23 The shipment of planes was carried out by the Navy’s Aircraft Delivery 

Unit (later renamed the Naval Air Ferry Command), which was headquartered 

at Floyd Bennett Field as the eastern terminal. Together with a similar facility at 

Columbus, Ohio, the delivery system followed 

several ferry routes across the country, terminating 

at NAS San Diego (fig. 1.69)

The location of Floyd Bennett Field at the 

country’s largest city, with access to key 

commercial areas and ample labor pools, also was 

Figure 1.68: A WAVES (Women 

Accepted for Volunteer Emergency 

Service) squadron on parade at 

the apron and former gate area 

in front of the Administration 

Building, July 29, 1944. WAVES 

supported many of the noncombat units at the naval air 

station. (Photograph 237615, Still 

Pictures Unit, National Archives II.)

Figure 1.69: World War II-era map of the primary ferry 

routes of the Navy’s Aircraft Delivery Unit (later Naval Air 

Ferry Command) headquartered at Floyd Bennett Field 

(identified as “New York” on the map), c.1943. (Reproduced 

from The Floyd Bennett Field Task Force, “Aircraft Delivery 

Unit 1941-43” webpage, http://kerrdrill.tripod.com/id4.html.)
105 

a reason for its designation as a key base for servicing allied aircraft and shipping 

supplies both to the European and Pacific fronts. In December 1943, NAS New 

York became the eastern terminal of the Military Air Transport Service, which 

operated on average 720 transcontinental flights a month involving more than 

5,000 passengers and more than a million pounds of cargo.24 Floyd Bennett Field 

also continued and expanded its role as a major base for training pilots and for 

patrolling the Atlantic sea lanes. During the war, the Navy increased the size of 

the Aviation Patrol Base on Jamaica Bay to six patrol squadrons and one inshore 

patrol squadron. 25

Several units at NAS New York carried out the daily service functions necessary 

to support a massive military base. These included the Public Works Department; 

Fire and Safety Engineering; Station Intelligence and Security; Supply, 

Commissary, and Disbursing; Medical and Dental; and Communications units. In 

addition to these, there was the Gunnery Department, which managed the field’s 

stores of ammunitions; the Operations Department, consisting of a Flight Division 

which administered all station aircraft, an Aerological Division which handled 

weather forecasts, and a Boats Division which managed aquatic functions; and 

lastly, the Training Department, which conducted flight and ammunitions courses 

for officers and enlisted men. The Naval Reserve Aviation Base in Hangar Row 

had been discontinued as a separate naval unit shortly after NAS New York was 

commissioned.26

NAS New York also functioned as part of a system of military installations in the 

area that included the Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn (which came under the 

control of the Navy during the war), as well as the air corps at nearby Mitchell 

Field on Long Island and the Army’s anti-aircraft harbor defense at Fort Tilden 

just across the Rockaway Inlet. The commander of NAS New York was also 

responsible for two auxiliary naval airfields (NAF): NAF Roosevelt Field in 

Mineola, Long Island and NAF Mercer Field in Trenton New Jersey. 27

In its war-time function as part of the Navy, the Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn 

continued its patrol of waters in the New York Harbor area, but it also took on 

a testing, training, and delivery function similar to the rest of NAS New York. In 

1944, the air station became the only helicopter base operated by the Coast Guard, 

which was assigned all helicopter operations by the Navy. As a helicopter base, the 

air station not only tested helicopters, but also trained pilots to fly them.28

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

106

Navy Expansion of Floyd Bennett Field

On the eve of the commissioning ceremony for NAS New York on June 2, 1941, 

the New York Times reported on some of the changes occurring at the field as part 

of the transfer from municipal control:

As the United States Naval authorities went ahead last week with their plans for 

commissioning Floyd Bennett Field on Monday, June 2 as a full-fledged Navy [sic] 

Air Station, some changes in the airport’s physical plant and equipment already 

became apparent...The entire acreage will be fenced in, with guards at the entrances 

and patrols protecting all sections. Like the [Brooklyn] Navy Yard, it will be watched 

twenty-four hours a day and credentials will be required of all who enter. At first it 

was proposed to build a brick wall along Flatbush Avenue, but now plans call for the 

construction of a barbed-wire fence by the WPA...In token of the Navy’s imminent 

possession, Commander Smith will move into the administration building tomorrow, 

occupying the spacious office on the second floor formerly used by Kenneth Behr, city 

field manager. With its many windows, this office commands a sweeping vision of the 

entire flying field.29

During its seven-month lease of Floyd Bennett Field from the dedication of NAS 

New York on June 2, 1941 to the declaration of taking on February 9, 1942, the 

Figure 1.70: View looking south 

across the western half of Floyd 

Bennett Field just prior to the 

Navy’s purchase, circa January 

1942. This photograph illustrates 

a landscape little changed from its 

operation as a municipal airport, 

aside from the many military 

aircraft parked on the apron and 

former overflow parking areas. 

(Photograph 18996, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)
107 

Navy made few improvements to 

the site aside from completion of the 

barracks at the former Naval Reserve 

Aviation Base at the south end of 

Hangar Row, and fencing of the entire 

site. An aerial photograph taken in 

or about January 1942 showed a 

landscape little changed in overall 

appearance from its operation eight 

months earlier as a municipal airport, 

although the many more military 

aircraft on the field was conspicuous 

difference, even from the air (fig. 

1.70). During the lease period, the Navy apparently erected a temporary mesh 

fence around the airport, and built temporary wood gate houses at the diagonal 

entrance drives to control access (fig. 1.71). The fencing did not extend across the 

central lawn area in front of the Administration Building. 

The Navy had begun to plan for construction of NAS New York and 

redevelopment of Floyd Bennett Field several months before it gained ownership 

of the site from the city. By late 1941, plans and specifications for the work had 

apparently been completed. On December 17, ten days after Pearl Harbor, the 

Navy contracted for expansion of the airfield, new hangars, and support buildings, 

although most work would not begin until after federal ownership was secured 

on February 9, 1942. Most of the planning and design work for the expansion 

was undertaken in house, but the Navy also employed outside architects and 

engineers, such as Albert Kahn, and also made use of local public works programs. 

The Navy office responsible for developing plans and specifications was the 

Design Division within the Bureau of Yards and Docks, which was responsible 

for the overall management of the Navy’s land facilities. The Design Division 

developed its own plans and specifications for new construction, and also 

reviewed plans and specifications prepared under outside contract.30

The Navy’s plans for the expansion were typical of its war-time development 

elsewhere across the nation that employed standardized plans that varied 

according to availability of resources and limitations of the local climate. The 

principal ground facilities of waterside naval air stations remained largely the 

same as they were prior to the war. These included seaplane ramps, seaplane 

parking areas, seaplane hangars, wharfs, landplane hangars, landplane runways, 

shops, schools, and personnel buildings including barracks, recreational halls, 

and dispensaries. The sites for naval air stations required a limited amount of 

landplane facilities alongside a protected body of water where seaplanes could 

Figure 1.71: View southeast from 

Flatbush Avenue showing the 

Navy’s addition of temporary 

security fencing and a gatehouse 

at the head of diagonal entrance 

drive, probably photographed in 

June 1941. The gates and fence 

were replaced with a permanent 

barbed-wire cyclone fence in 

c.1942. (Photograph 22752, 

Gateway National Recreation Area 

Museum Collection.)

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

108

take off and land under a variety of 

weather conditions. Characteristic 

of most airfields, all major buildings 

and above-ground structures in naval 

air stations were located outside of 

flight-path clear zones, areas in which 

obstructions to flight were prohibited. 

One change in facilities during the war 

resulted from advances in aircraft, which 

became faster and larger. These craft 

required longer, more stable runways.31

Although naval air stations featured 

standardized plans and types of facilities, 

no two were alike. Runway configurations varied widely, as did the arrangement 

of hangars, barracks, and other support facilities. NAS Quonset Point, the Navy’s 

largest East Coast air station during World War II, was similar in land area to NAS 

New York and contained a similar runway pattern built on fill in Narragansett Bay 

(fig. 1.72). A notable difference in the two air stations was New York’s origins as a 

municipal airport with its non-military hangars and administration building. This 

mixture of military and civilian infrastructure was not, however, unusual among 

naval air stations since many were located at former municipal airports. A total 

of forty-three of the eighty-six World War II-era naval air stations in the East had 

been former municipal or civilian airports.32

The Navy’s war-time plans for buildings, structures, circulation, and landscape 

improvements were designed for quick and efficient construction. War-time 

building construction fell into two general types: permanent, intended for 

continued use after the war and usually employing masonry and steel; and 

temporary, not intended for use after the war and usually built of wood frame 

and modular construction.33 Aside from facilities at the Naval Aviation Patrol 

Base, the permanent war-time infrastructure at NAS New York was largely built 

prior to the war as part of the municipal airport, while new construction was 

generally temporary in design. The Navy may have planned NAS New York this 

way because of the potential for the site to revert to the city for municipal use 

after the war. More important was probably the war-time shortage of labor and 

building materials that became acute in the spring of 1942. At this time while 

redevelopment of Floyd Bennett Field was just beginning, the Bureau of Yards 

and Docks outlined a set of rules for new construction designed to conserve 

resources and labor. These rules were formalized into a “Joint Directive on 

Wartime Construction” issued on May 20, 1941 by the War Production Board, 

the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the Navy. This directive required that 

Figure 1.72: NAS Quonset Point 

on Narragansett Bay, Rhode 

Island, the largest World War 

II-era naval air station on the East 

coast, c.1945. This photo illustrates 

similar features and setting to 

NAS New York. (National Archives, 

reproduced from M. L. Shettle, Jr. 

United States Naval Air Stations of 

World War II, Volume 1: Eastern, 

1995.)
109 

buildings be no more elaborate or extensive than was absolutely essential, and that 

substitutes should be found for scarce materials, such as steel.34

In keeping with the conservation directive and standardization, the Navy’s new 

construction at Floyd Bennett Field was characterized overall by utilitarian design 

and construction without any of the architectural adornment and enduring 

construction that the city and Coast Guard had earlier employed. Asphalt was 

used instead of concrete on the runways and taxiways, and buildings were 

primarily frame, with clapboard or sheet-metal siding. Most non-developed areas 

that the Navy created from fill, such as on Barren Island and the area north of 

the original airport, were apparently left bare and allowed to regenerate naturally 

instead of being surfaced in topsoil and planted in turf. The land boundaries of 

the site were cordoned off by economical cyclone and barbed-wire fence. 

Less than twenty-two months after the Navy’s acquisition of Floyd Bennett Field, 

its expansion into NAS New York was largely complete, as evidenced in an aerial 

photograph taken on December 23, 1943 (fig. 1.73). The expansion included 

extensive grading and filling operations that increased the size of Floyd Bennett 

Figure 1.73: Aerial view of 

Floyd Bennett Field showing 

nearly complete expansion of 

the municipal airport into NAS 

New York within two years 

of the Navy’s acquisition of 

the property, photographed 

December 23, 1943. Hangar Row 

and Flatbush Avenue are at the 

bottom of the photograph; white 

areas indicate new fill while the 

dark turf generally indicates the 

limits of the original airport. 

(Photograph 18958, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

110

Field by nearly 872 acres; addition of runways and seaplane facilities; and the 

construction of approximately 100 new buildings and numerous new structures. 

In typical military fashion, the Navy created a site-wide numbering system for 

buildings and structures, ranging from Building 1 (Administration Building) 

to Building 128 (a salvage shed) (see Table 1.1 at the end of this chapter for 

complete list). With a few exceptions, those constructed prior to February 1942 

were numbered 28 and below. The hangars in Hangar Row kept their municipal 

numbering, but the Navy also assigned them new numbers, one for each part—the 

main hangar, lean-to, and infill building. Barracks were also given their own 

numbers, 1 through 13, in addition to the site-wide numbering system.35

The Navy’s development of Floyd Bennett Field was concentrated in five main 

areas: additions and modifications to Hangar Row including hangars and 

barracks; expansion of the airfield including a perimeter taxiway system and a 

new runway; enlargement of the Aviation Patrol Base with a second hangar and 

construction of an adjoining maintenance area; construction of an ammunitionscommunication area north of the original airport; and redevelopment of 

Barren Island into a main barracks area, west barracks area, seaplane base, and 

Figure 1.74: Oblique aerial view 

taken in c.1944 looking south 

across NAS New York showing 

major areas of expansion and new 

construction in contrast with the 

limits of the original municipal 

airport (indicated by dashed line). 

(Photograph 18914, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection, annotated by SUNY 

ESF.)
111 

marginal wharf (fig. 1.74). New buildings and other above-ground structures 

were developed outside of flight paths, which were defined by clear zones 

approximately 500 feet to either side of each runway and additional areas on the 

approaches.36 Given its limited acreage, the Coast Guard made relatively minor 

additions to its air station at Floyd Bennett Field during the war. 

Changes to Hangar Row 

Under Navy ownership, Hangar Row remained the base of operations for the field 

with the commanding officers and communications center in the Administration 

Building and the hangars used for airplane servicing and training. However, 

the public face of the landscape, especially at the airport entrance off Flatbush 

Avenue, changed as the entire site was cordoned off with cyclone and barbedwire fencing installed during the time between Pearl Harbor and the declaration 

of taking in February 1942. As a municipal airport, it was important that the 

entrance seem inviting and comfortable for the passengers arriving at the airport. 

As a military base, the Navy essentially needed to create the opposite effect. 

The fencing was extended across the diagonal entrance drives in place of the 

temporary wood guard booths and gates that had been installed when NAS New 

York was initially commissioned in June 1941 (fig. 1.75). Probably because the 

dual diagonal entrance was difficult to control and did not provide direct access 

to the rest of the field, the Navy built a new entrance off Flatbush Avenue south 

of Hangar Row, aligned with the intersection of the old Barren Island Main 

Street (fig. 1.76). This entrance led to a new road, later named Aviation Road, 

that ran south from the Hangar Row apron to access the new facilities being 

built on Barren Island. Around this same time, the city began to expand Flatbush 

Avenue into a six-lane divided highway with a planted median.37 Although these 

improvements were probably planned by the city when it built Marine Parkway 

Bridge in 1937, the work was 

apparently undertaken during 

wartime to improve vehicular access 

to the naval air station. 

Despite the fencing and circulation 

changes, the Navy retained most 

of the airport entrance landscape, 

including the plantings, lawn, 

airport sign, and rustic light 

standards (see fig. 1.75).38 Outside 

of the entrance lawn area, the 

Navy made a number of wartime additions and changes to 

the entrance area in the wave of 

Figure 1.75: View of the airport 

entrance area looking northeast 

showing cyclone fence closing off 

entrance drives and frame addition 

to the Administration Building (at 

left), from later photograph c.1954. 

Also visible is the replacement 

control tower cab and remaining 

hedges and shrubs. (City of 

New York municipal archives, 

reproduced from Judith A Quinn, 

“Historic Structures Report, The 

Administration Building,” 2004.)

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

112

improvements completed in 

1942-43. Along the north side 

of the north parking lot, the 

airport gasoline pump house 

was removed and to its north, 

a paint storage building was 

constructed and a storage tank 

was added off the fire pump 

house. The WPA-built Field 

House was converted for use 

as a truck garage and office. 

Along the apron east of the 

Administration Building, the 

Navy removed the cyclone 

fence and gates that demarked 

the former boarding/gate 

area. In place of its earlier 

function, the Navy used this 

part of the apron as a parade 

ground where personnel 

marched in formal order, with 

officers probably reviewing 

from the terrace along the 

Administration Building (see 

fig. 1.68).39

The most conspicuous change to the entrance area was the construction of a large, 

one-story addition off the north side of the Administration Building. Designed as a 

temporary building to house communications facilities and completed in 1943, the 

addition was framed in wood and was detached from the masonry main building, 

to which it was connected by a narrow, ten-foot corridor. With a low-pitched 

roof, overhanging eaves, and wood siding, the addition was a contrast to the 

formality of the original building (see fig. 1.75).40 A tall communications pole and 

series of roof-top antennae were added at the same time. Another conspicuous 

change to the exterior of the Administration Building made during the war was 

the replacement of the neoclassical-style window enframements of the original 

control tower cab with a starkly modern angular glazed enclosure designed to 

maximize sight lines across the newly expanded airfield.41

South of the Administration Building, the Navy added a small building in the 

south parking area between the Administration Building and hangars 3 and 4 (see 

fig. 1.76). Probably built of temporary wood-frame construction in contrast to 

Figure 1.76: Detail of an aerial 

photograph taken on November 

1, 1943 showing Navy additions to 

Hangar Row and widened Flatbush 

Avenue made since January 

1942. Hangar 10 would be built 

in 1944. (Photograph 85510, Still 

Pictures Unit, National Archives II, 

annotated by SUNY ESF.)
113 

the surrounding brick and steel of the earlier airport 

architecture, the building was used as a sick bay, the 

naval term for an on-shore treatment clinic.42 Similar 

temporary wood-frame buildings were built in the 

former Naval Reserve Aviation Base at the south end 

of Hangar Row, which was converted to a barrackstraining area. New construction was concentrated in 

a triangular area due to the clear zones for runways 

1-19 and 15-33. The former airport south boundary 

road, which ran through this area, was closed off from 

Flatbush Avenue and was used instead as an interior 

access drive (see fig. 1.75). To the south was the new 

Navy entrance, which was secured by a gate house on one side and a police station 

on the other. 

The reserve barracks completed in 1941 was retained in this area, but used instead 

as a barracks for WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). 

The Navy added a number of similarly styled temporary buildings to this area for 

training and support purposes, including the Synthetic Training Building (a facility 

that provides models and simulations for training purposes), a Celestial Training 

Building, a fire house, garage, WAVES laundry building, and Tara Hall, which was a 

Chief Petty Officers recreation building. 43 Like the WAVES barracks as well as the 

barracks at the Aviation Patrol Base along Jamaica Bay, these buildings featured 

wood frame construction, gable or hipped roofs, six-over-six double-hung 

windows, open eaves, and white-painted clapboard siding (fig. 1.77). A number of 

modifications were made to adjoining maintenance buildings that lined the edge 

of the Hangar Row apron, including a brick addition to the transformer vault and 

frame shed additions to the Dope Shop and sewage 

pump house. 

At the opposite or north end of Hangar Row, the Navy 

used the site of the airport’s overflow parking lots for 

a new pair of hangars. The first hangar, designated 

hangar 9, was built in c.1942-43 as a base for Squadron 

VFR-1 of the Naval Air Ferry Command (fig. 1.78). 

The building, which had a distinctly different style 

from the airport hangars but was similar in size and 

plan, featured a barrel-vaulted roof with a brick twostory flat-roof lean-to on the east side. A year later, a 

matching connected hangar, designated hangar 10, was 

built on the west side of hangar 9.44

Figure 1.77: Later view (2006) 

of the Navy Synthetic Training 

Building showing construction 

typical for the temporary 

buildings in this area south of 

Hangar Row as well as those at 

the Naval Aviation Patrol Base. 

(SUNY ESF.)

Figure 1.78: View looking 

southeast at Hangar 9 and the 

edge of Hangar 10, which served 

as the base for Squadron VFR-1 

of the Naval Air Ferry Command, 

c.1944. (“Naval Air Ferry 

Command” handbook, reproduce 

don Historic Floyd Bennett Field 

Taskforce, NAS New York 1941-72 

webpage, http://kerrdrill.tripod.

com/id6.html.)

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

114

Airfield Expansion

Despite the runway improvements undertaken through the WPA in the mid1930s, the municipal airfield was inadequate for use by war-time military aircraft, 

which were larger, heavier, and far greater in number than those the Navy used in 

its earlier reserve center and patrol base. In March 1942, the Navy finalized plans 

to lengthen and widen three of the four existing runways, and to construct a new 

runway along the north side of the field, north of the original airfield. Filling in 

the expanded area north of the original field, which had continued through the 

1930s, was completed and the area was graded to a level surface, except at the 

northeast corner of the field where a low-lying area was retained, probably for 

drainage purposes. The surface of the new area was not prepared with top soil 

and turf as was done earlier by the city, but instead left to regenerate naturally. 

The Navy did, however, maintain the turf field of 

the original airfield, although apparently not in 

the highly trimmed condition characteristic of the 

municipal airport (fig. 1.79). The northern extent 

of the turf remained a clear indication of the 

original boundary of the airport (see fig. 1.74). The 

Navy also made a small enlargement of the airfield 

at its southwest corner; an adjoining portion of the 

original field was removed for construction of the 

main barracks area. 

The Navy’s additions to the runway system were built mainly in asphalt rather 

than concrete, probably to speed construction. Improvements to existing runways 

included lengthening each of the diagonal runways (12-30, 1-19) to 5,000 feet 

and widening to 300 feet (see figs. 1.73, 1.74). Runway 15-33, the runway parallel 

to Hangar Row, was widened to 300 feet and lengthened to 4,500 feet. The only 

runway not enlarged was 6-24, the original runway that ran east from Hangar 

Row, due to the Aviation Patrol Base at its eastern end and Hangar Row at its 

western end. Because of the need to retain a runway in this cardinal direction, the 

Navy built a new runway 6-24 on the expanded portion of the airfield north of the 

original airfield, and the old runway was converted to a taxiway. The new runway, 

measuring 300 feet wide by 5,000 feet long to match runways 12-30 and 1-19, 

extended from the end of runway 15-33 and intersected the end of runway 1-19. 

From the ground, these changes to the airfield had little visual impact to the level, 

expansive character of the landscape (fig. 1.80). 

Following typical designs for naval air stations, improvements to the airfield also 

included construction of a circumferential taxiway system that connected the 

ends of each runway and added a fourth taxiway to the Hangar Row apron (see 

fig. 1.74). The taxiways, measuring approximately 100, also provided access to 

Figure 1.79: View looking west of 

a plane on a runway or taxiway 

showing character of the original 

airfield turf, c.1944. In the left 

distance is the Administration 

Building and Hangar Row. 

(Photograph 13419, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)
115 

the Aviation Patrol Base and Coast 

Guard Air Station, which previously 

had no connection to the runways. 

One taxiway was laid out to access a 

new seaplane base on Barren Island 

south of the airfield.The taxiways 

were numbered 1 through 7, with 

taxiways 1 and 2 assigned to former 

runway 6-24 to either side of the 

intersection in the middle of the 

field. 

In addition to the taxiways and 

runways, the Navy also built a 

number of other features in the 

airfield outside of the runway clear 

zones. These included a dirigible 

landing area, officially named a “Lighter-Than-Air Facility,” in the northeast 

corner of the original airfield. 45 Although NAS New York did not make use of 

dirigibles as many naval air stations at the time did, the feature was probably 

considered essential should a dirigible from another station need to land at the 

field. Built in c.1943, the facility consisted of no above-ground structures, rather 

just a compacted earthen 250-foot diameter circular landing area accessed by a 

short taxiway. South of the landing area across taxiway 1, the Navy added a second 

concrete compass rose in c.1944, apparently to handle the larger and heavier 

military aircraft. Unlike the earlier compass rose near the Hangar Row apron, the 

Navy compass rose had a paved taxiway connecting it to the main taxiway. The 

Navy also added two training features in c.1942 within the airfield to simulate 

front-line conditions. One was a “rocking platform,” a structure built on the east 

side of the field that was used to simulate the wave action of a ship at sea. The 

second was a tetrahedron, a beach obstacle built within the triangular flight-path 

clear zone between runways 12-30, 1-19, and 6-24. Also known as a hedgehog 

or Element C, the tetrahedron consisted of three steel riveted rails with flattened 

ends to prevent sinking in the sand. Tetrahedrons were one of a number of beach 

obstacles that the Navy used in the Invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.46

While the Navy retained much of the airfield layout, the expansion resulted in 

the removal and alteration of a number of features. These included the north 

boundary road and the adjoining fence, portions of the south boundary road and 

its fence, and the municipal runway lighting system and boundary lights. The Navy 

retained the Sperry floodlight towers as part of a new lighting system (see fig. 

1.80). 47

Figure 1.80: View of the airfield 

looking northeast from the 

parade grounds on the former 

passenger boarding-gate area 

(Hangar Row apron) during an 

unidentified ceremony, July 29, 

1944. Visible in the background 

is one of the Sperry floodlight 

towers and the communications 

towers north of the airfield. Also 

note asphalt block paving dating 

to the municipal airport period. 

(Photograph 237611, RG 80, 

National Archives II.)

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

116

Expansion along Jamaica Bay 

During World War II, the Navy devoted a significant part of its expansion efforts 

at the facilities along Jamaica Bay, including additions to the Aviation Patrol 

Base, redevelopment of the former airport seaplane base, and construction of 

a maintenance area. The Coast Guard Air Station also expanded its facilities, 

although it remained confined to its small ten-acre parcel and was subject to wartime administration by the Navy. Together, the new facilities reinforced the cluster 

of development along the eastern edge of the airfield. 

The Navy converted the former airport seaplane base along Jamaica Bay north of 

the Coast Guard air station into a recreation area and boat basin (fig. 1.81). The 

Navy abandoned the airport seaplane ramp, but retained the city pier and built 

a new pier that enclosed the boat basin. The Navy also built a number of small 

structures in the adjoining area above the bulkhead, including a boat house, boat 

repair shop, and a set of three aviation gasoline storage tanks. The recreation area, 

which featured two ball fields, extended in the open field between these structures 

and the airfield.48 While this area was in the flight-path clear zone for runway 12-

30, the buildings and structures were apparently not considered an obstacle to 

aircraft due to their small scale.

At the Aviation Patrol Base, the growth of the Navy’s seaplane patrols during 

World War II made the single seaplane hangar built in 1940 inadequate for the 
117 

additional squadrons at Floyd Bennett 

Field. Plans were quickly implemented 

in 1942 for the second hangar as initially 

proposed in 1940. In preparation, the 

area of the base was roughly doubled 

through an expansion to the north 

(see fig. 1.81). The timber bulkheading 

along Jamaica Bay was extended, the 

area filled, and the apron surfaced in 

asphalt and concrete. The new hangar, 

designated Hangar B, was a duplicate of 

the earlier hangar, which was designated 

Hangar A (fig. 1.82). Hangar B was built 

approximately 450 feet north of Hangar A and slightly to the west, probably to 

provide additional space on the apron, which was used as a firing area with a test 

backstop along its northern edge. To accommodate Hangar B, two ammunitions 

magazines built in c.1940 along the old northern edge of the apron were removed, 

but the pyrotechnic house near the bulkhead was retained as an ammunitions 

magazine. As part of the base enlargement, a new, larger seaplane ramp, 

designated seaplane ramp B, was constructed at the northern end of the apron, 

supplementing the smaller timber ramp across from Hangar A. The Navy also 

built a fenced storage yard north of the patrol base apron. 49

As work was underway on the expansion of the Aviation Patrol Base in 1942, the 

Navy began development of a maintenance area between the patrol base and 

the airfield (fig. 1.83, see also fig. 1.81). This complex of buildings, which served 

the entire air station, was sited outside of the adjoining flight-path clear zone for 

runway 12-30. It consisted of thirteen buildings by 1943 with another structure 

built in c.1944, and was organized in a line parallel to taxiway 5 and the road to the 

Aviation Patrol Base. The buildings included a fire station, two pumping stations, 

ammunitions storage buildings, a power plant, various storehouses, an ordinance 

overhaul shop, and a commissary. These were built in range of sizes and types of 

construction, including concrete, brick, wood, and sheet metal. The largest was 

the three-story concrete General Storehouse, which anchored the northern end 

of the complex across from Hangar A (see fig. 1.83). The Navy also added several 

Quonset huts, which were temporary prefabricated arched sheet-metal sheds first 

used by the Navy at the Quonset Point Naval Air Station in Rhode Island. 

In its wartime role under Navy administration, the Coast Guard implemented 

only modest additions to its air station as part of its enlarged testing, training, and 

delivery function. The Moderne-style hangar remained the main facility, although 

its use changed with the introduction of helicopters in 1944 (see fig. 1.83). 

Figure 1.82: View of Hangar 

B looking northwest from the 

roof of Hangar A illustrating its 

immense clear-span and expansive 

concrete and asphalt apron, c.1944. 

(Uncatalogued photograph, RG 80, 

National Archives II.) 

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

118

Because of its integrated relationship with the Navy, the Coast Guard shared many 

facilities at the air station and therefore apparently had no need to build much 

additional infrastructure to satisfy its war-time functions with a few exceptions. 

In c.1943, the Coast Guard built its own barracks along the north side of its parcel 

adjoining the two Navy barracks at the Aviation Patrol Base. The new building was 

built to the same temporary design as the Navy barracks, using wood framing and 

white-painted clapboard siding. It was used in part for pilots who were trained 

there to fly helicopters. The Coast Guard also added a few small storage buildings 

near the barracks, and developed the open area west of the hangar as a ballfield.50

Development of the Ammunitions-Communication Area 

In support of its war-time patrol function, the Navy required expanded facilities 

to store ammunitions as well as a large open area outside of flight paths to erect 

radio towers to receive and send ship-to-shore communications. The Navy built 

these facilities in the outlying area between the new runway 6-24 and Mill Basin as 

part of the initial wave of development in 1942-43 (fig. 1.84). After initial site work 

that included completion of grading and filling that removed the last remnants of 

Irish Channel, the Navy began construction in 1942 on thirteen small buildings 

spread out along a narrow patrol road that looped around the perimeter of the 

airfield from the Aviation Patrol Base to Flatbush Avenue. These buildings were 

spread out across a long trapezoidal area defined by the clear zones for runways 

1-19, 6-24, and 15-33. Extending off the patrol road were small structures for 

housing inert materials, pyrotechnics, fuses and detonators, high explosives, 

and a warhead. The high-explosive magazines were built of heavy reinforced 

concrete and included underground chambers. In the center of the area was the 

Figure 1.83: Looking northwest 

across the Coast Guard Air Station 

with the maintenance area and 

Aviation Patrol Base barracks 

in the background, c.1945. The 

large three-story building in 

the background is the General 

Storehouse, with Hangar A to 

the right. Note the ornamental 

plantings to either side of the 

Coast Guard hangar dating to the 

building’s completion in 1938. 

(Uncatalogued photograph, RG 

80, National Archives II.) 
119 

radio tower complex, which consisted of a gable-roof corrugated sheet-metal 

transmitter building and four 150-foot tall transmitter towers that were clearly 

visible from Hangar Row across the open expanse of the airfield (see fig. 1.80).

Off the east end of the area within the flight path of runway 1-19 was a pistol 

range that included a shotgun range house and a line of five small “sheet & trip” 

shooting houses. At the opposite west end within the clear zone for runway 12-30 

was an open coal storage area and an electrical service sub-station building at the 

intersection of the Patrol Road and Flatbush Avenue. 51

Redevelopment of Barren Island 

The Navy’s plans for NAS New York identified Barren Island—the approximate 

260-acre area south of the airfield that the city had planned to be part of Brooklyn 

Marine Park—to be completely redeveloped with two barracks areas, a marginal 

wharf, and a new seaplane base along Rockaway Inlet. Once the Navy secured 

ownership of the private property at the east end of the island in January 1942 

and evicted the resident hold-outs, it began clearing and burning the remaining 

houses, church, piers, bulkheads, and New York Sanitary Utilization Company 

foundations (fig. 1.85). It soon followed with grading and filling operations 

that removed the dunes, trees, roads, creek, marshes, and any other trace of 

the old Barren Island landscape. The filling operations raised the level of the 

site to an approximate sixteen-foot elevation that characterized the rest of the 

field, extending the landmass between fifty and 400 feet into Rockaway Inlet 

and Jamaica Bay. The new shoreline of Barren Island was retained by sheet-pile 

bulkheading.52

Figure 1.84: Detail of an aerial 

photograph taken in August 1943 

showing construction to date on 

the ammunitions-communication 

area at the north end of the naval 

air station. Note that buildings 

were restricted to areas outside 

of flight-path clear zones. 

(Photograph 18930, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection, annotated by SUNY 

ESF.)

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

120

The new development on 

Barren Island was sited 

outside of the flight-path 

clear zones for runways 

12-30, 1-19, and 15-33. 

These clear zones created 

a developable trapezoidal 

area on the east end of 

Barren Island that became 

the main barracks area, 

and a small triangular area 

of developable land on the 

west end of the island that 

became the west barracks 

area (fig. 1.86). This small 

area was bordered on the 

west by the city-owned toll 

booth area for the Marine 

Parkway Bridge. The land 

within the clear zone between the two developable areas was left open, but used 

in part for a new seaplane base that served as the primary seaplane facility along 

with the Aviation Patrol Base on Jamaica Bay. Built in 1942, the Rockaway Inlet 

seaplane base contained no buildings, but did have a seaplane ramp in Rockaway 

Inlet, designated as seaplane ramp ‘A,’ and a large 700-foot square concrete 

parking apron for seaplanes. A new taxiway, designated as #7, was constructed to 

connect the base to the airfield at the south end of runway 15-33. 53

Vehicular access to the main and west barracks areas was by the new entrance that 

the Navy constructed off Flatbush Avenue at the south end of Hangar Row. The 

drive turned south to the west barracks area on what was later named Aviation 

Road, and branched east to the main barracks area on today’s Floyd Bennett 

Boulevard. This road connected with the entrance road to the Aviation Patrol Base 

and the patrol road through the ammunitions-communication area, forming a 

complete perimeter loop around the naval air station (see fig. 1.86). 

Most buildings in the west and main barracks areas were built according to the 

Navy’s specifications for temporary construction, characterized by long, one- and 

two-story buildings with low-pitched hipped roofs, narrow clapboard siding 

with corner boards, boxed eaves, and two-over-two double-hung windows with 

horizontal muntins (fig. 1.87). Many buildings had multiple wings. These Barren 

Island buildings differed slightly in style from the earlier barracks and other 

temporary buildings at the south end of Hangar Row and in the Aviation Patrol 

Figure 1.85: Aerial view of the 

east end of Barren Island showing 

the Navy’s clearing in preparation 

for redevelopment, photographed 

January 24, 1942. The large 

rectangular foundations along the 

shore are the remains of the New 

York Sanitary Utilization plant. 

In the background is the airport 

seaplane pier. (Photograph 80-G354815, RG 80, Series G, National 

Archives II.)
121 

Base, which generally had taller proportions with higher-pitched gable roofs, 

open eaves, and six-over-six sash windows. The buildings on Barren Island were 

linked by a network of concrete sidewalks that paralleled the buildings and the 

asphalt roads. The landscape remained open without any trees or other plantings 

separating it from the expanse of the airfield and the adjoining waters of Jamaica 

Bay and Rockaway Inlet. 

The west barracks area consisted of just a pair of barracks, numbered 11 and 13, 

parallel to the main entrance drive with a small “heater house” between them (see 

fig. 1.86). At the south end of the area a short distance from the barracks was the 

naval air station’s incinerator and sewage treatment plant. 

The main barracks area was far larger and was organized 

into three different sections. Between the main entrance 

drive and the airfield was the barracks area for non-officer 

enlisted personnel, except for one barracks reserved for 

chief petty officers (fig. 1.88). This area included a central 

complex consisting of a central three-winged two-story 

Figure 1.86: Detail of an aerial 

photograph taken in November 

1943 showing construction to 

date on Barren Island within the 

main barracks area, seaplane 

base, and west barracks area. 

The three areas within the main 

barracks area were: 1. Non-officer 

enlisted men’s area; 2: Officers’ 

area; 3. Supply area, including 

the marginal wharf. (Photograph 

85512, RG 80, National Archives II, 

annotated by SUNY ESF.)

Figure 1.87: A Navy boot camp graduation showing character of 

one of the temporary buildings constructed in c.1942 (probably the 

Dispensary, 87) and open lawn in the main barracks area on Barren 

Island, from a later photograph, 1949. (Photograph 20302, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum Collection.)

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

122

mess hall that was connected by breezeways 

to symmetrical rows of one and two-story 

barracks flanking a central lawn area. To the 

north of this complex adjoining the airfield 

was a set of four barracks that symmetrically 

flanked a central recreation building, the 

latter completed in 1944. The enlisted men’s 

recreation building was a structure with a 

barrel-arched roof located east of the central 

barracks complex. 

Across the main drive from the non-officers’ 

barracks and north of the seaplane base was 

the officers’ area (see fig. 1.86). This area 

included two detached houses for married 

officers oriented along a ‘U’-shaped drive aligned with the lawn of the central 

barracks complex to the north. East of these houses was the officers’ mess hall, 

also known as the officers’ club. Although of temporary frame construction, 

this building featured an elaborate interior decorated by famed interior designer 

Dorothy Draper, with art deco elements recovered from the ocean liner, the S.S. 

Normandie that had just sunk in 1941.54 East of the officers’ club was the biggest 

building in the main barracks area—an eight-winged two-story barracks that 

served as bachelor officers’ quarters. South of these barracks was a recreational 

area that included tennis courts. 

Although most buildings in the main barracks area were used for housing and 

personnel-related services, the east side was the site of facilities used for supply 

and service purposes (see fig. 1.86). These facilities were located here because 

of the adjoining deep waters of the Rockaway Inlet, along which the Navy 

built a 1,700-foot long marginal wharf (a wharf that ran parallel rather than 

perpendicular to the shoreline). From this wharf ships received and unloaded 

supplies, a use not unlike that which had been going on at this location since the 

mid-nineteenth century. The wharf featured a sheetpile bulkhead with a concrete curb, iron bollards and 

cleats, and a paved apron (fig. 1.89). This apron was 

connected to a road that led to nearby supply and 

storage buildings, including a multi-winged dispensary, 

Figure 1.88: View looking west 

across the main barracks area 

from near the marginal wharf, 

from a later photograph, 1953. In 

the right distance is the barracks 

area for enlisted men; the large 

building in the left background is 

the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters (68). 

In the middle of the photograph is 

the laundry (85), with Power Plant 

B (86) to the right. The steel tanks 

in the foreground housed fuel 

(the larger one at left was added 

after 1945), and the concrete tanks 

in the background stored water. 

(Photograph 19494, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)

Figure 1.89: The marginal wharf with its concrete bulkhead and 

iron cleats, view looking east with Rockaway Inlet to the right, 

from a later photograph, c.1950. The identity of the sailor is 

not known. (Uncatalogued maintenance file photograph, Floyd 

Bennett Field, Gateway National Recreation Area.)
123 

where supplies were received and dispensed for use within the naval air station 

(fig. 1.90, see also fig. 1.88). Nearby were several smaller storage buildings, as 

well as fuel oil and water storage tanks, a laundry, and a large brick powerhouse 

designated Power Plant A that was the same design as Power Plant B in the 

maintenance area along Jamaica Bay. 

Landscape characteristics, 1945 (Drawing 1.3)

In 1945 at the end of World War II, the landscape of NAS New York reflected 

massive war-time development that had greatly expanded the former municipal 

airport, completed in large part within two years of the Navy’s acquisition of 

the property in February 1942 (fig. 1.91). The development was characteristic of 

naval air stations of the period that included standardized design and a mix of 

temporary and permanent war-time construction. Despite the new development, 

the landscape retained the overall open, expansive feeling that had characterized 

the municipal airport, as well as its key buildings and organizational elements 

including Hangar Row, runways, and the Jamaica Bay facilities. The most 

significant change came to the Barren Island community, whose narrow streets, 

small houses, groves of trees, dunes, beaches, and factory remnants were replaced 

by a level, treeless expanse with numerous large buildings.

Natural Systems and Features 

By 1945, Floyd Bennett Field had been nearly completely transformed into an 

artificial, engineered landscape with the Navy’s redevelopment of the areas 

north and south of the municipal airport. The last remnants of the tidal estuary 

Figure 1.90: View looking 

northwest toward the airfield 

over the multi-winged dispensary 

(87) and adjoining storage 

buildings (122, 123, 124) in the 

main barracks area, with the 

maintenance-area visible in the 

right background, c.1944. Note 

the very barren character of 

the landscape. (Uncatalogued 

maintenance file photograph, 

Floyd Bennett Field, Gateway 

National Recreation Area.)

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

124

on Barren Island and north of the airport had been removed through the Navy’s 

filling and grading operations (see fig. 1.74). The entire shoreline of Rockaway 

Inlet was extended out and artificially contained by steel bulkheading. Despite the 

engineering, natural systems quickly became reestablished in the landscape. Along 

the shorelines without bulkheading along Mill Basin and Jamaica Bay, natural 

beach had begun to reemerge as well as the natural forces of the tidal estuary. 

Natural flora, including grasses and possibly low woody plants, was also taking 

hold by 1945 in undeveloped areas that were not actively managed, such as large 

parts of the ammunitions-communication area and the expanded portion of the 

airfield not maintained as turf. 

Spatial Organization

The overall spatial organization of the Floyd Bennett Field landscape in 1945 

remained expansive with minimal enclosure. This expansive quality was due 

not only to the level topography, surrounding large bodies of water, and widely 

scattered clusters of buildings, but also to the complete lack of trees on the site, 

except for some young sycamores along Flatbush Avenue and in the airport 

entrance area. The long, flat runways further emphasized the open character of 

the landscape. The southern side of the airfield prior to 1941 had been partially 

enclosed by the trees on Barren Island, but these were removed as part of the 

Navy’s war-time redevelopment. The only defined spaces were found within 

the developed areas of Hangar Row, the main and west barracks areas, and the 

Figure 1.91: Aerial view of Floyd 

Bennett Field (NAS New York) 

looking northeast showing 

general character of the landscape 

shortly after the end of the war, 

photographed March 12, 1947. 

The Navy made few changes in 

the immediate post-war years. 

(Photograph 16176, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)
125 

areas along Jamaica Bay where there were many small interstitial spaces created 

by buildings and structures (see figs. 1.83, 1.87). The two enlisted men’s barracks 

complexes within the main barracks area featured central lawns or courtyards 

defined by a central main building flanked by barracks (see fig. 1.86). The large 

multi-winged Bachelor Officers’ Quarters featured a shallow entrance court 

accessed by a circular drive. The Married Officer Quarters were single-family 

houses organized around a central lawn defined by a ‘U’-shaped drive. Other 

small spaces were created by structures and small-scale features related to a 

particular use, such as a pistol range in the ammunitions-communication area, a 

fenced storage area north of the Aviation Patrol Base; a boat basin defined by piers 

at the former airport seaplane base; and recreational areas with ballfields at the 

Coast Guard air station and former airport seaplane base. 

Land Use

In 1945, Floyd Bennett Field was used strictly for military purposes in its role 

as NAS New York, expanding greatly on the military uses that were present on 

the site prior to 1941. With eleven stationed units and upwards of 4,700 officers, 

enlisted men, and civilians, Floyd Bennett Field was one of the nation’s busiest 

naval air stations. It was the headquarters for the Naval Ferry Command, center 

for testing and delivery of aircraft, base for numerous seaplane patrol squadrons, 

site of pioneering helicopter testing, center for pilot training, and a supply depot. 

Earlier commercial aviation and aviation-related retail services disappeared 

from the site upon transfer to the Navy in 1941, and the last remaining private 

residential uses ceased upon the Navy’s acquisition of Barren Island in 1942. Aside 

from the Navy, the only other user of Floyd Bennett Field in 1945 was the Coast 

Guard, although it was under the jurisdiction of the Navy throughout the war. 

Aside from the massive new development on the site, the most conspicuous result 

of the change to war-time military use was the prohibition of public access and 

the addition of perimeter barbed wire and chain-link fencing. The city’s plans for 

public recreational use of the southern part of the site on Barren Island were lost 

with Navy takeover and redevelopment during the war. 

Cluster Arrangement

In 1945, the Floyd Bennett Field landscape remained largely open and expansive 

with development restricted to limited areas defined largely by flight-path clear 

zones that extended approximately 650 feet to either side of the center line of the 

runways, as well as for considerable distances at the approaches (see fig. 1.91). 

While roads, parking aprons, and small buildings were constructed within the 

clear zones, most buildings were excluded from these areas to avoid obstructions 

to flight. Three main clusters ringed the perimeter of the airfield. Along the west 

side bordering Flatbush Avenue was Hangar Row, which the Navy expanded with 

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

126

additional buildings at its north and south ends; to the south within a trapezoidal 

area between the flight paths of runways 12-30, 1-19, and 15-33 was the main 

barracks area that was built by the Navy in 1942-43; and to the east along Jamaica 

Bay north of the flight path of runway 12-30 was the Aviation Patrol Base and 

Coast Guard Air Station that were expanded in 1942-43, and the maintenance 

area that was built in 1942-43 with a mix of frame, brick and metal buildings of 

various sizes. The west barracks, located at the southwest corner of the field along 

the runway 15-33 flight path, formed a small cluster in the landscape, consisting of 

two temporary barracks and the station’s sewage and garbage incinerator built in 

1942-43. Due to the widely scattered location and small scale of its buildings, the 

ammunitions-communication area north of the runway 6-24 flight-path did not 

form a discernable cluster in the landscape, although the group of four 150-foot 

tall radio towers were a conspicuous part of the landscape. 

Topography

The topography of the Floyd Bennett Field landscape in 1945 consisted of a 

largely uniform engineered terrace approximately sixteen feet above mean low 

tide (see fig. 1.91). This terrace replaced the dunes and marshes of Barren Island 

that were removed through filling and grading operations in 1942. While the Navy 

also filled and graded most of the topography north of the original airport, it 

left a low-lying area at the northeast corner of the airfield, probably for drainage 

purposes. This area north of the original airport was apparently not graded to the 

uniform level surface as was Barren Island. The shoreline along Mill Basin and the 

northern part of the Jamaica Bay frontage was built without a bulkhead, which 

allowed a natural sand beach to form. 

Vegetation

Vegetation (managed plant materials) in the Floyd Bennett Field landscape in 

1945 was limited primarily to the turf, trees, and shrubs planted prior to 1941 by 

the city and Coast Guard. Despite closing of the original airport entrance, the 

Navy maintained the vegetation there. It also maintained the airfield turf, although 

probably not to the same exacting level as the city had since the turf was no longer 

needed as an emergency landing area. The Navy did not establish turf in the 

expanded areas of the airfield to the north, instead leaving the ground to natural 

succession which by 1945 only included grasses and possibly low-lying woody 

plants (see fig. 1.74). In the barracks areas on Barren Island and other developed 

areas such as the maintenance area, the Navy established turf to stabilize the sandy 

soils. Aside from the trees in the original airport entrance, along Flatbush Avenue, 

and by the Coast Guard hangar, the entire landscape was devoid of trees, woods, 

or groves of any kind in 1945 (see fig. 1.91). 
127 

Circulation

In 1945, circulation within the Floyd Bennett Field landscape was dominated by 

an enlarged system of runways, taxiways, and aprons (see fig. 1.74). The Navy 

widened and lengthened three of the four preexisting runways and constructed 

a new runway north of the original airport that replaced one of the two original 

runways. While the municipal runways and aprons were concrete, the Navy 

extensions were built primarily in asphalt. The Navy also constructed a perimeter 

taxiway system, numbered 1 through 7, that connected the ends of each runway 

and provided direct access from the Jamaica Bay facilities to the runways. Taxiway 

7 connected to a new seaplane parking apron built along the Rockaway Inlet on 

Barren Island. The Navy also added a second compass rose, a dirigible landing 

area, and numerous asphalt roads throughout the site, many of which were lined 

by sidewalks within the developed areas. Although initially the Navy kept the 

diagonal airport entrance drives open with patrolled gates, at the start of the war 

this entrance was closed off by cyclone fencing and replaced with a new gated 

entrance off Flatbush Avenue to the south. This new entrance led to a main drive 

that extended north to Hangar Row, south to the west barracks area (Aviation 

Road), east through the main barracks area (Floyd Bennett Boulevard), north 

through the facilities along Jamaica Bay, and then connected to a patrol road that 

ran around the northern perimeter in the ammunitions-communication area 

to Flatbush Avenue. The entire airport north boundary road and parts of south 

boundary road were removed, although the asphalt surface of the south boundary 

road remained outside of the new taxiways and developed areas. No trace 

remained of the roads on Barren Island, although the new entrance was located 

at the approximate site of the former intersection of Main Street and Flatbush 

Avenue.

Buildings and Structures

In 1945, Floyd Bennett Field contained approximately 100 new buildings 

constructed during the Navy’s massive war-time expansion, dating primarily to 

1942-43. The Navy created a numbering system for buildings, beginning with 

#1 (Administration Building) and ending with #128, a salvage shed probably 

built near the end of the war (see Table 1.1 at the end of this section for a list of 

buildings and structures). The landscape lost a number of buildings during this 

period, primarily the remaining twenty-three houses and church that remained 

at the east end of Barren Island in 1941. The Navy retained all of the municipal 

airport buildings except for a few ancillary structures in the maintenance area 

south of Hangar Row. 

All new construction departed from the standard Art Deco and neoclassical 

airport styles found at Hangar Row, and the Moderne style used by the Coast 

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

128

Guard. Instead, the Navy employed a utilitarian style that reflected war-time 

restraints as well as typical naval architecture found in the earlier Naval Aviation 

Patrol Base buildings. The Navy’s new building program consisted of two types 

of construction: temporary and permanent. The temporary buildings at Floyd 

Bennett Field were wood frame with clapboard or sheet-metal siding. The woodframe barracks south of Hangar Row and in the Aviation Patrol Base featured 

high-pitched gable roofs, wide clapboard siding, open eaves, and six-over-six 

double-hung sash windows (see figs. 1.77, 1.83). This style dated to an initial 

phase of temporary construction that began during the national emergency 

prior to the war and was also used for the two barracks at the Aviation Patrol 

Base built in 1940. Most of the temporary buildings constructed on Barren 

Island in 1942-43, primarily barracks, mess halls, and recreation buildings, 

used a more horizontal style characterized by low-pitched gable roofs, narrow 

clapboard siding, boxed eaves, and two-over-two double-hung windows with 

horizontal muntins (see fig. 1.87, 1.88). Many of the large barracks and other 

support buildings featured multiple stories and wings. Other temporary buildings 

included an addition on the north side of the Administration Building used to 

house communications operations; the two wood-truss hangars 9 and 10 (46, 51) 

at the north end of Hangar Row; several frame sheet-metal sheathed buildings 

within the maintenance-storage area (28, 56, 52, 55); and the sheet-metal sheathed 

transmitter building (118) within the ammunitions-communication area, among 

many others. 

Permanent construction added by the Navy during this period included steelframe Hangar B (100) in the Aviation Patrol Base, a duplicate of Hangar A (23) 

built in 1940; brick Power Plant A (86) and a brick laundry (85) in the main 

barracks area; brick Power Plant B (96) and the concrete General Storehouse (98) 

in the maintenance area (see fig. 1.83); and concrete high-explosive ammunition 

magazines (110-115) north of the airfield. 

In addition to buildings, the Floyd Bennett Field landscape in 1945 contained 

numerous structures added by the Navy over the previous four years for military 

and support functions. A smaller communications tower was located next to the 

frame wing on the Administration Building, and along the northern horizon of 

the airfield was a cluster of four, 150-foot tall steel radio towers added for shipto-shore communication (see fig. 1.80). To the east of the towers were a number 

of small structures including a backstop and shooting houses that were part of 

a pistol range. Along Rockaway Inlet were seaplane ramp ‘A’ associated with the 

adjoining seaplane parking area, and a 1,700-foot long concrete marginal wharf, 

plus sheet-metal bulkheads (see fig. 1.89). Along the Jamaica Bay shoreline were 

timber and sheet-metal bulkheads, and numerous piers and seaplane ramps. 

These included seaplane ramp ‘B’ in the Aviation Patrol Base, the timber seaplane 
129 

ramp built with Hangar A, the timber Coast Guard seaplane ramp, and the timber 

city seaplane ramp, which was probably not used by the Navy. Wood piers were 

located at the Aviation Patrol Base, Coast Guard Air Station, and at the Navy boat 

basin in the former airport seaplane base, where the earlier city seaplane pier also 

remained. Lastly, the Navy added AVGAS (aviation gas) storage tanks south of 

the Coast Guard Air Station and along the marginal wharf (see fig. 1.88); and an 

incinerator and sewage treatment plant (58, 59, 60) at the south end of the west 

barracks area. 

Views and Vistas

Because of the necessity for continued aviation use, expansive, panoramic views 

remained a key characteristic of the Floyd Bennett Field landscape in 1945 (see 

figs. 1.79, 1.80). Views included sight lines along the runways and panoramic views 

across the airfield that allowed planes on taxiways and runways to see each other, 

and also permitted personnel in the control tower of the Administration Building 

to see the entire airfield. Removal of trees on Barren Island opened up groundlevel views to the south, except where limited by buildings in the main barracks 

area. New construction along Jamaica Bay, notably Hangar B and the multiple 

buildings in the maintenance area, formed the horizon for views looking east 

across the airfield, as Hangar Row did for views looking west. 

Small-Scale Features

In 1945, the Floyd Bennett Field landscape contained a variety of small-scale 

features most of which were probably added by the Navy as part of the massive 

war-time expansion. These probably included numerous signs, fences, and light 

standards, as well as landing lights along the runway that replaced the earlier 

airport system.55 The Navy fenced the Flatbush Avenue and Shore Parkway 

boundary with an approximate six-foot high chain-link fence topped by barbed 

wire (see fig. 1.75). There were other fences within the site, such as one around the 

storage yard north of the Aviation Patrol Base. Aside from the city’s runway light 

system that had to be removed due to the expansion of the runways, the Navy 

maintained many of the preexisting small-scale features, including the flagpole 

and rustic and cast-iron light standards at the airport entrance. The Navy kept the 

airport sign, with its signboard that read “Floyd Bennett Airport,” throughout the 

war years.56 The most numerous small-scale features (although not so very small) 

were the hundreds of planes and vehicles stationed at the naval air station, which 

were a conspicuous part of the war-time landscape. 

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

130

TABLE 1.1 

FLOYD BENNETT FIELD WORLD WAR II-PERIOD BUILDING/STRUCTURE KEY (1945) 

Source: “Map of U.S. Naval Air Station New York, N.Y. Showing Conditions on June 30, 1947.” Italics indicate pre-1942 

buildings/structures; all others built 1942-1945. Table assumes buildings existing in 1947 were built 1941-45. 

NAS NEW YORK 

1 Administration Building 57 Transformer Vault 

2 Crash Truck Garage/Office (former Field House) 58 Garage—Aviation Free Gunnery 

3-22 Hangar Row Hangars 1-8 (with lean-to, infill bldgs.) 59 Incinerator 

23 Seaplane Hangar A (Aviation Patrol Base) 60 Sewage Treatment Plant 

24 Squadron Barracks No. 14 61-64 Barracks Nos. 1 to 4 

25 Coast Guard Hangar 65 Barracks No. 6 

26 Dope Shop & Sheet Metal Shop 66 Unknown 

27 WAVES, Barracks No. 12 67 Mess Hall 

28 TARA Hall – CPO Recreation Building 68 Bachelor Officers’ Quarters 

29 Fire Pump House & Water Tank 69 CPO Barracks No. 5 

30 Sewage Ejector Pump House 70 West Recreation Building 

31 Demolished pre-1941 71 Marines’ Garage 

32, 33 Gasoline Pump Houses (location of 32 unknown) 72 Marines Barracks No. 15 

34 Storage Building 73 Officers’ Mess Building 

35 Boat House 74 Enlisted Mens’ Recreation Building 

36 Salvage Building 75 Sewage Pumping Station ‘A’ 

37 Equipment Shed 76 Barracks No. 10 

38 Squadron Bachelor Officers’ Quarters 77 Barracks No. 8 

39,40 Sperry floodlight towers (?) 78 Barracks No. 9 

41 Ammunitions Storage 79 Barracks No. 7 

42-45 Ammunitions Lockers 80 Barracks No. 13 

46 Hangar 9 (Naval Air Ferry Command) 81 Barracks No. 11 

47 Paint Store House 82 Heater House 

48 Sick Bay 83-84 Gasoline Storage Tanks Pump Stations 

49 Boat Repair Shop 85 Laundry 

50 Fire House 86 Power Plant ‘A’ 

51 Hangar 10 87 Dispensary 

52 WAVES Laundry 88 South Service Sub Station 

53 Celestial Navigation Training Building 89 Sewage Pumping Station ‘B’ 

54 Synthetic Training Building 90 Fire Station & Garage 

55 Gate House (New Navy entrance) 91 Station Maintenance 

56 Public Works Office & Police Station 92 Paint & Oil Storehouse 
131 

93 Bombsight Storage A Married Officer Quarters 

94 Torpedo Storage B Married Officer Quarters 

95 Ordinance Overhaul Shop 

96 Power Plant ‘B’ Structures Below Not Numbered 

97 Cold Storage & Commissary Municipal Seaplane Pier 

98 General Storehouse Municipal Seaplane Ramp 

99 Pumping Station—Fire Protection Seaplane Ramp A

100 Seaplane Hangar ‘B’ Seaplane Ramp B 

101 Fuel Oil Storage Substation No. 2 Contractors’ Pier 

102 Water Storage Pump House Boat Basin Pier 

103 Lighter-Than-Air Facilities Marginal Wharf 

104 Storage Building (Misc.) Water Storage Tanks (2) 

105 Shotgun Range House Fuel Oil Storage Tanks (2) 

106 Inert Storage AVGAS Storage Tanks (7) 

107 Smoke Drum Storage Motor Gas Storage Tank 

108 S. A. Pyrotechnics Pumping Station Water Tank 

109 Practice Bomb Storage Transformer Vault 

110, 111 Fuse & Detonator Magazines High Frequency Radio Antennae (4) 

112-115 High Explosive Magazines (4) Tetrahedron 

116 Warhead Rocking Platform 

117 North Service Sub-Station Airport Entrance Bus Shelter 

118 Radio Transmitter Building BOQ Tennis Courts 

119 Direction Finder Station Coast Guard Hangar 

120 Transformer Vault Coast Guard Garage 

121 Demolished (unknown, pre-1947) Coast Guard Radio Towers (3) 

122 P. W. Storehouse ‘A’ & Hospital Corpsmen Barracks Coast Guard Seaplane Ramp

123 P. W. Storehouse ‘B’ Coast Guard Barracks 

124 Gasoline Distribution & Operation Office Coast Guard Transformer Vault 

125 Furniture Maintenance Building 

126 Paint Storage Building 

127 Electrical Gear Shed 

128 Salvage Shed 

Q1-Q5 Quonset Huts 

Acronyms

CPO = Chief Petty Officer P.W. = Public Works S.A. = (?) BOQ = Bachelor Officers’ Quarters 

WAVES = Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service 

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

132

endnotes 

1 Letter, Headquarters of the Commandant C.H. Woodward to the Chief of Naval Operations, 27 November 1939, 

Records of the U.S. Navy, Confidential Correspondence Records 1922-1944, Box 1162, RG 72, National Archives II, College 

Park, Maryland (hereafter, “NARA II”).

2 “Floyd Bennett Field,” editorial, New York Times, 9 August 1940.

3 Security Survey, 14 March 1941, RG 72, Confidential Correspondence Records, Box 1162, NARA II.

4 Security Survey, 14 March 1941.

5 “Changes in Navy Field,” New York Times, 25 May 1941, Travel/Recreation, 6.

6 Miscellaneous Bill, S.5128, United States Senate, Committee on Naval Affairs, 20 May 1941, RG 71, Bureau of Yards and 

Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, Box 835, NARA II.

7 Porter R. Blakemore and Dana C. Linck, “Historic Structures Report, Historical Data Section, Floyd Bennett Field, 

Gateway National Recreation Area, Volume 1” (National Park Service, Denver Service Center: Unpublished report, May 

1981), 54, 59.

8 Memorandum, Navy Department Personnel H. B. Jones to Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, 25 November 1941, 

RG 71, Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, Box 835, NARA II.

9 Lockwood, Kessler & Bartlett, Inc., “Map Showing Land to Be Acquired for Naval Air Station (Floyd Bennett Field), 

Brooklyn, N.Y.” surveyed 29 December 1941, RG 71, Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, 

NARA II. 

10 It is assumed this figure included the undeveloped land north of the airport and the Brooklyn Marine Park land on 

Barren Island.

11 Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, 26 November, 1941, quoted in letter, Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia to Assistant Secretary 

of the Navy Admiral Artemus L. Gates, 19 Marsh 1942, RG 71, Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy Property Case Files 

Records, Box 825, NARA II.

12 Memorandum, Navy Department Personnel L.A. Morrison to Chief of Bureau of Yards and Docks, 10 November 1941 

RG 71, Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, Box 835, NARA II.

13 Blakemore and Linck, 63.

14 Letter, Judge Advocate General of the Navy W.B. Woodson to Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, 29 January 1942, RG 71, 

Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, Box 824, NARA II.

15 Judgment on the Declaration of Taking, No. M-639, United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, 9 

February 1942, RG 71, Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, Box 824, NARA II.

16 Letter, Judge Advocate General of the Navy W.B. Woodson to Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, 29 January 1942, RG 71, 

Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, Box 824, NARA II.

17 United States Navy, Building the Navy’s Bases in World War II: History of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil 

Engineer Corps, 1940-1946 (Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1947), 227, online transcription by Hyper War 

Foundation at http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Building_Bases/bases-10.html (accessed 21 June 2008).

18 M. L. Shettle, Jr. United States Naval Air Stations of World War II, Volume 1: Eastern (Bowersville, Georgia: Schaertel 

Publishing Company, 1995), 7.

19 Shettle, 187.

20 Building the Navy’s Bases in World War II, 234-235.

21 Shettle, 163.
133 

22 Quoted in NAS Beam, spring 1944, 16, transcribed on The Floyd Bennett Field Taskforce website, http://kerrdrill.

tripod.com/id13.html.

23 NAS Beam, spring 1944, 16-17.

24 History of NAS New York recounted in “Phasing Out is Started At Floyd Bennett,” New York Times, 5 April 1970, 14.

25 NAS Beam, spring 1944, 16-17; Building the Navy’s Bases in World War II, 234.

26 NAS Beam, spring 1944, 16.

27 Ingrid Wuebber and Edward M. Morin. “Modified Phase IA Cultural Resources Inventory, Floyd Bennett Field, 

Jamaica Bay Unit, Gateway National Recreation Area, Brooklyn, New York” (National Park Service, Denver Service Center: 

Unpublished report, April 2005), 25; “Bennett Field for the Navy,” New York Times, 28 April 1941, 14.

28 The Floyd Bennett Field Task Force, “NAS New York 1941-1972,” undated article, http://kerrdrill.tripod.com/id13.

html; “Helicopters Seen as Aid to Combat,” New York Times, 31 July 1945. 

29 “Changes in Navy Field,” New York Times, 25 May 1941.

30 Building the Navy’s Bases in World War II, 63.

31 Building the Navy’s Bases in World War II, 234-235.

32 Shettle, 7-8.

33 R. Christopher Goodwin and Associates, Inc., “Historic Context for Department of Defense Facilities World War II 

Permanent Construction” (Unpublished report prepared for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, May 1970), 12.

34 Building the Navy’s Bases in World War II, 13-14.

35 U.S. Navy, “Map of U.S. Naval Air Station New York, N.Y. Showing Conditions on June 30, 1947,” Golden Gate 

National Archives, Fort Wadsworth (hereafter, “GATE archives”). 

36 “Map of U.S. Naval Air Station New York, N.Y. Showing Conditions on June 30, 1947.”

37 Aerial photograph of NAS New York, December 26, 1941 showing unwidened Flatbush Avenue, Photograph 80-G354809, NARA II; Aerial photograph of NAS New York, 1 November 1943, showing widened Flatbush Avenue, Photograph 

85510, GATE archives. 

38 Photograph of perimeter fence along entrance area, c.1943, The Floyd Bennett Field Task Force, “NAS New York 1941-

1972.” 

39 Photographs 237615, 237611, Still Pictures Division, NARA II.

40 Judith A Quinn, “Historic Structures Report, The Administration Building (The Ryan Center), Gateway National 

Recreation Area, Floyd Bennett Field” (Unpublished report prepared for the National Park Service Northeast Cultural 

Resources Center, 2004), 86.

41 Quinn, 86-87.

42 “Map of U.S. Naval Air Station New York, N.Y. Showing Conditions on June 30, 1947.” It is assumed conditions in 1947 

approximate those in 1945 at the end of the war, minus demolitions noted on the plan. 

43 “Map of U.S. Naval Air Station, New York, N.Y., 30 June 1947.” 

44 Cover, “Naval Air Ferry Command” handbook, reproduced on Historic Floyd Bennett Field Taskforce, NAS New York 

1941-72; Aerial photograph, 1 November 1943, photograph 85510, GATE archives.

45 “Map of U.S. Naval Air Station New York, N.Y. Showing Conditions on June 30, 1947.”

Site History, 1941-1945
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

134

46 “Map of U.S. Naval Air Station New York, N.Y. Showing Conditions on June 30, 1947;” The Navy Historical Center,

“The Invasion of Normandy, D-Day June 6, 1944,” undated article, http://www.history.navy.mil/ac/d-day/exdday/exdday6.

htm. 

47 No documentation was found on the Navy’s new runway lighting system.

48 “Map of U.S. Naval Air Station New York, N.Y. Showing Conditions on June 30, 1947.”

49 “Map of U.S. Naval Air Station New York, N.Y. Showing Conditions on June 30, 1947.” This smaller ramp was 

documented as “collapsed” on this plan; it is not known if this condition occurred since 1945.

50 “Map of U.S. Naval Air Station New York, N.Y. Showing Conditions on June 30, 1947;” Barbara Judy, “USCG Air 

Station Brooklyn Property Map 1936-1988”( Draft map prepared for Gateway National Recreation Area, 23 May 2008). 

51 “Map of U.S. Naval Air Station New York, N.Y. Showing Conditions on June 30, 1947;” Blakemore and Linck, “Historic 

Structures Report,” 155; field inspection, 2005. No historic ground photographs or other documentation were found for 

this area. 

52 Arnold Pickman et al., “Phase 1A Documentary Study for the Jamaica Bay Islands Ecosystem Restoration Project...

Final Report” (Unpublished report prepared by Panamerican Consultants for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, June 

2004), pages 3-58 to 3-61.

53 “Map of U.S. Naval Air Station New York, N.Y. Showing Conditions on June 30, 1947.”

54 “NAS New York 1941-72,” The Floyd Bennett Field Taskforce website.

55 Little information was found on small-scale features added during this period, due in large part to the lack of available 

ground-level photographs. The aerials do not show sufficient detail to document small-scale features. No specific 

documentation was found on the Navy’s replacement runway light system.

56 Photograph of the Administration Building in c.1945 (with new control tower and communications wing) showing 

airport sign, fig. 148, Quinn.
Sidwalks (typ.)

Coast Guard

taxiway

extension

(c.1942)

x

0’ 200’ 400’

x x x x x x x x x

x x x

x

x

B A R R E N I S L A N D

R O C K A W A Y I N

L

E

T

R I C H E S M E A D O W S

M I L L 

MILL B A S I N

ISLAND

J A M A I C A B A Y 

S h o r e P a r k w a y

Sperry

floodlight

tower

Taxiway 1 (former runway 6-24)

Runway 1-19 (extended to 5,000’, 1942)

Runway 12-30 (extended to 5,000’, 1942) 

Runway 15-33 (extended to 4,500’, 1942)

H-7

H-8

H-5

H-6

H-3

H-4

H-1

H-2

Former airport 

boat/ferry

terminal

INSET

Asphalt-paver

parking lot

Asphalt-paver

apron

Asphalt parking lot

Asphalt 

parking lot

Sprinkler pump house, tank 

Concrete 

sidewalks (typ.) Administration

Building

Field 

house

Sycamores

Flatbush Avenue (Marine Parkway)

Cast-iron light standards

Rustic wood light standards

Taxiway

Hedges, shrubs

(typ.) 

Taxiway 4 (c.1942)

Taxiway 7 (c.1942)

Seaplane

Base (1942)

Main Barracks Area

(1942)

Marginal wharf (1942)

88

60

76

78

70

77

79

69 61 63

67

72

71

74

62

64 65

75

124

123 122

87

86 85

68

Tennis

courts

73

A

B

Seaplane

Ramp A

(1942)

Hangar 

B

Seaplane Patrol

Base Apron 

(extended 1942)

Taxiway 5 (c.1942)

Maintenance 

Area

Hangar

A

New

compass 

rose (1944)

Lighter-than-air

facility (c.1943)

94

96

97 98

99 92 93

104 95

Site of temporary

security gate 

(1941, r. 1942)

Navy

wing

U. S. N A V A L A I R S T A T I O N -- F L O Y D B E N N E T T F I E L D 

B R O O K L Y N

M A R I N E 

P A R K 

Runway 6-24 (5,000’, 1942)

58 59

80

82

81

AmmunitionsCommunication 

Area (c.1942-43)

Pistol

range

(c.1942)

150’ radio

towers

(c.1942)

Married

Officer Quarters

91 90

89

Q4

41

34

38

24

33

35

49

Water

storage

tanks

Fuel oil

storage 

tanks 

Patrol road (c.1942)

Storage yard 

 (c.1942)

Rocking

platform

(c.1942)

Apron

extension

(c.1942)

Open coal 

storage

H-9

120

Flagstaff

Asphalt-paver

apron

Sick bay

Paint

storehouse

New entrance

56

55

54

58

52 53 27

50

28

57

26

30

Sheet & trip

shooting houses

105

106

108

107 109

118

110

111

112

113

114

116

115

119

117

U. S. Navy

City of New York

U. S. Navy

City of New York

Sheetpile bulkhead

(1942)

Mess

Hall

Bachelor Officers’ Quarters

Barracks

Barracks

Dispensary

Barracks

Recreation

building 

(c.1944)

Recreation

Building

Barracks

Power

Plant

A

WAVES Barracks

(1941)

125

Taxiway 6 (c.1942) 

Taxiway 3 (c.1942)

Seaplane runway 18-36

Admin.

Building

127

128

1

48

2

47

29

Inactive tunnel hatches,

rotating platforms

Taxiway 2 (former runway 6-24) 

Hangars

Hangars

7

9 11

13

15

17 19

21

46

51

100

23

101

DEEP CREEK BASIN

Glass control 

tower cab

(1943)

West Barracks 

Area (1942)

Q3

Q1, Q2

Q5

Security fence 

(c.1942)

Perimeter security

fence (1942)

Perimeter security

fence (1941-42)

Site of Barren Island 

Main Street

Property line continues

along Flatbush Avenue

Flatbush Avenue (Marine Parkway)

Widened to dual carriageway (c.1943)

Road widened

(c.1943)

25

Gate house 

83

84

Laundry

102

Fire station

103

Police station 

(c.1942)

Fire house

Closed

Airport sign

Closed entrance 

1

H-10

(c.1944)

Communications tower (1943)

Synthetic Training Building

Officers’ Parking apron Mess Hall

37

44

43

Radio transmitter building

Direction finder

station

High explosive

magazines

Warhead

126

126

Bus shelter

Water 

tank

Tetrahedron

(c.1942)

41

U. S. COAST GUARD

AIR STATION

Sperry

floodlight

tower

Coast Guard

seaplane ramp

Garage

Airport seaplane

pier and ramp

Abandoned airport 

seaplane ramp 

Bridge Authority

garage

Pier

Airport compass

rose

Marine

Parkway

Bridge

Toll booths 

 Hangar

Abandoned

seaplane ramp

Timber bulkhead (extended c.1942)

Recreation Area

(c .1942)

Sheet pile

bulkhead

SEE INSET

Pier

(c.1943) Coast Guard

Barracks (c.1943)

Barracks

(c.1942)

Sewage 

treatment 

plant

Seaplane Ramp B

(c.1942)

Test backstop

(c.1942)

Boat

basin

(c.1942)

AVGAS

Aviation Patrol Base storage tanks

Contractors’

pier (c.1942) 

AVGAS

storage tanks

Ball fields

Picnic area

(c.1942)

Rec.

area

Power Plant B

Boat 

house

(c.1942)

General

Storehouse

(Temporary Navy jurisdiction)

Incinerator

Parking lot

Xfmr.

Drawing 1.3

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter and Sarah K. Cody

Illustrator CS3, 2008

Cultural Landscape Report

for Floyd Bennett Field

Gateway National Recreation Area

Brooklyn, New York

LEGEND

Property, jurisdictional boundary

Flight-path clearance line

Building/structure, inventory number

Paved, unpaved vehicular circulation

Sidewalk

Fence, light

Woods, specimen tree

Managed turf/lawn

Upland/fill, low scrub

Marsh

Open water

Site of feature removed since 1941

Date feature constructed during period,

if known

0’ 400’ 800’ 1200’ 1600’

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

SOURCES

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with: 

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental 

Science and Forestry

NOTES

1. All features shown in approximate scale and location.

2. Features added prior to 1941 not dated.

3. Vegetation unknown except where indicated.

4. Plan shows conditions at end of period in 1945.

5. All buildings above 26 built in 1942-43 except where

noted. See Table 1 for building key.

(1942)

x x x

World War II Period

1941-1945

1. Aerial photograph, 1935

2. U.S.G.S., Coney Island quadrangle, 1939 

3. U.S. Navy, map of Floyd Bennett Field,

 June 30, 1940

4. Map of NAS New York, June 30,

 1947

88

137 

Site History, 1945-1972

Floyd Bennett Field in The Cold War: 

NAS New York, 1945–1972

While Floyd Bennett Field played a vital function in the World War II home 

front, its military role in the decades that followed declined overall with a few 

exceptions. In the immediate post-war years, military activity at NAS New York 

dropped significantly as the Navy reduced its war-time arsenal at bases across the 

country. The Navy was faced with much more infrastructure than it needed, and 

so began to remove some of the temporary buildings and to lease out portions of 

the field to other public agencies as the city had done prior to the war. Beginning 

in 1950 with the Korean War, the Navy invested in a program of improvements 

that resulted in some changes to the landscape. Change continued through the 

1960s with additional demolitions and some new construction, but the overall 

character of the landscape as developed through World War II remained largely 

changed. By the closing years of the Vietnam War in the early 1970s, the Navy had 

little use for NAS New York and in 1971 it was decommissioned as part of a plan 

for its transformation into a public recreation area. The Navy retained ownership 

of Floyd Bennett Field until late 1972 while plans were finalized for its postmilitary future.

Floyd Bennett Field in the post-war years, 1945-1950 

From the start of the Cold War that began soon after the surrender of Nazi 

Germany in May 1945, the Navy played a key role in the U.S. military operations 

against Soviet advances beginning with President Harry Truman’s dispatch of the 

battleship Missouri to the eastern Mediterranean in 1946. Despite the looming 

threat overseas, the Navy began the enormous task of demobilizing its World War 

II home front operations. Many naval aviation installations across the country 

were decommissioned, while others were retained but downsized.1

The Navy retained NAS New York as a commissioned base, but ceased many of 

its war-time operations there, leading to significant reduction in both military 

and civilian staff at the field. Most of these reductions were tied to greatly 

decreased aircraft production that led to transfer of the ferry-delivery command 

in 1946 to NAS Norfolk, Virginia, and the subsequent termination of the aircraft 

commissioning unit.2

 The war-time seaplane patrol functions, housed at the 

Aviation Patrol Base on Jamaica Bay, were also greatly curtailed. Although the field 

lost its key war-time operations, the Navy retained and expanded its function as 

a training facility. In July 1946, the Navy redesignated NAS New York as a Naval 

Air Reserve Training Station, although it still was often referred to by its previous 

designation. Floyd Bennett Field would serve as one of the Navy’s important 

training facilities for both the Navy and Marine Reserves over the course of 
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

138

the next twenty-six years, although it would officially retain its designation as a 

training station only until 1950.3 

The Navy made few changes to Floyd Bennett Field in the first two years following 

the war. An aerial photograph taken in March 1947 showed a landscape little 

changed since the end of the war almost two years earlier (see fig. 1. 91). By the 

summer of 1948, however, the Navy had removed eight of the temporary frame 

buildings in the west barracks area probably due to the substantially reduced 

personnel stationed there, leaving the concrete foundation pads. These included 

the four barracks (76-79) that flanked the west recreation building (70), and four 

of the five barracks (61-65) flanking the main mess hall (67).4

 (fig. 1.92) 

Aside from removal of the barracks, the Navy made a number of improvements to 

the navigational infrastructure of the field during the post-war years, probably to 

improve the site’s use as a training facility. In 1946, the Navy spent approximately 

$200,000 on the installation of a new instrument approach system, a new radio 

compass location station, and new ground control approach equipment. These 

new systems apparently made the original Sperry floodlight system obsolete, and 

the Navy demolished the two brick towers located within the airfield by March 

1947.5

 The Navy also redeveloped the recreation area within the former airport 

seaplane base along Jamaica 

Bay, replacing two ballfields 

constructed during the 

war with a running track in 

c.1947. 6

With the war-time 

demobilization, the Navy 

recognized that it had far 

more infrastructure than 

it needed at Floyd Bennett 

Field. At the same time, 

many other public agencies 

were searching for adequate 

facilities. Soon after the war, 

the Navy entered into an 

agreement with the State of 

New York Housing Authority 

to provide housing at Floyd 

Bennett Field for returning 

veterans. The Navy identified 

the west barracks area at the 

Figure 1.92: Aerial photograph 

of Floyd Bennett Field taken 

on August 16, 1948 illustrating 

addition of state veterans’ housing 

in the west barracks area. The 

new veterans’ housing may have 

been barracks relocated from the 

main barracks area. (Photograph 

80-G-396160, Still Pictures Division, 

National Archives II, annotated by 

SUNY ESF. The white frame is part 

of the original photograph.)
139 

southwest corner of the field as the site for this new housing, probably due to its 

isolated location apart from the main areas of the field, and lack of preexisting 

facilities except for the sewage treatment plant and two barracks. In early 

1947, the Navy agreed to allow the state to relocate eight buildings to the west 

barracks area.7

 By August 1948, the eight buildings were in place, including four 

surrounding the two preexisting barracks and four clustered at the south end of 

the area along Rockaway Inlet, southeast of the sewage treatment plant (see fig. 

1.92) These eight long, gabled rectangular buildings were similar in size and style 

to the preexisting barracks, and may in fact have been the eight barracks that the 

Navy removed from the main barracks area around the same time. The south 

group of buildings extended well into the flight-path clear zone for runway 15-33, 

which ran parallel to Hangar Row, probably because that runway was not actively 

used for takeoffs and landings. 

From early on following World War II, the Navy began to vacate most of the 

facilities in Hangar Row, concentrating its activities in the main barracks area and 

the Aviation Patrol Base along Jamaica Bay. The Navy relocated its headquarters 

the Chief Petty Officers’ barracks (69) within the main barracks area, and added 

a flagstaff to mark the entrance. The Navy began to lease out Hangar Row in 

September 1946, when it issued a lease to the New York City Police Aviation 

Bureau, which had vacated Floyd Bennett Field with the takeover by the 

Navy in June 1941. The lease was for the use of hangar 3, located south of the 

Administration Building. At the same time, the Navy entered into discussions with 

the Port Authority of New York, which sought commercial use of Hangar Row 

and the airfield to relieve congestion at the city’s two municipal airports, North 

Beach (LaGuardia) and Idlewild (JFK), the latter recently built on the east side of 

Jamaica Bay but not quite finished. 8 Although the Navy was interested in making 

use of the mostly empty Hangar Row facilities, it reached an impasse with the 

city over the costs for relocating Navy operations that would be impacted by the 

reintroduction of commercial aviation.9

The talks between the Navy and the Port Authority came to an end when, in 

September 1947, the Navy issued an order giving use of Hangar Row to the New 

York Air National Guard and Army Air Reserve.10 These two aviation groups 

soon began operation at the field, and by May 1949, the Navy had agreed to a 

formal outgrant to New York Air National Guard, which had been reorganized as 

a department of the newly established U.S. Air Force. The outgrant allowed the 

Air Force use of all facilities in Hangar Row with the exception of six buildings: 

the Dope Shop, the Celestial Navigation Building, the entrance gate house/sentry 

booth, and a storage structure all located at the south end of Hangar Row; hangar 

3, still under lease to the city police; and the Administration Building, where the 

Navy probably maintained some offices and use of the control tower. The permit 

Site History, 1945-1972
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

140

became effective on July 1, 1949 and required the Air Force to be subject to all 

rules and regulations set forth by the Navy.11

In addition to these leased areas, the Navy also returned control of the ten-acre 

Air Station Brooklyn facility to Coast Guard soon after the end of the war. Under 

Treasury Department jurisdiction, the Coast Guard continued to operate the 

facility for squadrons of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, and for training. In 

1946, the Coast Guard, eager to expand its operations, requested annexation of 

adjoining Navy property to the south on the former airport seaplane base in order 

to expand its apron and recreation facilities. The Navy did not initially grant the 

Coast Guard its request, citing the need to retain control over the flight path for 

runway 12-30. The Navy also maintained 

critical aviation gas storage tanks in 

this area. By c.1948, the Navy granted 

the Coast Guard a lease for a 1.98-acre 

area instead of a sale.12 Here, the Coast 

Guard would expand its apron by c.1950 

(fig. 1.93) The Coast Guard subsequently 

sought permission to expand westward 

into the Navy’s maintenance area, but 

the Navy denied this request. Navy 

officials stated that although they wanted 

to help meet the needs of Coast Guard, 

they did not want to jeopardize the 

integrity of the airfield.13 

Korean War and beginning of the jet age, 1950-1959

The relatively sleepy post-war years at Floyd Bennett Field ended in June 1950 

with the Communist invasion of South Korea, which brought about an escalation 

of Cold War hostilities that would continue over the next three decades. The 

Navy played a major role in the Korean War with over 1,177,000 Navy personnel 

serving in Korea and many more providing support on the home front. Korea was, 

however, only a part of the Navy’s operations and it continued to support patrols 

elsewhere in the world as well as to maintain its extensive training operations at 

home.14 The outbreak of the Korean War heightened military activity at Floyd 

Bennett Field, although it remained far below World War II levels. The war 

resulted in the New York Air National Guard being recalled to active duty. In 

March 1951, they left Floyd Bennett Field for reassignment to March Air Force 

Base in California.15 The Navy probably reassumed use of the Hangar Row 

facilities during the war, although it continued the lease of hangar 3 to the city 

Police Aviation Bureau. 

Figure 1.93: View looking south 

from the Coast Guard hangar 

showing expanded apron and 

taxiway, photographed c.1955. 

In the background is the airport 

seaplane pier; note that the 

small Navy buildings that once 

lined the bulkhead had been 

removed by this time. (U.S. Coast 

Guard, “Air Station Brooklyn, 

Historical Remarks,” http://

www.uscg.mil/history/stations/ 

airstabrooklyn1955 _1_300.jpg.)
141 

Floyd Bennett Field’s role in the Korean War and the 

subsequent years of the Cold War was primarily to 

provide a ready fleet in case of a national emergency. 

A key part of this mission was to maintain welltrained and ready reserve forces. In c.1950, the field 

was once again redesignated Naval Air Station, New 

York, but remained part of the Naval Air Reserve 

System. Three naval air reserve squadrons, thirtyfour aircraft squadrons, and two Marine air reserve 

squadrons were recalled to active duty upon the start 

of the war in 1950 (fig. 1.94). The heightened military 

use of the field persisted after the end of the Korean War in 1953, but primarily 

for training purposes. In 1959, for example, there were fifty-six officers and 646 

enlisted men stationed at Floyd Bennett Field, with over 3,000 reservists arriving 

on weekends to maintain readiness for active duty.16

The landscape during this time changed not only through heightened military 

use, but also through the introduction of new technology, namely the jet airplane. 

While jets were developed during World War II, it was only during the Korean 

War that the Navy adopted the aircraft into its first-line inventory. Jets were of 

course much faster than propeller planes, but also typically lighter. However, due 

to their speed and strong backdraft, jets required longer landing strips and wider 

flight paths. They also required a different, kerosene-based fuel as opposed to 

high-octane gasoline or aviation gas (AVGAS) that was used for propeller planes.17 

With the start of the Korean War, the Navy undertook a program of improvements 

at NAS New York that included lengthening of runways, modifications to 

roads and aprons, addition of jet-fuel storage tanks, and construction of new 

communications facilities and barracks. These improvements, amounting to more 

than $3,490,000, were necessary to adapt the field to jet aircraft and to replace 

temporary World War II construction.18 Work began following award of the first 

contract in July 1951 and was completed within two years. Within the airfield, the 

improvement program lengthened runway 1-19, one of the WPA-built runways, 

from 5,000 to 7,000 feet. This lengthening extended beyond runway 6-24 toward 

Mill Basin at the northeast corner of the airfield, and beyond runway 15-33 at 

the southwest toward Flatbush Avenue. 19 (fig. 1.95). The runway was extended 

in concrete, and the southwest approach was surfaced in a type of soil cement, 

probably meant to prevent erosion from heavy jet engine back draft, rather than 

for landing or takeoff. Similar soil cement may have also been added along the 

edges of the northeast extension of the runway.20

Figure 1.94: View looking 

northwest across the Hangar 

Row apron at a squadron of Navy 

personnel in formation during the 

Korean War, October 9, 1950. The 

purpose of the large panel above 

the hangar 3 lean-to is not known. 

(Photograph 22747, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)

Site History, 1945-1972
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

142

The soil cement surface at the southwest approach to runway 15-33 crossed the 

main entrance drive to the air station that had been built during World War II. 

This conflict apparently led the Navy in c.1951 to build a new entrance farther 

south that would avoid the runway and provide a more direct route to the main 

barracks area and Jamaica Bay where the Navy had concentrated its primary 

facilities (see fig. 1.95). The new entrance extended on alignment with the main 

drive (Floyd Bennett Boulevard) from Flatbush Avenue to a chain-link and 

barbed-wire gate at Aviation Road where there was a large sign that read “U.S. 

Naval Air Station New York – Naval and Marine Air Reserve – Squadrons and 

Units Attached” (fig. 1.96). This new entrance road featured a dual carriageway 

with a planted median, a sentry booth (207), and a gate house (135). The Navy 

also built a parking lot to the rear of the gate house, south of the entrance drive. 

Soon after the entrance was built, the Navy put a jet aircraft on permanent display 

(inventoried as building 264) to the south of the drive, serving as a prominent 

symbol of NAS for traffic along Flatbush Avenue.21

Figure 1.95: Aerial photograph of Floyd Bennett Field taken in March 1954 showing changes made as part of the 

improvement program undertaken during the Korean War between 1951 and 1953. The boundary of the original 

municipal airport was still clearly evident in the surface of the airfield. (Photograph 635754, Still Pictures Division, 

National Archives II, annotated by SUNY ESF.)
143 

Within the main barracks area, the 

primary improvement that the Navy 

made during the Korean War was 

the construction of a new barracks 

complex that was apparently needed 

to replace the temporary barracks that 

had been removed in the late 1940s 

and possibly relocated to the west 

barracks area for use as state veterans’ 

housing. The complex, built north 

of the dispensary (87), consisted of 

four buildings (129-132) built by the 

Albert A. Lutz Co. of New York City 

probably to a standard Navy design 

for permanent construction (fig. 

1.97).22 The complex included two 

barracks, a mess hall, and a small 

heating plant building, all connected 

by breezeways. The barracks were 

long, two-story buildings with 

hipped roofs, similar in massing to 

the earlier World War II barracks but 

built of steel and masonry with brick 

sheathing. The mess hall was also 

built of steel and brick but had a flat 

roof. Other buildings and structures 

added within the main barracks area 

during the Korean War era included 

a public works garage (258) south of 

the west recreation building on the site of barracks no. 9, and jet-fuel storage tanks 

(190, 191) and pump house (220) along the marginal wharf.23

Along Jamaica Bay, the two massive hangars of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base and 

the Coast Guard hangar continued to dominate the landscape (fig. 1.98). During 

the Korean War era, the Navy made several mostly minor changes to adapt the 

facility to use by jet aircraft. New or enlarged lean-tos were added to Hangars A 

and B, and the apron was nearly doubled in size by an extension to the north (see 

fig. 1.93). This enlargement included the addition of a “jet engine run-up stand” 

at the north end of the apron. The extension required the removal of a storage/

scrap yard, which was rebuilt in the undeveloped area farther north, along with 

two “ready ammunitions magazines” (168, 169) aligned with taxiway 6. 24 Either 

during or shortly after the Korean War, the Navy removed the small buildings 

Figure 1.96 (top): View northeast 

from Flatbush Avenue along 

the new entrance to NAS New 

York constructed in c.1951 with 

the aircraft display (264) in the 

foreground, photographed c.1955. 

(Photograph 30196, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)

Figure (1.97 bottom): View looking 

south at the recently completed 

barracks complex (29-32) within 

the main barracks area, June 

10, 1952. In the distance is the 

marginal wharf along Rockaway 

Inlet. (Photograph 80-G-442812, RG 

80, Series G, National Archives II.)

Site History, 1945-1972
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

144

that lined the bulkhead along the boat basin south of the Coast Guard air station, 

including the boathouse (35), ammunitions storage locker (41) and furniture 

maintenance building (125) (see fig. 1.93). It may have done this to reestablish 

the flight-path clear zone for runway 12-30, or to provide additional space for 

the adjoining recreational area, which was used by both Navy and Coast Guard 

personnel.25 In the ammunitions-communication area north of the airfield, the 

Korean War improvements included two new radio towers. A total of eleven new 

towers would be added by 1956, replacing the four World War II-era towers. 26

Unlike the Navy, the Coast Guard did not invest in major improvements to its air 

station during the Korean War, although it apparently had planned to do so but 

was thwarted by the Navy’s denial to annex adjoining property in the immediate 

post-war years. Improvements were limited to expansion of the apron onto the 

two-acre area leased from the Navy, construction of a small hangar on the new 

apron, and replacement of the timber seaplane ramp with a new concrete ramp 

that incorporated a helicopter landing pad. It was probably during the late 1950s 

that the Coast Guard erected a small pyramidal monument in the grounds to the 

north of its main hangar. 27

Toward the end of the Korean War and the years after, the Navy once again turned 

to leasing out portions of Floyd Bennett Field to other agencies. In 1952, the Navy 

issued an outgrant of twenty-eight acres to the U.S. Army at the south side of the 

naval air station along Rockaway Inlet. This area included the seaplane parking 

area and seaplane ramp A (facilities the Navy no longer needed), as well as the two 

houses designated as Married Officer Quarters A and B, and the Officers’ Mess 

Building. The permit specified that all Army facilities had to be self-sustaining and 

that a security fence had to be installed around the property. The Army, which 

Figure 1.98: Looking northwest 

along the Jamaica Bay shoreline 

of NAS New York, summer 1953. 

Visible is the airport seaplane 

pier, Navy boat basin pier, and 

Coast Guard Air Station with its 

barrel-vaulted hangar, and the two 

massive hangars of the Aviation 

Patrol Base to the right. In the 

distance are visible some of the 

new antennae towers installed 

during or shortly after the Korean 

War. (Photograph 19458, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)
145 

planned on developing the site as an Armed Forces Reserve Center, apparently did 

not execute its plans during the 1950s, although it may have occupied the existing 

buildings. 28

In addition to the Army, other agencies continued to have a presence at the air 

station, including the city Police Aviation Bureau which remained in hangar 3 in 

Hangar Row. The state Housing Authority administered the veterans’ housing 

in the west barracks area until 1953, at which point more permanent veterans’ 

housing had probably been developed outside of the field. The Housing Authority 

had been using part of its facilities as an annex to Public School 207. Not wanting 

to dissolve this arrangement, the Navy gave control of the building to the city 

Board of Education in 1953.29 The south cluster of four buildings was removed by 

1955, and the north cluster of six, including the two World War II barracks (80, 

81), was removed by 1960. One building was apparently relocated to the east side 

of Aviation Road (267).30 The only other buildings remaining by this time in the 

west barracks area were the sewage plant and incinerator (58, 59, 60), and a pump 

house (154) built in c.1950. 

In 1956 following the end of the Korean War, the Navy 

decided to once again lease Hangar Row to the U.S. 

Air Force for use by the New York Air National Guard. 

Differing from the previous lease, the Air Force was 

granted use of the Administration Building and all but 

one of the hangars including the two wood-frame hangars 

built during World War II (fig. 1.99). Hangar 3 remained 

the home of the city police. The Air National Guard did 

not reopen the municipal airport entrance in front of the 

Administration Building and instead used the new Navy 

entrance built in c.1951. The diagonal driveways remained 

closed off by chain-link fence, and although many of the 

original plantings remained, individual shrubs along the 

drives had been removed by this time and the others were becoming overgrown 

(see fig. 1.77). The only substantial change to Hangar Row during the Korean War 

and remainder of the 1950s was the addition of a steel-truss beacon tower in 1957, 

placed at the northwest corner of the entrance area along Flatbush Avenue.31

Vietnam War Era through Decommissioning, 1959-1972

The beginning of the Vietnam War, a conflict in which the United States aided 

South Vietnam from Communist takeover, inflicted an enormous toll on the U.S. 

military over the sixteen-year course of the conflict that started in 1959, and 

in particular during intensive American troop involvement that began in 1965. 

Figure 1.99: Air National Guard 

jets on the Hangar Row apron, 

view looking northwest with the 

World War II-era hangars 9 and 

10 in the background, c.1960. The 

sign on the hangar gable reads 

“New York Air National Guard.” 

(Courtesy of Rodney Martin, 

Historic Floyd Bennett Field 

website, http://www.geocities.

com/floyd_bennett_ field/coldwar.

html.)

Site History, 1945-1972
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

146

Unlike the Korean War, however, the Vietnam War did not cause the Navy to 

reinvigorate its forces and facilities at NAS New York, but rather to maintain its 

reserve training operations much as it had during the previous decade. By 1970, 

the Navy still had 2,132 reservists and 558 active duty officers and men stationed 

at NAS New York, along with 150 active Marines and 600 Marine Reservists, plus 

298 civilian employees, numbers comparable to the 1950s. The busiest times at 

the field through the 1960s were the weekends, when reservists made as many 

as 300 flights a day from its runways.32 In addition to the Navy, the New York Air 

National Guard represented the other major military use of Floyd Bennett Field 

through the 1960s, continuing its use of Hangar Row that began with the Navy’s 

lease renewal in 1956. Like NAS New York, the Air National Guard’s mission 

was to provide training to equip operationally ready combat support units and 

qualified personnel for active duty. The Coast Guard also maintained its air station 

throughout this period. 33

During the 1960s, the Navy continued to make minor changes to the field to 

improve its use for training and use by jet aircraft. In c.1960, the Navy lengthened 

Figure 1.100: Aerial photograph 

of Floyd Bennett Field, c.1967, 

showing expanded Hangar Row 

apron and runway 15-33 that 

had been converted to a taxiway 

dating. Changes made to the 

airfield since c.1960 included 

lengthening of runway 6-24, 

construction of taxiway 8, and 

development of mobile home 

courts in the west barracks area. 

The photograph also shows the 

Air National Guard’s recently 

completed nose hangar (265) 

built north of the Administration 

Building, and the ranch houses 

(268-270) and city school building 

(272) in the main barracks area. 

(Uncatalogued photograph, RG 80, 

National Archives II.)
147 

runway 6-24 to 5,800 feet, making it the second longest after runway 1-19, which 

had been extended during the Korean War in c.1952. Runway 6-24 was extended 

east toward Jamaica Bay and required some filling into the bay, which was retained 

by a timber bulkhead (fig. 1.100). As with runway 1-19, soil cement was added at 

the ends of the runway. A new taxiway, designated #8, was built to connect with 

the end of runway 1-19.

These improvements to the field were demanded not only by the Navy’s training 

programs, but also by those of the New York Air National Guard and city 

Police Aviation Bureau based at Hangar Row. While the police apparently had 

adequate space at hangar 3, the propeller-era design of the original municipal 

airport hangars did not prove adequate for the Air National Guard’s fleet of jets. 

While the jets were typically stored outside on the apron, interior space was still 

necessary to perform maintenance on the planes. To provide this needed space, 

the Air National Guard built a new hangar on the old north parking lot between 

the Administration Building and hangars 5 and 6 in 1965 at a cost of $1,700,000 

(fig. 1.101, see also fig. 1.100). With its markedly contrasting architecture 

consisting of exterior triangular trusses, the hangar was designed only to provide 

cover for the nose of the plane, a type of structure known as a nose hangar. The 

adjoining area was repaved and concrete walks were built to access the west 

side of the building. In order to make room for the nose hangar, the WPA-built 

field house (2) constructed in 1937-1938 was demolished. The ancillary drive off 

Flatbush Avenue was also removed, but the two diagonal drives were retained, 

although they remained closed.34

Probably to improve aircraft circulation to the nose hangar, the Navy approved 

changes to the adjoining apron and taxiway system. In c.1965, the Hangar Row 

apron was expanded east toward runway 15-33 by paving over the areas of grass 

between the short taxiways that connected the runway with the apron (see figs. 

1.100, 1.101). This created one expansive rectangular area of pavement where 

large aircraft could be parked, much like the apron at the Aviation Patrol Base 

Figure 1.101: Looking east across 

Hangar Row showing the Air 

National Guard’s nose hangar (265) 

built between the Administration 

Building and hangars 5-6 in 

1965, from a later photograph, 

c.1992. In the rear is the apron 

that was enlarged by paving 

over turf between the taxiways 

most likely as part of the hangar 

construction. The World War 

II-era wing on the Administration 

Building was removed in c.1979. 

(Photograph 18888, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)

Site History, 1945-1972
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

148

that the Navy expanded for jet use during the Korean War. In turn, runway 

15-33, one of the two original runways dating to the municipal airport period, 

was redesignated as taxiway 10. This change was probably necessary due to the 

runway’s proximity to the apron. 35

In the main and west barracks areas, the Navy built few new facilities during the 

Vietnam War era, and those that were built generally replaced or supplemented 

temporary World War II construction. In c.1960 the Navy built three small ranchstyle houses south of the officers’ club near the old Rockaway Inlet seaplane base. 

Designated as Married Officer Quarters (Buildings 268-270), these houses were 

located within the area to be leased to the Army for development of an Armed 

Forces Reserve Center (see fig. 1.100). The Army, however, had not yet developed 

its facility and the Navy still apparently controlled this land.36 Soon after these 

houses were built, the Navy introduced mobile homes to the field, possibly to 

accommodate weekend reservists who could bring their own mobile homes (RVs 

or trailers) instead of staying in World War II housing in the remaining barracks. 

A complex of twenty-four mobile home courts, organized in clusters off a looped 

drive, were built near Rockaway Inlet and the west barracks area (see fig. 1.100). 37

The four earlier buildings at the site, used by the state to house veterans, had been 

removed several years before. 

Another change to the main barracks area came in c.1967, when a large, threestory school building was constructed along the south side of the World War IIera dispensary near the marginal wharf (see fig. 1.100). This flat-roofed building, 

faced in brick and colored window walls, may have been built to replace a school 

facility (PS 207) that operated in the west barracks area since the end of the World 

War II. Whether the Navy or the city Board of Education erected the new building 

is not known (it was given a Navy classification, Building 272), but it was located 

on Navy land rather than a leased parcel.38 The school was built around the same 

time that the adjoining dispensary was replaced with a new building south of the 

Navy headquarters in Building 69. The new dispensary (#275, later park police 

headquarters) was a contemporary one-story brick and window-wall building 

with a low-pitched gable roof. The old dispensary was demolished except for one 

small wing that was retained for use as a bath house to service an outdoor pool 

constructed on the site in c.1970.39

Soon after the new dispensary was completed, the nearby former World War II 

Enlisted Men’s Mess Hall—one of the largest of the World War II-era buildings—

burned to the ground in the winter of 1968-1969 (fig. 1.102). The Navy soon 

cleared away the debris, but left the concrete foundation. With the loss of the 

mess hall, the only remaining World War II-era buildings in the main barracks 

area were the Navy headquarters building (69), two adjoining barracks (62, 72), 
149 

the west recreation building (70), 

the former Officers’ Mess Hall (73), 

and the sprawling Bachelor Officers’ 

Quarters (68), plus several smaller 

buildings. A year after the fire, the 

Navy developed a second mobile 

home court in the lawn area in front 

of the mess hall, perhaps to make up 

housing lost in the mess hall fire. 

Not long after the dispensary and 

other improvements had been built 

at Floyd Bennett Field in the latter 

1960s, the Navy decided to close 

NAS New York, ending its nearly 

four decades at the Barren Island 

site. Although still an active Navy and Air Force reserve center at the time, the 

Navy publicly cited budget restraints as the reason for closing the installation, 

although ongoing conflicts with commercial traffic from JFK were also an issue.40

The financial restraints had stemmed from the country’s massive expenditure on 

the Vietnam War and other Cold War fronts, which forced the Department of 

Defense to institute a widespread base realignment and closure program across 

the country. The closings were intended to reduce the military’s base structure 

that had been created during World War II and the Korean War.41 Many other 

installations across the New York City area were also impacted by the base 

realignment and closure, including nearby Fort Tilden on the Rockaway Peninsula 

and Fort Hancock at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. 

By April 1970, the Navy had announced that the official closing of NAS New York 

would occur at the end of June 1971. On April 4, 1970, 1,500 Naval Air Reservists 

stood at attention in one of the hangars for the field’s final formal inspection. 42 

The closing of NAS New York impacted the New York Air National Guard, which 

had to vacate the Hangar Row facilities that it leased from the Navy. The Army, 

however, would retain its outgrant along Rockaway Inlet for its long-planned 

development of an Armed Forces Reserve Center, which had yet to be built, and 

the city Police Aviation Bureau would also remain at the site. While the Coast 

Guard was not directly impacted by the closing of NAS New York since it was 

under separate federal ownership, it was forced in 1971 to limit its operations to 

helicopters, given that the Navy had closed down the control tower and runways.43

Despite the closing of NAS New York, the Navy retained a presence at the field, 

although much reduced. In c.1970, it designated Hangar A at the Aviation Patrol 

Figure 1.102: View taken in 1969 

looking west across the main 

barracks area showing remains of 

the former Enlisted Men’s Mess 

Hall that was lost to fire in the 

winter of 1968-1969. The building 

at the upper left of the mess hall 

is the new dispensary (275) built 

in c.1968; at the bottom of the 

photograph are the brick barracks 

complex (129-132) built during the 

Korean War. Note the still very 

open character of the landscape. 

(Uncatalogued photograph, RG 80, 

National Archives II.)

Site History, 1945-1972
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

150

Base along Jamaica Bay together 

with a small surrounding area as 

Naval Air Reserve Detachment 

New York (NARDET NY) (fig. 

1.103). In preparation for the 

operation of NARDET NY, the 

Navy made some improvements 

to the facilities. The site was 

fenced in, and in 1969-1970, 

the two World War II-era 

barracks south of Hangar A were 

demolished and replaced with a 

new training and office building 

completed in November 1970. 

The tan-brick flat-roofed 

building was dedicated as 

Tylunas Hall, named in honor of Navy Lieutenant Commander John F. Tylunas 

who had died in an accident two years earlier.44

While NAS New York was officially decommissioned in June 1971, the Navy 

retained ownership of the site for another year and a half. During this time, the 

field was desolate, with only marginal use by the Coast Guard and city police 

department helicopters. City and federal agencies were, however, busy working 

out agreements for future ownership and development. By the fall of 1972, 

prospects were certain that the field would be transferred to National Park Service 

administration as part of the newly established Gateway National Recreation 

Area. 45 

Landscape characteristics, 1972 (Drawing 1.4)

At the end of the Navy’s ownership of Floyd Bennett Field in 1972, the landscape 

had undergone numerous changes during the preceding twenty-nine years of the 

Cold War, particularly within the main barracks area on Barren Island. Despite 

new construction and the loss of numerous buildings, however, the field still 

retained the open, expansive, and barren feeling that had long characterized the 

landscape. Unlike the earlier World War II and municipal airport periods when 

extensive areas of fill were created and massive building programs were carried 

out, the landscape did not undergo any significant transformation when viewed 

from afar. 

The following characteristics describe the landscape in its final years under Navy 

ownership between c.1970 and 1972. After the decommissioning in June 1971, the 

Figure 1.103: A 1960 plan of NAS 

New York with c.1970 annotation 

indicating boundaries of NARDET 

within the former Aviation Patrol 

Base. Also note addition of Tylunas 

Hall (Building 278) which was 

completed in 1970 at the site of 

two World War II-era barracks. 

(Detail, U.S. Navy, “Naval Air 

Station New York, Brooklyn, N. 

Y. General Development Map,” 

16 February 1960 updated to 

c.1970, map 326753-1, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.) 
151 

condition of the landscape probably declined as the Navy curtailed maintenance 

and use of the site. 

Natural Systems and Features 

By the early 1970s, natural systems were beginning to renew their presence on the 

heavily engineered landscape, although they still remained a minor characteristic. 

Natural maritime systems were evident on portions of the Jamaica Bay and Mill 

Basin shoreline, including sand beach and thin fringes of tidal estuary along the 

shoreline without bulkheads. In the area north of the original airport that was 

expanded by the Navy during World War II, natural succession was advancing by 

1972. Because this land was not surfaced in turf, the land had become covered 

with natural grasses and scattered shrubs and thickets were evident by the late 

1960s. The Navy may have mown these rougher areas occasionally to keep sight 

lines open on the airfield, but following decommissioning in June 1971, this 

maintenance probably ceased, leading to accelerated natural succession. Still, by 

1972 there were no woods in the landscape (see fig. 1.100). 

Spatial Organization

The spatial organization of Floyd Bennett Field in the early 1970s retained the 

overall open, expansive character that existed during World War II. Spaces within 

the landscape were created primarily by buildings, structures, and circulation 

features. These defined the airfield, Hangar Row, the Aviation Patrol Base and 

Coast Guard Air Station, ammunitions-communication area, main barracks area, 

and west barracks area. Changes in spatial character within the airfield and Hangar 

Row since 1945 resulted from addition of the nose hangar and enlargement of the 

Hangar Row apron in 1965 (see fig. 1.100). The spatial character of the Aviation 

Patrol Base was altered with the nearly doubling in size of the apron and loss 

of the two barracks. The most significant changes in spatial character occurred 

through removal of buildings in the main barracks area, which resulted in loss 

of the geometric courtyard arrangement of the two enlisted men’s barracks 

complexes. The remaining multi-winged Bachelor Officers’ Quarters and Korean 

War-era barracks complex continued to define small courtyard spaces within the 

larger landscape. The west barracks area likewise was noticeably different due to 

loss of two barracks and addition of the mobile home court and new entrance 

road off Flatbush Avenue. 

Land Use

In 1972, only a small portion of Floyd Bennett Field—NARDET NY and the 

Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn—remained an active military or quasi-military 

aviation installation. However, three years earlier prior to decommissioning, most 

Site History, 1945-1972
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

152

of the field retained the military aviation uses that had characterized the landscape 

since 1941. The New York City Police Aviation Bureau remained at Hangar Row, 

where it had a presence on and off for most of the field’s history. Although the 

Army secured an outgrant in 1952 from the Navy to operate an Armed Forces 

Reserve Center south of the main barracks area, by 1972 it had apparently not yet 

developed the facility. Non-military uses that probably remained on the site in 

1972 were limited to the city school at Building 272 and informal recreational uses 

by city residents at the site’s ballfields and other recreational facilities. 

Cluster Arrangement

Most all of the new development that occurred during the Cold War retained 

the earlier development patterns of Floyd Bennett Field that aligned with the 

flight-path clear zones. The clusters of development included Hangar Row, 

the Aviation Patrol Base and the Coast Guard Air Station along Jamaica Bay, 

and the main barracks area on Barren Island, although the latter had lost some 

of its cohesiveness due to building demolition. The west barracks had largely 

disappeared as a distinguishable cluster by 1972, with only one barracks (267), a 

pump house (154), and the sewage plant and garbage incinerator buildings (58, 

59, 60) remaining. The mobile home courts built in c.1965, although probably 

not used in 1972, extended well into the flight-path clear zone for runway 15-33, 

which at the time the courts were built was not an active runway. 

Topography

By 1972, the topography of Floyd Bennett Field had undergone little change since 

1945. The only notable alteration was a small area of fill that was constructed in 

c.1960 at the confluence of Mill Basin and Jamaica Bay to allow for lengthening 

of runway 6-24. There were small berms constructed around the fuel oil tanks 

that served as containment areas in case of spills. The natural sand beach along 

Jamaica Bay had probably also shifted over the years leading to some minor 

topographic changes to the landscape. 

Vegetation

Managed plant materials at Floyd Bennett Field in the early 1970s remained 

limited largely to the ornamental trees and shrubs at the former airport 

entrance in front of the Administration Building. Many of the shrubs around 

the Administration Building had either become overgrown or were removed. 

The once neatly sheared hedges lining the diagonal entrance drives were 

overgrown, and the individual shrubs had been removed. Lawn was maintained 

in the entrance area as well as in the west barracks area. The original part of the 

airfield was mown, as were strips along the runways to prevent encroachment 
153 

of obstructing vegetation, although some of this mowing may have ceased after 

the decommissioning in June 1971. The only vegetation in the west barracks area 

aside from turf was some widely scattered shrubs and small trees, including some 

foundation shrubs of unknown species (see fig. 1.102). There were also yews in 

the median of the main entrance off Flatbush Avenue, and foundation plantings 

and specimen trees around the Coast Guard main hangar and Tylunus Hall (278) 

at the NARDET base.

Circulation

The overall circulation system at Floyd Bennett Field in the early 1970s remained 

little changed from World War II with a few notable exceptions. The system 

included the runways and taxiways, aprons, roads, parking lots, and sidewalks. 

Alterations to the system were mostly the result of changes in use, notably the 

introduction of jet airplanes during the Korean War and the end of seaplanes in 

years following. Thus, seaplane ramp B at the Aviation Patrol Base and seaplane 

ramp A and parking area along Rockaway Inlet fell out of use. The latter was 

designated for redevelopment by the Army as an Armed Forces Reserve Center 

in 1952, although this development did not occur by 1972. The Coast Guard’s 

seaplane ramp was rebuilt to accommodate helicopters in c.1950.

Runway 1-19 was lengthened to 7,000 in c.1951, and runway 6-24 was lengthened 

to 5,800 feet in c.1960 to accommodate jet aircraft. Areas adjoining the ends of 

the runways were surfaced in soil cement, probably to hold down the surface 

against the strong backdraft of jet aircraft. Runways 1-19 and 6-24 served as the 

two primary landing and takeoff strips, with 12-30 apparently serving a secondary 

function. Runway 15-33, the runway parallel to Hangar Row, was used as a 

taxiway that provided access to an expanded apron adjoining the Air National 

Guard’s nose hangar built in 1965. The pavement surface and striping had been 

changed on most of the runways since World War II. The introduction of jets and 

lengthening of runways 1-19 and 6-24 also led to changes to adjoining circulation 

features, including the addition of taxiway 8 and realignment of the patrol road 

through the ammunitions-communication area in c.1951. In the Aviation Patrol 

Base along Jamaica Bay, the apron was nearly doubled in size to allow for storage 

and use of jet aircraft; two new short taxiways connected the expanded apron to 

taxiway 6.

One of the most prominent circulation changes during this period was the 

construction of a new entrance to NAS New York in c.1951; it extended from 

Flatbush Avenue and aligned with the main road (Floyd Bennett Boulevard) 

through the main barracks area. This single entrance provided access to the entire 

base. The west end of the patrol road was realigned around the same time to 

extend to Hangar Row rather than Flatbush Avenue, thus completing an interior 

Site History, 1945-1972
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

154

loop. The earlier World War II-era entrance at the south end of Hangar Row 

was closed, and the original diagonal drives at the former airport entrance also 

remained closed. As part of the new entrance, a parking lot was built near the 

main gate, but this was apparently removed by c.1965. A loop drive was built off 

the south side of the entrance drive around an aircraft that was positioned for 

public display. This was probably removed by 1972.

Within the main barracks area, the overall road and sidewalk system remained 

intact from the World War II period, but a number of ancillary drives and 

sidewalks were removed with building demolition, such as the walks leading up to 

the dispensary removed in c.1968 and the enlisted men’s barracks removed in the 

1948. Some of the roads were rebuilt with curbs. The development of the mobile 

home courts in c.1970 included the addition of an irregular complex of drives and 

cul-de-sacs in the lawn in front of the main mess hall (building 67). Similar drives 

were added for the mobile home court that was built at the south end of the west 

barracks area in c.1965.

Buildings and Structures 

The landscape characteristic that changed most during this period was buildings 

and structures, particularly within the main barracks area (see Table 1.2 at the end 

of this section for a complete period building list). Here, the Navy removed eight 

of the temporary type World War II-era enlisted men’s barracks in 1948, and may 

have relocated them to the west barracks area for use as state veterans’ housing, 

supplementing the two barracks that were there from World War II. The Navy 

also added a new complex of brick-faced barracks (29-32) at the east side of the 

main barracks area during the Korean War in c.1952 (see fig. 1.97). Other housing 

changes included the addition of three ranch-style houses (268, 269, 270) for use 

as Married Officer Quarters in c.1960 north of the seaplane parking apron. In 

c.1960, mobile home courts for use with RVs or trailers were introduced as a new 

housing type, with the first complex built at the south end of the west barracks 

area in c.1965, and the second in front of the main mess hall (67) in the main 

barracks area in c.1970. This mess hall, which may have been used for residential 

purposes as well, burned to the ground in the winter of 1968-1969 (see fig. 1.102). 

Other building changes included a new dispensary (275) built at the west side 

of the main barracks area in c.1968, replacing the World War II-era dispensary 

(87) near the marginal wharf. This building was demolished except for one wing 

that was converted into a bath house associated with a swimming pool built on 

the site by c.1970. By the early 1970s, the only major World War II-era buildings 

remaining in the main barracks area were the two recreation buildings (70, 74), 

three barracks (62, 69, 72), one of which was converted for use as the Navy 

administration building; two residences built as Married Officer Quarters (157, 

158); the Officers’ Mess Hall (73); the sprawling multi-winged Bachelor Officers’ 
155 

Quarters (68); and Power Plant A (86) and laundry (85) near the marginal wharf. 

Within the west barracks area, all major buildings had been removed by 1972 with 

the exception of one barracks (267), a pump house (154) and the field’s garbage 

and sewer treatment plant (58, 59, 60). 

Within Hangar Row, major changes included the construction of a steel-truss 

beacon tower (176) in the former airport entrance area in c.1957, and the addition 

of the nose hangar (265) adjoining the Administration Building, constructed by 

the Air National Guard in 1965 (see fig. 1.101). This new hangar required the 

demolition of the Field House (2) built in 1938. The National Guard continued to 

use the two temporary World War II hangars 9 and 10 (46, 51) at the north end of 

Hangar Row. At the south end of Hangar Row, the frame barracks building (27) 

and Celestial Training Building (53) were demolished along with several smaller 

buildings, but the Dope Shop (26), fire house (50), and Synthetic Training Building 

(54) remained standing. 

In the airfield, the only notable change to buildings and structures during this 

period was the demolition of the two Sperry floodlight towers in c.1948. The 

rocking platform may have also been removed from the east side of the field, but 

the tetrahedron (208) remained. In the ammunitions-communication area, most 

of the World War II-era ammunitions magazines probably fell out of use during 

this period. The four World War II-era radio towers were replaced with eleven 

new towers in the mid 1950s. 

In the Aviation Patrol Base, building changes were limited during the Korean 

War improvement program largely to the addition or enlargement of lean-tos 

at Hangars A and B. The most substantial change came with the commissioning 

of NARDET NY in c.1970, when the two World War II-era barracks (24, 38) 

were demolished and replaced by the tan-brick Tylunas Hall (278), dedicated 

in November 1970. Many small utility and storage buildings were added to the 

Aviation Patrol Base during this period, including several in the undeveloped area 

north of the base, accessed off the patrol road. 

In the maintenance area that bordered the Aviation Patrol Base, all of the buildings 

from World War II remained, with the exception of the temporary Quonset huts. 

A small storage building and shop (146, 147) and a gasoline filling station (260) 

were added during this period. In the former boat basin/recreation area to the 

south in the flight-path clear zone for runway 12-30, all buildings and structures 

were demolished in the 1950s, including the pier and boat basin, leaving just the 

city pier and series of fuel storage tanks. The ballfields built during World War II 

and running track that was added in the late 1940s had also been removed. 

Site History, 1945-1972
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

156

At the Coast Guard Air Station, changes to buildings and structures during this 

period included construction of a nose hangar in c.1955 on the parcel leased from 

the Navy, a large storage building adjacent to the garage in 1959, and a new pier at 

the north end of the site in c.1960. The Coast Guard built a small boathouse at the 

foot of this pier in 1969. Two small ammunitions lockers and a paint locker were 

also added to the site during the 1950s. In c.1950, two radio towers were installed 

on the beach below the bulkhead to replace the earlier towers north of the main 

hangar.46 

Views and Vistas

By the early 1970s, the landscape of Floyd Bennett Field continued to be 

characterized by expansive, panoramic views across the site and adjoining waters. 

Views were only restricted by large buildings and by the row of trees along 

Flatbush Avenue. There were no woods on the site to block views. Expansive 

views were critical to the functioning of the site as an airfield. 

Constructed Water Features

Constructed water features were first introduced into the landscape during this 

period through the addition of a swimming pool constructed in c.1970 at the site 

of the dispensary (87) demolished a few years earlier. One of the wings of the 

dispensary was retained as a bath house. 

Small-Scale Features 47

Small-scale features at Floyd Bennett Field in the early 1970s included the 

perimeter chain-link and barbed-wire fence that had been installed during World 

War II. This fence extended along Flatbush Avenue across the original airport 

entrance drives as well as the World War II-era entrance. This fence was altered in 

c.1951 with a gate to accommodate the new entrance off Flatbush Avenue. At this 

gate was a large sign with the name of NAS New York and a secondary, smaller 

sign indicating the direction to the other agencies operating at the site. Other 

small-scale features included a flagstaff in the front walk of the Navy headquarters 

building (69) probably installed in 1946, and the original airport flagstaff and castiron light standards at the entrance area in front of the Administration Building. 

There were no overhead utility lines, but instead underground utility lines and 

vaults. Landing and takeoff lights lined the runways, but there were no street lights 

on the roads (see fig. 1.102). 

At the Coast Guard Air Station, a memorial monument was built in an open area 

at the north side of the site between 1955 and 1959, and a flagstaff was installed 

opposite the north entrance to the main hangar between 1963 and 1973.48
157 

TABLE 1.2 

FLOYD BENNETT FIELD COLD WAR-PERIOD BUILDING/STRUCTURE KEY, (C.1972) 

Sources: “Naval Air Station New York, General Development Map,” 10 April 1962 updated to c.1970; “Map of U.S. Naval Air Station

New York, N. Y. Showing Conditions on June 30, 1947;”GATE List of Structures, 2007. Italics indicate pre-1947 buildings.

NAS NEW YORK 

1 Administration Building 60 Sewage Treatment Plant 

2 Demolished (former Field House) 61 63-5 Demolished (Barracks Nos. 1, 2-4, 6) 

3 - 22 Hangar Row Hangars 1-8 (with lean-to, infill bldgs.) 62 CPO Club & Barracks (Former Barracks No. 2) 

23 Seaplane Hangar A (APB/NARDET) 66 Demolished pre-1947 

24 Demolished (APB Squadron Barracks 14) 67 Foundations (Mess Hall, destroyed by fire) 

25 Demolished pre-1941 68 Bachelor Officers’ Qtrs. & Enlisted Men’s Barracks 

26 Dope Shop & Sheet Metal Shop 69 Administration Building (former CPO Barracks No. 5) 

27 Demolished (WAVES Barracks No. 12) 70 West Recreation Building 

28 Demolished (TARA Hall – CPO Recreation Building) 71 Hobby Shop (Former Marines Garage) 

29 Fire Pump House & Water Tank 72 Squadron OP MART Detachment (frmr. Barracks 15) 

30 Sewage Ejector Pump House 73 Officers’ Club (former Officers’ Mess Building) 

31 Demolished pre-1947 74 Navy Exchange (former EM Recreation Building) 

32, 33 Gasoline Pump Houses (location of 32 unknown) 75 Sewage Pumping Station ‘A’ 

34 Storage Building 76 Demolished (Barracks No. 10) 

35 Demolished (Boat House) 77 Demolished (Barracks No. 8) 

36 Salvage Building 78 Demolished (Barracks No. 9) 

37 Equipment Shed 79 Demolished (Barracks No. 7) 

38 Demolished (Squadron Bachelor Officers’ Quarters) 80 Demolished (Barracks No. 13) 

39 Demolished (Ground Support Shop) 81 Demolished (Barracks No. 11) 

41 Demolished (Ammunitions Storage) 82 Vacant (former Heater House) 

42-45 Ammunitions Lockers 83-84 Gasoline Storage Tanks Pump Stations 

46 Hangar 9 85 Laundry 

47 Paint Store House 86 Power Plant ‘A’ 

48 Sick Bay 87 Bath House (Dispensary Remnant Wing ) 

49 Demolished (Boat Repair Shop) 88 South Service Substation 

50 Fire House 89 Sewage Pumping Station ‘B’ 

51 Hangar 10 90 PW Maintenance Garage (former Fire Station) 

52 Demolished (WAVES Laundry) 91 Station Maintenance 

53 Demolished (Celestial Navigation Training Building) 92 PW Shop (former Paint & Oil Storehouse) 

54 Barracks (Former Synthetic Training Building) 93 PW Office (former Bombsight Storage) 

55 See 255 (redesignated) 94 Technical Training Building (former Torpedo Storage) 

56 Demolished (Public Works Office & Police Station) 95 Coast Guard Air Crew Facility (frm. Ordinance Shop) 

57 Transformer Vault 96 Seabee Reserve Training Bldg (former Power Plant ‘B’) 

58 Demolished (Garage—Aviation Free Gunnery) 97 Cold Storage & Commissary 

59 Incinerator 98 Supply Storage (General Storehouse) 

Site History, 1945-1972
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

158

99 Pumping Station—Fire Protection 141 City Pier (new designation) 

100 Hangar ‘B’ (former Seaplane Hangar) 142 Berthing (Marginal) Wharf (new designation) 

101 Fuel Oil Storage Substation No. 2 143 Building 69 Flagstaff (c.1946) 

102 Water Storage Pump House 144 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

103 Lighter-Than-Air Facilities (abandoned) 145 Gasoline Pump Station (c.1947-60) 

104 Storage Building (Misc.) 146 Public Works Storage Building (1948) 

105 Demolished (Shotgun Range House) 147 Public Works Storage Building (1948) 

106 Inert Storage 148 Demolished (Shop Building, c.1947-60) 

107 Smoke Drum Storage 149 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

108 S. A. Pyrotechnics Storage 150 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

109 Ordinance Storage (former Practice Bomb Storage) 151 Hangar A Line Operators Building (c.1950) 

110, 111 Fuse & Detonator Magazines 152 Filling Station (c.1961) 

112-115 High Explosive Magazines 153 Airport Entrance Flagstaff (new designation) 

116 Ammunition Magazine (former Warhead) 154 Pump house (c.1952) 

117 North Service Substation 155 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

118 Radio Transmitter Building 156 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

119 Demolished (Direction Finder Station) 157 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

120 Transformer Vault 158 Married Officer Quarters A (new designation) 

121 Demolished (Unknown) 159 Married Officer Quarters B (new designation) 

122 Demolished (PW Storehouse ‘A’ & Hospital Barracks) 160 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

123 Demolished (PW Storehouse ‘B’) 161 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

124 Demolished (Gas Distribution & Operation Office) 162 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

125 Demolished (Furniture Maintenance Building) 163 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

126 Paint Storage Building 164 Baseball Field (c.1953) 

127 Demolished (Electrical Gear Shed) 165 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

128 Demolished (Salvage Shed) 166 BOQ Handball Courts (c.1953) 

129 Brick Mess Hall (1952) 167 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

130 Brick Barracks #1 (1952) 168 Ready Ammunitions Magazine (c.1958) 

131 Brick Barracks #2 (1952) 169 Ready Ammunitions Magazine (c.1958) 

132 Brick Barracks Breezeway (1952) 170 Aircraft Line Operator Building (c.1952) 

133 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 171 Administration Building Wing (new designation) 

134 Demolished (Jet Fuel Loading Stand, c.1950-60) 172 Demolished (unknown c.1947-60) 

135 Main entrance gate house (1952) 173 Seaplane Ramp A (new designation) 

136 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 174 Seaplane Ramp B (new designation) 

137 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 175 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

138 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 176 Beacon Tower (1957) 

139 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 177 Fire Pump House Second Water Tank (c.1947-60) 

140 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 178 Pumping Sta. Water Storage Tank (new designation) 
159 

179 Water Storage Tank (new designation) 217 Liquid Oxygen Facility (1959) 

180 Water Storage Tank (new designation) 218 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

181 Sleeve Antennae (5, c.1956) 219 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

182 Low Frequency Antennae (4, c.1955) 220 Jet Fuel Pump Station (c.1951) 

183 UFH/VFH Antennae (2, c.1955) 221 BOQ Tennis Court (new designation) 

184 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 222 BOQ Tennis Court (new designation)

185 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 223 BOQ Tennis Court (new designation)

186 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 224 Bus Stop Shelter (c.1961) 

187 Fuel Oil Storage Tank (new designation) 225 Bus Stop Shelter (c.1961) 

188 Fuel Oil Storage Tank (new designation) 226 Bus Stop Shelter (c.1961) 

189 Optical Landing System (1959) 227 Hangar A Outbuilding (c.1947-60) 

190 Jet Fuel Storage Tank (c.1951) 228 Hangar B Sonobuoy Storage (c.1952) 

191 Jet Fuel Storage Tank (c.1951) 229 NARDET Paint Shop (c.1948) 

192 AVGAS Storage Tanks (new designation) 230 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

193 AVGAS Storage Tanks (new designation) 231 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

194 AVGAS Storage Tanks (new designation) 232 Demolished (storage building, c.1942) 

195 AVGAS Storage Tanks (new designation) 233 Paint Locker (redesignated) 

196 AVGAS Storage Tanks (new designation) 234 Dope Shop Storage (c.1954) 

197 AVGAS Storage Tanks (new designation) 235 ANG Sentry Booth (Admin. Building Entrance, c.1949) 

198 AVGAS Storage Tanks (new designation) 236 ANG Sentry Booth (Admin. Building Entrance (c.1949) 

199 Motor Gas Storage Tank (new designation) 237 Radio Transmission Area Shed (c.1948-60) 

200 AVGAS Pump Station 238 Storage Building (c.1952) 

201 Transformer Vault (c.1950) 239 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

202 Hangar B Line Operators Building (c.1948) 240 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

203 Hangar B Line Crew Shelter (1948) 241 Hangar B Portable Line Storage Shed (c.1952) 

204 Hangar B Line Operators Building (1948) 242 Portable Storage Shed (c.1952) 

205 Scrap Yard Shed or fuel station (c.1952) 243 Hangar A Portable Storage Shed (c.1952) 

206 Oil Reclaiming Station (c.1952) 244 Portable Storage Shed (c.1952) 

207 Main entrance sentry booth (c.1952) 245 Portable Storage Shed (c.1952) 

208 Tetrahedron 246 Removed (Portable Storage Shed, c.1952) 

209 New AVGAS Loading Stand (c.1952) 247 Shed or vault (c.1947-60) 

210 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 248 Hangar B Portable Storage Shed (c.1952) 

211 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 249 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

212 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 250 Enlisted Men’s Handball Courts (c.1952)

213 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 251 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

214 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 252 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

215 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 253 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 

216 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 254 Bus Stop Shelter (c.1962) 

Site History, 1945-1972
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

160

255 WW II Entrance Sentry Booth (new designation) 279 Outdoor pool (c.1970) 

256 Airport Entrance Bus Shelter (new designation) 280 Substation (c.1970) 

257 Line Maintenance/Fuel Issue Building (c.1964) 281 Standby Generator Plant (c.1970) 

258 Garage-A/C Crash Fire Station (c.1952) Q1-Q5 Demolished (Quonset Huts) 

259 Diesel Fuel Tank/Dispensing Stand (c.1964) Buildings-Structures Below Not Numbered 

260 Maintenance Area Filling Station (c.1964) Demolished (Sheet & Trip Shooting Houses, 5) 

261 Transmitter Building (c.1961) Demolished (Test Backstop) 

262 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) Airport Compass Rose 

263 Radio Beacon, 3 poles (c.1964) Navy Compass Rose 

264 Aircraft Display (c.1964) Demolished (Boat Basin Pier) 

265 Nose Hangar (1965) Demolished (Contractors’ Pier) 

266 A/C Wash Rack Building (c.1965) Jet Engine Run-Up Stand (APB, c.1952) 

267 Married Enlisted Men’s Quarters ( c.1948) Main Barracks Area Mobile Home Courts (c.1970) 

268 Married Officer Quarters C (c.1960) West Barracks Area Mobile Home Courts (c.1965) 

269 Married Officer Quarters D ( c.1960) 

270 Married Officer Quarters E ( c.1960) 

271 Station Signal (c.1965) 

272 NYC Board of Education Building (c.1968) 

273 Remote Revr. Building (c.1967) 

274 Generator Building (c.1967) 

275 New Dispensary (c.1968) 

276 Unknown shed or vault (c.1947-60) 

277 Transmission Antennae (3)/probably at Building 171 

278 Tylunas Hall (c.1970) 

 

U.S. COAST GUARD AIR STATION BROOKLYN 

CG-1 Main Coast Guard Hangar Buildings-Structures Below Not Numbered 

CG-2 Coast Guard Garage Coast Guard Seaplane Ramp (rebuilt c.1955) 

CG-3 Coast Guard Barracks Demolished (Coast Guard Pier) 

CG-4 Engineer Store Room Demolished (Original radio towers) 

CG-5 North Pyro Locker (c.1955) Quonset Huts 

CG-6 Bosun Store Room New Radio Towers (c.1950) 

CG-7 South Pyro Locker (c.1955) Finger Pier (c.1950) 

CG-8 Paint Locker (1959) Boat House (1969) 

CG-9 ? 

CG-10 Nose Hangar (c.1955) 

CG-11 ? 

CG-12 Transformer Vault 

CG-13 Storage Building (1959) 

Acronyms

ACFT = Aircraft NARDET = Navy Air Reserve Detachment (former APB) 

ANG = Air National Guard PW = Public Works 

APB – Aviation Patrol Base (NARDET) AVGAS = Aviation Gasoline (fuel) 

BOQ = Bachelor Officers’ Quarters EM = Enlisted Men 
161 

Site History, 1945-1972

1 Edward J. Marolda, “The U.S. Navy in the Cold War Era, 1945-1991,” Navy Historical Center website, http://www.

history. navy.mil/wars/coldwar-1.htm; Adrian Van Wyen and Lee M. Pearson, United States Naval Aviation 1910-1980

(Washington, D. C. : Deputy Chief of Naval Operations and Commander, Naval Air Systems Command, 1981), 161.

2 The Floyd Bennett Task Force, “NAS New York 1941-1972,” undated article, http://kerrdrill.tripod.com/id3.html.

3 Late 1940s photographs (80-G-396160, -396158, etc.) at the National Archives, College Park, Maryland (hereafter, 

NARA II) are labeled “U.S. Naval Air Station Floyd Bennett Field,” despite that the field had been redesignated a naval air 

reserve training station. The NAS designation was returned in c.1950.

4 Aerial photograph of NAS New York, 16 August 1948, Photograph 80-G-396160, Still Pictures Division, NARA II.

5 Porter R. Blakemore and Dana C. Linck, “Historic Structures Report, Historical Data Section, Floyd Bennett Field, 

Gateway National Recreation Area, Volume 1” (National Park Service, Denver Service Center: Unpublished report, May 

1981), 54, 165-166; aerial photograph of NAS New York, 12 March 1947, photograph 16176, Gateway National Recreation 

Area Archives, Fort Wadsworth (hereafter, GATE archives). No photographic documentation or information on the 

location of these navigational features has been found.

6 U.S. Navy, “Map of U.S. Naval Air Station New York, N.Y. Showing Conditions on June 30, 1947,” GATE archives.

7 Letter, State of New York, Executive Department, Division of Housing to Public Housing Authority, 6 February 1946, 

RG 71, Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, Box 824, NARA II.

8 Revocable Permit between the United States of America and the City of New York, Police Department, 17 September 

1946, RG 71, Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, Box 824, NARA II.

9 Blakemore and Linck, 72; “Airlines Lose Hope for Bennett Field,” New York Times, 6 September 1947, 30.

10 “Airlines Lose Hope for Bennett Field.”

11 Revocable Permit between the Department of the Navy and the Department of the Air Force, May 1949, RG 71, Bureau 

of Yards and Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, Box 825, NARA II.

12 Department of the Navy, “Naval Air Station New York, Brooklyn, N.Y. General Development Map,” 16 February 1960 

updated to c.1970, map 326753-1, GATE archives.

13 The Coast Guard made several more requests for additional property that were denied by the Navy, the last being in 

November 1954. Letter, J.J. Chew for the Chief of Bureau of Yards & Docks to the Chief of Naval Operations, 29 March 

Endnotes

CG-9 ? 

CG-10 Nose Hangar (c.1955) 

CG-11 ? 

CG-12 Transformer Vault 

CG-13 Storage Building (1959) 

Acronyms

ACFT = Aircraft NARDET = Navy Air Reserve Detachment (former APB) 

ANG = Air National Guard PW = Public Works 

APB – Aviation Patrol Base (NARDET) AVGAS = Aviation Gasoline (fuel) 

BOQ = Bachelor Officers’ Quarters EM = Enlisted Men 

Note: Six of the building numbers listed as “demolished or unassigned” (probably 209-216) were barracks constructed in the west 

barracks area in c.1948 and demolished prior to 1960. The rest of the demolished/unassigned number may have been assigned to piers or 

circulation features including runways, taxiways, and roads. These numbers are not indicated on the 1962 map of the Naval Air Station 

and therefore remain unknown. 
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

162

1946, and Letter, Assistant Chief of Bureau of Yards & Docks J.F. Jelley to Chief of Naval Operations, 26 December 1946, 

RG 71, Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, Box 824, NARA II; Letter, Assistant Chief for 

Materials and Services, Bureau of Aeronautics C.E. Ekstrom, to Chief of Bureau of Yards & Docks, 17 November 1954, RG 

71, Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, Box 826, NARA II.

14 Marolda, “The U.S. Navy in the Cold War Era, 1945-1991.”

15 Marolda, “The U.S. Navy in the Cold War Era, 1945-1991.”

16 Blakemore and Linck, 72.

17 Marolda, “The U.S. Navy in the Cold War Era, 1945-1991.”

18 “Floyd Bennett Fund Set, Navy Will Spend $2,681,000 to Improve Air Station,” New York Times, 25 May 1951, 23. The 

actual amount of the project exceeded the figure quoted by the Times.

19 Blakemore and Linck, 166.

20 Aerial photograph of Floyd Bennett Field, March 1954, Photograph 635754, Still Pictures Division, NARA II.

21 Blakemore and Linck, 166; “Naval Air Station New York, Brooklyn, N.Y. General Development Map,” 16 February 

1960 updated to c.1970.

22 Blakemore and Linck, 166.

23 “Naval Air Station New York, Brooklyn, N.Y. General Development Map,” 16 February 1960 updated to c.1970.

24 “Naval Air Station New York, Brooklyn, N.Y. General Development Map,” 16 February 1960 updated to c.1970.

25 U.S. Navy, “Map of U.S. Naval Air Station New York, N.Y. Showing Conditions on June 30, 1947;” c.1955 photo of area 

along bulkhead without buildings, U.S. Coast Guard, “Air Station Brooklyn, Historical Remarks,” undated article, http://

www.uscg.mil/history/stations/airstabrooklyn1955 _1_300.jpg.

26 Blakemore and Linck, 166; Naval Air Station New York, Brooklyn, N.Y. General Development Map,” 16 February 1960 

updated to c.1970.

27 Aerial photograph of Floyd Bennett Field, May 24, 1956, Photograph 674699, Still Pictures Unit, NARA II; “Naval Air 

Station New York, Brooklyn, N.Y. General Development Map,” 16 February 1960 updated to c.1970; Barbara Judy, “USCG 

Air Station Brooklyn Property Map 1936-1988” (Draft map prepared for Gateway National Recreation Area, 23 May 2008). 

28 Revocable Permit between the Department of the Navy and the Department of the Army, 1952, RG 71, Bureau of Yards 

and Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, Box 826, NARA II; Naval Air Station New York, Brooklyn, N.Y. General 

Development Map,” 16 February 1960 updated to c.1970. This map does not indicate that the area was used by the Army.

29 Letter, Commandant, Third Naval District R.H. Hillkoetter to Chief of Bureau of Yards & Docks, 3 November 1953, 

RG 71, Bureau of Yards and Docks, Navy Property Case Files Records, Box 826, NARA II.

30 Aerial photograph of Floyd Bennett Field, May 24, 1956; aerial photograph of Floyd Bennett Field, c.1967, unnumbered 

photograph, GATE archives.

31 Blakemore and Linck, 166.

32 “Phasing Out is Started at Floyd Bennett Field,” New York Times, 5 April 1970, 90.

33 New York Air National Guard homepage, http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/ang/nyang.php. No information was found on 

the number of Air Reserve or Coast Guard personnel at Floyd Bennett Field during this time.

34 Blakemore and Linck, Historic Structures Report,” 167.

35 Naval Air Station New York, Brooklyn, N.Y. General Development Map,” 16 February 1960 updated to c.1970; Aerial 

photograph of Floyd Bennett Field, May 24, 1956 and c.1967. Lines on the 1960 map indicate that the enlarge apron was 
163 

tied to the nose hangar. No documentation was found on the location of taxiway 9 (taxiway 8 was built in c.1960 between 

runways 1-19 and 6-24).

36 Naval Air Station New York, Brooklyn, N.Y. General Development Map,” 16 February 1960 updated to c.1970; Aerial 

photograph of Floyd Bennett Field, May 24, 1956 and c.1967. 

37 Naval Air Station New York, Brooklyn, N.Y. General Development Map,” 16 February 1960 updated to c.1970.

38 Naval Air Station New York, Brooklyn, N.Y. General Development Map,” 16 February 1960 updated to c.1970.

39 Gateway National Recreation Area, “Floyd Bennett Field List of Structures,” October 2007. 

40 “Phasing Out is Started at Floyd Bennett;” Edward Hudson, “Navy Agrees to Open Floyd Bennett to Civilian Planes as 

Hearing Opens on F. A. A. Curbs,” New York Times, 26 September 1968, 27.

41 Global Security.org, “Base Realignment and Closure,” http://www.globalsecurity.org/ military/facility/brac.htm.

42 “Phasing Out is Started at Floyd Bennett.”

43 AeroWeb, The History of Floyd Bennett Field and Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn, undated article, http://www.aeroweb.org/history/fbennett/cgframe.htm.

44 Historic Floyd Bennett Field, “Historic Floyd Bennett Field During the Cold War,” undated article, http://www.

geocities.com/floyd_bennett_field/coldwar.html.

45 Blakemore and Linck, 73.

46 “USCG Air Station Brooklyn Property Map 1936-1988.”

47 Limited information was found on small-scale features in the landscape during this period.

48 “USCG Air Station Brooklyn Property Map 1936-1988;” Naval Air Station New York, Brooklyn, N.Y. General 

Development Map,” 16 February 1960 updated to c.1970.

Site History, 1945-1972
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

164
x

x

x x

x

102

248

179

180

0’ 200’ 400’

x x x x x x x

176

Beacon tower

(1957)

145

Site of rotating platforms

DEAD HORSE BAY

B A R R E N I S L A N D

R O C K A W A Y I N

L

E

T

M I L L 

B A S I N MILL

ISLAND

J A M A I C A B A Y 

S h o r e P a r k w a y

208

Taxiway 1 

Runway 1-19 (extended to 7,000’ c.1951)

Runway 12-30 (5,500’)

Taxiway 10 (former runway 15-33) 

INSET

Asphalt-paver

apron

Administration

Building

Sycamores

Flatbush Avenue 

Cast-iron light

 standards

Taxiway 4

Taxiway 7 

Main 

Barracks

Area

Berthing wharf

88

60

246

70

69

72

71

74

62

75

226

(c.1961)

86

85

68

73

158

157

173

Seaplane

ramp A

Hangar 

B

Apron extension 

(1952)

Taxiway 5 

Maintenance Area

Hangar

A

Compass 

rose & helicopter pad

94

96

97

98

99

92 93

104 95

U. S. N A V A L A I R S T A T I O N, N E W Y O R K 

B R O O K L Y N

M A R I N E 

P A R K 

Runway 6-24 (extended to 5,800’ c.1960)

AmmunitionsCommunication

Area 

Radio

towers

(c.1955-56)

91

90

89

34

278

33

Water

storage

tanks

Jet fuel

storage tanks (c.1951) 

Scrap yard

(c.1952)

Flagstaff

Closed WWII entrance

271

255

54

50

57

26

30

106

108

107

109

118

110

111

112

113

114

116

115

119

117

U. S. Navy

City of New York

U. S. Navy

City of New York

Bulkhead

Recreation

building

Power

plant

Taxiways

(1952)

Utility-storage

 buildings (c.1968)

257 

168

273

274

169

217

Soil cement (c.1960) 

Soil cement (c.1951-60)

Ground Control 

Approach (GCA) 

(c.1953)

258

Taxiway 6 

Jet engine

run-up stands

(c.1952)

Patrol road

Mess 

hall 

(1952)

130

132

131

250

Barracks

(1952)

134

206

(c.1952)

Bathhouse

(Dispensary

wing)

Pool

(c.1970)

272 

NYC Board 

of Education

(c.1967)

268 269270

New dispensary

(c.1968)

209

199

Tylunas Hall

(1970)

229

227

178

267

(c.1960)

120

238

Admin.

Building

154

Parking

lot

(c.1951,

r. 1965)

224 (c.1961)

135 Gatehouse

(c.1951)

207 Sentry

booth (c.1951)

New entrance

(c.1951)

233 232

281

280

260

126

147

146

201

83

204 203

228

241, 242 202

151

243

170

205

29

Asphalt

parking lot

265 

Nose hangar

(1965)

235

236

256

Asphalt-paver

parking lot

1

48

177 

Tank

Pump house

Taxiway 2 

Taxiway 8 (c.1960) 

152

164

Apron

City of New York

Property line continues

along Flatbush Avenue

H-7

H-8

H-5

H-6

H-3

H-4

H-1

H-2

H-9

H-10

7

9 11

13

15

17 19

21

46

51

100

23

101

Fenced runway clearance area

within Brooklyn Marine Park

(c.1951)

Sycamore

trees

(c.1947)

West Barracks

Area

Flatbush Avenue

(Marine Parkway)

Timber bulkhead (c.1960)

Tunnel hatches covered by iron plates

Fire station

General

storehouse

NAVAL AIR RESERVE

DETACHMENT, NEW YORK

(NARDET) (c.1970)

129

Revised flight-path clearance lines)

(c.1955)

126

234

153

Sentry

booth

Sentry

booth

171

264

Aircraft

display

254

191 190

187 188 220

221

222

223

166

142

189

183

182

182

182

183

182

181

181

181

181

181

Foundations

67

Navy

headquarters

Soil cement

(c.1951)

Runway 

extension 

(c.1951)

Soil 

cement

(c.1951)

Soil cement (c.1960)

Runway extension (c.1960)

Runway extension ( c.1951)

Patrol road

realignment

(c.1951)

Taxiway 3 

Soil cement

(c.1960)

Main gate & sign

 (c.1951)

275

Barracks probably 

relocated to west

barracks area (c.1948)

Enlarged apron

(c.1965)

Patrol Road

realignment (c.1960)

(Decommissioned 1971)

Site of Field House

Flagstaff (c.1948)

279 

87 

59

237

259

247

CG13

CG2

CG1 CG3

CG8,12

CG4

Lean-to

(c.1952)

Flag

Memorial

174 

Ground Control 

Approach (GCA) 

(c.1953)

Coast Guard

taxiway

U. S. COAST GUARD

AIR STATION

Coast Guard seaplane ramp

(rebuilt with helicopter

landing pad c.1955)

141

Former

seaplane pier

Compass

rose

Marine

Parkway

Bridge

Expanded 

toll plaza 

Main

Timber bulkhead hangar

(extended c.1952)

Sheet pile

bulkhead

SEE INSET

Sewage plant

Seaplane ramp B

Fuel

storage 

tanks

Fuel

storage 

tanks

Abandoned

roadbed

Track (c.1947, r.1960)

Seaplane runway 18-36

Married Officer

Quarters C-E (c.1960)

ARMED FORCES RESERVE CENTER

(undeveloped)

(Outgrant, 28 acres,1952)

Mobile home

 courts (c.1965)

State of New York

veteran housing, 4 buildings

(c.1948, removed c.1960)

Mobile home

 courts (c.1970)

U. S. AIR FORCE 

 NEW YORK AIR 

NATIONAL GUARD

(Outgrant, 45 acres

1949, 1956)

NEW YORK CITY POLICE AVIATION BUREAU

(Outgrant, 0.48 acres, 1946)

Finger pier

(c.1960)

Nose hangar

(c.1955)

Recreation

building

U. S. AIR FORCE 

 AIR NATIONAL GUARD

(Outgrant, 45 acres

1949, 1956)

Married Officer

Quarters A & B

192-195

196-198

84

State of New York

veterans’ housing, 

4 bldgs.

(c.1948, removed 

c.1955)

Outgrant to 

Coast Guard,

1.96 acres

(c.1948)

Public works 

garage, fire station (c.1952)

Expanded

apron

(c.1950)

Radio towers (c.1950)

Boathouse

(1969)

CG10

Patrol Road

44

43

Drawing 1.4

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter and Sarah K. Cody

Illustrator CS3, 2008

Cultural Landscape Report

for Floyd Bennett Field

Gateway National Recreation Area

Brooklyn, New York

LEGEND

Property, lease/outgrant boundary

Flight-path clearance line

Building/structure, inventory number

Paved, unpaved vehicular circulation

Sidewalk

Piles

Fence, light

Woods, specimen tree

Managed turf/lawn

Upland, low scrub

Marsh

Open water

Site of feature removed since 1945

Date feature constructed during period,

if known

0’ 400’ 800’ 1200’ 1600’

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

SOURCES

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with: 

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental 

Science and Forestry

NOTES

1. All features shown in approximate scale and location.

2. Features added prior to 1945 not dated.

3. Vegetation unknown except where indicated.

4. Plan shows conditions at end of period, c.1970-72.

5. Most building above 128 built after 1945; see 

Table 2 for building key.

(1952)

x x x

Cold War Period

1945-1972

1. Aerial photographs, 1948, 1956, 1965

2. USGS, Coney Island quadrangle, 1966 

3. U S Navy, plan of NAS New York, 

 1962, updated to 1970

4. NPS, Structures Key Map, Floyd Bennett

 Field, 1983

88

167 

Site History, 1972-Present

Floyd Bennett field in the National park system, 

1972-Present

In 1972, most of Floyd Bennett Field, the former Naval Air Station (NAS) New 

York, was transferred from the administration of the Navy within the Department 

of Defense to the National Park Service within the Department of the Interior. 

While military uses would continue at three different parts of the field not 

included in the transfer, the dominant military aviation function of Floyd Bennett 

Field had ended. Over the next three decades, the landscape changed considerably 

as management shifted toward recreation and natural resource conservation and 

as limited budgets curtailed maintenance of the sprawling former military base.1

Transfer of Floyd Bennett field to civilian administration

The transfer of Floyd Bennett Field to the National Park Service in 1972 had been 

preceded by several years of discussions on the best future use of the site. When 

the Navy decided to close NAS New York in the late 1960s, it did not have a plan 

for its future use. In response, various public and private entities advocated for 

different proposals. The city backed use of a portion of the field—the airfield 

and Hangar Row—as a general aviation airport for use by private craft. This 

followed earlier failed efforts by the city to reintroduce commercial traffic to 

reduce congestion at the city’s two airports, LaGuardia and JFK. The state and 

city planning commissions backed a proposal to redevelop the entire site as a 

new community with an industrial park, shopping mall, recreation facilities, and 

housing for 180,000 people.2

 The proposal that had the most political support and 

momentum was one initially put forth by The Regional Plan Association in May 

1969, calling on the Department of the Interior to establish a national seashore 

in lower New York Harbor, much as Fire Island to the east had been designated 

five years earlier. The plan proposed incorporation of several decommissioned 

military reservations, including Floyd Bennett Field, Fort 

Tilden on Rockaway Beach, and Fort Hancock on Sandy 

Hook (fig. 1.104). The plan also recommended transferring 

several city parks to federal ownership, including the 

Jamaica Bay wildlife refuge, Brooklyn Marine Park, and 

Jacob Riis Park. Many supported this proposal given the 

city’s financial hardship at the time.3

 

The Nixon administration backed the national seashore 

proposal and by early 1972, the National Park Service 

had developed more specific plans. Rather than using 

the national seashore designation as originally proposed, 

the park service developed a new designation, National 

Recreation Area, designed as a system of urban parks. With 

Figure 1.104: Map of initial 

proposal for New York Harbor 

National Seashore showing Floyd 

Bennett Field as one of the park’s 

components. The title refers to 

a site visit by Secretary of the 

Interior Hickel. (Peter Kihss,“ 

Recreation Area in Harbor Urged,” 

New York Times, 12 May 1969.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

168

various proposals for the future of Floyd Bennett Field still in circulation, the New 

York Times reported in May 1972: “The present prospects are that the Secretary 

of the Interior will easily prevail and that the National Park Service will get Floyd 

Bennett Field for inclusion in Gateway National Urban Recreation Area [sic].”4

On October 27, 1972, Congress passed Public Law 92-592 establishing Gateway 

National Recreation Area, the first large-scale urban park within the National Park 

System. The purpose of Gateway according to the legislation was “to preserve 

and protect for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations an area 

possessing outstanding natural and recreational features.”5

 Gateway was one 

of two urban parks established in this legislation, the other being Golden Gate 

National Recreation Area, which incorporated similar types of resources as 

Gateway in the San Francisco Bay Area. Gateway encompassed over 26,000 acres 

of former city park and military lands in lower New York Harbor and adjoining 

areas on Long Island, Staten Island, and New Jersey, although not all as originally 

proposed by The Regional Plan Association (see fig. 1.104). Floyd Bennett Field 

was included within the 26,000 acres specified in the legislation to be transferred 

to the Department of the Interior. The legislation forbade the use of the site for 

general aviation or housing, thus putting an end to those proposals.6

Upon enactment of the Gateway legislation in October 1972, the Department 

of the Interior assumed jurisdiction over most of Floyd Bennett Field, placing 

it under administration of the National Park Service.7

 The site was organized as 

part of the Jamaica Bay Unit of the park and served as the unit headquarters. As 

a unit of Gateway, Floyd Bennett Field also incorporated property not previously 

owned by the Navy as part of NAS New York, including the lands west of Flatbush 

Avenue and south of Shore Parkway formerly part of the city’s Brooklyn Marine 

Park, and a parcel of former city land to the northeast across Mill Basin along the 

Jamaica Bay waterfront.8

Within NAS New York, approximately 1,200 acres were transferred to the 

Department of the Interior. Excluded from the transfer were three parcels 

retained by the Departments of Defense and Transportation (fig. 1.105) The Navy 

retained approximately ten acres surrounding Hangar A and Tylunas Hall as the 

Naval Air Reserve Detachment, New York (NARDET NY). The Army took over 

approximately 100 acres at the south side of the field along Rockaway Inlet, an 

area that included the smaller parcel from its 1952 outgrant. The Coast Guard 

Air Station Brooklyn, which had been transferred to the federal Department of 

Transportation in 1967, retained its original ten-acre site along Jamaica Bay, but 

also finally acquired additional property it had been seeking since the end of 

World War II. This additional property included the former Navy recreation area 

and boat basin to the south, the south half of the maintenance area, and the east 
169 

half of runway 12-30 which was intended as a helicopter landing area. The Coast 

Guard made some changes to its facility at this time, including fencing in its newly 

enlarged perimeter. In 1972, the frame barracks built in c.1943 were condemned 

and the residents moved to the Navy’s Korean War-era barracks while a new 

building was being constructed. The new barracks, a large three-story concrete 

building with balconies completed in 1973, was built parallel to the bulkhead 

north of the main Coast Guard hangar.9

The 1972 Gateway legislation permitted the other federal agencies that retained 

portions of Floyd Bennett Field to continue using their property until such time 

as they decided to transfer administration to the Department of the Interior.10

The first to follow this provision was the Navy, which decommissioned NARDET 

NY and transferred the parcel to the Department of the Interior in c.1983. In 

later years, the National Park Service would lease this area to the New York City 

Department of Sanitation as a training facility.

South of NARDET, the Coast Guard Air Station remained active through the 

1980s with its helicopter-based search and rescue operations. In May 1988, the 

Coast Guard held a fiftieth anniversary celebration attended by Mayor Ed Koch 

and the son of helicopter developer Igor Sikorsky, among other dignitaries, with 

aerial displays and a public open house. Several years after this celebration, the 

Figure 1.105: National Park 

Service plan of Floyd Bennett Field 

showing areas marked by dashed 

line that were not transferred to 

the National Park Service: NARDET 

and the expanded Coast Guard Air 

Station Brooklyn, and the Armed 

Forces Reserve Center (not labeled) 

at the south end of the field along 

Rockaway Inlet. (National Park 

Service, “Structures Key Map, 

Floyd Bennett Field,” 20 July 1983, 

Gateway National Recreation Area 

Museum Collection.)

Site History, 1972-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

170

Department of Transportation, the parent agency of the Coast Guard as well 

as the Federal Aviation Administration, began planning for the closing of Air 

Station Brooklyn. In 1997, the department transferred a 1.8-acre parcel in the 

area south of the original twelve acres to the Federal Aviation Administration for 

development of a Doppler radar facility for use by JFK International Airport. In 

May of the following year, the Air Station was decommissioned and its function 

transferred to the newly established Group-Air Station in Atlantic City, New 

Jersey. Upon decommissioning, the remainder of the Coast Guard property, 

including the original ten acres and the land to the south and on runway 12-30 

acquired in 1972, was transferred to Department of the Interior jurisdiction as 

part of Floyd Bennett Field.11 In 1998, the New York City Police Department 

relocated its Aviation Unit from Hangar Row to the former Coast Guard Air 

Station through a lease agreement with the National Park Service. 

The Department of Defense property at the south side of Floyd Bennett Field 

along Rockaway Inlet remained under separate federal administration as an 

Armed Forces Reserve Center. In 1975, the Army completed construction of 

a large main building and several smaller buildings along the north side of the 

former seaplane parking apron. Access to the buildings was by a new drive that 

connected through the main barracks area. In 1997, the facility was redesignated 

a Marine Corps Reserve Center. The boundary between the NPS and the reserve 

center was laid out in 1972 to include the adjoining ranches houses (268-270) 

built as married officer quarters, the entire marginal wharf, and a portion of the 

west barracks area (see fig. 1.105). The actual management boundary, however, 

followed a chain-link fence around the reserve center that excluded the ranch 

houses, the east half of the marginal wharf, and the west barracks area. 

Management of Floyd Bennett Field, 1972-2008 12

Upon acquisition of Floyd Bennett Field in late 1972, the National Park Service 

began to plan for the site’s public opening two years later. One of the main 

management challenges—one that had also faced by the Navy since the end of 

World War II—was that the field had far more infrastructure than necessary. 

The park thus continued the Navy’s lease agreements while also moving its own 

operations into various buildings. Leases that were continued included the New 

York City Police Department Aviation Unit, which remained at hangar 3 and 

expanded into hangar 4 prior to relocating to the Coast Guard property in 1998; 

and the city Board of Education, which retained its facility (272) in the main 

barracks area, although not as a public school. Within a few years, the park also 

established new leases and agreements with outside groups, including the federal 

Job Corps program and a community gardens organization.
171 

The park set up its own offices at the Navy 

headquarters building (69) in the main barracks 

area, and located maintenance facilities in the 

maintenance area adjoining NARDET and the 

Coast Guard Air Station. The park discontinued 

use of the mobile home courts, leaving the asphalt 

drives and pads. At Hangar Row, the original 

airport entrance was reopened, and a park sign 

and obelisk were installed along the northern drive 

to mark the entrance (fig. 1.106). The World War 

II addition to the Administration Building, where 

a visitor center was proposed, was demolished in 

c.1976, and the overgrown plantings in the entrance area and the Navy sick bay 

(Building 48) to the south of the Administration Building were removed. Despite 

the leases and park uses, many of the buildings remained empty upon the opening 

of the park in 1974 and for many years thereafter. 

In keeping with the Gateway legislation, changes to the landscape in the early 

years of the park focused on enhancing recreation and natural resources. Given 

its relatively recent origins both as a municipal airport and World War II-era 

naval base, there was little done to retain the barren aviation character of the 

landscape. Indeed, park management let nature take its course in many areas of 

the site, a decision related to limited maintenance funds as well as a desire for 

ecological restoration. Natural succession, in which managed field transitions to 

woods through lack of mowing, led to a change from open landscape to thickets 

and young woods across large areas of the site by 1980 (fig. 1.107). This was most 

noticeable in the northern part of the airfield and the former ammunitionscommunication area where there was rougher ground. Natural succession 

Figure 1.106: View looking 

southeast at the reopened airport 

entrance to Floyd Bennett Field 

with park sign and obelisk, 

photographed in April 1979, five 

years after the public opening 

of the park. (Photograph 22536, 

Gateway National Recreation Area 

Museum Collection.)

Figure 1.107: Aerial view of Floyd 

Bennett Field looking northwest 

illustrating increased tree cover 

(dark areas) that had grown 

up, c.1980. The triangular pine 

plantation around the Ecology 

Village Campgrounds, planted 

in c.1974, is clearly visible at 

the south side of the airfield. 

(Photograph 18979, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)

Site History, 1972-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

172

occurred more slowly on the original 

portion of the airfield, which the city 

had built with a layer of clay and topsoil. 

In addition to allowing natural woods 

to grow up, the park also planted 

thousands of Japanese black pines—a 

species favored in shorefront parks 

in the region—in the main and west 

barracks areas. The park also planted 

deciduous specimen trees including 

sycamore throughout the main barracks 

area. 

Initial recreational improvements 

at Floyd Bennett Field included the 

development of youth campgrounds. 

In the early years of the park, children camped in the open airfield (fig. 1.108). 

Within a few years of the park’s opening in 1974, the park had installed tent 

platforms and picnic pavilions within two clusters of campgrounds: one at the 

northeast corner of the airfield west of taxiway 6 at the site of the World War II 

dirigible landing area, known as Camps Tamarack and Goldenrod; and a second 

at the south side of the airfield north of taxiway 4 adjoining the main barracks area 

known collectively as Ecology Village campgrounds. In c.1974, the park planted 

hundreds of pine trees along the triangular boundary of the Ecology Village 

campgrounds as a shelter and windbreak.13

Long-term plans for the development of Floyd Bennett Field were not finalized 

until 1979, when the General Management Plan for all of Gateway was approved. 

This plan was further refined in a Development Concept Plan and Environmental 

Assessment completed specifically for Floyd Bennett Field in September 1983.14 In 

preparation for the General Management Plan, the park undertook a number of 

studies including a historic structures report for Floyd Bennett Field and historic 

resource study of Jamaica Bay.15 The park also prepared a National Register 

nomination for the original municipal airport property, minus the portion of 

runway 12-30 belonging to the Coast Guard and the facilities along Jamaica Bay. 

The period of significance in the nomination began in 1931 with the dedication of 

the airport and ended in 1941 when the city transferred ownership to the Navy. 

The nomination was accepted and the district was listed in the National Register 

in 1981.

The General Management Plan and Development Concept Plan created three 

management zones for Floyd Bennett Field: Developed Area, Natural Area, 

Figure 1.108: Children camping in 

the airfield, c.1975. Note the open 

character of the landscape prior 

to natural succession that would 

convert a large part of the airfield 

to woods. (Photograph 22728, 

Gateway National Recreation Area 

Museum Collection.)
173 

and Administrative Area, with the 

National Register district extending 

across the first two areas (fig. 1.109). 

The Developed Area, which called 

for preservation and adaptive reuse, 

encompassed Hangar Row. Plans 

called for the Administration Building 

to be designated as the William Fitts 

Ryan Visitor Center, intended to serve 

all of Gateway, with vehicular access 

moved from the original diagonal 

entrance drives to the main Navy 

entrance to the south. The Natural 

Area, which planners envisioned as 

an “urban wilderness,” encompassed 

the airfield and the ammunitionscommunication area to its north. The 

Administrative Area took in the main 

barracks area together with the separate Coast Guard and NARDET properties 

along Jamaica Bay anticipated for future inclusion into the national park site. 

Planned and existing uses in the Administrative Area included park headquarters, 

park police, park maintenance facilities, a tree nursery, and outside agencies and 

concessionaires, such as the Job Corps, city Board of Education, and research 

institutions.16 

In the late 1970s, the park began to implement its long-term planning strategies, 

building on the initial improvements begun in c.1972. These planning efforts 

resulted in changes to the Floyd Bennett Field landscape distinguished by 

the three management areas defined in the General Management Plan and 

Development Concept Plan: Developed Area, Natural Area, and Administrative 

Area. These three areas loosely corresponded to the historic organization of the 

landscape into Hangar Row, the airfield and ammunitions-communication area, 

and the facilities along Jamaica Bay and south of the airfield including the main 

barracks area. 

Hangar Row (Developed Area)

In Hangar Row, the park’s efforts following approval of the General Management 

Plan were directed at adaptive reuse and returning the character of the municipal 

airport through demolition of buildings constructed after 1941. In c.1979, the 

park demolished a number of World War II-era buildings within Hangar Row 

including the wing of the Administration Building (171), adjoining the Navy sick 

bay (48), and the two wood-frame hangers 9 and 10 (46, 51) (fig. 1.110). The park 

Figure 1.109: Plan of Floyd 

Bennett Field showing the 

National Register district 

(shaded area) and approximate 

boundaries of the three 

management zones prescribed 

in the General Management Plan 

and Development Concept Plan. 

(“Historic District” plan in M. Paul 

Friedberg et al., “Floyd Bennett 

Field, Gateway National Recreation 

Area,” Unpublished Development 

Concept Plan prepared for the 

National Park Service, 27 October 

1980, annotated by SUNY ESF.) 

Site History, 1972-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

174

did not demolish the remaining 

World War II-era frame barracks 

and training buildings (50, 54) 

off the south end of Hangar Row. 

Despite the initial improvements 

and operation of the visitor 

center in the Administration 

Building, Hangar Row remained 

largely vacant aside from the 

hangars 3 and 4 occupied by 

the New York City police. The 

area’s huge interior spaces and 

exterior expanses of pavement 

were inhospitable to many uses, 

although good for occasional 

large events, such as carnivals, or 

informal use for a pick-up softball 

game (fig. 1.111)

After the initial demolitions, the 

park made few improvements to 

Hangar Row until the mid-1990s, 

coinciding with the anticipated 

transfer of the Coast Guard Air 

Station to the National Park 

Service and relocation of the New York City police from Hangar Row. In c.1996, 

the park received federal highway funds to redevelop access and parking to 

Hangar Row and the Ryan Visitor Center in the Administration Building from 

the main park entrance on Flatbush Avenue. This project included the redesign 

of taxiway 10 (former runway 15-33) into a four-lane access road lined by guard 

rails, with earthen berms added at intersections with adjoining runways to control 

automobiles and for aesthetic enhancement (fig. 1.112).17 This drive provided 

access to two curbed and lighted parking lots built on the Hangar Row apron to 

the east of the Administration Building. These parking lots were built over the 

original concrete apron that served as the gate or passenger boarding area during 

the municipal airport era, and as a parade ground during World War II. 

Following completion of the new entrance road and parking lots, the park began 

rehabilitating the Administration Building and the airport entrance area. The 

project, undertaken in the early 2000s, intended to return the character of the 

municipal airport period based on the findings of a historic structures report 

completed in 1981 and an update on the Administration Building published in 

Figure 1.110 (top): Looking 

southwest across the Hangar 

Row apron at the World War 

II-era hangars 9 and 10 being 

demolished, c.1979. (Photograph 

22429, Gateway National 

Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)

Figure 1.111 (bottom): A youth 

softball game on the Hangar 

Row apron, view looking 

south with the nose hangar 

and Administration Building 

in the background, c.1980. 

(Photograph 22440, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection.)
175 

2000. Work on the Administration Building included new vinyl windows that 

followed the design of the original double-hung sash, and construction of an 

accessible ramp. As part of these improvements, the park demolished the c.1965 

nose hangar (#265), replaced the south parking area with lawn, planted specimen 

trees and privet hedge along the diagonal drives, and installed Victorian-style 

light standards, drinking fountains, and benches in the central lawn area. The 

park removed the chain-link perimeter fence along Flatbush Avenue and added 

ornamental black metal picket fencing along the inside perimeter of the front 

lawn. A reproduction of the airport entrance sign was built on its original site. As a 

separate project, the park built a bike path in c.2004 along the east side of Flatbush 

Avenue as part of the Rockaway-Gateway Greenway. The two-lane asphalt bike 

path was built over an earlier sidewalk and veered on a new alignment as it crossed 

the diagonal entrance drives.

One of the biggest changes to Hangar Row during this period was carried out by a 

concessionaire. Following long-standing efforts to make use of empty facilities, the 

park entered into a twenty-year lease agreement in 2003 with Aviator Sports and 

Recreation, a private company, to redevelop the north half of Hangar Row into 

a recreation complex. The $38,000,000 project, completed in 2006, redeveloped 

hangars 5-6 and 7-8 into a 170,000 square-foot indoor recreation facility through 

construction of an infill building that connected the two pairs of hangars (see 

fig. 1.112).18 A freestanding building housing the facility’s chillers was built in the 

Figure 1.112: Aerial photograph 

of Hangar Row and adjoining 

areas of the airfield in c.2007 

indicating changes to buildings, 

circulation, and vegetation since 

c.1979. (USGS aerial photograph, 

reproduced from Microsoft 

Virtual Earth, annotated by 

SUNY ESF.) 

Site History, 1972-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

176

airport entrance area along Flatbush Avenue. The project also included new 

parking lots and entrance drives on the Hangar Row apron, with a red scalemodel airplane as a central focal point. Two large outdoor Astroturf fields with 

bleachers, scoreboards, stadium lights, and enclosing fence were located north of 

the hangars on the site of hangars 9 and 10 and the adjoining apron. 

Airfield & North 40 Natural Area (Natural Area)

Within the airfield, changes in the years following approval of the General 

Management Plan in 1979 primarily involved the creation of managed natural 

grasslands in the areas between the runways. These grasslands covered 

approximately half of the airfield, with the remainder growing into dense woods 

or scrubby meadow. In keeping with its designation as the site’s Natural Area, 

the park vegetated portions of runways 1-19 and 12-30 to make them fit in with 

the surrounding grasslands despite the inclusion within the historic district (see 

fig. 1.112).19 Some of the runways were also closed off with concrete barriers or 

earthen berms as part of the federal highway-funded circulation improvements 

completed in c.1996. Vehicular circulation through the airfield was restricted to 

taxiway 10, which had been redesigned as a four-lane entrance road, runway 6-24, 

and taxiways 1, 2, 5, and 6. The fenced-in east half of runway 12-30 that had been 

transferred to the Coast Guard in 1972 was used as a vehicle storage area by the 

New York City police following their move to the former Coast Guard station in 

1998. The north end of runway 1-19, corresponding with the portion extended 

during the Korean War, was used as a model airplane flying field. At the opposite 

end of the airfield, community gardens managed by the Floyd Bennett Garden 

Association were established in the former airfield turf between Hangar Row and 

taxiway 10. 

The former ammunitions-communication area to the north of the airfield, which 

also fell within the site’s Natural Area management zone, became densely wooded 

(fig. 1.13). The park designated this part of the site the North 40 Natural Area, 

designed for passive recreation and natural resource conservation, including 

establishment of native plant communities that would support 

habitat for a range of wildlife.20 The park removed the Navy’s 

radio transmission towers and several buildings, but left the 

concrete ammunitions bunkers, which became enveloped by 

vegetation. The asphalt surface of the patrol road was either 

removed or covered for use a walking path, and several new 

trail spurs were laid out to a trailhead along runway 6-24. 

Within the flight-path clearzone on the approach to runway 

12-30 at the west end of the area, the park built a pond in 

c.1980 to provide a wildlife viewing area. 

Figure 1.113: A recent (2006) 

photograph of successional woods 

in the North Forty Natural Area, 

in an area formerly part of the 

airfield and flight-path clear-zone 

for runway 6-24, 2005. This is the 

trailhead off runway 6-24. (SUNY 

ESF.) 
177 

Jamaica Bay Facilities & South Administrative Area (Administrative Area)

The area along the Jamaica Bay waterfront was managed in the years following 

approval of the General Management Plan in 1979 by three separate federal 

departments: Interior, Defense, and Transportation. The National Park Service 

retained the north ends of the former Aviation Patrol Base and the maintenance 

area. The park removed several small buildings including ammunition storage 

buildings and small outbuildings around the perimeter of Hangar B (fig. 1.114). 

This large World War II-era hangar stood vacant for many years except for park 

offices in the lean-to until the Historic Aircraft Restoration Project (H.A.R.P.) 

moved there in c.1995. A Volunteer in the Parks program, H.A.R.P. used Hangar 

B for its aircraft restoration work, housing many vintage airplanes within the 

enormous space.21

The Navy maintained jurisdiction over the south half of the Aviation Patrol 

Base hangar, including Hangar A built in 1940, as part of NARDET NY until the 

base was decommissioned in c.1983. Following its transfer to the National Park 

Service, the base remained vacant until the 1990s, when the park granted the 

New York City Department of Sanitation exclusive use of the area as a training 

facility for garbage truck driving. The department made Tylunas Hall, constructed 

by the Navy in 1970, its headquarters, 

but had no use for the hangar, which 

was demolished in c.1998, leaving only 

the concrete floor and tracks for the 

doors (see fig. 1.114). To the west side of 

Tylunas Hall, the department added a 

parking lot with planted medians. 

At the neighboring Air Station Brooklyn, 

the Coast Guard made few changes to 

the facility following construction of its 

new barracks (Edwards Hall) in 1972, 

aside from construction of a swimming 

pool at the site of the old barracks 

in 1979. South of the original Coast 

Guard property, the Federal Aviation 

Administration’s construction of a 

large Doppler radar tower on its small 

parcel transferred from the Coast Guard 

in 1997 added a prominent feature to 

the landscape (fig. 1.115). The facility, 

which serviced JFK International 

Airport across Jamaica Bay, included a 

Figure 1.14: Aerial photograph 

of the Jamaica Bay facilities and 

adjoining areas of the airfield 

in c.2007 indicating changes 

to buildings, circulation, and 

vegetation since c.1979. (USGS 

aerial photograph, reproduced 

from Microsoft Virtual Earth, 

annotated by SUNY ESF.)

Site History, 1972-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

178

distinctive white geodesic dome on a steel tower, 

a fenced perimeter, small support building, and 

two access roads. A number of changes were made 

to the air station following its decommissioning 

in May 1998 and subsequent relocation there of 

the New York City Police Department Aviation 

Unit. The police retained the secure perimeter 

that included the southeast half of runway 12-30 

and part of the maintenance-storage area, adding 

concrete barriers along many of the roads and a 

guard booth at the entrance along the main access road (fig. 1.116). The police 

removed the nose hangar built in c.1955 and the adjoining World War II-era 

aviation fuel tanks, and in 2004 built an equipment storage building north of the 

hangar. At the Coast Guard’s section of the Navy maintenance area, the police 

added a large temporary storage building and a memorial garden near buildings 90 

and 91. 

Figure 1.115 (above): View 

looking north along the Jamaica 

Bay shoreline showing Doppler 

radar tower added in 1997 with 

former Coast Guard main hangar 

in background, December 2006. 

The three-story building to the 

right of the hangar is the former 

Coast Guard barracks built in 1973. 

The piles are remnants from the 

airport seaplane pier. (SUNY ESF.) 

Figure 1.116: Aerial photograph of the former main and west barracks areas in c.2007 indicating changes to buildings, 

circulation, and vegetation since c.1979. (USGS aerial photograph, reproduced from Microsoft Virtual Earth, annotated 

by SUNY ESF.)
179 

In the former main barracks area and west barracks area south of the airfield, 

there were numerous changes in the years following completion of the General 

Management Plan. The Army continued to operate the reserve center along the 

south edge of the area along Rockaway Inlet, but made few changes to the site 

after completing its main building in 1975. While some changes on National Park 

Service-managed land reflected development for new programs for the park or 

park partners, most changes stemmed from deterioration of vacant buildings and 

natural succession from mown turf to woods across a large percentage of the area 

(see fig. 1.116). 

The park used the former west recreation building (#70) for its Ecology 

Village program, barracks #5 (69) for its park headquarters, and the former 

new dispensary (272) as the park police headquarters. The park removed the 

swimming pool on the site of the old dispensary (87) and redeveloped the site as 

a park nursery. Across the road to the east, the park removed the four World War 

II-era AVGAS fuel storage tanks (192-195) and developed the site as an archery 

range. The Rockaway Inlet frontage in the west barracks area was set aside as a 

restricted fishing area. Buildings that the park abandoned included two barracks 

(62, 72), the large Bachelor Officers’ Quarters (68), Married Officers’ Mess Hall 

(73), the sewage plant (59-60), laundry (85), Power Plant A (86), and several 

ancillary buildings from the World War II era. The Bachelor Officers Quarters and 

Married Officers’ Club were demolished between 1983 and 1987, and their sites 

redeveloped as ballfields. By the late 1990s, the park also abandoned the Korean 

War-era barracks complex (129-132) and the former Enlisted Men’s Recreation 

Building (74) following loss of their long-time tenant, the Job Corps program.

Other changes to the landscape within the south administrative area included 

addition of berms along Floyd Bennett Boulevard to close off the intersection 

with taxiway 10 leading to the seaplane base along Rockaway Inlet. This was 

added as part of the construction of the new entrance road to Hangar Row 

along taxiway 10 in c.1996 (see fig. 1.116). Around the same time, the park built 

a new parking lot near the entrance gate in the former west barracks area, and a 

model race track on the southern part of taxiway 7. The condition of many of the 

vacant buildings and abandoned structures continued to deteriorate after these 

circulation improvements. By the early 2000s, the marginal wharf, Power Plant A 

(86), laundry (85), and two barracks (62, 72), all dating from the World War II era, 

were overgrown with vegetation and in varying states of ruin with collapsed roofs, 

missing windows, and overgrown vegetation (fig. 1.117). The death of many of 

the Japanese black pine planted in the south administrative area by the late 1990s 

added to the feeling of decline in the landscape. 

Site History, 1972-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

180

As of 2008, the National Park Service was 

developing a new General Management Plan for 

all of Gateway National Recreation Area to address 

the future of Floyd Bennett Field over the course of 

the next two decades or more. The new plan would 

continue to address issues similar to those found in 

the 1980 plan, particularly the balance of recreation 

and natural resource conservation and how to best 

use the park’s extensive infrastructure. It is likely 

that the plan could also address the landscape as 

a historic resource, in keeping with a broadened 

understanding of historic preservation that has 

developed since completion of the original General 

Management Plan. With park interpretation recently focusing on the site’s role in 

World War II in addition to its origins as New York City’s first municipal airport, 

the plan may also recognize the historic role that Floyd Bennett Field played in the 

World War II home front as Naval Air Station, New York. 

Landscape characteristics, 2008 (Drawing 1.5)

After more than three decades of National Park Service management, the 

landscape of Floyd Bennett Field changed considerably since its decommissioning 

by the Navy in 1971. While there was some new construction, the most 

significant changes to the landscape have come through building demolition and 

deterioration, changes in circulation, and most notably through natural succession 

that has led to a loss of much of the defining open character of the field. Despite 

these changes, the key organization of the landscape and many of its most 

prominent buildings, structures, and circulation features from its development as 

a municipal airport, Naval Air Station, and Coast Guard Air Station remain intact.

Natural Systems and Features 

During the National Park Service period, natural systems became reestablished 

on large areas of formerly managed landscape, particularly within the North 40 

Natural Area and the airfield that were designated as Natural Area management 

zones. Here, successional vegetation, ranging from scrub thickets to mixed 

hardwoods forest upwards of thirty feet in height, covered much of the landscape. 

Most of these woods occurred on the northern expansion of the field created 

by the Navy during World War II. The original portion of the airfield built by the 

city was transformed from mown turf to naturalized grasslands mown annually 

to keep down woody vegetation. These grasslands, which reach upwards of five 

feet in height during the growing season, are managed to enhance wildlife habitat. 

The park has expanded the grasslands area by laying down soil and mulch over 

Figure 1.117: Looking east through 

remains of main mess hall with 

abandoned barracks (62, 72) to left 

and right, and empty Korean Warera barracks complex (129-132) in 

the distance, 2006. (SUNY ESF.)
181 

portions of the runways to allow vegetation to grow. The southern end of the 

field, surrounding the mixed pine plantation at Ecology Village, is not managed 

as grasslands and the park has instead allowed this area to transition to tree 

and shrub cover. Other areas covered by successional woody vegetation have 

developed across a large percentage of the area south of the airfield and at the 

south end of Hangar Row. 

Along Mill Basin, Jamaica Bay, and Rockaway Inlet, the area of natural shoreline 

has slowly increased during the National Park Service period. As timber and steel 

bulkheads have collapsed, additional areas of sand beach and tidal estuary have 

become reestablished.

Spatial Organization

During the National Park Service period, the spatial character of the landscape 

changed dramatically due primarily to natural succession from open fields to 

woods. The airfield became enclosed along the north and south sides by woods 

and a mixed pine plantation, while additional areas of successional woods along 

the eastern side have also enclosed the space. Within the airfield, corresponding to 

the perimeter runways and taxiways, successional woods and the pine plantation 

have also reduced the extent of the airfield space by nearly one half. The cyclone 

fence added by the Coast Guard in c.1972 to enclose the southeast half of runway 

12-30 also disrupted the open spatial character of the airfield, as did a number 

berms, concrete barriers, and guiderails added in c.1996 to close off runways and 

taxiways (see fig. 1.112). 

Within other areas of the field, changes in spatial organization resulted primarily 

from building demolition and change from open field to woods. Within Hangar 

Row, the spatial character was altered during this period through the park’s 

demolition of hangars 9 and 10, the Administration Building wing, Navy sick 

bay, and the nose hangar. Additional changes occurred from Aviator Sports’ infill 

building between Hangars 5-6 and 7-8, by the chiller building constructed in 

the entrance area, and by the two fenced playing fields and sets of bleachers at 

the north end of Hangar Row (see fig. 1.112). Along Jamaica Bay, changes in the 

spatial character resulted from addition of fences around the NARDET facility, 

construction of the large Coast Guard barracks building, demolition of Hangar 

A, and removal of the c.1958 Coast Guard hangar and AVGAS tanks. In the south 

administrative area corresponding with the former main and west barracks areas, 

the open, barren feeling of the landscape was altered primarily through the 

growth of woods and planting of trees along the roads and buildings, but also 

through demolition of the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters and Officers’ Club and 

several smaller buildings and structures (see fig. 1.116). The adjoining Reserve 

Center established a new space in the landscape with its development in 1975 

Site History, 1972-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

182

along Rockaway Inlet at the former seaplane base. This development included the 

addition of a perimeter fence, new entrance drive, and construction of three large 

buildings. 

Land Use

During the National Park Service period, the use of Floyd Bennett Field changed 

from primarily military-aviation to recreation-conservation, although it continued 

to host a variety of ancillary uses. The entire NAS New York property remained in 

federal ownership, but was managed by three separate departments. By the end of 

the period, the National Park Service administered all of the property except for 

the two-acre site at the former Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn belonging to the 

Federal Aviation Administration where it maintained a Doppler radar tower, and 

an approximately 100-acre parcel along Rockaway Inlet administered as a Marine 

Corps Reserve Center. 

Military-aviation uses continued for a number of years after 1972 at NARDET, 

Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn, the Reserve Center, and hangars 3 and 4 leased 

to the New York City Police Department Aviation Unit. At the end of the period, 

the police department’s helicopter service remained the only active aviation 

use at the field, located at the former Coast Guard property. H.A.R.P. continued 

aviation-related uses at its aircraft restoration program in Hangar B. The Reserve 

Center remained the only active military use at its separately administered federal 

property along Rockaway Inlet. The New York City Department of Sanitation 

introduced sanitation training as a new use at the former NARDET facility, 

although it could claim a link back to Barren Island’s early use as a city garbage 

dump. 

Recreational uses directly administered or overseen by the National Park Service 

at Floyd Bennett Field included hiking and nature viewing at the North 40 

Natural Area; campgrounds and environmental programs at Ecology Village; an 

archery range and nursery in the south administrative area; and a visitor center 

at the Administration Building. Park partners or concessionaires that provide 

recreational opportunities included Aviator Sports and the Floyd Bennett 

Field Garden Association at Hangar Row; a model plane club at the north 

end of runway 1-19 and H.A.R.P. in Hangar B; and in the south administrative 

area, playing fields maintained by Polytechnic University and the Gateway 

Environmental Study Center operated in partnership with the New York City 

Board of Education. 
183 

Cluster Arrangement

During the National Park Service period, Hangar Row and the Jamaica Bay 

facilities (including the former Aviation Patrol Base/NARDET, maintenance area, 

and the Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn) remained as well-defined clusters of 

development in the landscape. The main barracks area lost much of its identity 

as a cluster due to building demolition, development of the Armed Forces 

Reserve Center, and growth of woods that blurred the flight-path boundaries that 

originally defined the cluster. The west barracks had lost its identity as a cluster 

prior to 1972.

Topography

The topography of Floyd Bennett Field remained largely unchanged during the 

National Park Service period except for minor alterations due to shoreline erosion 

from bulkhead deterioration, and addition of berms across runways, taxiways, 

and roads. 

Vegetation

Planted and managed vegetation at Floyd Bennett Field changed dramatically 

during the National Park Service period, adding to the change created through 

natural succession from field to woods. Changes in vegetation included the 

transition of the mown airfield turf to natural grasslands; establishment of a 

large mixed-pine plantation in the airfield to shelter campgrounds; planting of 

specimen trees in the south administrative area; and removal of the ornamental 

plantings in the airport entrance area (see fig. 1.106). The hedges lining the 

diagonal drives were replaced in part in c.2000, and specimen trees were added 

at the same time. At the Coast Guard Air Station, foundation plantings remain 

around the main hangar, although no documentation was found to indicate 

whether these were altered after 1972. A memorial garden with trees and shrubs 

was added by the police in c.2001 at the south end of the maintenance area. 

Circulation

During the National Park Service period, there were relatively few changes to 

the physical structure of the circulation at Floyd Bennett Field, but the outward 

appearance and use changed considerably. The changes resulted from closing 

off runways and taxiways with berms, concrete barriers, and cyclone fencing; 

partial covering of runways with soil and mulch to allow vegetation to grow; and 

overgrowth from successional woody vegetation (see figs. 1.112, 1.116). None of 

the runways was actively used for aviation, although runway 6-24 was kept open to 

allow planes to land on special occasions.

Site History, 1972-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

184

Notable physical changes to circulation features during the early years of the 

park included the addition of a second parking lot next to the park headquarters 

building (69), a new entrance drive (Cei Angelo Nania Way) to the Reserve Center 

off Floyd Bennett Boulevard, addition of walking trails in the North 40 Natural 

Area, and removal of the parking area south of the Administration Building. Later 

changes included the introduction in c.1996 of a new four-lane public entrance 

road over taxiway 7-10 that led to parking lots constructed over the Hangar 

Row apron. These parking lots, paved in asphalt and bordered by concrete curbs 

and sidewalks, altered the open circulation pattern of the apron, where planes 

formerly parked and passengers boarded (see fig. 1.112). A new parking lot was 

built near the main gate, and the adjoining Aviation Road was realigned. With 

development of the Aviator Sports complex in c.2006, the public entrance road 

was extended and additional parking lots were constructed on the Hangar Row 

apron. Other physical changes to circulation during this period included the 

addition of a bikeway parallel to Flatbush Avenue, construction of a remotecontrolled car track on taxiway 7, and collapse of the roadway along the marginal 

wharf due to erosion and failure of the bulkhead. 

Buildings and Structures

Since 1972, many changes have been made with regard to the buildings and 

structures of Floyd Bennett Field (see Table 1.3 for a list of buildings and 

structures). Over the course of the period, major changes to buildings and 

structures in Hangar Row included demolition of the Administrative wing 

(171), Navy sick bay (48), nose hangar (265), and hangars 9 and 10 (46, 51). New 

construction included the Aviator Sports infill and chiller buildings, and a park 

comfort station. In the North 40 Natural Area, the radio towers were removed 

along with several of the buildings (107, 108, 118), while the ammunitions 

magazines (110-115) became covered in vegetation. The park built three small, 

wooden photography shelters around a pond near Flatbush Avenue. Within 

the airfield, the park added many minor buildings and structures, including an 

announcer’s booth in the model airplane flying field at the north end of runway 

1-19, a park comfort station along taxiway 6, and tent platforms and pavilions 

within the two sets of campgrounds. 

The administrative areas of the park underwent extensive changes to buildings 

and structures during this period. Within the former Aviation Patrol Base/

NARDET, building demolitions included Hangar A (23) in c.1998 and several 

ammunitions storage buildings in the years prior. Within the Coast Guard 

property that was transferred to the National Park Service in 1998, changes 

included demolition of the World War II-era Coast Guard barracks and the Coast 

Guard nose hangar. New buildings and structures included Coast Guard barracks 

known as Edwards Hall (later police offices), a temporary storage building, an 
185 

equipment shed, and a temporary training tower. The parcel transferred to the 

Federal Aviation Administration was developed with a Doppler radar tower and 

two small support buildings. Within the south administrative area, major building 

demolitions included the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters (68), Officers’ Club (73), and 

fuel storage tanks along the marginal wharf. A number of buildings fell into ruin 

or remained empty and deteriorating, including Power Plant B (85), the laundry 

(86), two World War II barracks (62,72), the Korean War-era brick barracks 

complex (129-132), and two single-family houses originally used as Married 

Officer Quarters (157, 158). The foundations of the main mess hall, which burned 

in 1969, were not removed. New major buildings within the south administrative 

area were limited to the three erected at the Reserve Center in 1975 on property 

belonging to the Department of Defense. Minor buildings included two park 

comfort stations, a greenhouse at the nursery, and pavilions at the archery range 

and Ecology Village. 

Views and Vistas

The major views and vistas in the Floyd Bennett Field landscape changed in extent 

during the National Park Service period primarily through the growth of woods. 

From the ground, sight lines along the runways were interrupted by berms, fences, 

and successional woods that encroached on the former runway clear zones. 

Panoramic views across the airfield, including views from the control tower in 

the Administration Building (1) became restricted by successional woods and the 

Ecology Village pine plantation. Within the south administrative area, views south 

and east across the open waters of Jamaica Bay and Rockaway Inlet were lost due 

to growth of successional woods and planted trees. 

Constructed Water Features

During the National Park Service period, the Navy swimming pool built in c.1970 

at the site of the dispensary (68) was removed probably to allow for development 

of the site as the park nursery in c.1980. Around the same time, the park built a 

pond off the northwestern approach to runway 12-30 in the North 40 Natural 

Area. This pond was intended as a wildlife viewing area. The Coast Guard added a 

swimming pool in c.1979 on the site of its World War II barracks. 

Small-Scale Features

Small-scale features in the landscape changed considerably during the National 

Park Service period. The loss of aircraft, although not permanent features, was 

one of the most conspicuous overall changes. Along with the planes disappeared 

navigation devices such as runway lights and windsocks. Also removed was the 

perimeter chain-link fence along Flatbush Avenue, which the park replaced along 

Site History, 1972-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

186

Hangar Row with a black chain-link fence and along the entrance area with an 

ornamental metal picket fence. At the airport entrance, the park also installed a 

replica of the airport sign, and Victorian-style light standards, drinking fountains, 

and benches. Other notable changes elsewhere in the landscape included the 

Coast Guard’s addition of chain-link fencing around the south half of runway 

12-30, street lights along the roads and parking lots, addition of site-wide park 

furnishings—such as picnic tables, benches, and garbage cans—and replacement 

of Navy signs with National Park Service signs for visitor wayfinding. Numerous 

small-scale features, such as fences, signs, benches, and bollards, have been added 

by park partners and concessionaires at Aviator Sports, the community gardens, 

model flying field, and remote-control car track. 
187 

TABLE 1.3 

FLOYD BENNETT FIELD NATIONAL PARK SERVICE-PERIOD BUILDING/STRUCTURE KEY (2008) 

Sources: “Structures Key Map, Floyd Bennett Field,” 3 April 1992 partially updated to 2006; 2007 GATE List of Structures; Barbara 

Judy, “USCG Air Station Brooklyn Property Map 1936-1988.” Buildings in italics pre-date 1972. Names in parentheses indicate 

previous names/uses; undated demolitions occurred 1972-2008. 

FLOYD BENNETT FIELD, GATEWAY NATIONAL RECREATION AREA 

1 Ryan Visitor Center (Administration Building) 60 Vacant (former Sewage Treatment Plant) 

2 Demolished pre-1972 (former Field House) 61 63-65 Demolished pre-1972 (Barracks Nos. 1, 2-4, 6) 

3 - 6 Hangar Row Hangars 1-8 (with lean-to, infill bldgs.)#62 Vacant (Former CPO Club, Barracks No. 2) 

23 Demolished (Hangar A) 66 Demolished pre-1947 

24 Demolished pre-1972 (APB Squadron Barracks 14) 67 Ruins (Foundations of Mess Hall) 

25 Demolished pre-1941 68 Demolished (BOQ & Enlisted Men’s Barracks) 

26 Dope Shop & Sheet Metal Shop 69 Park Administration (former CPO Barracks No. 5) 

27 Demolished pre-1972 (WAVES Barracks No. 12 ) 70 Ecology Village Gym (West Recreation Building) 

28 Demolished pre-1972 (CPO Recreation Building) 71 Demolished (Hobby Shop/Marines Garage) 

29 Fire Pump House & Water Tank 72 Vacant (former Barracks 15) 

30 Sewage Ejector Pump House 73 Demolished (Officers’ Club/Mess Building) 

31 Demolished pre-1947 74 Former Job Corps Gym (Navy Exchange/Rec. Building) 

32, 33 Demolished (Gasoline Pump Houses, Waste Oil Strg.) 75 Sewage Pumping Station ‘A’ 

34 Demolished (Storage Building) 76 Demolished pre-1972 (Barracks No. 10) 

35 Demolished pre-1972 (Boat House) 77 Demolished pre-1972 (Barracks No. 8) 

36 Demolished (Salvage Building) 78 Demolished pre-1972 (Barracks No. 9) 

37 Demolished (Equipment Shed) 79 Demolished pre-1972 (Barracks No. 7) 

38 Demolished pre-1972 (Squadron BOQ) 80 Demolished pre-1972 (Barracks No. 13) 

39 Demolished (Ground Support Shop) 81 Demolished pre-1972 (Barracks No. 11) 

41 Demolished (Ammunitions Storage) 82 Vacant (former Heater House) 

42- 45 Ammunitions Lockers (Demolished except 44) 83-84 Demolished (Gasoline Storage Tanks Pump Stations) 

46 Demolished (Hangar 9) 85 Vacant (former Laundry) 

47 Paint Store House (ruin) 86 Vacant (former Power Plant ‘A’) 

48 Demolished (Sick Bay) 87 Demolished (Bath House, Dispensary Remnant Wing ) 

49 Demolished pre-1972 (Boat Repair Shop) 88 South Service Substation 

50 Fire House 89 NYPD Sewage Pumping Station ‘B’ 

51 Demolished (Hangar 10) 90 NYPD Building (former Fire Station) 

52 Demolished pre-1972 (WAVES Laundry) 91 NYPD Building (former Station Maintenance) 

53 Demolished pre-1972 (Celestial Navigation Training) 92 Demolished ( PW/Paint & Oil Storehouse) 

54 Barracks (Synthetic Training Building) 93 Demolished (PW Office/Bombsight Storage) 

55 Redesignated 255 94 Vacant (former Torpedo Storage) 

56 Demolished pre-1972 (Public Works & Police Station) 95 Demolished (USCG Air Crew Facility/Ordinance Shop) 

57 Transformer Vault 96 Vacant (Seabee Reserve Training, Power Plant ‘B’) 

58 Demolished pre-1972(Garage, Aviation Free Gunnery) 97 Storage (former Cold Storage & Commissary) 

59 Demolished (Incinerator) 98 Maintenance Warehouse (former General Storehouse) 

Site History, 1972-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

188

99 Pumping Station—Fire Protection 146 Demolished (PW Storage Building) 

100 Hangar ‘B’ H.A.R.P (former Seaplane Hangar) 147 Demolished (PW Storage Building) 

101 Vacant (Fuel Oil Storage Substation No. 2) 148 Demolished pre-1972 (Shop Building) 

102 Fire Booster Station (Water Storage Pump House) 149 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

103 Abandoned (Site of Lighter-Than-Air Facilities) 150 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

104 Demolished (Storage Building, Misc.) 151 Demolished (Hangar A Line Operators Building) 

105 Demolished pre-1972 (Shotgun Range House) 152 Gasoline Filling Station 

106 Storage (former Inert Storage) 153 Airport Entrance Flagpole 

107 Demolished (Smoke Drum Storage) 154 Pump house 

108 Demolished (S. A. Pyrotechnics Storage) 155 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

109 Storage (former Ordinance/Practice Bomb Storage) 156 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

110, 111 Vacant (Fuse & Detonator Magazines) 157 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

112-115 Vacant (High Explosive Magazines) 158 Vacant (former Married Officer Quarters A) 

116 Vacant (Ammunition Magazine, former Warhead) 159 Vacant (former Married Officer Quarters B) 

117 North Service Substation 160 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

118 Demolished (Radio Transmitter Building) 161 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

119 Demolished pre-1972 (Direction Finder Station) 162 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

120 Transformer Vault 163 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

121 Demolished pre-1972 (Unknown) 164 Baseball Field 

122 Demolished pre-1972 (PW Storehouse ‘A,’ Hospital C.B.) 165 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

123 Demolished (PW Storehouse ‘B’) 166 Reassigned to Reserve Center (BOQ Handball Courts) 

124 Demolished pre-1972 (Gas Dist. & Operation Office) 167 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

125 Demolished pre-1972 (Furniture Maintenance Building) 168 Vacant (former Ready Ammunitions Magazine) 

126 Vacant (former Paint Storage Building) 169 Vacant (former Ready Ammunitions Magazine) 

127 Demolished pre-1972 (Electrical Gear Shed) 170 Demolished (Aircraft Line Operator Building) 

128 Demolished pre-1972 (Salvage Shed) 171 Demolished (Administration Building Wing) 

129 Vacant (Brick Mess Hall) 172 Demolished pre-1972 (unknown) 

130 Vacant (Brick Barracks #1) 173 Reassigned to Reserve Center (Seaplane Ramp A) 

131 Vacant (Brick Barracks #2) 174 Seaplane Ramp B 

132 Vacant (Brick Barracks Breezeway) 175 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

133 Demolished or unassigned number 176 Beacon Tower (1957) 

134 Demolished (Jet Fuel Loading Stand) 177 Fire Pump House Second Water Tank (c.1947-60) 

135 Visitor Contact Station (Main entrance gate house) 178 Pumping Station Water Storage Tank 

136 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 179 Water Storage Tank 

137 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 180 Water Storage Tank 

138 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 181 Demolished (Sleeve Antennae, 5) 

139 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 182 Demolished (Low Frequency Antennae, 4) 

140 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 183 Demolished (UFH/VFH Antennae, 2) 

141 Piles (City Pier remnants) 184 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

142 Berthing/Marginal Wharf; part in Reserve Center 185 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

143 Building 69 Flagstaff 186 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

144 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 187 Demolished (Fuel Oil Storage Tank) 

145 Demolished (Gasoline Pump Station) 188 Demolished (Fuel Oil Storage Tank) 
189 

189 Demolished (Optical Landing System) 232 Demolished pre-1972 (storage building) 

190 Demolished (Jet Fuel Storage Tank) 233 Demolished (Paint Locker) 

191 Demolished (Jet Fuel Storage Tank) 234 Vacant (former Dope Shop Storage) 

192 Demolished (AVGAS Storage Tank) 235 Demolished (ANG Sentry Booth) 

193 Demolished (AVGAS Storage Tank) 236 Demolished (ANG Sentry Booth) 

194 Demolished (AVGAS Storage Tank) 237 Demolished (Radio Transmission Area Shed) 

195 Demolished (AVGAS Storage Tank) 238 Demolished (Storage Building) 

196 Demolished (AVGAS Storage Tank) 239 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

197 Demolished (AVGAS Storage Tank) 240 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

198 Demolished (AVGAS Storage Tank) 241 Removed (Hangar B Portable Line Storage Shed) 

199 Demolished (Motor Gas Storage Tank) 242 Removed (Hangar B Portable Storage Shed) 

200 Demolished (AVGAS Pump Station) 243 Removed (Hangar A Portable Storage Shed) 

201 Demolished (Transformer Vault) 244 Removed (Portable Storage Shed) 

202 Demolished (Hangar B Line Operators Building) 245 Removed (Portable Storage Shed) 

203 Demolished (Hangar B Line Crew Shelter) 246 Removed (Portable Storage Shed) 

204 Demolished (Hangar B Line Operators Building) 247 Demolished (Shed or Vault) 

205 Demolished (Shed or Fuel Station) 248 Removed (Hangar B Portable Storage Shed) 

206 Oil Reclaiming Station 249 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

207 Main Entrance Sentry Booth 250 Enlisted Men’s Handball Courts 

208 Tetrahedron (unknown if exists) 251 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

209 Demolished (New AVGAS Loading Stand) 252 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

210 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 253 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

211 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 254 Demolished (Bus Stop Shelter) 

212 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 255 Demolished pre-1972 (WW II Entrance Sentry Booth) 

213 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 256 Demolished (Airport Entrance Bus Shelter) 

214 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 257 Demolished (Line Maintenance/Fuel Issue Building) 

215 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 258 Auto Shop (former Garage-A/C Crash Fire Station) 

216 Demolished or unassigned number (c.1947-60) 259 Demolished (Diesel Fuel Tank/Dispensing Stand) 

217 Storage (former Liquid Oxygen Facility) 260 NYPD Filling Station (Maintenance Area Filling Station) 

218 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 261 Transmitter Building 

219 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 262 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 

220 Demolished (Jet Fuel Pump Station) 263 Demolished (Radio Beacon, 3 poles) 

221 Reassigned to Reserve Center (BOQ Tennis Court) 264 Removed (Aircraft Display) 

222 Reassigned to Reserve Center (BOQ Tennis Court) 265 Demolished (Nose Hangar) 

223 Reassigned to Reserve Center (BOQ Tennis Court) 266 A/C Wash Rack Building 

224 Demolished (Bus Stop Shelter) 267 Vacant (Relocated Married Enlisted Men’s Quarters) 

225 Demolished (Bus Stop Shelter) 268 Married Officer Quarters C 

226 Demolished (Bus Stop Shelter) 269 Married Officer Quarters D 

227 Demolished (Hangar A Outbuilding) 270 Married Officer Quarters E 

228 Demolished (Hangar B Sonobuoy Storage) 271 Demolished (Station Signal) 

229 Demolished (NARDET Paint Shop) 272 Gateway Environmental Ed. Center (NYC Board of Ed.) 

230 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 273 Remote Revr. Building 

231 Demolished or unassigned number pre-1972 274 Generator Building 

Site History, 1972-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

190

275 Park Police Headquarters (former New Dispensary) BUILDINGS/STRUCTURES BELOW NOT NUMBERED

276 Demolished pre-1972 (Unknown Shed or Vault) Airport Compass Rose 

277 Demolished (Transmission Antennae) Navy Compass Rose-Helicopter Pad 

278 NYC Dept. of Sanitation/Tylunas Hall Abandoned (Main Barracks Area Mobile Home Courts) 

279 Demolished (Outdoor Pool) Abandoned (West Barracks Area Mobile Home Courts) 

280 Demolished (Substation) Jet Engine Run-Up Stand 

281 Demolished (Standby Generator Plant) Demolished (Sheet & Trip Shooting Houses, 5) 

Q1-Q5 Demolished pre-1972 (Quonset Huts) Demolished (Test Backstop) 

Park Comfort Stations (6) (2000, 2006) 

Campgrounds Tent Platforms, Pavilions (c.1976) 

Aviator Sports Infill Building Hangars 5/6, 7/8 (2006) 

Aviator Sports Chiller Building (2006) 

Aviator Sports Bleachers (2006) 

Model Airplane Announcer’s Booth (c.1980) 

Archery Range Pavilion (c.1980) 

Nursery Greenhouse (c.1990) 

FORMER U.S. COAST GUARD AIR STATION BROOKLYN (TRANSFERRED TO DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR) 

CG-1 Main Hangar Buildings/Structures Below Not Numbered

CG-2 Garage Coast Guard Seaplane Ramp 

CG-3 Demolished (Barracks) Demolished (Radio towers) 

CG-3 Edwards Hall (New barracks, 1973, number reassigned) Finger Pier 

CG-4 Demolished (Engineer Store Room) Boat House 

CG-5 Demolished (North Pyro Locker) Demolished (Quonset Huts) 

CG-6 Demolished (Bosun Store Room) Swimming Pool (1979) 

CG-7 South Pyro Locker Guard Booth (c.1998) 

CG-8 Paint Locker Temporary Storage Building (c.2000) 

CG-9 Unknown Temporary Training Tower (2001) 

CG-10 Demolished (Nose Hangar) Police Equipment Shed (2004) 

CG-11 Unknown 

CG-12 Transformer Vault 

CG-13 Storage Building 

 

MARINE CORPS RESERVE CENTER (DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, TRANSFERRED FROM NAS NEW YORK) 

 Main Building (1975) Buildings/Structures Reassigned from NAS New York

 Secondary Buildings (2) (1975) 142 Berthing/Marginal Wharf 

166 Abandoned (BOQ Handball Court) 

173 Abandoned (Seaplane Ramp A) 

221 Abandoned (BOQ Tennis Court) 

222 Abandoned (BOQ Tennis Court) 

223 Abandoned (BOQ Tennis Court) 
191 

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION DOPPLER RADAR STATION (DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, FROM COAST 

GUARD AIR STATION BROOKLYN)

 Doppler Radar Tower (c.1997) Utility Building (c.1997) 

 

Acronyms

ACFT = Aircraft NARDET = Navy Air Reserve Detachment (former APB) 

ANG = Air National Guard NYPD = New York Police Department 

APB = Aviation Patrol Base (NARDET) PW = Public Works 

AVGAS = Aviation Gasoline USCG = United States Coast Guard 

BOQ = Bachelor Officers’ Quarters 

EM = Enlisted Men 

# = Hangar numbers were reassigned to 3, 4, 5, and 6 (previously 3 through 22, assigned to individual hangars, infill buildings, and leantos; simplified to one number per pair of hangars.

Endnotes

1 The history of Floyd Bennett Field’s administration as part of Gateway National Recreation Area presented here is based 

on limited information available for this project. An administrative history of the park has not been written to date.

2 David K. Shipler, “1-Billion State Development Plan for Bennett Field Scored by City.” New York Times, 25 May 1970, 1; 

Richard Haitch, “Airport, Housing Project or National Park?” New York Times, 28 May 1972, A1, A8.

3 Peter Kihss, “Recreation Area in Harbor Urged,” New York Times, 12 May 1969, 1.

4 “Airport, Housing Project or National Park?”

5 National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, “General Management Plan” (National Park Service North 

Atlantic Regional Office: Unpublished report, August 1979), 1.

6 History of the transfer of Floyd Bennett Field from the Navy to the National Park Service in NYC Audubon 

Society vs. Rodney Slater, U.S. Court of Appeals docket 99-4081, http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl? 

navby=search&case=/data2/circs/2nd/994081.html. 

7 NYC Audubon Society vs. Rodney Slater.

8 National Park Service, “Structures Key Map, Floyd Bennett Field” 20 July 1983, Gateway National Recreation Area 

archives, Fort Wadsworth (hereafter, GATE archives).

9 U.S. Coast Guard, “Air Station Brooklyn, Historical Remarks,” undated article, http://www.uscg.mil/history/stations/

airstabrooklyn1955 _1_300.jpg.

10 NYC Audubon Society vs. Rodney Slater.

11 “Air Station Brooklyn, Historical Remarks;” NYC Audubon Society vs. Rodney Slater.

12 Limited documentation on changes to the landscape was available for this period. The information presented is based 

on existing conditions, communications with park ranger Linc Hallowell, and park maps and brochures. Plans used to track 

changes include: Lockwood, Kessler & Bartlett, “Topographic Sheet, Gateway National Recreation Area” (April 1974 & 

September 1975); National Park Service, “Structures Key Map, Floyd Bennett Field” (20 July 1983); National Park Service, 

“General Layout, Floyd Bennett Field” (July 1987); National Park Service, “Structures Key Map, Floyd Bennett Field” (3 

April 1992, partially updated to 2006); and Barbara Judy, “USCG Air Station Brooklyn Property Map 1936-1988” (Draft 

Site History, 1972-Present
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

192

map prepared for Gateway National Recreation Area, 23 May 2008). All plans from Gateway National Recreation Area 

archives and maintenance files. 

13 The pines were apparently planted at Ecology Village because of its location on the original airfield turf where natural 

succession occurred more slowly. In contrast, natural woods had begun to grow up during the 1970s around Camps 

Tamarack and Goldenrod. 

14 The Development Concept Plan was originally drafted in October 1980 by a group of consultants including M. 

Paul Friedberg and Partners, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates, Edwards and Kelcey, Inc., and the Trans Urban East 

Organization. 

15 These reports were not finalized and published until 1981 following completion of the General Management Plan. 

16 National Park Service, “Development Concept Plan and Environmental Assessment, Floyd Bennett Field, Gateway 

National Recreation Area” (Unpublished report, September 1983), 3-18.

17 Pete McCarthy, Gateway District Ranger, communication with authors, 13 October 2005.

18 Neil S. Friedman, “Aviator Sports Complex Is Brooklyn’s Field Of Dreams,” Canarsie Courier, 30 November 2006, 

http://www.canarsiecourier.com/news/2006/1130/TopStories/013.html. 

19 In a compromise with the cultural resource management staff, the idea of vegetating the runways was abandoned. Large 

piles of woodchips were left on taxiway 5. Doug Adamo, Chief of Natural Resources, Gateway National Recreation Area, 

personal communication with author, 12 June 2007.

20 Doug Adamo.

21 National Park Service, “H.A.R.P.” brochure, http://www.nps.gov/gate/supportyourpark/upload/ HARP%20Rack%20

Card%20final%201.pdf.
Soil cement

205

0’ 200’ 400’

Entrance road

(c.1996)

Entrance road

(c.1996)

Lawn

(c.1996)

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Fence

(c.2000)

Rockaway

Gateway

Greenway

bikepath

(c.2004)

Light standards

(c.2000)

Concrete

benches

Parking lot

(c.1996)

Parking lot

(c.1996)

Benches,

water fountain

B A R R E N I S L A N D

R O C K A W A Y I N

L

E

T

M I L L 

B A S I N MILL

ISLAND

Flatbush Avenue 

J A M A I C A B A Y 

S h o r e P a r k w a y

Taxiway 1 

Runway 1-19 

Runway 12-30 

Taxiway 10 

INSET

Center

Flatbush Avenue

Taxiway 4

Taxiway 7 

88

60

70 69

152

74

62

75

86

85

158

157

Hangar 

B

Taxiway 5 

Compass rose

94

96

97 98

99

F L O Y D B E N N E T T F I E L D 

G A T E W A Y

N A T I O N A L 

R E C R E A T I O N 

Runway 6-24 

91

90A-B

89

278

Flagstaff

54

50

57

26

30

106

109

110

111

112

113

114

116

115

117

NPS

City of New York

NPS

City of New York

Bulkhead

Foundations 168

273

274

169

Soil cement

Soil cement

258

Taxiway 6 

129

130

132

131

250

272 

Gateway Envir. 

Study Center

268 269 270

275

Tylunas

 Hall

178

267

120

Ryan Visitor

Center

154

260

29

Parking lot

1

176

Beacon tower

177

Taxiway 2 

Taxiway 8 

A R E A 

Dept. of Interior

Dept. of Defense

Model airplane 

flying field

173

Abandoned

seaplane ramp

Cricket

field

Astroturf fields

Bleachers

(2006)

Aviator Sports Complex

Indoor

sports

facilities

Public entrance

road (c.1996)

Parking lots 

(c.1996)

Public entrance 

roads (1996)

Airport

sign

(2001)

Remnant walks

from nose

hangar

Berms (c.1996)

Concrete

 barriers

(c.1996)

Comfort station

(c.1990)

Announcer’s booth (c.1980)

Comfort station

(c.1990)

H.A.R.P.

Community gardens

(c.1980)

Bollards

Comfort

station

(c.1990)

Ecology Village

campgrounds

Mixed pine

plantation

(c.1974)

Camps Tamarack

and Goldenrod

Park police

Soil cement

Abandoned

roadbed

Gateway Marina

Global Golf

Rockaway

Gateway

Greenway

bikepath

(c.2004)

Visitor contact

station

Auto shop

102

Pond, photo shelters

(c.1980)

100

217

Timber bulkhead (c.1955)

Tunnel hatches covered by iron plates

Dying Japanese

black pines 

Site of 

c.1941 wing

(dem. c.1980)

Site of nose hangar

(demolished c.2000)

Trailhead 

New trails (c.1980)

101

221

222

223

179

180

Remote control

car track (c.2000)

Comfort

station

(c.1990)

CG7

72

Aviator Sports

chiller building

(2006)

4

6

5

3

H-7

H-8

H-5

H-6

H-3

H-4

H-1

H-2

174

Site of 

Navy sick bay

(dem. c.1980)

Cei Angelo 

Nania Way

(1975) 

Seaplane ramp

Remnants of

airport seaplane

pier

Airport compass

rose

Gil Hodges

Memorial

Bridge

Toll plaza 

Timber bulkhead 

Sheet pile

bulkhead

SEE INSET

Sewage

plant ruins

Abandoned

roadbed

NPS inholding

within DOD property 

U. S. MARINE CORPS RESERVES

Main building

(1975) 

(former Coast Guard Air Station

to NPS, 1998)

Hangar

NYC Police Department

Aviation Unit

NYC Department of Sanitation (Site of NARDET transferred

to NPS, 1983)

142

Marginal wharf

ruins

NYPD guard

booth

(c.1998)

US DOT

FAA Doppler 

radar tower (1997)

NYPD

area

NYPD

area

Addition

(2006)

Archery

range

(c.1980)

Comfort

station

(c.1990)

Greenhouse

(c.1990)

Nursery

(c.1990)

Ballfield

(c.2000)

Ballfield

(c.1980)

Park

headquarters

NPS parking

area (c.1996)

Park 

entrance

North 40 Natural Area

Managed grasslands

Managed grasslands

Ecology

Village

gym

Former 

Job Corps

center

Indepen- dence

Lane

Helicopter

landing pad

Abandoned

tennis courts

NYPD temp.

storage 

building

(c.2000)

Ranger

Road

Floyd Bennett

Boulevard

Enterprise

Road

Aviation

Road

Dept. of Interior-Dept. of Defense

property boundary (approximate)

(Department of Defense)

Site of Hangar A

(demolished c.1995)

Police 

memorial

 garden

Parking

Parking

126

Secondary buildings (1975) 

DOI-DOD management boundary

follows fence line

Site of Hangars 9/10

(demolished c.1979)

CG13 CG2

CG3

CG1

Finger pier

Boathouse

Site of nose

hangar (dem.

c.1993)

Equip. Shed

Memorial

CG8,12

Pool

Patrol Road

Jet engine

run-up stands

Patrol Road

Remnants of

airport

seaplane

ramp

Remnants of

Navy boat

basin pier

Seaplane Ramp B

44

Concrete 

barriers (c.1998)

Rockaway

Gateway

Greenway

bikepath

(c.2004)

Drawing 1.5

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter and Sarah K. Cody

Illustrator CS3, 2008

Cultural Landscape Report

for Floyd Bennett Field

Gateway National Recreation Area

Brooklyn, New York

LEGEND

Property, lease boundary

Building/structure, inventory number

Paved circulation 

Unpaved circulation

Piles 

Fence, light

Woods, specimen tree

Berm, mulched area

Lawn or managed grassland

Upland, low scrub

Marsh

Open water

Site of feature removed since 1972

Date feature constructed during period,

if known

0’ 400’ 800’ 1200’ 1600’

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

SOURCES

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with: 

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental 

Science and Forestry

NOTES

1. All features shown in approximate scale and location.

2. Features added prior to 1972 not dated.

3. Vegetation species unknown except where indicated.

4. Plan shows conditions at end of period in 2008.

5. See Appendix Table 3 for building key. 

6. Plan does not show minor park structures (sheds, shelters,

tent platforms, etc.) and furniture (benches, picnic tables).

(1982)

x x x

National Park Service

Period, 1972-2008

1. Aerial photograph, 2007

2. Lockwood, Kessler & Bartlett survey, 1975 

3. NPS, Structures Key Map, Floyd Bennett

 Field, 1983

88

195 

Existing Conditions

2. Existing Conditions

This chapter provides a narrative overview of the existing (2008) landscape of 

Floyd Bennett Field, including descriptions of its setting, administration, and 

use. The emphasis of the narrative is on the area of Floyd Bennett Field presently 

under National Park Service administration, including those areas presently 

leased, but excluding the part of NAS New York that was transferred to the Army 

as a reserve center in 1972. Documentation for the chapter is based largely on field 

observation and aerial photographs, along with current National Park Service 

surveys and management documents. 

This chapter organizes the landscape by seven character areas, which are areas 

of the landscape defined by distinct physical qualities and historical uses and 

attributes. 1 The character areas are (fig. 2.1):

•	 Hangar Row, including the secondary buildings at its south end

•	 Airport Entrance, the area between the Administration Building and 

Flatbush Avenue; this character area is within Hangar Row

•	 Airfield, including runway 12-30 and the former airport seaplane base/

Navy boat basin area 

•	 Naval Aviation Patrol Base, the former NARDET base and the adjoining 

maintenance area

Figure 2.1: Plan of Floyd Bennett 

Field showing landscape character 

areas and existing National 

Register district boundary. (SUNY 

ESF.)
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

196

•	 Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn, corresponding to its pre-1972 limits 

excluding runway 12-30 and the former seaplane base/boat basin

•	 North 40 Natural Area, encompassing the former Navy ammunitionscommunication area

•	 South Administrative Area, encompassing the former naval main barracks 

area and west barracks area. The south limit of this character area is 

the fence along the Marine Corps Reserve Center, which serves as the 

management boundary between Department of Interior and Department 

of Defense properties (the actual property line does not correspond to 

the fence line).

The National Register-listed historic district that corresponds to the limits of the 

original municipal airport minus the facilities along Jamaica Bay encompasses all 

of Hangar Row and the airport entrance, plus a portion of the airfield (see fig. 2.1).

Landscape Setting

Floyd Bennett Field is located along the shore of Jamaica Bay, a large tidal estuary 

at the western end of Long Island that is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by 

the Rockaway Peninsula barrier beach. The field is surrounded on three sides by 

water: Jamaica Bay on the east, Mill Basin on the north, and Rockaway Inlet to the 

south (see fig. 2.1). On the west side across Flatbush Avenue is Gateway Marina 

and Dead Horse Bay, along with additional lands belonging to Gateway National 

Recreation Area. The large areas of water, marshlands, and relative lack of 

development provide an open, expansive character to the setting of Floyd Bennett 

Field, in contrast to the more densely developed area of Brooklyn north of Shore 

Parkway. 

Vehicular access to Floyd Bennett Field is 

from Flatbush Avenue, a four-lane arterial 

that extends from the Manhattan Bridge at 

the East River southeast across Brooklyn. 

Just before Floyd Bennett Field, Flatbush 

Avenue crosses beneath Shore Parkway, 

a limited access highway completed in 

1940, and then proceeds along the western 

boundary of Floyd Bennett Field on an 

extension built in 1925 across the marshes 

to Barren Island. Here, Flatbush Avenue has 

a divided median dating to improvements 

made in the late 1930s and early 1940s, with 

rows of older sycamores and more recent 

Figure 2.2: View looking south 

along the northbound side of 

Flatbush Avenue with Hangar 

Row and the bike path to the 

left, May 2008. The boats at the 

right are part of Gateway Marina. 

(SUNY ESF.)
197 

Japanese pagoda trees (fig. 2.2). A bike path built in c.2004, part of the RockawayGateway Greenway, parallels the east side of the road. Flatbush Avenue widens 

at the toll plaza to the Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, originally named the Marine 

Parkway Bridge and opened in 1937. This bridge provides access to the oceanfront 

communities and beaches on the Rockaway Peninsula. 

Park administration and Use

Floyd Bennett Field is part of Gateway National Recreation Area (NRA), a 

series of former military and city park lands in lower New York Harbor and 

the adjoining coastal areas established in 1972 as one of the first two urban 

recreational areas in the National Park System. The combined components of 

Gateway total approximately 18,650 acres and are organized into three units: 

Jamaica Bay, Sandy Hook, and Staten Island. Floyd Bennett Field is one site within 

the Jamaica Bay Unit, with other sites being Fort Tilden and Jacob Riis Park on 

the Rockaway Peninsula, Canarsie Pier along the Jamaica Bay shore, and Jamaica 

Bay Wildlife Refuge consisting of most of the undeveloped land and tidal estuary 

in the bay. Floyd Bennett Field comprises approximately 1,450 of Gateway NRA’s 

total acreage, making it the largest single parcel of open land in New York City. 

The Floyd Bennett Field park site consists of most of the former Naval Air Station, 

New York property that was transferred from the Department of Defense in 1972, 

and the much smaller U.S. Coast Guard Air Stations property, transferred from 

the federal Department of Transportation in 1998. The park site also includes 

several other areas not addressed within this report, including Gateway Marina 

and the lands along the west side of Flatbush Avenue that were formerly part of 

the city’s Brooklyn Marine Park (see fig. 2.1). Two other former city properties, 

Plumb Beach along the south side of the Shore Parkway west of Flatbush Avenue, 

and Bergen Beach on the east side of the parkway north of Mill Basin, are also 

administered as part of Floyd Bennett Field. 

The National Park Service manages Floyd Bennett Field primarily for recreation 

and natural resource conservation, although the park maintains other uses 

through leases and partnerships. While it contains historic resources, Floyd 

Bennett Field is not administered as a historic site. At present, approximately 329 

acres of the field are listed in the National Register for their significance as New 

York City’s first municipal airport. Because the existing historic district follows the 

property line of the original airport, it encompasses only a small part of the field, 

much of which the Navy developed during World War II. The park has focused its 

preservation and adaptive reuse efforts at the Hangar Row portion of the National 

Register district. The remainder, encompassing portions of the airfield with its 

runways and taxiways, is managed as a natural area with grasslands and woods. 

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Park administration is headquartered in a former World War II-era barracks 

within the South Administrative Area (former main barracks area). The National 

Park Police maintains its Gateway headquarters in an adjacent building that was 

a Navy dispensary built in c.1968. Additional park office and meeting space is 

maintained in the 1931 Administration Building in Hangar Row, now known 

as the Ryan Visitor Center. Park maintenance utilizes a former fire station and 

garage near the park headquarters building (69), plus several other buildings 

in the Navy’s maintenance area along the east side of the airfield. The park also 

maintains housing for park employees in some of the former Navy officer housing 

in the South Administrative Area. 

The park offers the public a number of recreational opportunities at Floyd 

Bennett Field, including environmental programs, youth camping, nature trails, 

a model airplane flying field, sports fields, a remote-control car track, and an 

archery range. The Ryan Visitor Center provides some historical interpretation of 

Floyd Bennett Field and information about current park activities in the central 

lobby. Because Floyd Bennett Field has far more infrastructure than the park 

can use, the National Park Service has turned to concessions and partners to use 

excess facilities and provide additional recreational and education opportunities. 

The largest recreation concession is Aviator Sports, which transformed the north 

half of Hangar Row into an active recreation complex with ice rinks, gyms, 

rock-climbing walls, and outdoor fields. Park partners that offer recreational 

opportunities include the Floyd Bennett Garden Association, which oversees the 

largest community gardens in Brooklyn located on the airfield near the south end 

of Hangar Row, and a cricket club that maintains a cricket field at the north end 

of Hangar Row. The Historic Aircraft Restoration Project (H.A.R.P.) occupies 

Hangar B, where volunteers work on restoring vintage aircraft in the cavernous 

World War II-era hangar. Within the South Administrative Area, the New York 

City Board of Education operates the Gateway Environmental Education Center, 

and Polytechnic University (part of New York University) maintains ballfields. 

In addition to partners and concessions, the National Park Service also maintains 

special use permits with two city agencies for exclusive, non-public use of 

portions of Floyd Bennett Field. The largest in land area is with the New York 

City Police Department, which occupies the former U.S. Coast Guard Air Station 

Brooklyn property that the U.S. Department of Transportation transferred to the 

Department of the Interior in 1998. The city police use this area for its aviation 

unit, which continues it as a functioning helicopter facility, the only active aviation 

use remaining at Floyd Bennett Field. The facility is enclosed by a cyclone fence 

and has a guarded gate at the south end. Within the police’s special use area is 

a 1.8-acre parcel retained by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Here, the 
199 

Federal Aviation Administration maintains a Doppler radar tower erected in 

c.1997.2

North of the former Coast Guard Air Station, the park maintains a special use 

permit with the New York City Department of Sanitation for the south end 

of the former Naval Aviation Patrol Base. This property functioned as a Naval 

Air Reserve Detachment before it was decommissioned and transferred to the 

Department of the Interior in c.1983. The city uses this area, which contains 

Tylunas Hall, a large building constructed as barracks by the Navy in 1970, to 

provide vehicle training for sanitation workers. Access is from taxiways 1 and 2, 

which connect to Hangar Row at the opposite side of the airfield. 

the floyd bennett field landscape (Drawing 2.1)

Floyd Bennett Field is an expansive landscape characterized by open fields, 

extensive areas of concrete and asphalt pavement, young second-growth woods 

and thickets, engineered and natural shorelines, and a variety of buildings 

clustered into what were historically flight-path clear zones. Although no longer 

used for military or aviation purposes (except for city police helicopters), the 

landscape still reflects its origins as New York City’s first municipal airport and 

as a major naval aviation base in the World War II home front. The following 

description provides an overview of the existing landscape by character areas, 

beginning with the original airport development at Hangar Row and proceeding 

across the airfield to Jamaica Bay, and ending with the areas to the north and 

south of the airfield developed during World War II. The original airport entrance 

area surrounding the Administration Building is a separate character area within 

Hangar Row. (For a key to the numbered buildings and structures, see Table 1.3 at 

the end of the site history chapter.)

Hangar Row

Hangar Row, so named because of its linear arrangement parallel to Flatbush Avenue, 

formed the core of the original municipal airport. Initially built in 1929-31, Hangar 

Row is located along the western edge of the airfield adjacent to runway 15-33 (later 

taxiway 10, presently the public entrance road). Hangar Row is defined spatially by 

an expansive, flat, and open character, bordered on the west by tree-lined Flatbush 

Avenue and on the east by the open airfield. Each building within Hangar Row is 

oriented either parallel or perpendicular to Flatbush Avenue, lending the landscape a 

geometric arrangement. 

Access to Hangar Row is from the main park entrance drive off Flatbush Avenue in 

the South Administrative Area, which connects to a four-lane public entrance road 

Existing Conditions
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200

constructed over runway 15-33 (taxiway 10) in c.1996. The original entrance to Hangar 

Row off Flatbush Avenue is closed, although the diagonal driveways remain. As drivers 

proceed north along the former runway, the drive turns west toward Hangar Row 

where it terminates in a series of large parking lots lining the east side of Hangar Row. 

The main part of the apron surrounding the hangars is 

constructed of concrete, with the areas surrounding 

the hangars surfaced with black asphalt pavers which 

remain visible in areas, particularly around vacant 

hangars 1-2 and 3-4 (fig. 2.3). Much of the original 

apron has been removed or concealed with Aviator 

Sports facilities and entrance drives and parking lots. 

With sidewalks, curbs, and lights, these parking lots 

obscure the open circulation of the apron and former 

airport gate and passenger boarding area adjoining 

the Administration Building, although the site of the 

passenger tunnel hatches and loading platforms was 

not impacted (fig. 2.4). The apron surrounding hangars 

5-6 and 7-8 has been removed or concealed with 

the Aviator Sports development. The apron north of 

hangar 7-8, location of two World War II-era frame 

hangars removed in c.1979, is covered by Aviator 

Sports fields (fig. 2.5). These artificial turf fields feature 

bleachers, scoreboards, and stadium lights. A chainlink fence, approximately twelve-feet tall, encloses the 

fields. 

The original municipal airport buildings in Hangar 

Row are unified by a common Art Deco architectural 

style employing buff-colored tapestry brick walls and 

cast-stone streamlined classical details. The largest 

buildings are the eight hangars, which are grouped in 

Figure 2.3 (top): View of hangars 3-4 looking northwest 

toward Flatbush Avenue showing condition and remaining 

original asphalt block apron, December 2006. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.4 (middle): View southeast from the Administration 

Building roof showing the parking lots built on the Hangar 

Row apron, December 2006. This is the former airport gateboarding area and war-time parade grounds. The concrete 

apron is visible to either side of the parking lot. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.5 (bottom): View south at the north end of the 

Hangar Row apron showing Aviator Sports and Recreation 

outdoor fields, December 2006. The original concrete surface 

of the apron is visible in the foreground. (SUNY ESF.)
201 

pairs connected by infill buildings added in 1935. (The pairs of hangars are numbered 

3 through 6; each individual hangar also has its own number from 1 through 8, as in 

“hangar 1”) The north two pairs of hangars (5-6 and 7-8) were recently rehabilitated 

and expanded by Aviator Sports for housing indoor recreation facilities, including 

two ice rinks, three basketball courts, two volleyball courts, a fitness center, climbing 

wall, gymnasium, party rooms, and a food court. The project retained the exterior 

walls of the hangars, but replaced the hangar doors, and altered the massing of the 

buildings and the spatial character of Hangar Row though the addition of a large infill 

building that spans the former open space between the two pairs of hangars (fig. 2.6). 

New parking lots and an entrance drive were also added in front of the building on 

the apron, and air conditioning units and a freestanding building for the ice rinks were 

constructed in front of the hangar doors of hangars 5 and 6, facing the airport entrance 

area. 

South of the Administration Building are hangars 1-4, which stand vacant aside from 

being used on occasion for storage. The park recently stabilized hangars 3 and 4, 

(those closest to the Administration Building and home to the New York City Police 

prior to 1998), with masonry repairs and a new roof, 

although portions remain in poor condition (see fig. 

2.3). Hangars 1 and 2, which have stood vacant since 

c.1972, are in very poor condition with collapsed roofs, 

cracked walls, and broken and boarded-up windows. 

South of hangars 1-4 off the south end of the Hangar 

Row apron is a cluster of maintenance and utility 

buildings, remnants of a once larger complex. One 

of the most distinctive buildings is the Dope Shop 

(26), a small hangar originally used to apply varnish 

to aircraft. Built in 1937 in the standard airport style, 

the presently vacant building forms the southern 

terminus of Hangar Row (fig. 2.7). Many of the 

windows are broken and notices on the east side 

of the building warn visitors that the building 

contains hazardous polychlorinated biphenyls. 

Figure 2.6: Looking west at the contemporary Aviator Sports 

infill building between hangars 5-6 and 7-8, May 2008. In the 

foreground is the new entrance drive to the complex built 

over the original concrete Hangar Row apron, visible at right. 

(SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.7: The Dope Shop (26) with the smaller sewer pump 

house (30) at the left looking southwest, December 2006. 

The pavement in the foreground is part of the Hangar Row 

apron. (SUNY ESF.)

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202

Nearby are several small utility buildings, including a sewer pump house (30) and 

transformer vault (57) also built in the standard airport style during the 1930s 

(fig. 2.8, see also fig. 2.7). South of the Dope Shop is a small concrete-block paint 

storage building (126) built during World War II that is in ruins (fig. 2.9). Nearby is 

one of the five contemporary park comfort stations 

serving the adjoining community gardens. The park 

constructed this building in c.2006 on top of the 

apron within the historic aircraft circulation system. 

Just south of the Dope Shop are the remains of 

a complex of building constructed by the Navy 

immediately before and during World War II 

as barracks and training facilities. Much of this 

formerly open area has become overgrown 

with scrub and woods, and the asphalt roads 

are permeated by weeds. The Navy buildings 

here contrast markedly with the earlier airport 

buildings, using utilitarian concrete block and frame 

construction with clapboard siding, double-hung 

windows, and gable roofs. Adjoining Flatbush 

Avenue is the former Navy fire house (50), and 

across a driveway that was originally the airport 

south boundary road is the former Synthetic 

Training Building (54) (figs. 2.10, 2.11). Unoccupied 

since 1972, both buildings have boarded and broken 

windows and doors. Several buildings have been 

removed from this area since the end of World War 

II, notably a large barracks (27) built in 1941 and 

used by WAVES (Women Accepted into Volunteer 

Service) during the war. South of the training 

building is the former World War II main entrance 

Figure 2.8 (top): The transformer vault (57) located at the 

south end of Hangar Row, view south, December 2006. 

Successional woods have grown in the formerly open 

surrounding area. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.9 (middle): Remains of the World War II-era paint 

storage building (237), view southeast, December 2006. 

(SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.10 (bottom): The vacant Navy fire house (50), 

view northeast, December 2006. The former airport south 

boundary road is the pavement in the foreground. (SUNY 

ESF.)
203 

to NAS New York, which has been closed since c.1951 when the current main 

entrance was constructed (fig. 2.12). During the war, this entrance was flanked by 

a guard booth and police station. 

Airport Entrance

The airport entrance, encompassing the landscape 

between Flatbush Avenue and the Administration 

Building, is distinguished not only by its distinct 

spatial character, but also its distinct character 

originally intended to provide a welcoming and 

park-like setting for air travelers. The park no 

longer uses this area as an entrance. Visitors arriving 

in automobiles enter on a contemporary entrance 

road that terminates on the opposite side of the 

Administration Building on the Hangar Row apron. 

The airport entrance is framed on the north and 

south by hangars 3-4 and 5-6, and on the east by the 

Administration Building (1), a two-story red-brick 

neoclassical-style building completed in 1931 that 

forms the focal point of the landscape (fig. 2.13).

The surrounding landscape, developed between 

1931 and 1935 in part by the Works Progress 

Administration, is organized by two diagonal drives 

that frame a central lawn area. The lawn and drives 

are fenced off from the Administration Building and 

the rest of Hangar Row by a contemporary blackpainted metal picket fence that extends along the 

inside of the diagonal entrance drives and along 

Flatbush Avenue, with bollards blocking access to 

the drives (see fig. 2.13). 

Figure 2.11 (top): The former Navy synthetic training 

building (54), view southwest toward Flatbush Avenue, 

December 2006. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.12 (middle): The closed World War II-era Navy 

entrance drive, view looking east from Flatbush Avenue, 

December 2006. A guard booth and police station flanked 

the entrance during World War II. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.13 (bottom): The Administration Building and 

airport entrance area, view looking southeast, November 

2005. The fence and bollards restrict access to this closed 

entrance. (SUNY ESF.)

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Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

204

The lawn area features a central concrete walk on axis with the main entrance 

of the Administration Building. The walk is lined by mature sycamore trees and 

forms a circle around a flagpole and entrance sign that reads “Floyd Bennett 

Airport” (fig. 2.14). This rustic wood sign, set 

on a brick foundation, is a reconstruction of 

the original built in 1935. The outer edges of 

the lawn are framed by concrete sidewalks that 

parallel the diagonal entrance drives, with young 

deciduous trees and a clipped privet hedge lining 

the outermost edge along the metal pick fence. The 

sidewalks are lined by contemporary light standards 

with Central Park-style luminaires. Several 

interpretive waysides are located within the lawn 

area, along with Victorian-style cast-iron benches 

and water fountains, and contemporary-styled trash 

bins (fig. 2.15). 

The closed entrance drives converge on a small 

central parking area in front of the Administration 

Building originally surfaced in asphalt pavers. The 

park recently reconstructed this parking area in 

asphalt and rebuilt adjoining curbs and sidewalks 

in gray-tinted concrete. The drives originally led 

to larger parking lots to the north and south of the 

building that the park has replaced in part with lawn 

(fig. 2.16)

Figure 2.14 (top): The airport entrance sign, a reconstruction 

of the 1936 original, and circular walk from Flatbush Avenue, 

view east from Flatbush Avenue, May 2008. The flagpole, 

dating to 1935, is visible in back of the sign. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.15 (middle): The airport entrance area looking 

southeast from Flatbush Avenue showing the fence and 

assorted small-scale features added in c.2000, May 2008. At 

left is one of the diagonal entrance drives. (SUNY ESF.) 

Figure 2.16 (bottom): The south side of the airport entrance 

area looking southwest from the roof of the Administration 

Building, December 2006. This view shows the south 

diagonal drive and site of one of the airport’s public parking 

areas (at left) that the park has converted to lawn. (SUNY 

ESF.)
205 

Airfield

The airfield has an expansive and barren character that is defined by long paved 

runways and taxiways, open grasslands, and distant views. The landscape no 

longer has the feeling of an active airfield. Since the Navy ceased aviation at the 

field in the early 1970s, the runways have been closed off, covered in earth and 

vegetation, or redesigned for automobile use, while most of the open turf areas 

once necessary for sight lines and flight-path clearances have grown into woods 

and thickets, or are managed as natural grasslands. 

The runways and taxiways loosely form a rectangle with two interior diagonals. 

Runway 15-33, constructed in 1928 and later redesignated as taxiway 10, defines 

the western boundary of the airfield, extending north to south parallel to Flatbush 

Avenue and the Hangar Row apron. The runway presently serves as the main 

public entrance road to Hangar Row. Built on top of the original runway in c.1996, 

the road has an asphalt surface striped in four lanes with a center turn lane and 

guiderails running along the sides (fig. 2.17). Earthen berms and concrete barriers 

close off the intersections with adjoining runways and taxiways (fig. 2.18). The 

second original runway, 6-24 and redesignated 

as taxiways 1 & 2 during World War II, extends 

perpendicularly from runway 15-33 just south of 

the Administration Building. It serves as the primary 

access road to the Jamaica Bay facilities. Parallel 

to taxiways 1 and 2 along the northern edge of the 

airfield is runway 6-24, built during World War II 

as a replacement for the earlier runway 6-24 and 

lengthened in c.1960. It is the only runway that 

retains its full open extent except at the west end 

where it is framed by berms. 

The two diagonal runways, 1-19 and 12-30, cross 

at the center of the airfield. Built in 1935 through 

the Works Progress Administration and lengthened 

during the Korean War, the runways no longer read 

as continuous circulation features. Both are partially 

closed off with berms and concrete barriers, and 

Figure 2.17 (top): View north along the four-lane entrance 

road constructed over runway 15-33 (taxiway 10), May 2008. 

Note original concrete pavement of the runway visible to the 

right of the guiderail. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.18 (bottom): One of the berms installed to close off 

the intersection of runway 1-19 and the public entrance road 

(runway 15-33), view south, December 2006. (SUNY ESF.)

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Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

206

the park has covered large sections with mulch in an effort to allow vegetation 

to grow over the pavement. At the northeastern extension of runway 1-19 is a 

remote-controlled airplane flying field with an announcer’s booth and a covered 

seating area (fig. 2.19). The northeastern half of runway 12-30, which the park 

leases to the New York Police Department, is used 

as a vehicle storage area and is enclosed by a chainlink fence. 

The approaches to the runways are surfaced in a 

soil cement and asphalt that are slowly becoming 

overgrown (fig. 2.20). Built between 1951 and 

1960 during extension of the runways, the Navy 

apparently designed these areas to stabilize the 

earth from strong jet back draft. The park does not 

use the approaches for any particular purpose at 

present, but does manage the area surrounding the 

northwest approach to runway 12-30 as part of the 

North 40 Natural Area. Once maintained as open 

space for the flight-path clear zone, the area is now 

mostly wooded. There is a pond and photo shelter 

off the northeast side of the runway approach that 

the park built in c.1980 for wildlife viewing (fig. 

2.21)

The taxiway system, which the Navy developed 

during World War II for circulation around the 

periphery of the airfield, tie together the end of each 

runway, with the exception of taxiways 1 and 2 that 

run through the center of the airfield and taxiway 7 

that led south to the seaplane base along Rockaway 

Inlet. The taxiways are generally narrower than 

the runways and are surfaced in asphalt. The Navy 

Figure 2.19 (top): The announcer's booth along the west side 

of the remote-controlled airplane flying field on the runway 

1-19 extension, view northeast, December 2006. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.20 (middle): The southwestern approach to runway 

1-19 looking north toward Hangar Row showing the soilcement surface, December 2006. The road at right is an 

abandoned section of Aviation Road that was the main 

access to Hangar Row during World War II. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.21 (bottom): The North 40 Natural Area pond within 

the approach to runway 12-30 looking south, December 

2006. (SUNY ESF.)
207 

numbered the runways 1 through 10 (there was apparently no taxiway 9), but 

the park does not follow these designations today. The park uses taxiways 1, 2, 6, 

8, and 10 as roads, but has closed off taxiways 3, 4, 5, and 7 with berms, fences, 

and guiderails. Mulch is stored on taxiway 5 at the east side of the field (fig. 2.22). 

Intersecting taxiway 4 along the south side of the 

airfield are remnants of the municipal airport’s 

south boundary road built in c.1928 that led from 

Flatbush Avenue to the airport seaplane base along 

Jamaica Bay (current New York City police area). 

The park manages the land between the runways 

and taxiways as natural areas, wildlife habitat, and 

campgrounds. The center part of the airfield is 

managed grasslands, cut semi-annually to keep 

down woody vegetation (fig. 2.23). Along the south 

and north sides of the airfield are thickets and 

deciduous woods that have grown up on formerly 

open and mown areas through natural succession 

(fig. 2.24). Not all of the woods within the airfield 

have grown up naturally. Along the southern side 

are pine woods planted in c.1974 that shelter the 

Ecology Village campgrounds. These contain 

five individual camps with open wood-frame 

shelters, picnic tables, wood tent platforms, wood 

benches, and a variety of other small-scale features 

(figs. 2.25). Restrooms and indoor facilities for 

Ecology Village are across taxiway 4 in the South 

Administrative Area. In the northern half of the 

airfield are two additional campgrounds established 

at the same time in the early 1970s, located in 

Figure 2.22 (top): Taxiway 5 near the maintenance area 

looking south, December 2006. The taxiway, which is 

blocked to the south by a the New York City police fence, is 

used as a storage area for mulch. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.23: View northeast toward Hangar B showing 

springtime appearance of the managed grasslands, May 

2008. In the distance are successional woods that have 

grown up on portions of the formerly open airfield. (SUNY 

ESF.)

Figure 2.24: Looking north along taxiway 6 at the 

northeastern side of the airfield showing dense successional 

woods that have grown up on the formerly open field, May 

2008. (SUNY ESF.)

Existing Conditions
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

208

clearings in the successional woods at the site of a World War II-era emergency 

dirigible landing area. Named Camps Tamarack and Goldenrod, the campgrounds 

feature shelters with picnic tables, but no tent platforms (fig. 2.26). A comfort 

station built in c.2006 along taxiway 6 services these campgrounds.

Other recreational features within the airfield 

include the Floyd Bennett Field community 

gardens, located on formerly open turf between 

the park entrance road (taxiway 10/runway 15-33) 

and the Hangar Row apron. There are 557 plots 

enclosed by a variety of fence styles and containing 

many different types of vegetation and furnishings 

developed over the past two decades (fig. 2.27). 

The gardens feature sculptures, two wood gazebos, 

and a picnic area along the west side of the gardens. 

Gardeners park on runway 15-33 (taxiway 10) 

and Hangar Row apron. In c.2006, the park built a 

comfort station on the Hangar Row apron to service 

the gardens. 

At the southeast corner of the airfield, in the path of 

runway 12-30 just south of the former Coast Guard 

hangar, is the Federal Aviation Administration’s 

Doppler radar tower that is on a small parcel 

under separate federal ownership (fig. 2.28). The 

surrounding area that is leased to the New York City 

Police Department contains remnants of roads and 

buildings that date to the area’s use as the airport 

seaplane base between 1931 and 1941, and as the 

Navy’s boat basin and recreation area during World 

War II. Extending out into Jamaica Bay are wood 

Figure 2.25 (top): One of the Ecology Village campgrounds 

in the pine plantation at the south side of the airfield, May 

2008. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.26 (middle): A picnic shelter and open area at Camps 

Tamarack and Goldenrod at the eastern side of the airfield on 

the former dirigible landing area, view southeast, December 

2006. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.27 (bottom): The community gardens looking 

north along taxiway 10 (runway 15-33) toward Hangar Row, 

December 2006. (SUNY ESF.)
209 

piles that are remnants of the airport seaplane pier and airport seaplane built in 

c.1932, and of a Navy boat basin pier built in c.1942. 

Scattered throughout the airfield are many remnants from the landscape’s use 

as an active airfield. These include minor roads and paths, two compass roses, 

electrical utility boxes, and electrical components 

from flight landing equipment (fig. 2.29). These 

remnants have not been inventoried for this report. 

naval aviation Patrol Base

The former Naval Aviation Patrol Base, developed 

by the Navy between 1940 and 1967 along the 

Jamaica Bay shoreline north and east of the Coast 

Guard air station, consists of three components: 

the hangar area along Jamaica Bay, a maintenance 

area bordering the airfield, and a utility-storage area 

north of the hangar area. 

The hangar area is unified by a large concrete apron 

measuring approximately 2,150 feet long by 600 

feet wide that is connected to taxiways 1-2, 5, and 6. 

The apron is supported by a timber bulkhead along 

the Jamaica Bay shoreline. Extending into the bay 

from the apron is seaplane ramp B, a concrete slab 

structure built in c.1942 (fig. 2.30). The park uses 

this ramp to haul abandoned boats from Jamaica 

Bay.3

 South of this ramp are piles remaining from a 

seaplane ramp built along with Hangar A in c.1940. 

The chain link fence-enclosed south half of the 

Figure 2.28 (top): The southeast end of the airfield in the 

approach to runway 12-30 showing the FAA Doppler radar 

tower and Coast Guard hangar, view northeast, December 

2006. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.29 (middle): View east across the airfield from the 

Hangar Row apron, December 2006. This photo shows one 

of the minor roads and an unidentified small-scale feature 

(at the right) that date from the landscape’s use as an active 

airfield. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.30 (bottom): Distant view of seaplane ramp B 

looking southeast from the Naval Aviation Patrol Base apron, 

December 2006. In the foreground is the timber bulkhead for 

the c.1952 apron extension. (SUNY ESF.)

Existing Conditions
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

210

apron is leased to the New York City Department of Sanitation. Within this area 

are remnants of the footings and door tracks from Hangar A built in 1940 prior to 

World War II and demolished in c.1998 (fig. 2.31). The sanitation department’s 

offices and classrooms are located at the south end of the apron in Tylunas Hall, 

a Navy barracks built in 1970 and now known as the Academic Institute Building 

(fig. 2.32). West of this building is a contemporary 

parking lot built over the apron; the lot on the east 

side is an enlargement of an earlier parking lot 

associated with World War II-era frame barracks 

that stood on the site of Tylunas Hall. 

Within the north half of the patrol base apron is 

Hangar B, a match of Hangar A completed in 1941 

to house seaplanes (fig. 2.33). This steel-frame 

building, the largest at Floyd Bennett Field, is 

occupied by H.A.R.P. for its aircraft restoration 

work (fig. 2.34). Unlike the Hangar Row hangars, 

Hangar B is a strictly utilitarian structure without 

ornamentation, possibly built to a standard Navy 

plan by the noted industrial architect Albert Kahn. 

On the west side of the hangar is a lean-to addition 

built in c.1952. 

At the north end of the patrol base apron, which 

the Navy expanded during the Korean War, is a 

set of concrete jet engine run-up stands built in 

c.1952, now covered in overgrowth (fig. 2.35). In 

the wooded area north of apron and east of taxiway 

6 and the World War II-era patrol road is a former 

utility area developed between 1952 and c.1967. 

Figure 2.31 (top): Remnants of Hangar A (door tracks), view 

east toward Jamaica Bay, December 2006. This part of the 

patrol base apron is used as a city sanitation training area. 

(SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.32 (middle): Tylunas Hall, a former Navy barracks 

at the south end of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base, view 

east, December 2006. This building, constructed in 1970, is 

presently used by the city sanitation department. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.33 (bottom): Hangar B, constructed in 1941 and 

presently home to H.A.R.P., view southeast from taxiway 6, 

December 2006. The lean-to dates to c.1952. (SUNY ESF.)
211 

This area includes a fenced-in scrap yard presently used as a towing service’s lot, 

with an open steel shed (205) built in c.1952, possibly as a fuel station (fig. 2.36). 

North of this scrap yard is a cluster of small buildings including two concrete 

ammunition magazines built in c.1958 and two small brick-faced electrical utility 

buildings constructed in c.1967. These buildings are abandoned and covered in 

vegetation. 

The maintenance area east of the patrol base apron 

is a linear cluster of buildings of varying sizes and 

materials. The complex lines the east side of the 

airfield spanning the seaplane patrol base and the 

Coast Guard air station, and is connected to the 

patrol base apron by a series of driveways. There are 

presently twelve buildings in the complex, most of 

which the Navy constructed in 1942 to support the 

operation of the air station. The northern half of the 

complex is anchored by the Navy general storehouse 

(98), a three-story concrete building that the park 

continues to use for storage (fig. 2.37). To the south 

is the former cold storage building (97) that the park 

also uses, and the abandoned brick Power Plant B 

(96) and former torpedo storage building (94) that 

are vacant and in poor condition (see fig. 2.37). 

Smaller structures include a sewer pump station (99) 

and a water storage building (178), also dating to 

World War II. 

The south half of the maintenance area, separated 

by a chain-link fence, is within the area leased to the 

New York City Police Department that was part of 

the Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn between 1972 

and 1998. Here are located two large maintenance 

buildings (90, 91) and a sewer pumping station (89) 

Figure 2.34 (top): One of the H.A.R.P. volunteers working on 

an aircraft inside Hangar B, October 2005. (SUNY ESF.) 

Figure 2.35 (middle): The jet engine run-up stands built in 

c.1952 at the north end of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base 

apron, view west, December 2006. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.36 (bottom): The scrap yard north of the Nava 

Aviation Patrol Base apron, view northeast, December 2006. 

The shed is building 205 constructed in c.1952. (SUNY ESF.)

Existing Conditions
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

212

dating to World War II (fig. 2.38). Along the east side adjoining taxiway 5, the 

police added a large temporary building in c.2004. Around the same time, the 

police also built a memorial garden at the southeast corner of the maintenance 

area (fig. 2.39). Much of the area is occupied by police cars, trucks, and other 

vehicles. 

Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn

Along the Jamaica Bay side of Floyd Bennett Field 

is the former Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn, 

a ten-acre area south of the Naval Aviation Patrol 

Base that was initially developed in 1936-1938 on 

land leased from the city. The station was absorbed 

by the Navy during World War II, and then was 

reestablished as a separate federal property until 

its 1998 transfer to the National Park Service. The 

park leases the property, along with adjoining areas 

transferred by the Navy to the Coast Guard in 

c.1972, to the New York City Police Aviation Unit. 

These adjoining areas include the southeastern half 

of runway 12-30, south half of the maintenance 

area, and former airport seaplane base and World 

War II-era boat basin/recreation area. These three 

ancillary areas are not included within the Coast 

Guard Air Station character area because they were 

part of the naval air station prior to 1972.

The core of the air station is the hangar (CG-1), a 

white-painted concrete building completed in 1937. 

Figure 2.37 (top): Looking north through the center of the 

maintenance area showing the general storehouse (98) in 

the background, torpedo storage building (94) at right, and 

powerhouse B (96) at left, December 2006. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.38 (middle): View southwest at two World War 

II-era storage buildings (90, 91) in the south half of the 

maintenance area that is presently leased to the city police, 

December 2006. The open area in the foreground contained 

buildings up until the 1980s. At right is the park-managed 

building 94. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.39 (bottom): The contemporary police memorial 

garden at the south end of the maintenance area, view 

southwest, December 2008. (SUNY ESF.)
213 

Designed in the Moderne style in a nod to the Coast Guard’s nautical function, 

the hangar features a barrel-arched roof with large sliding doors and flanking 

one-story flat-roof lean-tos (see fig. 2.28). These lean-tos feature octagonal bays 

on the south façade. On the north side is a large two-story office wing, which has 

a flat roof, Coast Guard emblem on the parapet, and horizontal arrangement of 

windows that stretch across the entire façade (fig. 2.40). The office wing borders 

a shallow lawn area with yew and privet hedges, and scattered younger specimen 

trees including Austrian pine, birch, and spruce. Two small additions completed 

in 1964 and 1969 extend from the side lean-tos. The area to the south and west of 

the hangar consists of open lawn once used as a ballfield, a concrete apron, and a 

taxiway that leads to a seaplane ramp and helicopter-landing pad dating to c.1955. 

The south part of the apron was built in c.1955 on property leased from the Navy. 

North and east of the hangar are a number of ancillary buildings accessed from 

a drive that widens in front of the hangar, where there is a flagstaff with yardarms 

added at some point between 1963 and 1973. At the west end of this drive is a 

garage (CG-2) built in 1937 in the same Moderne style as the hangar. It has six 

bays and a flat roof with horizontal banding below 

the parapet (fig. 2.41). To its north is a one-story 

white-painted concrete storage building (CG-13) 

erected in 1959. East of this building within a small 

lawn area is a Coast Guard memorial, a pyramidal 

stone monument installed between 1955 and 1959. 

To the east is an equipment shed built by the police 

in 2004, which is next to a transformer vault (CG12) dating to World War II and paint locker (CG8) built in 1959. Farther east on the site of World 

War II-era barracks is an abandoned swimming 

pool built in 1979. Next to the pool and parallel to 

the bulkhead along Jamaica Bay is Edwards Hall 

(CG-3), a former barracks building erected by the 

Figure 2.40 (top): The Coast Guard hangar (CG-1), view 

looking southeast at the office wing, November 2005. The 

building presently houses offices for the New York City 

Police Aviation Unit. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.41 (bottom): The Coast Guard garage (CG-2, white 

building at left), view northeast with the hangar at right, 

December 2006. The tall structure in the background is a 

police equipment shed with a temporary training tower built 

in 2004. (SUNY ESF.)

Existing Conditions
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

214

Coast Guard in 1973. The building has a three-story central section with balconies 

and flanking one-story wings (fig. 2.42). 

At the north end of the concrete bulkhead along Jamaica Bay is a wood pier built 

between 1960 and 1965, with a small boathouse added in 1969. South of this, 

beyond piles remaining from a pier built in c.1943, 

is a small ammunitions locker (South Pyro Locker, 

CG-7) built in 1955. South of this is the concrete 

seaplane ramp and helicopter landing pad, a c.1955 

reconstruction of a wooden ramp built in 1937. 

North 40 Natural Area

The North 40 Natural Area, encompassing the 

World War II-era ammunitions-communication 

area as well as adjoining areas of the airfield, is a 

largely wooded section that the park manages for 

hiking and nature observation. The vegetation is 

mostly young successional woods and scrub, with 

some old-field meadow. The shoreline along Mill 

Basin is natural beach, although much of it is littered 

with broken concrete and asphalt that may have 

been placed for erosion control (fig. 2.43). Entrance 

to the area is from a trailhead at the middle of 

runway 6-24 (fig. 2.44). The trail network follows 

sections laid out by the park after 1974, and the 

patrol road built during World War II (fig. 2.45). 

The trails are maintained as mown grass; the park 

removed or covered the asphalt surface of the road.

Along the trails, visitors encounter some of the 

World War II-era buildings, but most are concealed 

Figure 2.42 (top): Edwards Hall (CG-3), a former Coast Guard 

barracks built in 1973, view east from the lawn area north of 

the hangar, December 2006. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.43 (middle): The Mill Basin shoreline along the 

North 40 Natural Area, view east toward Jamaica Bay, 

December 2006. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.44 (bottom): The trailhead to the North Forty 

Natural Area looking north from runway 6-24, December 

2006. The trail here was laid out by the park in c.1980. (SUNY 

ESF.) 
215 

by heavy vegetation.4 This military development is within an area defined by the 

flight-path clear zones for runways 1-19, 6-24, and 15-33 (later taxiway 10). At the 

north end of the area near Mill Basin is the inert storage building (106), a large 

concrete warehouse with loading docks that is graffiti-covered and in a state of 

ruin. Farther west off a spur from the patrol road is the former practice bomb 

storage building (109), a sheet-metal sheathed 

building that the park presently uses for storage (fig. 

2.46). North of this building may be foundations 

from four World War II radio towers and the 

eleven towers that replaced them by c.1955, but 

the area is concealed by vegetation. The remainder 

of the buildings to the west (110-115), all of which 

are accessed off the patrol road, are abandoned 

World War II-era ammunitions magazines. Most 

are built of heavy reinforced poured concrete 

with underground components used for storing 

high explosives, fuses, and detonators. Building 

112, for example, features an arched submerged 

high-explosives storage chamber that is accessed 

by a depressed entryway (fig. 2.47). The other six 

magazines are concealed by heavy vegetation. 

South administrative area

To the south of the airfield is a large area containing 

approximately twenty-two buildings that are 

remnants of the main and west barracks areas of the 

naval air station. Prior to development of the airport 

and naval air station, this was part of Barren Island, 

Figure 2.45 (top): The World War II-era patrol road through 

the North 40 Natural Area, looking west from near runway 

1-19, December 2006. The park has removed the pavement 

further to the west as part of the North 40 trail system. 

(SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.46 (middle): The former practice bomb storage 

building (109), view north, December 2006. Four radio towers 

once stood in the vicinity of this building during World War 

II. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.47 (bottom): One of the high-explosive magazines 

(112) in the North 40 Natural Area, looking north through 

the depressed entry area, November 2005. The arched-roof 

underground chamber is entered through the steel door. 

(SUNY ESF.)

Existing Conditions
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

216

an industrial community dating to the mid-nineteenth century that reached a 

height of nearly 1,500 residents in the 1910s. The southern part of the South 

Administrative Area along Rockaway Inlet, containing most of a marginal wharf 

and a seaplane base dating to World War II, are today within property belonging 

to the Department of Defense that is used as a Marine Corps Reserve Center. 

Taxiway 7, which linked the airfield with the seaplane base, extends south between 

the main and west barracks area. The park has retrofitted the taxiway in part as 

the entrance road to Hangar Row and as a model car track with berms closing off 

access from Floyd Bennett Boulevard. 

The South Administrative Area is characterized overall by asphalt roads, parking 

lots, concrete sidewalks, frame and brick buildings, building foundations, mown 

grass, overgrown shrubs, and deciduous woods that have grown up on formerly 

open land. Many of the buildings are vacant and some are falling into ruins. 

Located here are park administrative offices, park police headquarters, facilities 

used by various park partners, and the main public entrance to Floyd Bennett 

Field from Flatbush Avenue, a divided roadway with a gatehouse that the Navy 

built in c.1951 (fig. 2.48). Floyd Bennett Boulevard, 

built in c.1942, runs east-west through the center of 

the South Administrative Area from the main entrance 

(fig. 2.49). The road is flanked by a series of side roads 

with concrete sidewalks, most dating to World War 

II. Extending off the south side of Floyd Bennett 

Boulevard is a gated road that leads to the Marine 

Corps Reserve Center. The chain-link fence-enclosed 

property has a guard booth at the entrance and a large 

main building constructed in 1975 (fig. 2.50). 

The core of the South Administrative Area is the 

former west barracks area, located between the flightpath clear zones for runways 15-33, 1-19, and 12-30 

that defined a triangular-shaped area of development. 

Due to extensive loss of buildings and growth of 

woods on formerly open land, this development 

Figure 2.48 (top): The main entrance to Floyd Bennett Field 

looking east from Flatbush Avenue, May 2008. In the distance 

is the Korean War-era visitor contact station (135) and sentry 

booth (207). (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.49 (bottom): Floyd Bennett Boulevard, the main road 

through the South Administrative Area, looking east toward 

the main barracks area, May 2006. (SUNY ESF.)
217 

pattern is no longer discernable. Buildings dating to World War II are mostly 

temporary frame construction, while newer buildings are brick and steel. Most 

buildings retain their original form but have been altered through replacement 

siding and windows, or through extensive deterioration.

Within the main barracks area were three distinct 

barracks complexes. The Ecology Village gym 

(70) is a remnant of the northernmost complex 

adjoining the airfield that was built during World 

War II (fig. 2.51). This building, originally the West 

Recreation Building, was flanked by two barracks 

to either side that were removed in c.1948. On the 

site of one of the barracks is a park maintenance 

garage (259), a concrete building that the Navy 

constructed in c.1952 during the Korean War as 

a garage and fire station (fig. 2.52). South of these 

buildings are remnants of a large World War II-era 

enlisted men’s barracks complex that consisted 

of seven barracks connected by breezeways to a 

central mess hall. Remaining from this complex 

are the foundations of the central mess hall (67) 

that burned in c.1969, and the Gateway Jamaica 

Bay Unit headquarters building (69), one of the 

former barracks that was converted to offices by 

the Navy in c.1946 (fig. 2.53). Two other barracks 

(62, 72) remain standing, but have been vacant for 

many years and are deteriorating (fig. 2.54). The 

park police headquarters building (275) is located 

south of building 69 (fig. 2.55). This one-story brick 

Figure 2.50 (top): The entrance to the Department of 

Defense property (Marine Corps Reserve Center) looking 

south from Floyd Bennett Boulevard, May 2008. In the 

background is the main building constructed in 1975. (SUNY 

ESF.)

Figure 2.51 (middle): The front of the World War II-era 

Ecology Village gym (70) looking north, December 2006. In 

the background is the pine plantation within the Ecology 

Village campgrounds, and to the right are a park pavilion 

and comfort station. (SUNY ESF.) 

Figure 2.52 (bottom): The Korean War-era park maintenance 

garage (258), view looking north, May 2008. In the 

background is the pine plantation within the Ecology Village 

campgrounds. (SUNY ESF.) 

Existing Conditions
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

218

and window-wall building was originally a Navy dispensary built in c.1968. The 

adjoining lawn area that fronted the barracks complex to the south is crossed by 

asphalt drives and concrete pads remaining from a mobile home park developed 

in c.1970. The Navy probably planted the existing specimen trees within this area 

at that time. 

East of the enlisted men’s barracks across 

Enterprise Road is the vacant Job Corps gym (174), 

built during World War II as the enlisted men’s 

recreation building. It features a barrel-vaulted 

gymnasium wing and a two-story barracks-type 

wing at the front that may have been added after 

the war (fig. 2.56). To the north of the gym is a large 

vacant barracks complex (129-132) built in 1952 

during the Korean War and most recently used by 

the Job Corps program. This red-brick complex 

consists of two, two-story barracks, a heating 

plant, and a one-story mess hall connected by a 

breezeway (fig. 2.57). The complex is surrounded 

by overgrown foundation plantings and peripheral 

picnic areas and parking lots enclosed by brick and 

masonry-block fences.

On the south side of Floyd Bennett Boulevard 

adjacent to the Department of Defense property are 

two single-family houses (156, 157) that were built 

during World War II as married officers’ quarters 

(fig. 2.58). The houses, which are vacant and 

concealed by overgrown plantings that probably 

Figure 2.53 (top): The park headquarters building (69), a 

former World War II barracks, view east, May 2008. The 

Navy converted this building to its headquarters in c.1946, at 

which time it added the flagpole. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.54 (middle): Building 62 (left) and 72, two of three 

buildings remaining from the World War II-era Enlisted Men’s 

Barracks, view south, December 2006. Most of the window 

glass on these vacant buildings is missing. The breezeway in 

the right distance once connected to the central mess hall, of 

which only the foundations remain. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.55 (bottom): The park police headquarters (275), a 

Navy dispensary built in c.1968, view southeast, December 

2006. (SUNY ESF.)
219 

date to after World War II, face a central lawn area bordered by a circular drive 

named Independence Lane. To the east of the houses is a ballfield that was the site 

of the Married Officers’ Mess Hall (73), which was demolished in the 1980s. To 

the south along Enterprise Road is a row of three single-family houses (268-270) 

constructed in c.1960 as married officers’ quarters (fig. 2.59). The park manages 

these small ranch-style houses as staff residences 

based on a lease agreement with the Department of 

Defense, on whose property they are located (they 

are north of the fence that forms the management 

boundary between the two federal properties).

East of Enterprise Road is a large ballfield on the 

site of the World War II-era Bachelor Officers’ 

Quarters (68), which was the largest building in 

the main barracks area prior to its demolition 

in the 1980s. On the east side of the ballfield is a 

three-story brick and window-wall school building 

(272) erected in c.1968 for the New York City 

Board of Education and presently occupied by the 

Gateway Environmental Study Center (fig. 2.60) 

The adjoining area to the east and south at the 

southeastern tip of Floyd Bennett Field is a mix of 

park recreation areas and abandoned buildings. 

This was a former industrial section of the main 

barracks area where supplies were transported from 

ships docked at the marginal wharf along Rockaway 

Inlet. The Environmental Study Center is next to 

the site of a World War II-era dispensary (87) where 

supplies were stored and distributed. On the site 

Figure 2.56 (top): The vacant Job Corps gym (74), the World 

War II-era Recreation Building, view of the rear looking 

northwest, December 2006. The building consists of a barrelvaulted gymnasium and a two-story attached barracks-type 

wing (at left). In the right background are the Korean Warera barracks. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.57 (middle): Looking east into the vacant Korean 

War-era brick barracks complex (129-132), December 2006. 

(SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.58 (bottom): Two vacant single-family houses (157, 

158), formerly Married Officer Quarters built during World 

War II, view looking southeast across the circular entrance 

drive (Independence Lane), May 2008. (SUNY ESF.)

Existing Conditions
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

220

of this building is the park nursery, a fenced-in area developed in the 1980s (fig. 

2.61). The nursery contains ornamental plantings, a fiberglass-sheathed woodframe greenhouse, storage sheds, piles of mulch, and a small parking area. To the 

east is a park archery range and successional woods within the former clear zone 

of runway 12-30.

Southeast of the nursery and Environmental Study 

Center adjoining the marginal wharf are vacant 

buildings, including the laundry (85) and Power 

Plant A (86) that have collapsed roofs (fig. 2.62). 

Between these buildings and the marginal wharf 

are abandoned World War II concrete water storage 

tanks (179, 180) and a water pump house. In this 

area are also foundation remnants of World War 

II and Korean War-era fuel tanks concealed by 

woods and vines. One of the associated substation 

buildings (101) remains standing to the rear of 

the power plant. The marginal wharf itself is in 

ruins due to erosion from the strong currents of 

Rockaway Inlet that have washed away the fill and 

roadway from behind the steel sheet-pile bulkhead 

(fig. 2.63). The entire wharf is on Department of 

Defense property, but the eastern third falls in the 

area managed by the park. 

At the opposite or west side of the South 

Administrative Area is the west barracks area, 

Figure 2.59 (top): Three former Married Officer Quarters 

(268-270, at left) built in c.1960, view north, December 2006. 

These ranch houses are a park inholding within Department 

of Defense property. The open area at right is a ballfield that 

was site of the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters, once the largest 

building in the main barracks area. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.60 (middle): The Gateway Environmental 

Education Center (274) erected in c.1968 as a city school, 

view southeast from Floyd Bennett Boulevard toward the 

marginal wharf, May 2008. In the background is the World 

War II-era laundry (85). (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.61 (bottom): View south through the park nursery 

showing the greenhouse at left and ornamental plantings, 

December 2006. The concrete sidewalks are probably 

remnants of a World War II-era dispensary that stood on the 

site. (SUNY ESF.)
221 

originally developed during World War II west of 

the flight-path clear zone for runway 15-33 (later 

taxiway 10/present park entrance road). The west 

barracks area consists of several scattered buildings 

along Aviation Road, which originally ran south 

from Hangar Row but now terminates at Floyd 

Bennett Boulevard. At the north end of Aviation 

Road is a public parking lot built in c.1996 adjacent 

to the main gate. On the west side of the road is staff 

housing (267) in what may be a relocated World 

War II-era barracks (fig. 2.64). Farther south on the 

east side of Aviation Road is an abandoned Navy 

pump house built in c.1952, and across the road 

is the former sewage and garbage disposal area 

originally developed during World War II (fig. 2.65). 

The road turns east along Rockaway Inlet, where 

the adjoining sandy beach is used as a restricted 

fishing area. The Navy developed the land to the 

north, now successional woods and concrete pads, 

as mobile home courts in c.1965.

Figure 2.62 (top): The vacant World War II-era laundry (85, 

right) and Power Plant A (87), view east, May 2008. The roofs 

on both buildings have collapsed. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.63 (upper middle): The ruins of the marginal 

wharf looking east toward the National Park Servicemanaged section, December 2006. The building at left is on 

Department of Defense property. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.64 (lower middle): Looking south into the former 

west barracks area along Aviation Road showing staff 

housing (267), probably a relocated World War II-era 

barracks, May 2008. (SUNY ESF.)

Figure 2.65 (bottom): The abandoned Navy sewage plant 

(60), view west from Aviation Road, December 2006. 

The building in the background is part of the Gil Hodges 

Memorial Bridge toll plaza. (SUNY ESF.) 

Existing Conditions
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

222

endnotes

1 Robert Page, Cathy Gilbert, and Susan Dolan, A Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and Techniques

(Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Cultural Resource and Stewardship and 

Partnerships, Park Historic Structures and Cultural Landscapes Program, 1998), 75.

2 The park’s map, “Floyd Bennett Field Land Assignments (Draft Version 1.0, 17 December 2007) indicates the Federal 

Aviation Administration has an easement for the Doppler radar tower, but the following court case indicates the 1.8-acre 

property is under separate federal ownership: NYC Audubon Society vs. Rodney Slater, U.S. Court of Appeals docket 99-

4081, http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl? navby=search&case=/data2/circs/2nd/994081.html. 

3 John Lincoln Hallowel, Park Ranger, Gateway National Recreation Area, personal communication with author, 

November 2005.

4 Due to the dense vegetation, it was not possible to inventory all features within the North 40 Natural Area.
Police 

memorial

 garden

152

Concrete 

barriers 

Entrance road

Entrance road

x x

x

x

x x

x

x

x

x

x

0’ 200’ 400’

Parking lot

Parking lot

B A R R E N I S L A N D

R O C K A W A Y I N

L

E

T

M I L L 

B A S I N MILL

ISLAND

Flatbush Avenue 

J A M A I C A B A Y 

S h o r e P a r k w a y

Taxiway 1 

Runway 1-19 

Runway 12-30 

Taxiway 10 

INSET

Ryan Visitor

Center

Flatbush Avenue

Taxiway 4

Taxiway 7 

88

60

70 69

72

74

62

75

86 85

158

157

Hangar 

B

Taxiway 5 

94

96

97 98

99

F L O Y D B E N N E T T F I E L D 

G A T E W A Y

N A T I O N A L 

R E C R E A T I O N 

Runway 6-24 

91 90A-B

89

278

Flagstaff

54

50

26

106

109

110

111

112

113

114

116

115

117

NPS

City of New York

NPS

City of New York

Bulkhead

Foundations 168 273

274

169

Soil cement

Soil cement

258

Taxiway 6 

129

130

132

131

250

272 

275

Tylunas Hall

178

267

120

Ryan Visitor

Center

154

260

29

Parking lot

1

176

Beacon tower

Taxiway 2 

Taxiway 8 

A R E A 

NPS

U. S. Army

Abandoned

seaplane ramp

Cricket Club 

assigned area

Astroturf fields

Bleachers

Aviator Sports 

& Recreation 

assigned area

Indoor

sports

facilities

Public entrance

road

Parking lots 

Airport

sign

Aviator Sports

& Recreation assigned area

Remnant walks

from nose hangar

Jersey barriers

Comfort station

Announcer’s booth &

seating area

Comfort station

H.A.R.P.

Community gardens

Bollards

Comfort

station

Ecology Village

campgrounds

Pine plantation

Camps Tamarack

and Goldenrod Park police

Soil cement

Aviation Road

(abandoned)

Gateway Marina

Global Golf

Rockaway

Gateway

Greenway

bikepath

Visitor contact

station

Auto shop

102

Rockaway

Gateway

Greenway

Model airplane 

flying field

Pond

Walking trails

Trailhead

100

Photo shelters

5 groups of 

shelters,

tent platforms,

picnic tables

217

Scrap yard

Vehicle

storage

Timber bulkhead

Tidal flats

Raptor Point

Remote control

car track

Gateway Environmental Study Center

Parking

Parking

Dying Japanese 

black pines

Concrete

benches

101 179

180

Jet engine

run-up stands

(Department of Defense)

268 269 270

US DOT

FAA Doppler 

radar tower

Vacant

Vacant

Vacant

57

30

126

Parking

area

Comfort

station

205

Patrol Road

Patrol Road

Vacant

Vacant

Aviator Sports

chiller building

(2006)

4

6

5

3

H-7

H-8

H-5

H-6

H-3

H-4

H-1

H-2

1

Benches,

Cei Angelo 

Nania Way

Vehicle storage

Airport compass

rose

Gil Hodges

Memorial

Bridge

Toll plaza 

Timber bulkhead 

Sheetmetal

bulkhead

remnants

SEE INSET

Sewage

plant ruins

Abandoned

roadbed

Housing 

Main building 

Hangar

Boat ramp

NYC Police 

Dept. Aviation Unit

assigned area

NYC Department 

of Sanitation

assigned area

142

Marginal wharf

(ruins)

NYPD guard

booth

NYPD

assigned area

Addition

Archery

range

Comfort

station

Greenhouse

Nursery

Polytechnic

athletic

fields

Ballfield

Park

headquarters

NPS parking

area 

Park 

entrance

North 40 Natural Area

Managed grasslands

Managed grasslands

Ecology

Village

gym

Helicopter

landing area

Ranger

Road

Floyd Bennett

Boulevard

Enterprise

Road

Aviation

Road

Road trace

U. S. MARINE CORPS RESERVES

Indepen- dence

Lane

Fishing area

Helicopter pad

and compass rose

Mobile 

home

pads

Mobile

home

pads

Entrance

Secondary buildings 

NPS inholding

within DOD property 

Dept. of Interior-Dept. of Defense

property boundary (approximate)

DOI-DOD management boundary

follows fence line 

Temp.

storage

bldg.

Equip. Shed

Memorial CG13 CG2

CG3

CG8,12

CG1

Patrol Road

Concrete 

bulkhead 

Finger pier,

Boathouse

Seaplane

ramp

CG7

Pool

174

44

Drawing 2.1

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter and Sarah K. Cody

Illustrator CS3, 2008

Cultural Landscape Report

for Floyd Bennett Field

Gateway National Recreation Area

Brooklyn, New York

LEGEND

Property boundary

Lease/assigned area boundary

Building/structure, inventory number

Paved circulation 

Unpaved circulation 

Piles

Fence, light

Woods, specimen tree

Berm, mulched pavement

Lawn or managed grassland

Upland, low scrub

Marsh

Open water

0’ 400’ 800’ 1200’ 1600’

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

SOURCES

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with: 

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental 

Science and Forestry

NOTES

1. All features shown in approximate scale and location.

2. Vegetation species unknown except where indicated.

3. See Appendix D for building key.

4. Plan does not show minor park structures (sheds, shelters,

tent platforms, etc.) and furniture (benches, picnic tables).

5. Plan does not show all paving and building remnants.

6. White mask indicates landscape outside of project area.

x x x

Existing Conditions

2008

1. Aerial photograph, 2007

2. NPS, Structures Key Map, Floyd Bennett

 Field, 1983

3. Field inspections, 2006-2008

4. FBF Land Assignments, Draft 1.0, 2007

Character Areas Legend

Hangar Row

Airport Entrance

Airfield

Naval Aviation Patrol Base

U.S. Coast Guard Air Station

Area North of Airfield North Forty Natural Area

Area South of Airfield South Administrative Area

88

225 

Analysis and Evaluation

3. Analysis and Evaluation 

This chapter provides an evaluation of the significance and historic character 

of the Floyd Bennett Field landscape based on the findings of the preceding site 

history and the existing conditions. The chapter evaluates the entire Floyd Bennett 

Field landscape east of Flatbush Avenue and south of Shore Parkway, excluding 

the Department of Defense (Marine Corps Reserves) property at the south side of 

the field along Rockaway Inlet, which is under separate federal jurisdiction, and a 

small parcel belonging to the U.S. Department of Transportation (Doppler radar 

tower). 

The chapter is divided into two main sections. The first provides an evaluation of 

the historic significance of Floyd Bennett Field according to the National Register 

Criteria for Evaluation, and makes recommendations for updating the boundaries 

and period of significance for the existing National Register-listed Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district. While this evaluation pertains to the landscape, 

the landscape includes most resources on the property. This report does not, 

however, evaluate architectural significance of individual buildings under National 

Register Criterion C, or archeological significance under Criterion D. Additional 

research and evaluation would be required to fully document all areas of historic 

significance for all resources, such as through amended National Register 

documentation and updates to the park’s List of Classified Structures (LCS) and 

Archeological Sites Management Information System (ASMIS). 

The second main section of this chapter is an evaluation of the landscape’s 

historic character according to National Park Service cultural landscape 

methodology outlined in A Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, 

and Techniques (National Park Service, 1998). Part A of this section provides a 

detailed feature-level evaluation of the landscape’s historic character within the 

updated historic district boundaries. Part B provides a summary characteristiclevel evaluation of the landscape characteristics outside of the historic district, 

corresponding to most of the North 40 Natural Area and the South Administrative 

Area. Features are not individually evaluated in these two areas.

All landscape features are keyed to the Analysis and Evaluation Plan (Drawing 

3.1). The characteristics evaluations include illustrations that compare historic 

and existing conditions to give a sense of change over time. Further graphic 

documentation of characteristics and features is in the Site History and Existing 

Conditions chapters. 
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

226

national register evaluation 

The following recommendations for evaluating the historic significance of the 

Floyd Bennett Field landscape according to the National Register Criteria build 

off an evaluation of the existing historic district listed in 1980, which encompasses 

most of the original municipal airport. In summary, this report recommends that 

the period of significance be extended to the end of World War II in 1945 and that 

the district boundaries be expanded to include the entire Airfield character area as 

well as the Naval Aviation Patrol Base and the Coast Guard Air Station areas along 

Jamaica Bay. Areas outside the Airfield—the North 40 Natural Area and the South 

Administrative Area—are not recommended for inclusion within the expanded 

district due to a lack of integrity in the landscape. Further evaluation is necessary 

to determine if individual resources within these two areas, such as buildings, 

structures, and archeological sites, may be eligible for National Register listing.

Existing National Register Documentation

Floyd Bennett Field was listed as a historic district in the National Register of 

Historic Places on April 11, 1980 based on a nomination form drafted in 1978.1

The nomination identifies Floyd Bennett Field as being significant in the areas 

of transportation and military history, with emphasis on transportation during a 

period of significance from 1931 to 1941. The period begins when the airport was 

dedicated and officially opened to the public and ends when the city transferred 

ownership to the Navy. The boundaries of the 1980 district, encompassing 328.5 

acres, include most of the original municipal airport, excluding property then 

belonging to the Navy (NARDET on the south half of the Aviation Patrol Base) 

and the Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn that took in part of the airfield (figs. 3.1, 

3.2). The National Register boundary corresponds with the former airport south 

boundary road on the south, a line between taxiways 1 and 2 and runway 6-24 on 

the north, Flatbush Avenue on the west, and taxiway 6 on the east. 

Section 7 of the nomination form organizes the resources into three tiers: primary 

contributing, secondary contributing, and non-contributing. The primary 

contributing resources are the Administration Building (1), the eight original 

paired hangars (3-6), the Hangar Row apron, original runways 15-33 and 6-24 

(both later converted to taxiways), and runways 1-19 and 12-30. Portions of 

runway 1-19 extend beyond the district boundary because its southeastern half 

was on Coast Guard property at the time of listing. Contributing secondary 

resources, described as having less importance, include the Dope Shop (26, 

identified as garage and maintenance shop), sewage pump house (30), and 

transformer vault (57) in the former airport maintenance area at the south end of 

Hangar Row; a fire pump house (29) and a World War II-era gasoline pump house 

(145, incorrectly listed as 177) in the airport entrance area; and a transformer 
227 

building (120) north of hangars 7-8 (6) . Since the 1978 draft nomination was 

written, the park demolished the gasoline pump house (145); its documentation as 

contributing was an error given its post-1941 construction date. 

Non-contributing (post-1941) resources documented in the National Register 

nomination include the following resources within Hangar Row and the airport 

entrance area: two wood-frame hangars 9-10 (46, 51), 

the Administration Building wing (171), the Navy sick 

bay (48), beacon tower (176), an Air National Guard 

sentry booth (236), the nose hangar (265), Navy fire 

house (50), and several small storage buildings, some 

of which were ammunitions lockers (44, 45, 238, 266). 

All of these buildings have been removed since the 

1978 draft nomination was written except for the Navy 

fire house, beacon tower, and one of the ammunitions 

lockers (44). The maps filed with the National Register 

documentation indicate that the district boundaries 

encompassed part of the Navy maintenance area 

built along the east side of the field in c.1942, but 

these buildings (93-99) were not described in Section 

Figure 3.1: Map showing existing and proposed National Register boundaries, and existing and prior ownership 

within the historic limits of NAS New York. (SUNY ESF.) 

Figure 3.2: A map showing 

boundaries (marked by coordinates 

A, B, C, and D) from the Floyd 

Bennett Field Historic District 

nomination listed in the National 

Register of Historic Places in 1980. 

(USGS map, annotated by SUNY 

ESF.)

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

228

7 (see fig. 3.2). The district boundary also takes in a small corner of the South 

Administrative Area (main barracks, including part of the Ecology Village gym, 

70), but this is also not described in Section 7. 

Section 7 contains a paragraph describing potential prehistoric and historic 

archeological resources in the South Administrative Area corresponding with what 

was once Barren Island. While generally accurate, this statement corresponds to 

an area that is outside of the historic district boundaries and therefore not within 

the National Register listing. The municipal airport encompassed by the district 

boundaries was built entirely on fill within a tidal estuary that had been used in 

part as a garbage dump. 

The statement of significance (Section 8) in the existing National Register 

documentation provides a brief one-page account of the significance of Floyd 

Bennett Field in the area of transportation. While ‘military’ is checked off as an 

area of significance on the header of Section 8, the supporting text provides no 

justification for this. The statement outlines the property’s significance as New 

York City’s first municipal airport designed according to guidelines of the U.S. 

Department of Commerce. The property is also described as being historically 

significant for its association with early aviators and its location for experimental 

and record-breaking flights, including those of Wiley Post, Howard Hughes, 

and Douglas “Wrong-Way” Corrigan. The statement does not identify National 

Register Criteria, but the text supports Criteria A and C. Despite its enlargement 

by the Navy after 1941, the property is described as retaining “architectural design 

and historic cohesion of an early municipal airport” that “presents an unusual 

value because it retains much of its original structures and setting which tell the 

story of the early years of aviation.”2

Proposed National Historic Landmark Nomination

In August 2005, the National Historic Landmarks Survey staff evaluated a draft 

nomination for Floyd Bennett Field submitted by Gateway National Recreation 

Area. The nomination identified Floyd Bennett Field as being nationally 

significant in the area of air-related transportation under Criteria 1 and 5.3

 The 

nomination lists the period of significance as 1928-1941, beginning with the start 

of construction on the airport and ending with transfer of the property to the 

Navy. The boundaries of the nominated district corresponded with the original 

municipal airport, including the southeast half of runway 12-30 that was excluded 

from the National Register listing. The Navy’s development and use of the 

property after 1941 was not cited as part of the property’s national significance. 
229 

In August 2005, the National Historic Landmark Survey staff determined that 

Floyd Bennett Field (New York City Municipal Airport Number 1) did not have 

the high integrity required for landmark designation, and therefore rejected 

the nomination. The staff cited replacement of the control tower windows, the 

widening and lengthening of the original runways, the addition of a fifth runway, 

and the construction of a visibly intrusive infill structure built as part of the 

Aviator Sports and Recreation complex between Hangars 5-6 and 7-8 (5, 6) as 

having a negative impact on the property’s integrity. The staff also expanded upon 

the nomination and stated that the entire Naval Air Station (NAS) New York 

property as developed by the Navy through World War II did not retain sufficient 

integrity for listing as a National Historic Landmark.4

Despite not being eligible as a National Historic Landmark, the survey staff 

determined in an August 2005 letter that Floyd Bennett Field was significant 

under the National Register Criteria as an important early municipal airport, 

and as a World War II-era naval air station: “Although Floyd Bennett Field 

as a whole does not possess the high integrity necessary for National Historic 

Landmark (NHL) designation, we recommend that an amended National 

Register nomination for the field be prepared at the national level of significance 

with a period of significance extending through 1945.5

 In the same letter, the 

survey staff also provided an initial eligibility determination for the Coast Guard 

hanger: “In addition, it appears that the Coast Guard hanger, which seems to be 

unaltered, may be eligible for individual NHL designation for its association with 

the development of the helicopter in the 1940s.” However, based on a follow-up 

evaluation in 2008, it was determined that the hangar did not maintain sufficient 

integrity for NHL designation.6

 

Recommendations for Amending National Register 

Documentation

To more accurately document the historically significant resources of the Floyd 

Bennett Field landscape, this report recommends that the existing National 

Register documentation be amended to address changes in ownership since the 

1980 listing (addition of the Navy and Coast Guard properties); to fully document 

the extent of the municipal airport by 1941 to include associated development 

along Jamaica Bay; and to document the significant role of the Navy in the 

municipal airport and in the expansion of the airport into NAS New York during 

World War II. The recommended expanded boundaries include Hangar Row, the 

entire airfield as expanded during World War II, including the runway approaches 

and clear zones; and the Naval Aviation Patrol Base and Coast Guard Air Station 

along Jamaica Bay.The North 40 Natural Area and the South Administrative Area 

are not recommended for inclusion within the expanded district due to lack of 

historic integrity (part of the area currently managed as the North 40 along the 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

230

runways falls within the historic district boundary). Losses since 1945 within these 

two areas include eleven barracks, a mess hall, officers’ club, dispensary, four 

radio towers, ten secondary support buildings, and the marginal wharf (presently 

in ruins). Since 1945, roads, parking lots, and buildings have been added and a 

large percentage of open land has become wooded. 

Recommended Revisions to the Statement of Significance

Future amendment to the National Register listing for Floyd Bennett Field should 

consider expanding Section 8 to document the significance of the landscape in 

the areas of transportation and military under Criteria A and C through a period 

of significance from 1928 to 1945. Gateway National Recreation Area is presently 

planning to update National Register documentation for all resources within the 

park including Floyd Bennett Field for its revised General Management Plan 

currently underway. 

The following statements reflect the findings of the site history and existing 

conditions in this report.7

 Statements for Criteria A and C are organized by 

municipal airport (1928-1941) and World War II (1941-1945) periods. These 

statements build upon the existing documentation that focuses on Criteria A and 

C in the area of transportation. Each will require further research and elaboration. 

Because Criterion A in the area of transportation is well covered under the 

existing National Register documentation and the draft National Historic 

Landmark nomination, it is not addressed here. 

Municipal Airport Period (1928-1941)

Criterion A: Military 

Floyd Bennett Field is significant under Criterion A in the area of military history 

for its association with the U.S. Navy during the formative years of naval aviation.8

The Navy had a long-standing presence at Floyd Bennett Field during its use 

as a municipal airport, a legacy of the post-World War I period that witnessed 

curtailment of military development and growth of commercial aviation. During 

this time, the American public was weary of military spending while many 

municipalities faced large expenses in building public airports. By working 

together, municipalities and the military were able to share resources. The military 

presence also helped to ease public perceptions about the military while providing 

a comforting presence to those fearful of flying. The relationship that developed 

between the military and commercial airports was therefore important not only 

financially, but from a social perspective as well. 9 

As a result of these developments, the Navy established most of its air stations 

at municipal airports during the 1930s. As late as 1938, the Naval Aviation 
231 

Department had only seven of its own air stations.10 The Navy was present at 

Floyd Bennett Field from the beginning, occupying Hangar 1 just one week after 

the airport’s dedication in May 1931, having relocated from the nearby Rockaway 

Naval Air Station. The city granted the Navy full use of the airfield for its training 

purposes, which soon expanded into Hangar 5. The Navy was one of the city’s 

biggest tenants at the airport, and as the country began to prepare for potential 

war in the late 1930s, its presence increased substantially. With declaration of the 

limited national emergency in 1939, the Navy leased property from the city on the 

east side of the airfield along Jamaica Bay for the development of its own aviation 

patrol base (Hangar A) completed in 1940. At the south end of Hangar Row, the 

Navy began construction of a Naval Air Reserve Training Base that included a 

barracks (27) completed in early 1941, with several additional buildings (50-55) 

completed soon after the closing of the municipal airport in May of that year. 

The presence of the Coast Guard at Floyd Bennett Field also reflected the 

partnership of municipalities with military agencies during this period. While a 

quasi-military agency under the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Coast Guard 

performed similar functions, including search and rescue missions, patrolling, 

and training. The first Coast Guard air station in the country was commissioned at 

Cape May, New Jersey in 1926. The creation of the Brooklyn air station, built on 

land leased from the city, was part of an expansion of the air station system that 

began in 1934. By 1936 when construction of the Brooklyn facility began, there 

were just six operational Coast Guard air stations in the nation. The new base, 

named the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn, was intended both as a central 

base of operations for the eastern seaboard and as a regional base responsible for 

regulating air and sea traffic between existing air stations at Cape May and Salem, 

Massachusetts. The station included a hangar, garage, taxiway, and seaplane ramp 

completed in 1937.

Criterion C: Transportation 

The existing National Register listing already documents Floyd Bennett Field as 

being significant under Criterion C in the area of transportation as a rare-surviving 

example of an early municipal airport. However, the information relating to 

this criterion warrants substantial elaboration. The documentation should 

include expanded discussion of the layout and construction of the runways; the 

architecture of the hangars and Administration Building and their relationship 

to Flatbush Avenue and the runways; the construction of the landmass and turf 

surface of the airfield; and the siting and design of seaplane facilities as illustrated 

in existing resources. 

The airport entrance off Flatbush Avenue, built between c.1931 and 1935, also 

warrants its own discussion as an example of landscape design used to comfort 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

232

hesitant air travelers, a function similar to the city’s intent for the familiar 

neoclassical-style Administration Building. The planes and boarding area were 

concealed to the rear of the Administration Building. The diagonal entry drives, 

central lawn area with rustic and cast-iron light standards, sycamore trees, clipped 

hedges, and rustic wood sign imparted a park-like character to the entrance 

area that visitors would have found familiar. The landscape was much like the 

landscape of the state and city parks and parkways under development at the 

time, including the nearby Shore Parkway and Jacob Riis Park. The entrance area 

landscape also tied into the landscape of Flatbush Avenue, which was rebuilt into 

a dual-carriageway parkway lined by sycamore trees following the opening of the 

Marine Parkway Bridge in 1937. 

The Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn also warrants discussion of its own 

significance under Criterion C as part of the development of the larger airport 

with its similar facilities, including a hangar, taxiway, and seaplane ramp. Because 

it was developed within a different context, the architectural style of the Coast 

Guard buildings contrasted with those of the municipal airport at Hangar 

Row. The use of the white-painted streamlined Moderne style (also called Art 

Moderne) at Floyd Bennett Field, a style that often employed nautical elements, 

was most likely meant to evoke the maritime association of the Coast Guard. 

Further research is needed to establish a stylistic context for Coast Guard facilities 

of the period.

Municipal Airport Period Integrity Overview

Within the proposed expanded historic district, key resources remaining from 

the municipal airport period within Hangar Row include the four paired hangars 

(3-6), Administration Building (1), pump house (29), and Dope Shop (26), along 

with the parts of the apron, diagonal entry drives, lawn, flagstaff, and airport sign 

(reconstructed). Resources lost from this period within Hangar Row include the 

field house (2) and four maintenance buildings at the south end of Hangar Row; 

the open space between hangars 5-6 and 7-8 (Aviator Sports infill building), the 

gate/passenger boarding area and rotating platforms on the apron (replaced by 

parking lots); and rustic and cast-iron light standards and parking lots within the 

entrance area. Within the airfield, resources remaining from this period include 

runways 6-24 (taxiway 1-2), 15-33 (taxiway 10, current entrance road), 12-30, and 

1-19; portions of the open turf airfield; and remnants of the south boundary road 

that led to the seaplane base along Jamaica Bay. Resources lost within the airfield 

include two Sperry floodlight towers, system of boundary and runway lights, and 

a seaplane ramp and pier on Jamaica Bay. Within the Coast Guard Air Station, key 

resources remaining from this period include the hangar (CG-1) and garage (CG2). The station retains a seaplane ramp, although it is a c.1955 reconstruction of 

the original built in 1937. 
233 

World War II Period (1941–1945) 

Criterion A: Military 

Floyd Bennett Field, designated as Naval Air Station (NAS) New York on June 

2, 1941, is significant under Criterion A in the area of military history for its role 

in the American home front of World War II. NAS New York became one of 

the most important naval air stations in the country, reflecting the increasing 

importance of aviation in the Navy. In 1938, the Navy maintained just seven 

Naval Air Stations—the flagship type of naval air facility—and ten Naval Aviation 

Reserve Bases, including the one at Floyd Bennett Field. During the war, these 

numbers rose to 257 Naval Air Stations, of which eighty-six were in the East, along 

with many smaller satellite fields. NAS New York served as the main air station for 

the New York City area, with the primary Navy installation at the New York Navy 

Yard located on the East River in Brooklyn. The largest naval air station in the East 

was NAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island, a facility built between 1940 and 1941.

NAS New York was home to several aviation units of the Atlantic Fleet, three 

submarine patrols squadrons, a scout observation service unit, two Naval Air 

Transport Service squadrons, and the Aircraft Delivery Unit (later Naval Air Ferry 

Command), which was headquartered at Floyd Bennett Field. NAS New York 

also served as the eastern terminal for the delivery unit in large part because if its 

proximity to major military aircraft production plants. By the end of the war, some 

46,000 aircraft had been commissioned at NAS New York and then delivered to 

fight in the major battles, primarily in the Pacific. The location of NAS New York 

in the country’s largest city, with access to key commercial areas and ample labor 

pools, also led to the field’s designation as a base for servicing allied aircraft and 

shipping supplies to both the European and Pacific fronts. In its role as the eastern 

terminal of the Military Air Transport Service, the field handled on average 720 

transcontinental flights a month involving more than 5,000 passengers and more 

than a million pounds of cargo. During the war, NAS New York also continued 

and expanded its role as a major base for training pilots and for patrolling the 

Atlantic sea-lanes, with the Naval Aviation Patrol Base on Jamaica Bay increased to 

six patrol squadrons and one inshore patrol squadron. 

These war-time operations required an enormous increase in Navy personnel. At 

the time of its commissioning in 1941, there were just six officers and twenty-four 

enlisted men at NAS New York. After Pearl Harbor, work began on developing 

facilities to accommodate 6,500 personnel. By 1944, there were 897 officers, 3,101 

enlisted personnel, and 740 civilians at NAS New York, including detachments of 

Women Accepted into Volunteer Service (WAVES). 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

234

Criterion C: Military 

Floyd Bennett Field is significant under National Register Criterion C as a 

representative example of a World War II-era naval air station developed from a 

municipal (civilian) airport. Forty-three of the eighty-six naval aviation bases in 

the eastern United States during World War II were located at former municipal 

airports and thus it was characteristic for them to incorporate both civilian and 

military aspects. 

The Navy’s plans for the expansion of Floyd Bennett Field were typical of its 

war-time development elsewhere across the nation that employed standardized 

plans based on availability of resources and limitations of the local climate. The 

principal ground facilities of waterside naval air stations remained largely the 

same as they were prior to the war. These included seaplane ramps, seaplane 

parking areas, seaplane hangars, wharfs, landplane hangars, landplane runways, 

and personnel buildings, including barracks, recreational halls, and dispensaries. 

The sites for naval air stations required a limited amount of landplane facilities 

alongside a protected body of water where seaplanes could take off and land 

under a variety of weather conditions. Characteristic of most airfields, all major 

buildings and above-ground structures in naval air stations were located outside 

of flight-path clear zones, areas in which obstructions to flight such as buildings, 

towers, and trees were prohibited. One change in facilities during the war resulted 

from advances in aircraft, which became faster and larger. These craft required 

longer, more stable runways.

The Navy’s war-time plans for buildings, structures, circulation, and other 

infrastructure were designed for quick and efficient construction. War-time 

building construction fell into two general types: permanent, intended for 

continued use after the war and usually employing masonry and steel; and 

temporary, not intended for use after the war and usually built of wood frame 

and modular construction. The Navy’s new construction at Floyd Bennett Field 

was characterized overall by utilitarian design and construction without any of 

the architectural adornment that the city and Coast Guard had earlier employed. 

Asphalt was used instead of concrete on most of the runways and taxiways, and 

buildings were primarily frame, with clapboard or sheet-metal siding. Most nondeveloped areas that the Navy created from fill, such as on Barren Island and 

the area north of the original airport, were apparently left bare and allowed to 

regenerate naturally instead of being surfaced in topsoil and planted in turf. The 

land boundaries of the site were cordoned off by economical cyclone and barbedwire fence. Less than twenty-two months after the Navy’s acquisition of Floyd 

Bennett Field, its expansion into NAS New York was largely complete.
235 

The Navy’s development of Floyd Bennett Field was concentrated in five main 

areas: additions and modifications to Hangar Row including hangars and 

barracks; expansion of the airfield including a circumferential taxiway system 

and a new runway; enlargement of the Aviation Patrol Base with a second hangar 

and construction of an adjoining maintenance area; construction of ammunitions 

magazines and radio towers north of the airfield; and redevelopment of Barren 

Island into a main barracks area, west barracks area, seaplane base, and marginal 

wharf. New buildings and other above-ground structures were developed outside 

of flight paths, which were defined by clear zones 650 feet to either side of each 

runway and additional areas on the approaches. Given its limited acreage, the 

Coast Guard made relatively minor additions to its air station at Floyd Bennett 

Field during the war aside from construction of a barracks. 

World War II-Period Integrity Overview

Within the proposed expanded historic district, key resources remaining from 

the World War II-era at Hangar Row include the four paired hangars (3-6), 

Administration Building (1), pump house (29), Dope Shop (26), fire house (50), 

Synthetic Training Building/barracks (54), and several small utility buildings 

(30, 57, 126), along with diagonal entry drives and parts of the apron, although 

covered by later parking lots and drives. The control tower remains as altered by 

the Navy during the war. Most of the buildings added to Hangar Row during the 

war were removed between 1979 and 2000, notably two wood-frame hangars (46, 

51), paint store house (47), sick bay (48), and the Administration Building wing 

(171). Several buildings at the south end of Hangar Row including barracks and 

utility buildings (27, 28, 52, 53, 56, 58) were removed by the Navy prior to 1972. 

Key resources added within the airfield include new and expanded runways, the 

perimeter taxiway system, and a compass rose. War-time resources lost from the 

airfield include portions of the open airfield due to natural succession (a reversible 

condition), two Sperry flood-light towers, a rocking platform (a practice facility; 

there was also a tetrahedron, but it is not known if this still exists within the 

wooded area of the airfield); and along Jamaica Bay, the boat basin pier, municipal 

airport seaplane pier and ramp, two ball fields, and several small buildings (35, 41, 

125). Within the Naval Aviation Patrol Base, existing war-time resources include 

Hangar B (100), seaplane ramp B, the enlarged apron, and the maintenance 

area buildings (89-99). Resources lost from this area include Hangar A (23), two 

frame barracks (24, 38) that were replaced by Tylunas Hall (278), and several 

small maintenance-storage buildings (92, 93, 95). Within the Coast Guard Air 

Station, war-time resources include the hangar (CG-1), garage (CG-2), taxiway, 

and seaplane ramp (rebuilt c.1955); features lost are limited to a pier, two storage 

buildings (CG-4, 6), and barracks (CG-3).

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

236

Period of Significance 

In keeping with the recommendation of the National Historic Landmark program, 

the period of significance should begin when construction began in 1928, rather 

than when the airport was dedicated in 1931 and extend through the end of World 

War II in 1945. 

The post-World War II period at Floyd Bennett Field, from 1945 to 1971 when 

NAS New York was decommissioned, does not appear to fall within the period 

of significance because of a lack of significant military use under Criterion A, and 

a lack of significant military design and construction under Criterion C. In July 

1946, NAS New York was redesignated as a Naval Air Reserve Training Station, 

and would remain primarily a training facility for Navy and Marine Reserves over 

the next twenty-five years. The Coast Guard Air Station, which the Navy returned 

to the jurisdiction of the Treasury Department in c.1946, also served as a training 

facility. The field did undergo a brief reinvigoration in the early 1950s to support 

the Korean War, but military activity returned primarily to training functions after 

the end of the war. 

Because its training operations did not require the extensive World War II-era 

infrastructure, the Navy leased large portions of the field to other agencies, 

concentrating its training facilities in the main barracks area and the Aviation 

Patrol Base. The Navy even considered transferring the airfield back to the city for 

use as a commercial airport in the late 1940s, but an agreement was never reached. 

Nonetheless, the negotiations reflected the extent to which the significance of 

Floyd Bennett Field had declined within a military context. The Navy leased two 

hangars in Hangar Row to the New York City Police Aviation Bureau between 

1946 and 1971 (the police has been there prior to the war as well), and the 

remainder of Hangar Row to the New York Air National Guard between 1956 

and 1971. At the west barracks area, the Navy allowed the State of New York 

Housing Authority to use the site between c.1948 and 1955. The Department of 

Defense also carved out the southern half of the South Administrative Area along 

Rockaway Inlet for an Armed Forces Reserve Center through a lease granted by 

the Navy in 1952. 

The physical development of the Floyd Bennett Field landscape after World War 

II reflects the decline in the military significance. Changes to the landscape during 

this period were few and the Navy largely retained the earlier World War II and 

municipal airport patterns of development. In the late 1940s, the Navy removed 

eight barracks in the main barracks area and the State of New York developed 

housing in the west barracks area. Changes during the Korean War in the early 

1950s included new radio towers in the North 40 Natural Area, extension of the 

runway approaches, expansion of the Aviation Patrol Base apron, construction 
237 

of a brick barracks complex in the main barracks area, and a new entrance off 

Flatbush Avenue. During the Vietnam War, the New York Air National Guard 

built a nose hangar in Hangar Row, and the Navy replaced the World War IIera barracks in the Naval Aviation Patrol Base with a new building (Tylunas 

Hall) and removed several buildings south of Hangar Row. Within the main 

and west barracks areas, the Navy built a new dispensary (present park police 

headquarters), a school building for the New York City Board of Education, 

and two mobile home courts, probably for reservists. Overall from a district 

perspective, these changes do not reflect a particular period or type of military 

development in the post World War II period of NAS New York under Criterion 

C. 

Boundaries 11

Based on the changes the Navy made to the landscape during World War II and 

the existing level of integrity, the National Register historic district boundaries 

should be expanded to include all of the airfield, the Naval Aviation Patrol Base 

including the adjoining maintenance area, and the original ten-acre property of 

the Coast Guard Air Station (see fig. 3.1).12 A small part of the existing National 

Register historic district that falls within the South Administrative Area (area 

including Ecology Village gym, #70) would be excluded from the expanded 

district. The separate federal property around the Doppler radar tower (Federal 

Aviation Administration/Department of Transportation) should be included 

but as a non-contributing resource to avoid a so-called doughnut hole, given its 

location within the proposed district. 

The expanded boundaries of the airfield correspond as closely as possible with 

the historic flight-path clear zones. The boundary is adjusted back from the 

clear zones where later development or lack of integrity warrant. The growth of 

successional woods on formerly open field is a reversible condition and not a 

reason for excluding parts of the airfield. All resources and associated landscape 

features within the proposed expanded historic district are contributing if they 

were constructed between 1928 and 1945 and retain integrity from the period 

of significance. Resources constructed after the end of the historic period, such 

Tylunas Hall (278) in the Naval Aviation Patrol Base, are non-contributing.

Further Research

To amend the existing National Register listing, further research and 

documentation will be required to evaluate all resources and areas of significance. 

Further research may be needed under Criterion A to more fully develop the 

military contexts associated with NAS New York during World War II, the role 

of the Coast Guard and Navy in the development of the helicopter, and the role 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

238

of the Coast Guard Air Station during the Cold War (limited documentation 

was found on the post-1945 operation of the air station). As noted previously, 

this report does not address potential significance in the areas of architecture, 

engineering, and archeology because of the project scope limited to the landscape. 

Based on available documentation, it does not appear that this additional research 

would alter the proposed historic district boundaries or period of significance 

with the possible exception of the period of significance for the Coast Guard Air 

Station in the Cold War and possible expansion of the boundaries to include the 

North 40 Natural Area (former Navy ammunitions-communication area). If future 

evaluation of the high-explosive magazines (110-115) identifies significance in the 

area of engineering and architecture, then this area may warrant incorporation 

into the district. These magazines were not inventoried for this report due to lack 

of access from dense vegetation. 

National Register integrity Evaluation

According to the National Register, integrity is the ability of a property to 

convey its significance through physical resources. The National Register 

program identifies seven aspects of integrity: location, design, setting, material, 

workmanship, feeling, and association.

13 Retention of these qualities is necessary 

for a property to convey its significance; however, not all seven must be present 

for a property to retain integrity overall. A basic test of integrity is whether a 

participant in the historic period—in this case, perhaps a former Naval officer who 

served at NAS New York during World War II—would recognize the property 

as it exists today. The following section evaluates each of the seven aspects of 

integrity within the proposed expanded National Register district to its condition 

at the end of the proposed period of significance in 1945. Overall, the expanded 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district retains integrity of location, design, setting, 

materials, workmanship, and association, but has lost integrity of feeling. This 

evaluation does not consider integrity of interior spaces, archeological sites, or 

other resources that do not shape the character of the landscape. 

Integrity of the landscape outside of the historic district within the North 40 

Natural Area and the South Administrative Area is addressed in the second section 

of this chapter (Landscape Evaluation)

Location

Location refers to the place where the cultural landscape was constructed or 

where the historic event occurred. All land and associated features within the 

proposed district boundaries were historically part of Floyd Bennett Field in 1945. 
239 

The historic district encompasses only part of the land associated with NAS New 

York. 

Evaluation: Retains integrity of location.

Design

Design is the combination of elements that create the form, plan, space, 

structure, and style of a cultural landscape. Overall, spatial relationships, 

circulation patterns, and building clusters remain intact from the end of World 

War II. Substantial changes in design of the entrance area landscape since 1945 

include addition of a chiller building (Aviator Sports) and fencing, removal of 

the Administration Building wing (171), Navy sick bay (48) field house (2), and 

parking lots that have altered the historic spatial character. In Hangar Row, the 

addition of the large infill building (Aviator Sports) and construction of parking 

lots and entrance roads over the apron, including the former passenger boarding 

area and parade grounds, has changed historic spatial character and circulation 

patterns. Within the airfield, the growth of woods on formerly open land and turf 

has changed the historic open spatial character of the landscape, including key 

sight lines and runway clear zones. Within the Aviation Patrol Base, the loss of 

Hangar A (23) and two barracks (24, 38) has altered the spatial organization by 

removing key features. Within the Coast Guard Air Station, the replacement of 

the barracks (CG3) with a new, taller building in a new location has changed the 

spatial character of the landscape. Despite these changes, the overall design of 

the landscape shaped by key buildings, runways, taxiways, and building clusters 

remains intact from the end of the historic period in 1945. The change in the 

spatial character of the airfield due to growth of woods is reversible.

Evaluation: Retains integrity of design.

Setting

For the National Register, setting refers to the physical environment within and 

adjoining the property. Floyd Bennett Field retains the waterside and somewhat 

barren setting that characterized NAS New York in 1945, bounded by Flatbush 

Avenue on the west, Jamaica Bay to the east, Rockaway Inlet to the south, and Mill 

Basin to the north. Flatbush Avenue retains its same alignment and width. The 

wider setting still includes Brooklyn neighborhoods to the north across Shore 

Parkway, and to the south Fort Tilden, Jacob Riis Park, and neighborhoods on 

Rockaway Peninsula fronting the Atlantic Ocean. Changes to the setting include 

development of Gateway Marina on the west side of Flatbush Avenue within 

Deep Creek/Dead Horse Bay, and growth of woods within and adjoining the 

district on the formerly open airfield. Despite these changes, the overall setting 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

240

of Floyd Bennett Field remains similar to its condition in 1945. No new massive 

development has occurred within or adjoining the historic district.

Evaluation: Retains integrity of setting.

Materials

Materials are the physical elements, both natural and constructed, that were used 

historically within the cultural landscape. Overall, the built materials of brick, 

wood, steel, concrete, glass, and asphalt remain today. Most of the buildings dating 

from the municipal airport period are brick, steel, and glass, while those from 

World War II were wood frame with clapboard siding. Some historic materials are 

intact but covered, such as the asphalt block paving on parts of the Hangar Row 

apron, and concrete runways resurfaced in asphalt. Buildings constructed within 

the district after 1945 have departed from the historic materials, notably in the 

park comfort stations built of plastic and rough concrete block with low-pitched 

gable roofs, and in the park entrance road and parking lots built on runway 15-33 

and the Hangar Row apron with their concrete curbs, steel guiderails, and bronzefinished metal light standards. The Aviator Sports infill building also diverges from 

the historic materials found on the hangars through its use of corrugated steel 

and bright-finish metals. The black-painted ornamental aluminum picket fence 

along Flatbush Avenue contrasts with the utilitarian chain-link fence that existed 

in 1945. In terms of natural materials, growth of deciduous woods on large areas 

of the airfield reflects a change in materials from mown turf and low scrub, and 

additional specimen trees have been introduced within the airport entrance. 

Despite these changes, the overall material palette remains little changed from 

1945. 

Evaluation: Retains integrity of materials.

Workmanship

Workmanship refers to the physical evidence of the crafts in the construction 

of the landscape. Many of the buildings and structures at Floyd Bennett Field 

show the fine workmanship of their original construction, including the steel and 

masonry construction of the hangars, the asphalt block-paving of the Hangar Row 

apron, and the concrete of the runways, drives, and walks. The frame buildings 

(50, 54) at the south end of Hangar Row show the workmanship of war-time 

construction. Although some features have lost their original craftsmanship 

due to contemporary reconstruction, such as the parking area in front of the 

Administration Building and replacement windows in Administration Building 

and Aviator Sports hangars, overall the landscape still displays the workmanship 

of its original construction as developed through 1945. 

Evaluation: Retains workmanship.
241 

Feeling

Feeling is an expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular period of 

time in a cultural landscape. At Floyd Bennett Field, the feeling of the municipal 

airport and war-time naval air station has been lost in large part due to changes in 

use, natural systems, circulation, and level of maintenance. The lack of aircraft in 

the landscape, except for city police helicopters at the Coast Guard Air Station, 

has resulted in a distinct change in feeling. Historic planes are housed within 

Hangar B, but these are not visible in the landscape. The landscape has also 

lost the feeling of an active airfield due to blocking and covering of the runways 

with berms and mulch, and the construction of an access road, parking lots, and 

sports fields over runway 15-33 and the Hangar Row apron. Much of the change 

in the historic feeling of the landscape has resulted from the growth of woods 

that obscure historic sight lines and runway clear zones, reducing the once open 

and barren character. The feeling of the municipal airport and war-time naval 

air station has also been lost due to deteriorated buildings and naturalized and 

overgrown areas that detract from the once highly maintained landscape. 

Evaluation: Does not retain integrity of feeling.

Association

Association refers to the direct link between the important historic event or 

person and the cultural landscape. Although no longer an active airport or 

military property, the landscape reflects its historic association with the City of 

New York, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Coast Guard through its buildings that reflect civic 

architecture and military design. Some of the buildings retain insignia and signs 

associated with their historic agencies, notably the Administration Building and 

the Coast Guard hangar. The city is still associated with the field through its Police 

Aviation Unit, although it is stationed at the Coast Guard Air Station rather than 

the city’s municipal airport buildings. The historic association of the property 

has been lost in certain areas, particularly in the north half of Hangar Row where 

Aviator Sports’ renovations give prominence to current association with the 

concessionaire and with Gateway National Recreation Area. Aside from this area, 

the historic associations remain evident in the landscape. 

Evaluation: Retains integrity of association.

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

242

cultural landscape evaluation

The following section provides an in-depth evaluation of Floyd Bennett Field 

to determine the extent to which the cultural landscape retains its historic 

character from the period of significance. The cultural landscape evaluation 

process, which builds off the preceding National Register evaluation, consists of 

a comparison of historic conditions (1928-1945) with existing conditions (2008) 

according to the findings of the Site History and Existing Conditions chapters. 

While the cultural landscape evaluation follows the general guidelines of a 

National Register evaluation, it organizes the landscape by characteristics and 

features, rather than by resources in keeping with National Park Service cultural 

landscape methodology. 14 Landscape characteristics are tangible aspects that 

define a landscape’s overall appearance and aid in understanding its cultural 

value. Landscape features are the aspects that make up the characteristic and are 

the smallest unit in the evaluation process. The following is a list of landscape 

characteristics associated with the Floyd Bennett Field cultural landscape:

Natural Systems and Features: The natural aspects that have influenced the 

development and physical form of the landscape. This includes geology, 

hydrology, climate, flora and fauna. An example of a natural feature at Floyd 

Bennett is the successional woods. 

Spatial Organization: The three-dimensional organization of physical forms 

and visual association in a landscape creating ground, vertical, and overhead 

planes that define and create spaces. Spatial organization at Floyd Bennett Field 

is defined by the wide, open spaces of the airfield and the more intimate space 

of the airport entrance.

Land Use: Describes the principal activities in a landscape that form, shape, and 

organize the landscape as a result of human interaction. Examples of land-use 

features at Floyd Bennett Field include the Ecology Village campgrounds and 

the archery range.

Cluster Arrangement: The location of buildings and structures in the landscape. 

Cluster arrangement at the field was historically defined by areas outside of 

the flight-path clear zones. The complex of buildings along Jamaica Bay is an 

example of cluster arrangement. 

Topography: The three-dimensional configuration of the landscape surface 

characterized by man-made changes. The landmass consisting of fill and the 

berms closing off some of the runways are examples of topography at Floyd 

Bennett Field. 
243 

Vegetation: The deciduous and evergreen trees, shrubs, vines, ground covers, 

and herbaceous plants introduced in the landscape. Examples of vegetation 

at Floyd Bennett Field include the pine plantation at the Ecology Village 

campgrounds and the sycamore trees in the airport entrance. 

Circulation: The elements that constitute systems of movement in the 

landscape. Circulation at Floyd Bennett Field includes the runways, taxiways, 

roads, sidewalks, compass roses, and parking lots. 

Buildings and Structures: Three-dimensional constructs in the landscape; 

buildings are constructs for human shelter, while structures are not designed for 

human shelter. Examples of buildings at Floyd Bennett Field are the barracks 

and park comfort stations. Structures include the beacon tower and piers.

Views and Vistas: The prospect created by a range of vision in the landscape. 

Examples of views at Floyd Bennett Field are the sight lines along the runways. 

Constructed Water Features: The built features and elements that utilize water 

for aesthetic or utilitarian functions. At Floyd Bennett Field, constructed water 

features include a pool in the Coast Guard Air Station and a naturalistic pond in 

the northern edge of the airfield (North 40 Natural Area).

Small-Scale Features: Elements that provide detail and diversity combined with 

functional and aesthetic concerns. At Floyd Bennett Field, small-scale features 

include fencing, light standards, and signs.

Archeological Features: Above-ground remains related to historic or prehistoric 

land use. Examples at Floyd Bennett Field include the wood piles along the 

Jamaica Bay shoreline remaining from piers and seaplane ramps. It is not within 

the scope of this CLR to evaluate below-ground archeological sites. 

As described at the beginning of the chapter, the cultural landscape evaluation is 

divided into two parts: Part A, which provides a detailed feature-level evaluation 

of the proposed expanded Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape, and 

Part B, which is a summary characteristic-level evaluation of the landscape outside 

of the historic district correlating to the South Administrative Area and most of 

the North 40 Natural Area. These two areas are not recommended for inclusion 

within the district due to a lack of integrity in the landscape. This evaluation 

does not assess the contribution of individual features that may be National 

Register eligible in areas outside the scope of this project, including architecture, 

engineering, and archeology. 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

244

A. historic district evaluation (Drawing 3.1)

The following evaluation of the landscape within the proposed expanded Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district is organized into a characteristics evaluation of the 

entire district followed by a feature-level evaluation organized by five character 

areas within the historic district: Hangar Row, Airport Entrance, Airfield, Aviation 

Patrol Base, and Coast Guard Air Station. Features within each character area 

are organized by landscape characteristic and are assigned a code that reflects 

the characteristic. For example, runway 1-19, a circulation feature, is assigned 

the code C-10. The exception to this format is building/structure features, which 

are only identified by the inventory number assigned by the Navy and the park. 

A complete list of features by code/building number is in Table 3.1 at the end of 

this chapter. The inventory numbers for all features are keyed to the Analysis and 

Evaluation Plan (Drawing 3.1)

Individual characteristics and features within the historic district are evaluated 

using the following format:

Historic Condition: A summary discussion of the history of the characteristic/

feature during the period of significance including both the municipal airport 

(1928–1941) and World War II (1941–1945) periods.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: An overview of the existing condition 

of the characteristic/feature, noting changes since the end of the period of 

significance in 1945.

Evaluation: A determination of whether the characteristic or feature 

contributes to the historic character of the landscape based on a comparison 

of historic and existing conditions, according to the following findings: 

Contributing: Characteristics or features that were present during 

the historic period, retain their historic character, and are associated 

with the historic significance of the landscape. Those that add 

prominently to the historic associations and qualities for which the 

landscape is significant are described as character defining. Features 

unique to the historic period are described as distinctive. Features 

that were minor and commonplace during the historic period are 

described as typical.

Non-Contributing: Features that were not present during the 

historic period and are not associated with the landscape’s historic 

significance. Non-contributing features that are incompatible with 
245 

the historic character of the landscape, particularly in relation to 

historic materials, size, scale, proportion, and massing are described 

as detracting. Features distinguishable from the historic character of 

the landscape but relate to historic materials, size, scale, proportion, 

and massing are described as compatible. 

Unevaluated: Features for which physical or historical 

documentation is insufficient or inconclusive. Further research and 

evaluation may provide an evaluation of either contributing or noncontributing. 

For archeological features, the evaluation includes only a summary of known 

history and existing conditions on visible remnants of built features in the 

landscape. While the existing ruined state of these features does not contribute 

to the historic character of the landscape, the remains have the potential to reveal 

important information and to serve as interpretive elements. 

Landscape characteristics Evaluation (District-Wide)

Natural Systems and Features 

Historic Condition: When the City of New York began construction of the 

municipal airport in 1928, most of the site of Floyd Bennett Field was a tidal 

estuary that had been altered as a result of port development in Jamaica Bay, 

construction of Flatbush Avenue, and dumping by the waste industries on Barren 

Island. This estuary consisted of open water, marshes, and small areas of upland. 

Construction of the municipal airport filled approximately 338 acres of the 

tidal estuary. The remaining estuary to the north was partially filled during the 

municipal airport period and then completely as part of the Navy’s expansion 

during World War II. Despite the filling, the natural systems of Jamaica Bay 

continued to influence the shape of the land along the edges of the field, where 

natural sand beach and small areas of tidal estuary became reestablished. The rest 

of the landscape was highly managed, with natural vegetation limited to low scrub 

and grasses on the rougher fill north of the original airport. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since 1945, the natural sand beach 

and small areas of tidal estuary along Jamaica Bay and Mill Basin on the eastern 

and northern sides of the historic district have continued to shift and expand as 

areas of timber bulkhead have collapsed. A more noticeable change has been the 

growth of deciduous woods on the filled land, particularly within the rougher fill 

completed by the Navy north of the original airport. 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

246

Evaluation: Contributing/Non-Contributing

Natural marine and beach systems contribute to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district, particularly to its setting. The woods that 

have grown up on formerly open land since 1945 through the process of natural 

succession do not contribute to the historic character of the landscape and detract 

from its historic spatial character (fig. 3.3)

Figure 3.3: Aerial views of Floyd Bennett Field looking northeast in 1947 as NAS New York (top) and today as 

part of Gateway National Recreation Area showing changes in spatial character, vegetation, and circulation. 

The top photograph represents general conditions at the end of the period of significance. The darker green 

areas in the current photograph are woods; lighter areas are scrub and managed grasslands. (Top: Photograph 

16176, Gateway National Recreation Area Museum Collection; bottom: USGS aerial photography, 3-d animation 

courtesy of Microsoft LiveEarth, edited by SUNY ESF.)
247 

Spatial Organization 

Historic Condition: During the historic period, the landscape of the historic 

district consisted mainly of open space defined by clusters of buildings along 

Flatbush Avenue on the west and Jamaica Bay on the east, with open water 

extending into the distance on three sides. There were no woods or topographic 

changes to break up the vast space. The building clusters were organized into areas 

outside of flight-path clear zones (500 to 650 feet to either side of the runway), 

including Hangar Row along Flatbush Avenue and the Naval Aviation Patrol Base 

and Coast Guard Air Station along Jamaica Bay. The alignment of the runways and 

taxiways organized the airfield into distinct geometric forms, although these had 

little spatial quality but did accentuate the vastness of the landscape. In addition to 

these overall spaces, there were many smaller spaces, notably the airport entrance 

area defined by the Administration Building and flanking hangars, the aprons 

around the hangars, and the spaces defined by buildings in the Aviation Patrol 

Base and Coast Guard Air Station. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since the end of the historic period in 

1945, the overall spatial character of the landscape has been altered through the 

growth of successional woods on formerly open field, the loss of buildings, and 

the construction of new buildings, fences, roads, and parking lots. Other notable 

changes have occurred through the planting of the Ecology Village pine plantation 

along the south side of the airfield; the addition of concrete barriers and berms 

closing off runways and taxiways; the addition of fencing along runway 12-30 and 

its use as a vehicle storage area; fencing of the airport entrance area; the loss of 

buildings and new construction within Hangar Row and the Naval Aviation Patrol 

Base; and construction of curbed parking lots on the Hangar Row apron. 

Evaluation: Contributing

Spatial organization contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett 

Field historic district as a defining characteristic of the landscape. In particular, 

the organization of the airfield with the primary buildings in close proximity 

to the primary highway (Flatbush Avenue) and seaplane facilities are defining 

characteristics of early municipal airports. The spatial character defined through 

the end of World War II by the flight-path clear zones is still visible in the 

landscape, although less discernable due to loss of buildings, construction of new 

features such as parking lots, and growth of woods (fig. 3.4) The changes have 

altered the vastness of the airfield, the definition of the building clusters outside 

of the flight-path clear zones, the spatial continuity of the Hangar Row apron, and 

the character of the entrance area. 

Land Use 

Historic Condition: During the municipal airport period, Floyd Bennett Field 

was a multiple-use aviation facility, used primarily for private aircraft with some 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

248

limited commercial passenger service. It was also used 

by the Navy as a training station, by the city police for its 

aviation unit, and by the Coast Guard (a quasi-military 

agency within the U.S. Department of Treasury) as an 

air station. During World War II, the military became 

the sole user of the landscape (the Navy assumed 

jurisdiction over the Coast Guard Air Station during 

the war). Where passengers once boarded planes along 

the Hangar Row apron at the Administration Building, 

the Navy held formal reviews and ceremonies. Military 

uses aside from aviation included residential, industrial, 

and administrative support functions. While most of 

these support functions were located outside of the 

historic district, the Navy did maintain barracks within 

Hangar Row, the Aviation Patrol Base, and the Coast 

Guard Air Station. The primary aviation-related uses 

were concentrated within the historic district with the 

exception of the Navy seaplane patrol base on Rockaway 

Inlet. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After World 

War II, Floyd Bennett Field operated mainly as a naval 

air reserve training station, which focused on training 

and housing military personnel as well as maintaining 

aircraft. The Navy also leased out areas within the historic 

district to the New York City Police Aviation Unit and 

the New York Air National Guard, and returned the Coast Guard Air Station 

to the jurisdiction of the Department of Treasury (later the U.S. Department 

of Transportation). Military aviation uses ceased in c.1971 when the Navy 

decommissioned the field. With the transfer to the National Park Service in 1972, 

recreation and natural resource conservation became the primary land uses, 

although the park leased areas to city police and sanitation agencies for use as 

training facilities. Public recreational uses led to the addition of features such as 

large parking lots and access roads on aprons and runways. 

The Coast Guard Air Station continued to use its facility for aviation purposes 

until its closure and subsequent transfer of the property to the National Park 

Service in 1998. At this time, the city Police Aviation Unit moved into the Coast 

Guard facilities for its aviation (helicopter) programs. This is the only part of the 

historic district that continues in use as an aviation facility. The Department of 

Transportation (Federal Aviation Administration) retained a small parcel within 

the former Coast Guard property for a Doppler radar facility that is part of the airtraffic control system at JFK International Airport. Hangar B retains an aviationFigure 3.4: Historic (1944, top) 

and existing (2008) views looking 

northeast from the Hangar 

Row apron in front of the 

Administration Building showing 

changes in spatial character, 

land use, circulation, and views 

through addition of parking 

lots and growth of successional 

woods on the airfield. The 

concrete in the lower part of 

the lower photograph is the 

historic apron surface, covered 

by the later concrete and asphalt 

parking lots and entrance roads. 

In historic photograph, note 

the radio transmission towers 

visible north of the airfield. (Top: 

Photograph 237611, Still Pictures 

Unit, National Archives II; bottom: 

SUNY ESF.)
249 

related use as a aircraft restoration facility for the Historic Aircraft Restoration 

Project (H.A.R.P.). 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The current land uses within the Floyd Bennett Field historic district do not 

contribute to the historic character of the landscape, with the exception of the 

police helicopter and H.A.R.P. aircraft restoration programs that continue historic 

aviation uses. Current uses, including recreation, natural resource conservation, 

training, and administration, are compatible with the landscape where they 

operate without substantially altering historic landscape features. The scale and 

management of some of these contemporary land uses, such as Aviator Sports 

and a program to return the airfield to natural conditions, has led to substantial 

changes to the historic landscape (see fig. 3.4). 

Cluster Arrangement 

Historic Condition: During the historic period, buildings within the Floyd 

Bennett Field landscape were clustered outside of the flight-path clear zones. 

These defined two clusters within the historic district: Hangar Row, defined by 

the flight-path clear zones for runways 15-33 (taxiway 10), 1-19, and 6-24; and 

the Naval Aviation Patrol Base/Coast Guard Air Station cluster along Jamaica Bay, 

defined by clear zones for runways 6-24, 1-19, and 12-30. The Hangar Row cluster 

was also initially defined by federal Air Commerce Act of 1926 that required 

hangars and support buildings to be aligned linearly along one side of the runways 

in order to receive the highest rating, A1A. During World War II, the Navy built 

some low-scale buildings within the flight-path clear zone of runway 12-30 at the 

south end of the Jamaica Bay cluster, but these were apparently located due to the 

pre-existence of the city seaplane pier and ramp that had been built prior to the 

construction of runway 12-30 in 1935.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After the end of the historic period in 

1945, the Navy continued to build only in the clusters defined by the flight-path 

clear zones. After the decommissioning of NAS New York in 1971, the runways 

were no longer used and therefore buildings in theory could be constructed 

anywhere in the landscape. While the demolition of a number of buildings 

reduced the cohesion of the Hangar Row and Jamaica Bay clusters, no new 

buildings have been constructed outside of the historic clusters within the flightpath clear zones, with the exception of the temporary police storage building in 

the maintenance area and the Doppler radar tower that infringe on the clear zone 

for runway 12-30. The growth of successional woods on the airfield since 1945 has 

blurred the definition of the clusters and their relationship to the flight-path clear 

zones. 

Evaluation: Contributing

Cluster arrangement contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett 

Field historic district as a defining characteristic of the landscape that reflects key 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

250

design aspects of both early municipal airports and 

World War II-era naval air stations. While the loss 

of buildings and growth of woods have weakened 

their definition, overall the Hangar Row and 

Jamaica Bay clusters remain intact since the end of 

the historic period (see fig. 3.3). 

Topography 

Historic Condition: During initial construction 

of the municipal airport, the natural topography 

was altered from a series of islands, marshes, and 

creeks into an expansive, 387-acre level terrace 

raised sixteen feet above mean low tide. The filled 

land along the eastern and southern edges were 

supported by steel sheet-pile bulkhead. Outside 

of the runways, the airfield was finished as a level 

plane surfaced in clay and seeded topsoil to provide 

a sound base for emergency landings. When the 

Navy expanded the field in 1942, it dredged Jamaica 

Bay and completed filling of the area north of the 

original airport. The land was graded to match 

the elevation of the airport, although it was not 

as evenly graded and finished as was the original 

airfield.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: The topography of Floyd Bennett Field 

remained largely unchanged after 1945, with the exception of erosion along failed 

sections of the Jamaica Bay bulkhead, particularly at the former airport seaplane 

base (south of the Coast Guard Air Station). The park has also made small changes 

to the topography through the addition of earthen berms to close off runways and 

taxiways. 

Evaluation: Contributing

Topography contributes to the historic character of Floyd Bennett Field historic 

district as a defining characteristic of the landscape. The flat, level topography was 

a key part of the landscape design intended to provide adequate landing surfaces 

for aircraft and to maximize sight lines. Aside from erosion along the Jamaica Bay 

bulkhead and addition of berms, the topography remains largely unchanged since 

the end of the historic period (fig. 3.5). 

Figure 3.5: Historic (c.1938, top) 

and existing (2008) views looking in 

the same general easterly direction 

along taxiways 1 and 2 showing 

changes in topography and 

vegetation. The historic photograph 

shows level topography and lowmown airfield turf; the existing 

photograph shows the addition 

of berms closing off adjoining 

runways, and the change from 

mown turf to managed grasslands 

(taken in May prior to full height 

of the grasses). The historic 

photograph shows the gate and 

passenger boarding area on the 

Hangar Row apron that was later 

used as a parade ground by the 

Navy. (Top: Photograph 22016, 

Gateway National Recreation Area 

Museum Collection; bottom: SUNY 

ESF.)
251 

Vegetation 

Historic Condition: During the municipal 

airport period, there were four types of planted 

vegetation: turf on the airfield, a privet hedge at 

the north boundary of the airport designed as a 

sand trap, and ornamental plantings in the airport 

entrance, including sycamore trees, clipped privet 

hedges, shrubs, herbaceous plantings, and lawn. 

The sand-trap hedge was removed soon after the 

airport opened. The Navy maintained the rest of 

the vegetation during World War II, but did not 

establish turf in the northern expansion of the 

airfield. This area was apparently covered by native 

scrub and grasses. The Coast Guard established 

plantings around its main hangar in c.1937, 

including lawn, clipped hedges, and specimen trees. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 

1945, the ornamental hedges and shrubs within 

the airport entrance area became overgrown 

and were removed. Under National Park Service 

management, the airfield turf was either left 

unmanaged to grow into scrub and woods, or 

managed as natural grasslands (high meadow). In 

c.1974, the park planted thousands of pine trees 

along the southern side of the airfield as shelter for 

campgrounds. In c.2000, the park replanted the clipped privet hedges within the 

airport entrance area, and added deciduous trees. Yew and privet hedges line the 

lawn along the north side of the Coast Guard hangar. 

Evaluation: Contributing

Vegetation contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic 

district landscape, but it has been greatly diminished due to conversion of the 

airfield turf to successional woods and managed grasslands, and the loss of shrubs 

within the airport entrance area (fig. 3.6, see also fig. 3.5). The lawn and sycamore 

trees within the airport entrance area remain. The plantings around the Coast 

Guard hangar also remain, although changes in placement and species is not 

known. 

Circulation 

Historic Condition: Circulation at Floyd Bennett Field was dominated by the 

runways, taxiways, and aprons built of concrete and asphalt. The aprons, the 

areas where planes parked and taxied to the hangars and runways, were built of 

Figure 3.6: Historic (c.1938, top) 

and existing (2006) views of the 

airport entrance area looking 

southeast showing changes 

in vegetation, buildings, and 

small-scale features. The Navy 

maintained the shrubs through 

World War II, but changed the 

control tower cab as shown in 

the current photograph. The 

park removed the war-time 

wing that extended to the left 

of the Administration Building, 

and installed the fence and light 

standards. The World War II-period 

fence ran along Flatbush Avenue. 

(Top: Photograph 18394, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection; bottom: SUNY ESF.)

Analysis and Evaluation
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252

concrete, including those added by the Coast Guard in 1936-37 and the Navy at 

the Naval Aviation Patrol Base in 1940-42. The city surfaced parts of the Hangar 

Row apron surrounding the hangars and Administration Building in black asphaltblock paving. The runways were built in three generations—the initial concrete 

construction in c.1929-30, concrete WPA additions in 1935, and the primarily 

asphalt Navy expansion in 1942, including an entirely new runway, 6-24. This 

runway was a replacement for the original 6-24, which could not be lengthened 

due to development of the patrol base at its eastern end. There were also three 

seaplane runways that the city and Navy maintained in Jamaica Bay, probably 

marked by buoys. These were linked to the airfield, Aviation Patrol Base, and 

Coast Guard Air Station by four seaplane ramps and a seaplane pier (see Buildings 

and Structures and Archeological Features characteristics).

Aside from three short taxiways built by the city to connect the Hangar Row 

apron with runway 15-33 (taxiway 10), the taxiways date to World War II, when 

the Navy created a perimeter system tying together the ends of each runway. The 

city also built a concrete-surfaced compass rose, a feature where planes would 

calibrate their compasses, between runway 15-33 and the Hangar Row apron. The 

Navy built a larger one at the eastern end of the field during World War II, and 

also added a dirigible landing area consisting of a circular earthen landing area 

and taxiway.

In addition to aviation circulation, Floyd Bennett Field also contained 

vehicular and pedestrian circulation features, including roads, parking lots, 

and walks. Roads included two diagonal concrete entrance drives in the airport 

entrance area. These two drives led to three parking lots: one paved in black 

asphalt block in front of the Administration Building, and two larger gravel lots 

to the north and south. The drives were paralleled by concrete sidewalks, and 

a central walk extended to Flatbush Avenue on axis with the main entrance of 

the Administration Building. A sidewalk also ran along Flatbush Avenue. During 

World War II, the Navy closed the diagonal drives and opened a new entrance off 

Flatbush Avenue at the south end of Hangar Row. 

The city also built asphalt and earthen roads around the boundaries of the 

airfield, the south one of which accessed its seaplane base at Jamaica Bay. The 

Navy removed all of the north road and portions of the south boundary road as 

part of its World War II-era expansion. In place of these roads, the Navy built a 

patrol road that ran around the perimeter of Floyd Bennett Field. The Navy also 

built numerous asphalt drives and concrete sidewalks to new facilities in the Naval 

Aviation Patrol Base and maintenance area. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since 1945, the Navy lengthened the 

approaches to runways 6-24, 12-30, and 1-19, resurfaced concrete sections in 

asphalt, and changed the designation of runway 15-33 to taxiway 10, enlarged the 

Naval Aviation Patrol Base apron, and closed the World War II-era entrance off 

Flatbush Avenue. The Navy probably maintained the seaplane runways in Jamaica 
253 

Bay until NAS New York was decommissioned in 1971. The Coast Guard also 

expanded its apron and taxiway. 

Most changes to the aviation circulation system occurred after the field was 

transferred to the National Park Service. These changes covered or blocked 

circulation patterns through addition of berms, concrete barriers, fencing, and 

mulch on the runways and taxiways. Permanent alterations were largely limited 

to Aviation Road and the Hangar Row apron on which were added large asphalt 

parking lots with concrete curbs, sidewalks, and light standards. These lots were 

accessed from a four-lane road built on taxiway 10 (runway 15-33) that replaced 

Aviation Road as the interior access to Hangar Road. The Aviator Sports infill 

building removed the section of apron between hangars 5-6 and 7-8. The park also 

converted the airport parking lot south of the Administration Building to lawn, 

and replaced the Flatbush Avenue sidewalk with a bikeway. 

Evaluation: Contributing

Circulation contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field 

historic district landscape as a defining characteristic of both the municipal 

airport and World War II periods. Overall, the circulation patterns of the runways 

and taxiways remain intact from the end of World War II (see fig. 3.3). Many of the 

changes that have blocked or obscured the runways and taxiways are reversible. 

Changes to the Hangar Row apron, including the addition of parking lots, the 

entrance road over taxiway 10, and the removal of the apron between hangars 

5-6 and 7-8 detract from the historic character of the landscape by obscuring key 

circulation features. Instead of the open areas where planes parked, passengers 

boarded, and Navy personnel marched in parade, the apron is today obscured by 

curbed parking lots and roads that mask the historic aviation circulation patterns 

(see fig. 3.4). While the lengthening of the runways undertaken by the Navy after 

World War II do not contribute, they are compatible with the historic character of 

the landscape and convey its continued aviation-military use during the Cold War.

Buildings and Structures 

Historic Condition: Buildings and structures within the Floyd Bennett Field 

historic district consisted of facilities essential to the functioning of the airport 

as well as related military operations, including hangars, utility buildings, storage 

facilities, bulkheads, piers, and seaplane ramps. Building constructed by the 

city during the municipal airport period between 1929 and 1938 included the 

Administration Building, hangars, transformer vaults, pump houses, maintenance 

shops, and two tower buildings within the airfield that housed Sperry floodlights. 

These buildings reflected a unified design in an Art Deco style with neoclassical 

detailing using buff-colored tapestry brick, steel doors and windows, and flat roofs 

concealed behind parapets. One exception was the red-brick and marble-trim 

Administration Building, which was designed in a more conservative and familiar 

Neoclassical Revival style found in many public buildings of the period, with a 

Analysis and Evaluation
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254

monumental entrance, double-hung sash windows, and a terrace with classical 

balustrade facing the airfield. The Coast Guard also followed a unified design 

approach to its hangar and garage built in 1936-37. In contrast to the municipal 

buildings, the Coast Guard used a nautical-inspired Moderne style with whitepainted concrete walls, horizontal massing, flat roofs, and bands of windows. The 

Coast Guard also erected three, thirty-foot tall radio towers north of the hangar. 

Buildings constructed by the Navy between 1940 and 1945, including those 

at the south end of Hangar Row and in the Naval Aviation Patrol Base, contrasted 

in style and construction to the earlier municipal buildings. The Navy buildings 

embodied a more austere, utilitarian character reflective of conditions during 

World War II and the national emergency that preceded it. The Navy buildings 

consist of two types: permanent and temporary. The permanent buildings, such 

as Hangar B in the patrol base and Power Plant B in the maintenance area, were 

constructed of steel and masonry. Temporary buildings, such as the fire house 

and training building at the south end of Hangar Row, were frame construction 

with gable roofs, clapboard siding, and double-hung windows. Navy structures 

included timber bulkheads, piers, and seaplane ramps. The Navy also erected four, 

150-foot tall radio towers north of the airfield (outside of historic district).

As part of the development of the field, the city and Navy also built an 

extensive infrastructure of underground sewer, water, and electrical utilities. 

While the underground lines and vaults were not visible in the landscape 

except for manhole covers, the utilities did feature above-ground buildings and 

structures. Within the historic district, these included two small transformer 

vault buildings within Hangar Row (57, 120) that were designed in the standard 

municipal airport style, and a brick north substation (117) at the end of the patrol 

road along Flatbush Avenue. In the maintenance area within the Aviation Patrol 

Base was Power Plant B (96), a large red brick building that supplied the field with 

electricity along with a companion plant (Power Plant A/86) in the west barracks 

area near the marginal wharf (outside of district).15

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After World War II, the Navy, Coast 

Guard, and New York Air National Guard added and removed a number of 

buildings and structures within the historic district. These included the Air 

National Guard’s nose hangar on Hangar Row, which replaced the municipal 

airport-era field house (2); the Navy’s Tylunas Hall, a barracks that replaced two 

war-time frame barracks (24, 38) in the Naval Aviation Patrol Base; and new Coast 

Guard barracks (Edwards Hall) that replaced war-time frame barracks (CG3). Within the airfield, the Navy removed the two municipal airport-era Sperry 

floodlight towers, several minor war-time buildings near the boat basin and pier 

on Jamaica Bay, the war-time rifle-range along Mill Basin, and two war-time 

training structures (tetrahedron and rocking platform). The Navy also constructed 

several small buildings (168, 169, 173, 174, 205) in the north end of the patrol base 

off taxiway 6, and built a lean-to on Hangar B. Although not within the district, 
255 

the Navy replaced the four war-time towers off the northern edge of the field with 

eleven new communications towers. 

 Most changes to buildings and structures came after the National Park Service 

took over the field in 1972. These were primarily demolitions, but also some 

limited new construction. Primary World War II-era buildings removed from 

Hangar Row and airport entrance area include hangars 9 and 10 (46, 51), the Navy 

sick bay (48), Administration Building wing (171), paint store house (47), and six 

frame buildings within the Navy area south of the Hangar Row apron (28, 58, 52, 

53, 55, 56). New buildings within Hangar Row include the Aviator Sports infill 

between hangars 5-6 and 7-8 and a chiller building between hangars 5-6 and the 

Administration Building. The park also built a comfort station on the Hangar Row 

apron south of hangars 1-2. 

Within the airfield, the park allowed the seaplane pier, ramp and boat basin 

pier along Jamaica Bay to fall to ruin, leaving just the wood piles. The timber 

and sheet-metal bulkheads along Jamaica Bay also fell to ruin and where they 

still performed a structural function such as at the patrol base, stone rubble was 

installed to shore up the fill. The park removed three aviation fuel tanks from the 

area Navy recreation area adjoining the Coast Guard Air Station. The park added 

numerous small frame pavilions and shelters within the airfield at Ecology Village 

campgrounds and Camps Tamarack and Goldenrod, along with two comfort 

stations, one along taxiway 6 and the other along runway 6-24. The Federal 

Aviation Administration built a Doppler radar tower within its separate federal 

property within the flight-path clear zone for runway 12-30. 

Within the Naval Aviation Patrol Base, removed pre-1945 buildings included 

Hangar A (23) and four small buildings within the maintenance area (92, 93, 

95, 104). The war-time pier and frame seaplane ramp associated with Hangar 

A have fallen to ruin, leaving only the piles. The New York City Police Aviation 

Unit added a large temporary building (407) at the southwest corner of the 

maintenance area, as well as a storage building within the Coast Guard Air Station 

(402). 

The water, sewer, and electrical systems were continually modified and 

expanded after 1945. With connection to the public grid, Power Plants A and B 

(86, 96, the former outside of the district) were abandoned. 

Evaluation: Contributing

Buildings and structures contribute to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett 

Field historic district landscape as a defining characteristic of both the municipal 

airport and World War II periods. Although some secondary municipal airport 

and World War II-era buildings and structures have been lost, notably within 

Hangar Row and along Jamaica Bay including barracks, seaplane ramps, and piers, 

the major civilian and military buildings remain, except for Hangar A within the 

Aviation Patrol Base (fig. 3.7, 3.8, see also fig. 3.6). Some of the historic buildings 

are in very poor condition, including Hangars 1-2 and several of the maintenance 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

256

area buildings. Despite this, these buildings retain 

sufficient integrity to convey their historic character. 

Most of the actively used existing historic building 

have not been significantly altered, with the 

exception of hangars 5-6 and 7-8 in Hangar Row 

that have been rehabilitated as part of the Aviator 

Sports complex (fig. 3.9). The buildings added by 

the Navy after 1945, primarily those within the 

utility and storage area in the northern part of 

the Aviation Patrol Base, do not detract from the 

historic character of the landscape because they 

convey the continued use of the field for military 

purposes. The park comfort stations and Doppler 

radar tower (US DOT) detract from the historic 

character of the landscape because they conflict 

with historic circulation patterns due to their 

locations on aprons and adjoining runways within 

flight-path clear zones. 

Views and Vistas 

Historic Condition: The expansive views off and 

into Floyd Bennett Field were critical to its historic 

use as an active airfield. These included sight lines 

along the runways, views across the open airfield, 

and panoramic views from the Administration 

Building control tower. Operations on the airfield were also clearly visible from 

the main and west barracks areas to the south of the historic district, and from the 

radio towers and ammunitions magazines north of the historic district. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since the field was transferred to the 

National Park Service in 1972, many of the views have been lost due to natural 

succession on the airfield that has led to growth of woods twenty to thirty feet 

in height. Views to the South Administrative Area and North 40 Natural area 

(ammunitions-communication area) have also been lost due to successional 

woods and growth of the Ecology Village pine plantation planted in c.1974. 

Ground-level views along the runways have also been obstructed by earthen 

berms and concrete barriers. 

Evaluation: Contributing

Views contribute to the historic character of Floyd Bennett Field historic district 

landscape as a character-defining feature of both the municipal airport and World 

War II periods. While sight lines along the runways generally remain, the growth 

of woods on the approaches and in the flight-path clear zones have obstructed 

key views that were historically necessary for safe flying (see fig. 3.3, 3.5). Woods 

Figure 3.7: Historic (c.1945, 

top) and current (2006) views 

showing changes to Hangar B 

and its adjoining apron. The 

historic image is looking north 

at the south side of the hangar; 

the current view is looking east 

at the south side. This hangar, 

which was a match to Hangar A 

that no longer stands, presently 

houses the Historic Aircraft 

Restoration Project (H.A.R.P.). 

(Top: Photograph 13408, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection; bottom: SUNY ESF.)
257 

in the northern part of the airfield not only obstruct 

what would have been critical views for aircraft to 

see each other on runways 6-24 and 1-19, but also 

diminish the visual connection to the control tower. 

Constructed Water Features 

Historic Condition: During the historic period, 

there were no constructed water features within 

Floyd Bennett Field. Three seaplane runways were 

laid out in Jamaica Bay during the municipal airport 

and World War II periods, most likely marked by 

buoys. These may have followed channelized areas 

of Jamaica Bay. While outside of the historic district, 

the seaplane runways related to the seaplane ramps 

and piers within the district (see Circulation and 

Buildings and Structures characteristics).

Post Historic and Existing Conditions: The 

Navy apparently maintained the seaplane 

runways in Jamaica Bay until NAS New York 

was decommissioned in 1971, although they had 

probably fallen out of active use during the 1950s. 

No markers remain visible in Jamaica Bay from the 

three runways. After closing of NAS New York, two 

constructed water features appeared within the 

field. The Coast Guard built a swimming pool north 

of its hangar and the park built a naturalistic pond 

off the northwest approach to runway 12-30 as part 

of the North 40 Natural Area. 

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

Constructed water features do not contribute to 

the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field 

historic district landscape because none existed 

during the historic period within the historic district. Water, as a natural system, 

was a historically dominant part of the setting of Floyd Bennett Field. 

Small-Scale Features 

Historic Condition: There were a variety of small-scale features that supported 

the operation of the municipal airport and the naval air station during the historic 

period, notably aids to navigation, fences, and signs. During the municipal airport 

period, small-scale features within the airport entrance area included a flagstaff, 

rustic and cast-iron light standards, a rustic sign, and pipe and wood railings along 

Figure 3.8: Historic (c.1945, top) 

and current (2006 lower two) views 

illustrating changes to the Coast 

Guard Air Station and maintenance 

area in the Naval Aviation Patrol 

Base. The lower photograph shows 

the torpedo storage building (94), 

cold storage commissary (97), and 

general storehouse (98). (Top: 

Uncatalogued photograph, RG 80, 

National Archives II, College Park, 

Maryland; middle and bottom: 

SUNY ESF.)

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

258

the eastern side of the parking areas. On the Hangar 

Row apron along the east side of the Administration 

Building, a cyclone fence with gates and a striped 

curb marked the entrance to the passenger boarding 

area (gate area). Within the airfield, small-scale 

features included ground-mounted perimeter and 

end-of-runway lights and a wind tee. The city also 

maintained wood fences that served as sand traps 

along the north and south boundaries of the airfield. 

The Navy removed most of the municipal 

airport’s small-scale features in its 1942 expansion 

of the airfield except for the flagstaff and rustic 

and cast-iron light standards within the airport 

entrance area. The Navy probably also removed the 

rustic airport sign. The Navy erected a perimeter 

chain-link fence along Flatbush Avenue and Shore 

Parkway upon commissioning of NAS New York in 

June 1941. Initially, this fence did not extend across 

the airport entrance area, although the Navy did 

install gate booths at the diagonal entrance drives. 

Upon acquisition of the field in 1941, the Navy 

erected a perimeter chain-link fence along Flatbush 

Avenue and Shore Parkway, and in 1942 extended it 

across the airport entrance area with permanently 

closed cyclone gates at the diagonal entrance drives. 

Within the airfield, the Navy most likely installed 

new navigational lights, although no documentation on these has been found. 

Within the Naval Aviation Patrol Base, the navy built a storage yard north of the 

expanded apron that was enclosed by a fence, and also installed a test backstop 

along the north end of the apron. In the former airport seaplane base, the Navy 

developed a recreation area that featured two ballfields that probably had chainlink backstops. The Coast Guard also built a ballfield near its hangar. Throughout 

the site, there probably were many directional and information signs, but no 

record of these has been found. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since 1945, the Navy and Coast Guard 

installed some new small-scale features within the historic district, notably a 

perimeter cyclone fence around the southeast half of runway 12-30, a cyclone 

fence around the NARDET facility within the Aviation Patrol Base, a memorial 

near the Coast Guard garage, and street lights along the entrance road to the Coast 

Guard Air Station and Aviation Patrol Base. 

After 1972, most of the World War II-era small-scale features were removed. 

The park probably removed Navy signs and navigational lighting in the airfield, 

Figure 3.9: Historic (c.1935, top) 

and current (2008) views of 

hangars 5-6 and 7-8 in Hangar 

Row showing infill construction 

built as part of the recent Aviator 

Sports rehabilitation showing 

change to the historic character of 

the buildings and the surrounding 

apron. The historic aerial view 

is looking east, the current is 

looking west along the new 

entrance drive on the Hangar 

Row apron. The small building 

to the left of the Administration 

Building in the historic photograph 

was the municipal airport field 

house, demolished in c.1964. 

(Top: Photograph 18980, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection; bottom: SUNY ESF.)
259 

and installed along with its partners a wide variety 

of small-scale features such as picnic tables, 

barbecues, garbage cans, benches, and park 

information/directional signs. At the community 

gardens is a great assortment of small-scale features 

including fences, benches, signs, and gates, and 

at the model plane flying field on runway 1-19 are 

bleachers, picnic tables, flagstaffs, and a cyclone 

fence. Steel guiderails line the public entrance road 

on taxiway 10 (runway 15-33), and concrete Jersey 

barriers close off runway 1-19 and line the entrance 

road to the Coast Guard Air Station. Tall metal 

light standards dot the parking lots on the Hangar 

Row apron. At the Aviator Sports facilities in the 

north half of Hangar Row are air conditioning units 

along hangars 4-5; bleachers, stadium lights, and 

perimeter fencing at the artificial turf fields north 

of hangars 7-8; and a mounted propeller plane at 

the main entrance between hangars 4-5 and 7-8. 

Sections of the World War II-era perimeter cyclone 

fence remain along Shore Parkway and portions of 

Flatbush Avenue, but along Hangar Row, the park 

has replaced the fence with an ornamental black 

metal picket fence. At the airport entrance area, 

the park realigned the fence to the inside edge of 

the diagonal entrance drives and central lawn, and 

installed ornamental metal bollards across the head of both diagonal entrance 

drives. The park also removed the two municipal airport-era cast-iron light 

standards from the head of the central walk at Flatbush Avenue. The Air National 

Guard probably removed the rustic light standards from the airport entrance area 

during the 1960s. The park installed Central Park-style light standards around the 

perimeter of the central lawn and diagonal drives, installed interpretive waysides 

and Victorian-style benches, retained the flagstaff, and built a replica of the 

municipal airport rustic sign. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

Overall, existing small-scale features do not contribute to the historic character 

of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because most were added 

after the end of the historic period. While the key navigational small-scale features 

within the airfield have been lost, the airport entrance area retains its original 

flagstaff and a reconstruction of the municipal airport sign that remained through 

World War II (fig. 3.10, see also 3.6). Overall, the majority of the existing smallscale features do not relate to the historic aviation and military uses of the district. 

Figure 3.10: Historic (1936, top) 

and current (2006) views of the 

airport entrance area looking 

east from Flatbush Avenue 

showing changes in small-scale 

features. The roof on the sign 

has been completed since the 

lower photograph was taken. 

The existing sycamore trees are 

most likely those visible as new 

plantings in the 1936 image. (Top: 

Photograph 69-N-7763D, Still 

Pictures Branch, National Archives 

II; bottom: SUNY ESF.)

Analysis and Evaluation
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260

Some small-scale features, notably the black metal picket fence and Central Parkstyle light standards at the airport entrance area, parking-lot lights, and fencing 

around the southeast half of runway 12-30, detract from the historic character of 

the landscape by altering the spatial character and design of the landscape. No 

complete record of small-scale features was documented for this report.

Archeological Features 

Historic Condition: There were no known archeological features (above-ground 

remains) in the Floyd Bennett Field historic district at the end of the historic 

period in 1945. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since 1945, a number of built features 

have been removed, leaving foundations and other above-ground remnants. 

Examples include the door tracks and cut-off structural members from Hangar 

A that remain in the Naval Aviation Patrol Base apron, and wood piles along the 

Jamaica Bay shoreline that remain from the city seaplane pier, city seaplane ramp, 

Navy boat basin pier, seaplane ramp B, Aviation Patrol Base pier, and a pier at the 

Coast Guard Air Station. There are also remnants of roads and pavement, such as 

at the city seaplane base (Navy boat basin). 

Evaluation: Unevaluated

Archeological features (above-ground remains) from features built during the 

historic period (1928-1945) have not been evaluated for this report. None add 

to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape, 

but some may have potential to reveal information about the historic use and 

development of the field. To date, the park has not undertaken a comprehensive 

archeological survey of Floyd Bennett Field, but has addressed potential 

archeological issues at the site through a draft Archeological Overview and 

Assessment for the entire Jamaica Bay Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area, 

and pre-planning for various construction projects.16 

historic district Landscape Features Evaluation

The following evaluation of the landscape features within the proposed expanded 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape is organized into five character 

areas: Hangar Row, Airport Entrance, Airfield, Naval Aviation Patrol Base, and 

Coast Guard Air Station. A summary of the landscape features evaluation is in 

Table 3.1 at the end of this section.

Hangar Row landscape features

The Hangar Row landscape retains much of its historic character as a linear 

alignment of large buildings parallel to Flatbush Avenue within the flightpath clear zone for runways 15-33, 12-30, and 1-19. Significant changes to the 
261 

landscape since 1945 have resulted from the redesign of aviation circulation 

patterns to accommodate visitors arriving in automobiles, and from adaptation 

of the buildings to contemporary recreational uses. Major features that have been 

lost since 1945 include two frame hangars built during World War II (46, 51), and 

seven buildings (27, 28, 52, 53, 55, 56, 58) within the former maintenance-barracks 

area at the south end of Hangar Row. 

Spatial Organization Features

SO-1. Hangar Row

Historic Condition: The city initially developed Hangar Row in 1928-1931 as the 

primary cluster of airport buildings arranged between and paralleling Flatbush 

Avenue and runway 15-33. The spatial organization of Hangar Row reflected 

the Department of Commerce guidelines for airport development in the 1920s, 

which called for such an arrangement of buildings in order to achieve the highest 

rating of A1A.17 Initially, the hangars were laid out in four groups of two, but 

through the WPA, the city connected each pair with infill buildings constructed 

between 1934 and 1937. The connected paired hangars created sheltered spaces 

on their interior sides, as well as a central area surrounding the Administration 

Building (see Airport Entrance). The Navy expanded Hangar Row during World 

War II by constructing a fifth set of paired hangars at the north end of Hangar 

Row. Although this war-time development contrasted in appearance with the 

airport buildings, the placement continued the linear arrangement of Hangar Row 

defined by flight-path clear zones for runways 15-33, 12-30, and 1-19. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since 1945, the spatial organization of 

Hangar Row has been altered through the demolition of hangars 9-10 (46, 51) 

and their replacement by two fence-enclosed sports fields as part of the Aviator 

Sports complex. This development also included construction of a large infill 

building between the northern set of municipal hangars (5-6 and 7-8). This 

change, although designed to visually retain the separation between the two pairs 

of hangars, altered the symmetry of Hangar Row and removed the space between 

the two buildings. 

Evaluation: Contributing

Hangar Row contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field 

historic district landscape as a character-defining spatial feature of the municipal 

airport period that was expanded during World War II. While two hangars 

have been lost and the northern set of hangars have been connected, overall the 

linear arrangement of Hangar Row and its relationship to Flatbush Avenue and 

adjoining flight-path clear zones remains intact. 

Analysis and Evaluation
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262

SO-2. Maintenance-Barracks Area

Historic Condition: Between 1931 and 1935, the city developed a complex of 

maintenance and utility buildings off the south edge of the Hangar Row apron. 

The Navy expanded this complex during the national emergency that preceded 

World War II by constructing adjoining frame buildings as part of its Naval 

Reserve Aviation Base. During World War II, the Navy built additional buildings 

including barracks and a fire house in this complex along with a new entrance 

off Flatbush Avenue. These buildings were not aligned in a regular pattern as 

were those in Hangar Row, but they did conform to the flight-path clear zone for 

runways 15-33 and 1-19, with the exception of the public works office and police 

station (56) at the south end of the area adjoining the new entrance road. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since 1945, the spatial organization of 

the maintenance-barracks area has been altered through removal of six buildings 

and growth of successional woods that have altered the spatial definition of the 

area. Despite this, the remaining six building continue to read as a distinct space 

within the landscape.

Evaluation: Contributing

The maintenance-barracks area south of Hangar Row contributes to the historic 

character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as a characteristic 

spatial feature of the municipal airport and World War II periods. The historic 

character of the area has been altered through the loss of buildings and growth of 

successional woods. 

SO-3. Aviator Sports Fields

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The fields are located on what was 

historically an apron and site of two World War II hangars (46, 51) that housed the 

Naval Air Ferry Command.

Post-Historic and Existing Condition: In c.2005, Aviator Sports constructed two 

Astro-turf sports fields over the concrete apron at the north end of Hangar Row, 

to either side of a World War II-period transformer vault building (120). The fields 

do not align with the hangars in Hangar Row and block the historic circulation 

patterns on the Hangar Row apron. The fields are enclosed by chain-link fencing 

and lit by stadium lights. The south field includes bleachers.

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The Aviator Sports fields do not contribute to the historic spatial character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because they did not exist during 

the historic period. In placement and scale, the fields detract from the historic 

spatial character and circulation patterns within Hangar Row, but are located in a 

peripheral area. 
263 

Circulation Features

C-1. Airport South Boundary Road

Historic Condition: During the municipal airport period, the city maintained 

a narrow road that followed the south boundary of the airfield from Flatbush 

Avenue to the airport seaplane base on Jamaica Bay. The road paralleled a paper 

street on the opposite side of the airport property boundary on Barren Island 

that was surveyed prior to the development of the airport. In the World War II 

expansion of the airfield, the Navy removed portions of the south boundary road 

for development of taxiway 4 and the main barracks area. The section within 

Hangar Row was retained as a drive within the maintenance-barracks area south 

of Hangar Row, although the entrance onto Flatbush Avenue was closed. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since 1945, additional sections of the 

south boundary road have been lost. The section within the former maintenancebarracks area remains paved and in good condition. East of here, the road was 

removed as part of an extension of runway 1-19 in c.1955. Farther east, the road 

runs through the Ecology Village Campgrounds pine plantation, disappears east 

of taxiway 4, and then picks up again to the Jamaica Bay shoreline. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The airport south boundary road contributes to the historic character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district landscape as a distinctive circulation feature of the 

municipal airport period. Although sections of the road have been lost, overall it 

illustrates the original boundaries of the municipal airfield. 

C-2. Hangar Row Apron

Historic Condition: In 1930 the Department of Docks built an apron—an area 

where planes parked and taxied—surrounding and east of the eight hangars and 

Administration Building. The sections of the apron surrounding the hangars were 

surfaced in black asphalt block pavers, while the continuous 350-foot wide section 

that ran north-south along the east side of the hangars was built of reinforced 

concrete. In 1935, the WPA widened the concrete section along the east side of 

the hangars to 400 feet. As part of this expansion, the city added two hatches and 

four rotating platforms east of the Administration Building on the section of the 

apron that served as a passenger boarding area. The hatches led to tunnels that 

connected to the Administration Building. This part of the apron was sectioned 

off from the Administration Building and airport entrance area by a cyclone fence 

with a series of gates through which passengers reached their planes. During 

World War II, the Navy removed this fence and used the passenger boarding 

section of the apron as a parade ground. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since 1945, the rotating platforms 

and tunnel hatches have been removed, although their location in the concrete 

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264

remains visible. Other sections of the apron were repaved in asphalt or were 

not maintained and have become overgrown with weeds and scrub, especially 

surrounding hangars 1-2. At the very south end of the apron, the two wood 

pavilions were erected for use by the adjoining community gardens. In c.1996, the 

park extensively altered the Hangar Row apron through the construction of two 

curbed parking lots and public access roads leading off runway 15-33 (taxiway 

10). Another parking lot was added on the apron in c.2006 as part of the Aviator 

Sports complex, along with two outdoor sports fields at the north end of Hangar 

Row. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The Hangar Row apron, constructed in 1930 and expanded in 1935, contributes 

to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape 

as a defining circulation feature of both the municipal airport and World War II 

periods. The large extent of the apron allowed planes to move freely from the 

hangars to the runways, while the section directly east of the Administration 

Building served as the passenger boarding area during the municipal airport 

period and as a parade ground during World War II. While the addition of parking 

lots, access roads, buildings, and sports fields has maintained a generally open 

spatial character, these features detract from the apron’s historic circulation 

patterns. 

C-3. World War II Entrance Road

Historic Condition: In 1942, the Navy permanently closed the two diagonal 

drives at the original airport entrance and created a new gated entrance at the 

south end of Hangar Row south of the Navy Reserve Training complex. At 

Flatbush Avenue, the new entrance featured a gatehouse (55) to its north side and 

a public works office and police station (56) to the south. The asphalt road ran 

east approximately 500 feet to where it formed a ‘T’ intersection with another new 

road that ran north-south to Hangar Row and the west barracks area (present 

Aviation Road). 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: The Navy closed the World War II 

entrance road in c.1951 when it built a new entrance (present park entrance) 

farther south near the west barracks area. This new entrance was required in part 

due to the extension of runway 1-19, which extended across Aviation Road that 

connected the old entrance to Hangar Row to the west barracks area. The wartime roadbed remains behind a locked gate, but the gatehouse and public works 

office/police station have been removed. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The World War II entrance road contributes to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as a typical circulation feature of 

the World War II period. Some loss of historic character has occurred due to the 

removal of the structures and lack of access, which alter its setting. Overall, the 
265 

road’s current materials and dimensions remain as they were during the historic 

period. 

C-4. Aviation Road

Historic Condition: In 1942, the Navy built a new road running south from the 

Hangar Row apron parallel to Flatbush Avenue to provide access from the new 

entrance on Flatbush Avenue to Hangar Row and the west barrack areas. This 

new road, later named Aviation Road, intersected the main road (Floyd Bennett 

Boulevard) to the main barracks area just north of the west barracks area. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: With the extension of runway 1-19 

in c.1952, the Navy realigned a section of Aviation Road where it crossed the 

new runway approach. After c.1972, the northern part of Aviation Road was 

abandoned and vehicles instead used the parallel taxiway 10 (runway 15-33) to 

access Hangar Row from the main entrance on Flatbush Avenue. In c.1996, the 

park removed the intersection of Aviation Road at Floyd Bennett Boulevard and 

built an earthen berm to block access. At the same time, the park realigned the 

section of Aviation Road south of Floyd Bennett Boulevard and incorporated it 

into a new visitor parking lot.

Evaluation: Contributing

Aviation Road contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field 

historic district landscape as one of the primary vehicular circulation features 

of the World War II period. The abandoned condition of the road and its loss of 

connection to the remainder of the field (outside of the historic district) detracts 

from its overall historic character. 

C-5. Hangar Row Apron Parking Lots

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The parking lots are located on what 

was historically an active apron, where passengers boarded planes during the 

municipal airport period and where Navy personnel marched in parade during 

World War II.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1996, the park built two public 

parking lots on the Hangar Row apron to service the Ryan Visitor Center at the 

Administration Building. In 2006, Aviator Sports built a third parking lot on the 

apron east of hangars 5-6. Each parking lot features concrete curbs, concrete 

sidewalks, light standards, and access roads leading off the main public entrance 

road on runway 15-33 (taxiway 10). 

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The Hangar Row apron parking lots do not contribute to the historic character of 

the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape. The parking lots detract from 

the historic circulation patterns of the Hangar Row apron and alter the character 

of the airport passenger boarding/gate area and the war-time parade grounds. 

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266

C-10. Gateway-Rockaway Greenway Bikepath

See Airport Entrance Character Area.

Buildings and Structures Features

3, 4, 5, 6. Hangar Row Hangars 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, and 7-8

Historic Condition: The Hangar Row hangars, located in a line between runway 

15-33 (taxiway 10) and Flatbush Avenue, were completed in 1930 as part of the 

original development of municipal airport. Built to house and service aircraft, the 

city designed the expansive steel-frame structures in a modern Art Deco style that 

was subsequently employed as the standard for all airport buildings except for the 

Administration Building. This style, reflecting the modern function and advanced 

structural engineering of the hangars, employed buff tapestry brick, straight and 

curved parapets, stamped metal gables, expansive areas of glazing, and stylized 

classical cast-stone detailing, including quoins, coping, lintels, and water tables. 

The stamped metal gables above the sliding glazed hangar doors featured stylizedaviator wings at the apex and text that stated “City of New York,” “Floyd Bennett 

Field,” and the name of the tenant, such as a private aircraft company. The hangars 

also featured so-called lean-tos along either the east or west sides that provided 

shop, office, and repair space. When originally constructed, each pair of the 120-

foot by 140-foot hangars had approximately fifty feet separating them. Between 

1934 and 1937, the city with the help of the WPA constructed infill buildings 

connecting each pair. Above the entrance on the outward-facing side, each infill 

building featured a raised parapet above with a cast-stone bas-relief panel. The 

panel had the letters ‘N.Y.C.’ and ‘F.B.A.’ for Floyd Bennett Airport in the center 

surrounding by stylized propellers. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since 1945, the hangars have undergone 

a number of changes. The interiors of hangars 1-2 are in a ruinous state due 

to failed roofs, while adjoining hangars 3-4 have been stabilized. Despite 

deterioration, both sets of hangars remain largely intact. The northern hangars, 

5-6 and 7-8, have been altered through the construction of a large infill building 

that spans the approximately 100-foot wide space between the two pairs of 

hangars. This infill was built as part of an extensive renovation of the hangars 

into the Aviator Sports and Recreation complex. Completed in 2006, the infill 

building extends above the roofline of each pair of hangars in a design intended 

to be reversible and distinguishable from the original buildings. Located within 

the hangars are ice skating facilities, gyms, and multi-use ball courts. The lean-tos 

and original infill building are programmed to be used as entertainment or party 

rooms. The new infill building features a rock-climbing wall and other features set 

against the former exterior facades of the historic buildings. 

Evaluation: Contributing
267 

The Hangar Row hangars contribute to the historic character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district landscape as character-defining buildings of the 

municipal airport period. The Aviator Sports infill building detracts from the 

historic character of hangars 5-6 and 7-8 due to its scale and placement that alters 

the design and spatial character of the hangars and the surrounding apron. The 

deterioration of hangar 1-2 has not yet impacted the exterior character of the 

building aside from the loss glazing and its historically well-maintained condition. 

Despite these issues, the hangars remain rare-surviving examples of early airport 

architecture and lend the landscape much of its historic character.

26. Dope Shop

Historic Condition: The city built the Dope Shop, the largest of the secondary 

maintenance buildings within Hangar Row, with the help of the WPA in 1937. 

The three-bay garage building facing the south edge of the Hangar Row apron was 

designed in the standard Art Deco airport style with buff tapestry brick, cast-stone 

accents, and a curved parapet. The building was intended for use as an aircraft 

maintenance garage, where waterproofing varnish (dope) was applied. Upon the 

Dope Shop’s completion, the Navy and the City of New York shared occupancy. 

In c. 1943, the Navy built a concrete-block lean-to on the Dope Shop’s south side 

and used it as a public works storage building. The lean-to was approximately 

three-quarters of the height of the main building and had a sloped roof. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, few changes were made to 

the Dope Shop or its lean-to aside from the insertion of modern overhead garage 

doors within the original glazed sliding doors. Long vacant, the building has 

deteriorated from lack of maintenance as evidenced by many broken windows. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The Dope Shop contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field 

historic district landscape as a distinctive building of the municipal airport period. 

The lean-to contributes as a typical war-time addition. While deteriorated, the 

building exterior remains largely intact with the exception of the garage doors. 

30. Sewage Ejector Pump House 

Historic Condition: The city built the sewage ejector pump house in c.1931 at the 

south end of Hangar Row adjacent to the Dope Shop. The building was designed 

in the standard Art Deco airport style using buff tapestry brick and cast-stone 

details with a flat roof and stepped parapet.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: No major changes have been made to 

the dope shop pump house exterior since the end of the historic period aside from 

graffiti on the north side. 

Evaluation: Contributing

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The sewage ejector pump house contributes to the historic character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district landscape as a characteristic utility building of the 

municipal airport period. The building exterior appears to be intact. 

44. Ammunition Locker

Historic Condition: In c.1942, the Navy built six ammunitions lockers (41-45) 

near the hangars. These were small sheds, approximately ten-feet square, with slab 

concrete walls and shed roofs. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since 1945, the ammunitions lockers 

have been removed from Hangar Row except for #44, which is adjacent to the east 

side of Hangar 3. 

Evaluation: Contributing

Ammunition locker (44) contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett 

Field historic district landscape as a typical utility building of the World War II 

period that reflects the adaptation of the municipal airport for war-time use. The 

building exterior appears to be intact. 

50. Fire House

Historic Condition: The Navy built a one-story fire house in 1942 as part of the 

complex at the south end of Hangar Row initially developed as a Naval Reserve 

Aviation Base. The Navy continued the building style it used on the adjoining 

barracks built in 1941 (27) with gable roofs, clapboard siding, and multi-paned 

double-hung sash windows. This style differed from the temporary war-time 

frame buildings constructed in the South Administrative Area, which were more 

horizontal in massing with hipped roofs and horizontal window muntins. The 

fire house, which matched the style of the adjoining Synthetic Training Building 

(54) was constructed directly behind the Dope Shop, perpendicular to Flatbush 

Avenue and adjacent to the airport south boundary road.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, the Air National Guard 

used the fire house as a medical training building, without significant changes 

to the exterior. The building has stood vacant since c.1972 and the windows are 

presently boarded up. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The fire house contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field 

historic district landscape as a typical building of the World War II period that 

reflects one of the Navy’s two styles of temporary war-time construction. The 

building exterior appears to be unaltered since the end of the historic period.
269 

54. Synthetic Training Building 

Historic Condition: The Navy built a one-story building in 1942 as part of the 

complex at the south end of Hangar Row initially developed as a Naval Reserve 

Aviation Base. The building featured an “H” plan and was oriented perpendicular 

to Flatbush Avenue on the south side of the airport south boundary road. The 

Navy continued the building style it used on the adjoining barracks built in 

1941 (27), using gable roofs, clapboard siding, and multi-paned double-hung 

sash windows. This style differed from the temporary war-time frame buildings 

constructed in the South Administrative Area, which were more horizontal in 

massing with hipped roofs and horizontal window muntins. The building was 

designated the Synthetic Training Building where simulation training took place.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After World War II, the Synthetic 

Training Building was used as a barracks. At an unknown date, brick sheathing 

was added below the windows. The building is vacant. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The Synthetic Training Building contributes to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as a typical building of the World 

War II period that reflects one of the Navy’s two styles of temporary war-time 

construction. The building exterior remains largely unaltered except for the 

addition of brick sheathing. 

57. South Transformer Vault

Historic Condition: The city constructed a transformer vault in c.1932 at the 

south edge of the Hangar Row apron, adjacent to the sewage ejector pump house 

(30). The small ten-foot by twelve-foot, flat-roofed building was designed in the 

standard airport style with buff tapestry brick and cast-stone details. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: At an undetermined date after 1945, the 

windows were replaced and a cyclone fence was added around exterior electrical 

equipment. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The transformer vault contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett 

period as a typical utility building of the municipal airport period. The exterior 

remains intact except for replacement windows and addition of cyclone fencing 

and exterior electrical components. 

120. North Transformer Vault

Historic Condition: In 1938, the city with the help of the WPA built a transformer 

vault within the airport’s overflow parking lot north of the Hangar Row apron. 

The fourteen-foot by twenty-two-foot flat-roofed building was designed in the 

standard airport style with buff tapestry brick and cast-stone details. In 1942, 

the Navy expanded the Hangar Row apron around the vault, and in c. 1943, 

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constructed a twelve-foot by twenty-six-foot addition on the south side of the 

using the same materials. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: No changes were made to the 

transformer vault after 1945. However, its setting was altered in 2006 through 

construction of the Aviator Sports fields, which surrounded the building.

Evaluation: Contributing

The transformer vault contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett 

Field historic district landscape as a typical utility building of the municipal airport 

period. The building’s contemporary setting detracts from its historic character. 

126. Paint Storage Building

Historic Condition: The Navy constructed a small parged concrete-block flatroof paint storage building in c. 1944 in the airport maintenance area at the south 

end of Hangar Row. The building reflected utilitarian war-time construction. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, the roof failed and the 

building deteriorated. It is presently in a state of ruin with a collapsed roof and 

missing northwest corner walls.

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The paint storage building does not contribute to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape due to lack of integrity resulting 

from advanced deterioration. 

401. Hangar Row Comfort Station 

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the comfort station was part of 

the Hangar Row apron where planes taxied to hangars 1-2 and the Dope Shop.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In 2006, the park installed four prefabricated comfort stations manufactured by CXT Concrete Buildings, including 

one on the Hangar Row apron south of hangars 1-2. The tan and brown building 

has a front-facing low-pitched gable roof and two restrooms. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The park comfort station at the south end of Hangar Row does not contribute 

to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape 

because it was constructed after 1945. Its location detracts from the historic 

circulation patterns of the Hangar Row apron and its design is incompatible with 

the adjoining historic buildings in Hangar Row. 

402. Aviator Sports Chiller Building

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the chiller building during the 

historic period was part of the apron where planes taxied into hangar 6.
271 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Aviator Sports constructed a one-story 

chiller building in front of the south aircraft doors of hangar 6 in c.2006 (the doors 

are replacement windows installed as part of the Aviator Sports rehabilitation 

of the hangars). The approximately sixty-foot long building has metal siding, a 

flat roof, and exterior chiller units on the east side. There are also two separate 

air-conditioning towers on the south side. The chiller building and towers are 

clearly visible from the adjoining airport entrance and Ryan Visitor Center in the 

Administration Building.

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The Aviator Sports chiller building does not contribute to the historic character of 

the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because it was constructed after 

1945. Its location, scale, and design detract from the historic character of Hangar 

Row and the airport entrance area, and conflict with the historic circulation 

patterns by blocking the aircraft doors at hangar 6. 

Small-Scale Features

Aviator Sports has added a number of small-scale features within its assigned area 

at the north half of Hangar Row, including cyclone fences, bleachers, stadium 

lights, air-conditioning unit towers, a mounted propeller plane, scoreboards, and 

nets. These are all non-contributing and overall detract from the historic character 

of the Hangar Row landscape. 

SSF-1. Perimeter Fence

Historic Condition: When the Navy took over Floyd Bennett Field in 1941, it 

erected a chain-link security fence along Flatbush Avenue and Shore Parkway, 

separating the hangars from Flatbush Avenue. When the Navy acquired 

ownership of the property in January 1942, it extended the fence across the 

airport entrance area, closing off the diagonal entrance drives with permanently 

closed gates. The fence was approximately six feet tall and had barbed wire along 

the top. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1972, the park removed the fence 

from the airport entrance area, and in c.2000 installed new black-painted chainlink fence bordering the hangars and a new fence along the inside edges of the 

diagonal entrance drives (see SSF-6 Airport Entrance Fence). In c.2004, the park 

replaced portions of the perimeter fence along Flatbush Avenue to accommodate 

the Rockaway-Gateway Greenway bikepath. The section at the south end of 

Hangar Row was set back from the road along a curving alignment that followed 

the bikepath. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The existing original sections of the Flatbush Avenue fence contribute to the 

historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as a typical 

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272

small-scale feature of the World War II era. Along Hangar Row, the replacement 

fence is generally compatible in design and location. The realigned section at the 

south end of Hangar Row detracts from the historic character of the landscape. 

Airport Entrance landscape features

The airport entrance is a space within Hangar Row defined by the Administration 

Building, hangars 3-4 and 5-6, and Flatbush Avenue. This landscape retains 

much of its historic character defined by a park-like central lawn area flanked 

by diagonal entrance drives, and open spaces historically containing parking 

lots. Significant changes to the character of this landscape since 1945 have 

resulted from loss of the field house (2), a small building constructed in 1938 that 

housed concessions and restrooms for passengers that matched the style of the 

Administration Building; demolition of the Navy sick bay (48), a frame building 

constructed in 1942 south of the Administration Building; removal of the Navy’s 

wing built in 1942 off the north side of the Administration Building to house a 

war-time communications center; and replacement of the south parking lot with 

lawn. The historic character of the landscape has also been altered by the loss 

of plantings along the diagonal entrance drives and around the Administration 

Building, construction of a fence around the central lawn area, and addition of 

Victorian-style light standards, benches, and water fountains. The addition of the 

Aviator Sports chiller building and air-conditioning unit towers within the Hangar 

Row character area has also changed the setting of the airport entrance landscape. 

Spatial Organization Features

SO-4. Airport Entrance Area

Historic Condition: The airport entrance area was initially defined through 

the completion of hangars 3-4 and 5-6 in 1930 and the Administration Building 

in 1931. These buildings created a rectangular space that was open to the west 

toward Flatbush Avenue. The space was further delineated with the construction 

of fences along the north, east, and south sides adjoining the Hangar Row apron. 

In c.1932, the city defined the interior of the space through the addition of two 

diagonal entrance drives that defined a central lawn area, a central parking area, 

and two larger parking lots north and south of the Administration Building. The 

addition of hedges and trees along the drives and walk in the center of the lawn 

in c.1935, and construction of the Field House (2) on the east side of the north 

parking lot in 1938 further defined the internal spatial character. During World 

War II, the Navy made minor changes to the space by enclosing the Flatbush 

Avenue side with a chain-link fence; removing the gates and fences along the 
273 

Hangar Row apron; and by constructing a building (sick bay, 48) along the east 

side of the south parking lot. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, the New York Air National 

Guard altered the spatial character of the airport entrance area with the addition 

of a large nose hangar (265) north of the Administration Building in 1964. 

Removal of the hedges and other shrubs also changed the subtle spatial definition 

within the central lawn area. Since c.1980, the park has reestablished some of 

the historic spatial character of the municipal airport period by removing the 

nose hangar and Navy sick bay and by replanting the hedges, but also added new 

features including an ornamental black metal picket fence and specimen trees 

along the inner side of the diagonal entrance drives and center parking lot. 

Evaluation: Contributing 

The airport entrance area contributes to the historic character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district landscape as a character-defining spatial feature 

of the municipal airport period. While the overall space defined by the flanking 

hangars and Administration Building remains, details of the space have been 

altered through removal of the Field House, Navy sick bay, and plantings, and 

addition of a fence that divides the central lawn area from the rest of the space.

Vegetation Features

V-1. Central Lawn and Sycamore Trees

Historic Condition: In c.1932, the city established a lawn in the airport entrance 

area defined by diagonal entrance drives and sidewalks, Flatbush Avenue, and 

a small central parking lot in front of the Administration Building. In 1935, the 

city added plantings and small-scale features to the lawn as a WPA project. The 

planting plan consisted of privet hedges lining the sidewalks to either side of the 

diagonal drives, individual shrubs lining the drives, shrub masses at the head 

of the drives, and sycamore trees lining Flatbush Avenue and the walk through 

the center of the lawn. Rhododendrons and perennials were planted around 

the airport sign at the center of the lawn. Aside from rhododendron and privet, 

the types of plants used is not known. The city’s initial planting plan, which was 

not fully implemented, specified juniper, spirea, lilac, forsythia, rose-of-sharon, 

roses, cannas, hydrangea, azaleas, vinca, and ivy, among others. The Navy did not 

significantly alter the plantings during World War II.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, all of the plantings were 

removed except for the turf and sycamore trees. In c.2000, the park replanted 

privet hedges along the outer side of the sidewalks lining the diagonal drives and 

new black metal picket fence, but added trees within the hedge. One sycamore 

tree is missing from the central walk and several from along Flatbush Avenue. 

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274

The city has substituted Japanese pagoda trees for many of the sycamores along 

Flatbush Avenue outside of the historic district. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The central lawn and sycamore trees contribute to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as typical vegetation features of the 

municipal airport period. The sycamore trees bordering the lawn along Flatbush 

Avenue, within the city right-of-way, are part of this feature because they were 

planted at the same time when the city owned both properties. The lawn and 

trees are remnants of more extensive plantings intended to provide a welcoming, 

park-like atmosphere to the airport entrance. While the replanted hedge has 

reestablished a part of this planting design, the insertion of trees within the hedge 

detracts from the historic character of the landscape. 

V-2. Administration Building Foundation Plantings

Historic Condition: In 1935, the WPA established foundation plantings around 

the entire Administration Building, set within beds bordered by narrow strips of 

lawn, marble edging, and sidewalks. The shrubs were maintained as low, clipped 

masses. A planting plan for the front of the building specified a rear row of 

rhododendrons with three rows of lilies in front, and junipers to either side of the 

entrance stairs. It is not know if the plan was implemented as specified. The Navy 

kept the foundation plantings during World War II, except for those on the north 

side that were probably removed for construction of the communications wing 

(171). 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, all of the foundation 

plantings were removed, and additional areas of turf have been added on the 

north and south sides. There is a young juniper to one side of the main entrance 

stairs, and some herbaceous plants in the flanking wood-chip mulched beds, 

including yucca, prickly pear, lilies, and liriope. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The existing Administration Building foundation plantings do not contribute 

to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape 

because the woody shrubs are missing and the herbaceous plants apparently 

consist of non-historic species, with the exception of the juniper flanking the main 

entrance stairs. 

V-3. South Lawn 

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the south lawn was a parking lot 

during the historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1980, the park removed the World 

War II-era Navy sick bay (48) from the south parking lot that had been built 

during the municipal airport period. In c.1996, the park removed much of the 
275 

paved surface of the lot and replaced it with lawn. There was a planting bed with 

a narrow area of lawn along the north side of the parking lot during the municipal 

airport period, but the park removed it and in its place built an access drive to the 

parking lots on the Hangar Row apron.

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The south lawn, which replaced the airport south parking lot, does not contribute 

to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape 

because it did not exist during the historic period. The lawn detracts from the 

historic circulation patterns in the airport entrance area. 

Circulation Features

C-6. Airport Entrance Drives

Historic Condition: In c.1932, the city built two entrance drives that came in at 

a diagonal off Flatbush Avenue and converged in a central parking lot in front 

of the Administration Building. The drives also provided access to the two main 

parking lots north and south of the Administration Building. The drives were 

surfaced in concrete and edged by concrete curbs. The south drive was oneway, and the north one, two-way. During World War II, the Navy closed off the 

diagonal entrance drives with chain-link fence/gates along Flatbush Avenue, and 

constructed a new entrance at the south end of Hangar Road. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since 1945, the entrance drives have 

been resurfaced in asphalt and have remained closed for vehicular use. In c.2000, 

the park closed off the upper end of the drives with a black metal picket fence/

gate, and installed ornamental bollards across the lower end at Flatbush Avenue. 

In 2004, the park built asphalt bike paths across the lower ends of the drives. 

Weeds are growing through cracks in the asphalt. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The airport entrance drives contribute to the historic character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district landscape as a character-defining circulation 

feature of the municipal airport period. The entrance drives were the main 

visitor access roads during the airport period and defined the organization of the 

entrance area landscape. Aside from resurfacing in asphalt and being blocked with 

contemporary fences and bollards, the drives retain their historic character. 

C-7. Airport Entrance Walks

Historic Condition: As part of the construction of the diagonal entrance drives in 

c.1932, the city built concrete walks surrounding the central lawn. The walks were 

approximately four feet wide and featured a course aggregate. There were four 

walks paralleling either side of the entrance drives, one lining the curved east side 

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of the central parking lot, and one that ran through the central lawn to Flatbush 

Avenue on axis with the main entrance of the Administration Building. The 

diagonal walks aligned with the walks that extended around the Administration 

Building. The walk through the central lawn circled the airport flagstaff and sign 

before tying into the sidewalk along Flatbush Avenue. The inner walks along the 

diagonal drives featured a small triangular terrace at the intersection with the 

Flatbush Avenue sidewalk. During World War II, the Navy cut off access to the 

walks from Flatbush Avenue with a cyclone perimeter fence, but did not otherwise 

alter the walks.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since 1945, sections of the walks have 

been replaced with different concrete mixtures, and the alignment of the walks 

along the drives with the walks around the Administration Building has been 

altered. The park has also installed a black metal picket fence along the outer walk 

along the diagonal entrance drives that cuts off access to the walks, except at the 

central walk where there is a gate. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The airport entrance walks contribute to the historic character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district landscape as a distinctive circulation feature of the 

municipal airport period. The walkways were part of the formal design of the 

landscape and imparted a park-like feeling to the airport entrance. While the 

walks remain largely intact, the introduction of fencing blocking access to the 

walks detracts from their historic character. 

C-8. Airport Entrance Central Parking Lot 

Historic Condition: In c.1932, the city laid out a small parking lot in front of 

the Administration Building as part of the initial layout of the airport entrance 

landscape. The parking lot featured a curved east side, concrete curbs, and black 

asphalt-block paving. Flush curbs marked the edges between the asphalt-block 

paving and adjoining gravel parking lots. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, the central parking lot was 

resurfaced in asphalt, and its configuration was partially altered along the north 

and south sides due to realignment of the circulation around the Administration 

Building. In 2008, the entire lot was reconstructed with new asphalt paving and 

concrete curbs. 

Evaluation: Contributing 

The central parking lot contributes to the historic character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district landscape as a distinctive circulation feature of the 

municipal airport period. Although the original surface has been replaced and its 

configuration partially altered, the lot overall retains its design and character as a 

forecourt to the Administration Building. 
277 

C-9. Airport Entrance North Parking Lot 

Historic Condition: In c.1932, the city laid out gravel parking lots to the north 

and south of the Administration Building, bordered by the Hangar Row apron, 

diagonal entrance drives, and Flatbush Avenue. These two large lots served as the 

primary public parking areas for the airport. The north lot featured a secondary 

access drive from Flatbush Avenue along its north side. In c.1938, the city built the 

Field House (2) on the east side of the north parking lot. The Navy maintained 

the two lots through World War II, although it removed part of the north lot for 

the Administration Building wing (171) and paint store house (47), and part of 

the south lot for the sick bay (48). The Navy probably also removed the fence that 

surrounded the north, east, and south sides of the lots, and probably resurfaced 

the lots in asphalt.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In 1965, the Air National Guard 

removed the eastern part of the north parking lot along with the Field House 

for construction of its nose hangar (265). In c.1996, the park removed the south 

parking lot and replaced it with lawn. In c.2000, the park removed the nose hangar 

from the north parking lot, and resurfaced the lot as an extension of the adjoining 

parking lot built on the Hangar Row apron in c.1996. A linear drain marks the 

approximate boundary of the historic parking lot. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The airport entrance north parking lot contributes to the historic character of 

the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as a typical circulation feature 

of the municipal airport period. While the overall extent of the parking lot 

remains, its details have been altered, notably its eastern, southern, and northern 

boundaries. 

C-10. Gateway-Rockaway Greenway Bikepath

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the bikepath was a public 

sidewalk along Flatbush Avenue and part of the entrance area landscape during 

the historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.2004, the park built an asphalt 

bikepath approximately ten feet wide over the sidewalk along the east side of 

Flatbush Avenue as part of the Gateway-Rockaway Greenway. At the airport 

entrance area, the bikepath veered east around the intersection of the diagonal 

entrance drives, cutting across the turf area and sidewalks. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing 

The Gateway-Rockaway Greenway Bikepath does not contribute to the historic 

character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because it was built 

after the historic period. The bikepath detracts from the historic geometry of the 

entrance area landscape. 

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Buildings and Structures

1. Administration Building

Historic Condition: The Administration Building, the central focal point of 

the airport entrance area, was built in 1930-31 as the civilian airport’s passenger 

terminal and office building. Constructed by the city Department of Docks 

(architect not known), the two-story building on a raised basement was designed 

in the Neoclassical Revival style typical for early twentieth century public 

buildings such as post offices, court houses, schools, and train stations. The city 

intended the conservative and familiar style of the building to make passengers 

feel comfortable with the new technology of flight. The building faced the parklike central lawn and Flatbush Avenue, with its control tower and service doors 

concealed from view on its east side facing the airfield. 

In contrast to the Art Deco style of the hangars and other airport buildings, 

the Administration Building featured red brick walls, a monumental entrance with 

recessed portico, classical marble and cast-stone details, multi-paned doublehung windows, and an entablature with the name of the airport in bronze letters. 

The octagonal four-story control tower projected from the east elevation with its 

cab rising above the parapet. The metal-sheathed cab featured arched window 

openings, classical detailing, and a large clock mounted below. Also on the east 

side of the building was a balustrade terrace that served as an outdoor waiting area 

and observation deck. The roof of the Administration Building was outfitted with 

a flagstaff, spotlights, signals, and radio antennae. In 1935, the city built a WPAfunded tunnel from the building to the boarding area to allow passengers to reach 

planes without crossing the apron. The central stem of the tunnel headed 124 

feet east, it then branched 120 feet north and south. At the end of the branches, a 

flight of stairs led to hydraulically lifted hatches that opened onto the Hangar Row 

apron. 

During World War II, the Navy made a number of changes to the 

Administration Building. It changed the text on the entablature and replaced 

the arched windows on the control tower cab to increase visibility across 

the expanded airfield. The new windows were remarkably contemporary in 

appearance with full glazing that angled outward to reduce glare. The Navy also 

built a wood frame wing (171) off the north side of the building to serve as a 

communication center. The addition was one story tall and measured 60 feet by 

73 feet. It connected to the main building via a narrow corridor that led directly to 

the first floor. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since 1945, a few changes have been 

made to the Administration Building. In c.1955, the Navy replaced the original 

windows with metal-frame units with horizontal muntins. In c.1980, the park 

removed the World War II period wood-frame wing as part of an effort to restore 
279 

Hangar Row to its appearance during the municipal airport period. In c.2000, 

the park replaced the Navy windows with double-hung windows similar to the 

originals. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The Administration Building, constructed in 1930-1931, contributes to the historic 

character of Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as a character-defining 

building of both the municipal airport and World War II periods. While the 1943 

wood-frame addition has been removed, the original building’s materials and 

overall design remain intact. The changes made to the control tower, although not 

original to the building, reflect the Navy improvements made during World War II. 

29. Fire Pump House

Historic Condition: As part of WPA-funded improvements, the city constructed 

a one-story pump house at the west side of the north parking lot in 1938 to house 

equipment for the airport’s sprinkler/fire suppression system. The small, twentytwo-foot by thirty-foot building employed the unified airport style with buff 

tapestry brick, cast-stone details, and a parapet surrounding a low-hipped copper 

roof with the title “Pump House” in the cast-stone entablature. At the same time, 

the city built a small gasoline pump house (145) to the north of the pump house. 

In c.1942, the Navy built a one-story wood-frame lean-to on the west side of the 

pump house, and a large holding tank on its east side. The Navy also built a paint 

store house (47) north of the pump house.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: No changes were made to the fire pump 

house until c.2000, when the park demolished the World War II-era lean-to and 

holding tank. Soon after this time, Aviator Sports built a chiller building and two 

air-conditioning towers to the north of the pump house. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The fire pump house contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett 

Field historic district landscape as a typical utility building of the municipal 

airport period. It is remnant of a small complex of utility/service buildings at the 

northwest corner of the airport entrance area. While the building exterior remains 

intact to the municipal airport period, its setting has been altered with the addition 

of the Aviator Sports chiller building and air-conditioning towers. 

145. Beacon Tower 

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the beacon tower was a lawn strip 

along the western edge of the north parking lot during the historic period.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In 1957, the Navy erected a steel-frame 

beacon tower at the west side of the north parking lot adjoining the fire pump 

house and Flatbush Avenue. The tower housed an aviation beacon light.

Evaluation: Non-contributing

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280

The beacon tower does not contribute to the historic character of Floyd Bennett 

Field historic district landscape because it was built after the end of the historic 

period. The beacon tower is a compatible feature because it reflects the continued 

use of the field for aviation. 

Views and Vistas

VV-1. Control Tower View

Historic Condition: The control tower on the east side of the Administration 

Building, completed in 1931, featured a glazed cab that allowed panoramic views 

out across the airport. During World War II, the Navy replaced the glazing to 

allow increase visibility across the enlarged airfield. All runways and taxiways were 

visible from the control tower. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After the Navy transferred the field to 

the National Park Service, the park did not maintain views from the control tower 

since the field was not used for aviation. In the following decades, growth of 

successional and planted woods on the northern and southern parts of the airfield 

partially blocked views of runways and taxiways. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The view from the control tower contributes to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as a defining characteristic of the 

municipal airport and World War II periods. Although the view of runway 6-24, 

taxiway 6, and taxiway 4 from the control tower has been partially obstructed, 

overall the visual relationship to the airfield remains intact. 

Small-Scale Features

SSF-2. Airport Entrance Light Standards

Historic Condition: As part of the completion of the airport entrance landscape 

in 1935, the city installed four light standards within the central lawn area. Two 

were cast-iron standards with urn-shaped luminaries installed to either side of 

the head of the central walk at Flatbush Avenue. The other two were wood light 

standards installed at the east side of the lawn adjacent to the central parking 

lot. These rustic wood standards featured bracketed arms and drop-pendant 

luminaires facing the central lawn. They were the same style standard used at state 

parks and parkways during the time, but in a pedestrian scale. The Navy retained 

the four light standards during World War II.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: At some point after c.1960, the wood 

light standards were removed. The park removed the cast-iron standards in c.2000 

and placed them in storage, and installed approximately twenty-two Central 
281 

Park-style light standards along Flatbush Avenue and both sides of the diagonal 

entrance drives. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The existing airport entrance light standards do not contribute to the historic 

character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because they did 

not exist during the historic period. The placement and Victorian style of the light 

standards detracts from the historic design of the airport entrance area. 

SSF-3. Airport Entrance Flagstaff

Historic Condition: As part of the completion of the airport entrance landscape 

in 1935, the city installed a white-painted steel flagstaff in the center of the airport 

entrance lawn area (V-2), encircled by the central walkway. The flagstaff had three 

black-painted band joints and a pair of beacon lights at the top. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: At some point after 1945, the paired 

beacon lights were removed and replaced with a ball finial. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The airport entrance flagstaff contributes to the historic character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field Historic district as a distinctive small-scale feature of the municipal 

airport period. The loss of the paired beacon lights detracts from the aviation 

character of the landscape. 

SSF-4. Airport Entrance Sign

Historic Condition: As part of the completion of the airport entrance landscape 

in 1935, the city installed a rustic stained or varnished wood entrance sign in front 

of the flagstaff at the central entrance walk from Flatbush Avenue. The sign was 

approximately eight feet in height overall and featured a brick base and a gableroofed pavilion sheltering the sign board that had carved lettering. The sign read 

“Floyd Bennett Airport” with the corporate seal of New York City at the bottom 

flanked by two metal rings. The Navy retained the sign through World War II. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: The Navy removed the airport entrance 

shortly after the end of World War II. In May 2006, the park reconstructed the 

sign using the original plans as part of the commemoration of the 75th anniversary 

of the opening of Floyd Bennett Field as a municipal airport.

Evaluation: Contributing 

The airport entrance sign, an accurate reconstruction of the original, contributes 

to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field Historic district as a distinctive 

small-scale feature of the municipal airport period. It may also contribute to the 

character of the landscape during the World War II period. 

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SSF-5. Airport Entrance Furnishings

Historic Condition: Not applicable. There were no benches, water fountains, or 

trash cans in the central lawn area during the historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.2000, the park installed Victorianstyle benches and water fountains in the small concrete plaza at the intersection of 

the diagonal walks and the Flatbush Avenue sidewalk, and Victorian-style bollards 

across the head of the entrance drives. These furnishings matched the design of 

the Central Park-style light standards. The park also installed contemporary-style 

bike racks, garbage cans, and two interpretive waysides within the lawn area. 

There were no such features within the entrance area during the historic period.

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The airport entrance furnishings do not contribute to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because they did not exist during 

the historic period. The Victorian-style benches, water fountains, and bollards 

detract from the historic character of the landscape because they are incompatible 

with the historic design of the entrance area and give a false sense of history. 

SSF-6. Airport Entrance Fence

Historic Condition: During the municipal airport period, there was no fence 

separating the airport entrance area from Flatbush Avenue. During World War 

II, the Navy installed a chain-link fence along Flatbush Avenue and across the 

diagonal entrance drives to secure the perimeter of the field. The fence was 

approximately six feet tall and had barbed wire along the top, and gates at the 

entrance drives. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: The park removed the chain-link fence 

from the airport entrance area in c.1972. In c.2000, it installed a new fence along a 

new alignment along the outer edges of central lawn area, following the perimeter 

sidewalks. The approximately six-foot tall black metal fence has an ornamental 

design consisting of square posts and rails, pickets, and brick piers at the north 

and south corners. The fence has three gates, two at the diagonal drives and one at 

the central walk. The two drive gates are locked. Mounted on the three gates are 

bas-relief globes with stylized wings. See also Hangar Row Character Area, SSF-1, 

Perimeter Fence.

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The airport entrance fence does not contribute to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field because it did not exist during the historic period. The fence 

detracts from the historic spatial character and circulation patterns of the entrance 

area.
283 

Airfield landscape features

The airfield, the largest of the character areas within the Floyd Bennett Field 

historic district, consists of the runways, taxiways, and most of the land within the 

outside boundaries of the flight-path clear zones. Included within this character 

area are parts of the land presently managed as the North 40 Natural Area, as well 

as the Ecology Village campgrounds, Camps Tamarack and Goldenrod, and the 

Floyd Bennett Field community gardens. Overall, the airfield retains its character 

defined by the taxiways and runways, but has lost some of its defining open spatial 

character due to the growth of successional woods, and circulation patterns due 

to the addition of berms, jersey barriers, fences, and guiderails that block runways 

and taxiways. Significant features lost since 1945 include a complex of four small 

utility buildings at the World War II-era boat basin (formerly the airport seaplane 

base); two training structures—a rocking platform and tetrahedron, and also a 

rifle range along Mill Basin; two floodlight towers dating to the municipal airport 

period; a dirigible landing area; and a system of runway and navigational lights. 

Wood piles remain along the Jamaica Bay shoreline from the airport seaplane 

ramp and pier, and from the World War II-era boat basin pier. 

Natural Systems and Features

NS-1. Successional Woods

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The airfield and all areas of Floyd Bennett 

Field were devoid of woods during the historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945 and more specifically after 

1972, lack of mowing on portions of the airfield and adjoining areas allowed the 

growth of deciduous woods through the process of natural succession. These 

woods grew mostly in the north half of the airfield and Naval Aviation Patrol Base, 

corresponding with the rougher ground of the World War II-era expansion. At 

the south side of the airfield, successional woods occur at the southeast end of 

runway 12-30, while younger successional vegetation, including scrub and young 

trees, characterize the southwest quadrant surrounding the Ecology Village pine 

plantation.

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The successional woods on the airfield and elsewhere do not contribute to the 

historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because 

they did not exist during the historic period. The woods detract from the 

historically open spatial character of the airfield and adjoining areas that were 

critical to maintaining open views and clear zones for safe landing and takeoff. 

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NS-2. Jamaica Bay Beach

Historic Condition: Soon after construction of the airfield landmass in 1928-

29, natural sand beach became reestablished along the steel bulkhead bordering 

Jamaica Bay. The line of the beach swelled at the various piers and seaplane ramps. 

Additional sand beach also became reestablished as the city and Navy extended 

the fill northward. The lack of bulkhead along the shoreline north of the Naval 

Aviation Patrol Base created a wider swath of beach and associated uplands 

ecosystems. During World War II, the Navy maintained a picnic area on the 

section of beach near its recreation area and boat basin south of the Coast Guard 

Air Station. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After c.1972, the placement of stone riprap along deteriorating sections of bulkhead shifted the extent of the beach. The 

beach has continued to shift due to natural forces of currents and tides.

Evaluation: Contributing 

Although inconspicuous from within the airfield, the sand beach along the Jamaica 

Bay shoreline contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field 

historic district landscape as a typical natural feature of the municipal airport and 

World War II periods. While the beach has continued to shift naturally over time, 

it retains its overall character.

Spatial Organization Features

SO-5. Airfield

Historic Condition: The airfield was a completely open space during the historic 

period bordered by building development outside of flight-path clear zones. It 

was open to surrounding water and marshlands outside of the building clusters. 

Within the interior of the airfield, there were three areas outside of the clear zones 

where there were vertical features. These included two masonry Sperry floodlight 

towers erected during the municipal airport period, and two training structures 

(rocking platform and a tetrahedron) installed during World War II. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1972, the open spatial character 

of the airfield changed with the demise of active aviation uses. Changes included 

the growth of successional woods in the north half and at the southeastern corner 

of the airfield, planting of pine plantation on the south side of the airfield, and 

construction of a Doppler radar tower on the eastern approach to runway 12-30 

near Jamaica Bay. The open spatial character was also changed when the Coast 

Guard fenced off the southeast half of runway 12-30 and its subsequent use for 

storage of tractor-trailers, cars, and other vehicles. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The airfield space, originally constructed in 1928 and expanded in 1942, 

contributes to the historic character of Floyd Bennett Field historic district 
285 

landscape as a character-defining spatial feature of both the municipal airport and 

World War II periods. While successional and planted woods have grown up on 

approximately one-third of the airfield, overall the historically open character of 

the space remains dominant. 

SO-6. Cricket Field

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The cricket field is located on what was open 

airfield on the approach to runway 12-30 during the historic period.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.2000, the park partnered with 

a private club to build a cricket field in the approach to runway 12-30 in the 

northwest corner of the airfield, north of Hangar Row. Aside from a berm along 

its west side, the field does not include any above-ground built features, such as 

fences or lights. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The cricket field does not contribute to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett 

Field historic district landscape. Because it does not have any vertical features, it is 

compatible with the open spatial character of the airfield. 

Land Use Features

LU-1. Airfield Campgrounds

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The campgrounds are located on what was 

open airfield during the historic period.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Currently there are six campgrounds at 

Floyd Bennett Field constructed in two different locations within the airfield. At 

the south side of the airfield are the Ecology Village campgrounds, consisting of 

four individual camps: Camp Ladybird, Camp Marshawk, Camp Pheasant, and 

Camp Cherry. These campgrounds all contain small wood-frame shelters with 

metal roofs and picnic tables beneath. Two of the three have ten wooden tent 

platforms around the perimeter of the campsite; the third has six small wooden 

cabins with screen doors and windows. At the northeastern side of the airfield are 

Camps Tamarack and Goldenrod, which are located on the site of the World War 

II-era dirigible landing area that is now enclosed by successional woods. These 

two also have shelters with picnic tables but no cabins or tent platforms. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The airfield campgrounds do not contribute to the historic character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district landscape because they did not exist during the 

historic peri0d. The camp facilities are presently concealed from view by woods 

and therefore do not directly impact the overall character of the airfield. 

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LU-2. Floyd Bennett Community Gardens

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the community gardens was open 

airfield during the historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1980, the Floyd Bennett Garden 

Association established a large community garden complex on the airfield turf on 

the west side of runway 15-33 (taxiway 10) off the southeast end of the Hangar 

Row apron. The gardens expanded to include 557 plots, making it the largest in 

Brooklyn. The gardens feature a wide variety of garden plants, specimen trees, 

sculptures, two wood gazebos, a picnic/barbecue area, and small-scale features, 

including fences, gates, and trellises. Gardeners park on runway 15-33 or the 

Hangar Row apron. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The Floyd Bennett community gardens do not contribute to the historic character 

of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because they were developed 

after the end of the historic period. Although contained within a defined area, the 

gardens detract from the open spatial character of the airfield. 

LU-3. Model Airplane Flying Field

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the flying field was part of the 

airfield and approach to runway 1-19 during the historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1980, the park allowed a private club 

to operate a model airplane flying field on the c.1952 extension of runway 1-19 at 

the northeast corner of the airfield. The flying field includes an announcer’s booth 

and covered seating area. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The model airplane flying field does not contribute to the historic character of 

the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because it was not a land use 

during the historic period. While within the historic flight-path clear zone, the 

built features are compatible due to their small scale and temporary construction. 

LU-4. North 40 Natural Area (Extends beyond historic district)

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the North 40 Natural Area was 

open airfield and an ammunitions storage and communications area during the 

historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After c.1972, the radio towers were 

removed and the ammunitions magazines were abandoned (outside of historic 

district). The park allowed the formerly open area north of runway 6-24 to grow 

into woods (see NS-1) and laid out a system of trails there in c.1980 (C-23), 

along with a pond and photo shelter ( CWF-1). Only the portion of the North 40 

Natural Area within the historic flight-path clear zones for runways 1-19, 6-24, 

and 12-30 is within the historic district. 
287 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The North 40 Natural Area does not contribute to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because it was introduced after 

the historic period. Management as a natural area has led to a loss of the airfield’s 

historic open character. 

Topography Features

T-1. Berms

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The berms are located on what were active 

runways and taxiways during the historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: As part of construction of the public 

entrance road on runway 15-33 (taxiway 10) in c.1996, the park built grasscovered earthen berms, approximately six feet in height, at the intersection of a 

number of runways and taxiways to close off access and purportedly to enhance 

the aesthetics of the landscape. The berms are located along the entrance road on 

runway 15-33, at taxiway 1-2, taxiway 4, and between runway 1-19 and 6-24.

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The berms do not contribute to the historic character of Floyd Bennett Field 

historic district landscape because they did not exist during the historic period. 

They detract from the historic spatial character and circulation patterns of the 

airfield.

Vegetation Features

V-4. Airfield Grasslands

Historic Condition: As part of the initial construction of the airfield in 1928-

29, the city finished the fill with subsoil, topsoil, and grass seed, and then 

maintained the airfield as mown turf. This turf surface, which was intended for 

use as emergency landing areas, extended from the Hangar Row apron east to 

approximately 500 feet from the Jamaica Bay shoreline. When the Navy expanded 

the airfield in 1942, it continued to maintain the airfield turf, but did not establish 

new turf over most of the new areas, except bordering the runways and taxiways. 

The Navy appears to have minimally graded the expanded areas and allowed 

natural grasses and scrub to become established. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Between 1945 and 1971, the Navy 

maintained the mown turf and appears to have kept down woody vegetation on 

the expanded parts of the airfield. After the field was transferred to the National 

Park Service, the park mowed some of the airfield, but let much of it go to natural 

succession. In c. 1985, the park began managing part of the airfield as naturalized 

Analysis and Evaluation
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288

grasslands, primarily the area corresponding to the original municipal airfield, 

in order to provide wildlife habitat. The grasslands consist of a wide variety of 

grasses and herbaceous plants, both native and introduced, which are mown on a 

semi-annual basis and reach a maximum height of approximately four feet. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The existing airfield grasslands do not contribute to the historic character of 

the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because they differ from the 

historically mown turf that was necessary to maintain sight lines and emergency 

landing areas. Further research would be needed to determine the Navy’s 

management of the vegetation in the expanded areas of the airfield where there 

was not mown turf. 

V-5. Ecology Village Pine Plantation

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the pine plantation was open field 

during the historic period.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1974, the park planted thousands 

of pine trees, including white pine and red pine, in a triangular area at the 

southern side of the airfield adjoining taxiway 4 as shelter for the Ecology Village 

campgrounds. The pines generally follow the former flight-path boundaries 

except at the west end of the woods, but the limits are being blurred by old-field 

succession (scrub and small trees) taking over the adjoining areas of the airfield. 

The mature pine trees are now approximately thirty feet tall and some are dying.

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The Ecology Village pine plantation do not contribute to the historic character of 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because they were planted after the 

historic period. Although the woods are mostly outside of the historic flight-path 

clear zones, they obstruct the view of taxiway 4 from the control tower. Old-field 

succession in the adjoining areas of the airfield are further detracting from the 

open spatial character of the airfield. 

Circulation Features

C-1. Airport South Boundary Road 

See Hangar Row Character Area.

C-11. Runway 15-33 (Public Entrance Road)

Historic Condition: Runway 15-33, which runs parallel to Hangar Row, is one of 

the two runways original to the municipal airport (see C-16 for the second original 

runway, which was reclassified as taxiways 1 and 2). Completed in 1930, it was 

initially 3,100 feet long and 100 feet wide and made of steel reinforced concrete 
289 

with gravel strips located along the edges. In 1935, the city and WPA lengthened 

the runway to 3,500 feet and connected it to runways 12-30 and 1-19. In 1942, the 

Navy lengthened the runway to 4,500 feet and widened it to 300 feet, connecting 

its north end to the new runway 6-24. The Navy extensions were completed with 

asphalt, leaving the original concrete intact. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Between 1945 and 1965, the Navy 

redesignated runway 15-33 as taxiway 10. In c.1996, the park built a four-lane 

asphalt public entrance road to Hangar Row over the former runway, running 

roughly along the centerline and taking up approximately one-quarter of 

the runway surface. At the same time, the park added berms to close off the 

intersections with taxiway 4, runway 1-19, and to define the intersection of 

taxiways 1 and 2. The entrance road extends from the main entrance on Flatbush 

Avenue, turns north onto taxiway 7 (taxiway to former seaplane base along 

Rockaway Inlet), and continues north along taxiway 10 until terminating south of 

the runway 12-30 intersection. Two spurs run west to access parking lots on the 

Hangar Row apron. The road includes a striped median and steel guiderails. 

Evaluation: Contributing

Runway 15-33 contributes to the historic character of Floyd Bennett Field historic 

district landscape as a defining circulation feature of the municipal airport and 

World War II periods. While the addition of the four-lane road detracts from the 

historic circulation patterns of the runway, the historic runway surface remains 

intact beneath and to either side of the road. 

C-12. Runway 1-19

Historic Condition: In 1935, the city used the WPA to construct two new 

runways, 1-19 and 12-30, that crossed the airfield diagonally. Runway 1-19 was 

3,500 feet long and 150 feet wide with a concrete surface. The purpose of the two 

new runways was not only to expand the capacity of the airport, but also to give 

aircraft four directions in which to land into the wind, rather than two. With the 

introduction of heavier aircraft, such as the DC-2 and DC-3, the option of landing 

into the wind on the open airfield turf, as the airport had originally been designed, 

was no longer possible. To land safely, these aircraft required stable pavement. In 

1942, in order to meet the needs of still larger aircraft, the Navy widened runway 

1-19 to 300 feet with concrete extensions and lengthening it to 5,000 feet, using 

asphalt at the north end where it intersected the new runway 6-24. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: During the Korean War with the 

introduction of jet aircraft, the Navy built concrete extensions at either end 

of runway 1-19 that lengthened it to 7,000 feet. Completed in 1951, the main 

extension was on the north end, with a smaller area on the south. The Navy also 

surfaced the approaches to the extensions in a soil cement, most likely to stabilize 

the sandy soil from heavy jet back draft. As part of this extension, the Navy also 

managed a fenced-in area on the west side of Flatbush Avenue within Brooklyn 

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Marine Park as part of the runway approach (outside of historic district). Between 

c.1980 and c.1996, the park placed mulch over the southwestern half of runway 

1-19 as part of an effort to restore natural conditions in the airfield, which the 

park was managing as a natural area. In c.1996, the park installed earthen berms 

that closed off the intersections with runway 6-24 at the north, runway 12-30 in 

the middle of the airfield, and runway 15-33 (park entrance road) on the south. 

The park also installed jersey barriers to restrict further access at the runway 6-24 

intersection. The Korean War-era extension is used as a model airplane flying 

field.

Evaluation: Contributing

Runway 1-19 contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field 

historic district landscape as a defining circulation feature of the municipal airport 

and World War II periods. The Korean War-era extensions are compatible with 

the runway and convey its continued aviation use during the Cold War. While the 

additions of mulch, berms, and jersey barriers detract from spatial character and 

circulation of the runway, the historic surface remains intact underneath. 

C-13. Runway 12-30

Historic Condition: In 1935, the city used the WPA to construct two new 

runways, 1-19 and 12-30, that crossed the airfield diagonally. Runway 12-30 was 

3,500 feet long and 150 feet wide with a concrete surface. The purpose of the two 

new runways was not only to expand the capacity of the airport, but also to give 

aircraft four directions in which to land into the wind, rather than two. With the 

introduction of heavier aircraft, such as the DC-2 and DC-3, the option of landing 

into the wind on the open airfield turf, as the airport had originally been designed, 

was no longer possible. To land safely, these aircraft required stable pavement. 

Runway 12-30 was designated as blind landing runway and was outfitted with 

landing lights along its edges and an instrument landing beam signal on its south 

approach. In 1942, in order to meet the needs of still larger aircraft, the Navy 

widened runway 12-30 to 300 feet with concrete extensions and lengthened it to 

5,000 feet with asphalt. The blind landing equipment was removed as part of the 

enlargement.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1960, the Navy built a soil-cement 

approach at the northwest end of runway 12-30, probably to stabilize the soil from 

heavy jet back draft. A small soil-cement collar was also added to the southeast 

end. In c.1972, the Navy transferred the southeastern half of the runway to the 

Coast Guard, who enclosed the runway with a chain-link fence. Between c.1980 

and c.1996, the park placed mulch over part of the northwestern half of the 

runway as part of an effort to restore natural conditions in the airfield, which the 

park was managing as a natural area. In c.1996, the park installed earthen berms 

on the runway at the Coast Guard fence and at the intersections of runway 1-19 

and taxiway 3. In 1998, the Coast Guard transferred its property including its 
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section of runway 12-30 to National Park Service. The park assigned the Coast 

Guard property to the New York Police Aviation Unit, which uses the fenced-in 

runway as a storage area for tractor-trailers, cars, and other vehicles. 

Evaluation: Contributing

Runway 12-30 contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field 

historic district landscape as a defining circulation feature of the municipal airport 

and World War II periods. While the fence, stored vehicles, mulch, and berms 

detract from the spatial character and circulation of the runway, the historic 

surface remains intact underneath. The soil-cement approach is compatible with 

the character of the runway and illustrates its continued aviation use during the 

Cold War. Runway 12-30 is the only runway that retains its World War II-period 

dimensions. 

C-14. Runway 6-24

Historic Condition: The municipal airport’s runway 6-24 was inadequate for 

the Navy because it could not be lengthened at either end due to the presence of 

buildings in Hangar Row and the Naval Aviation Patrol Base. In 1942, the Navy 

converted runway 6-24 into taxiways 1 and 2, and built a new runway 6-24 (same 

cardinal direction) along the north side of the newly expanded airfield. The new 

runway 6-24 was built in asphalt and measured 5,000 feet long and 300 feet wide. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1960 at the beginning of the 

Vietnam War, the Navy lengthened runway 6-24 to 5,800 feet with a concrete 

extension at its east end. This extension required a small area of fill into Jamaica 

Bay. A short taxiway (#8) was built at the same time to connect with the extension 

of runway 1-10. In c.1996, the park closed off access to runway 1-19 with berms 

and jersey barriers, but otherwise left runway 6-24 open for vehicular use and 

for occasional aircraft landings. Visitors park on the eastern extension to fish in 

Jamaica Bay, or in the middle to access the North 40 Natural Area trails.

Evaluation: Contributing

Runway 6-24 contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field 

historic district landscape as a defining circulation feature of the World War II 

period. The Korean War-era extension is compatible with the character of the 

runway and illustrates its continued aviation use during the Cold War. Runway 

6-24 is the only runway that presently retains most of its historic circulation 

pattern. 

C-15. Hangar Row Taxiways

Historic Condition: In the original layout of the municipal airport, the west end 

of runway 6-24 (later taxiways 1 and 2) served as the taxiway to the Hangar Row 

apron. This single taxiway apparently became a point of congestion because in 

1932, the city added three taxiways connecting runway 15-33 with the Hangar 

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Row apron: two north of runway 6-24 and one to the south. Each taxiway was 

steel-reinforced concrete and thirty feet wide. In 1935, the city used the WPA to 

widen each taxiway to 100 feet at the same time that the Hangar Row apron was 

widened. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1965, two sections of turf between 

the northern three taxiways were paved over to create an expansion of the Hangar 

Row apron for the New York Air National Guard, which was building its nose 

hangar north of the Administration Building. In c.1996, the park built two asphalt 

roads across former runway 6-24 and the north taxiway to connect parking lots 

on the Hangar Row apron with the public entrance road built on runway 15-33 

(taxiway 10). 

Evaluation: Contributing

The Hangar Row taxiways contribute to the historic character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district landscape as typical circulation features of the 

municipal airport periods. Their character has been diminished by paving of the 

airfield turf between the northern three taxiways and the addition of vehicular 

roads that conceal the historic limits and circulation patterns. The southern-most 

taxiway is the only one of the four that remains unchanged. 

C-16. Taxiways 1 and 2 (Former Runway 6-24)

Historic Condition: Taxiways 1 and 2, which run perpendicular to Hangar Row, 

together comprise one of the two runways original to the municipal airport; the 

other is runway 15-33 (C-11). Completed in 1930 with the designation of 6-24, 

it was initially 4,000 feet long and 100 feet wide and made of steel reinforced 

concrete with gravel strips located along the edges. Unlike 15-33, runway 6-24 

was not widened during the WPA-funded improvements of 1935, although its 

center was altered by the crossing of runways 1-19 and 12-30. The Navy also did 

not enlarge the runway during World War II because of the obstructions at either 

end in the Aviation Patrol Base and Hangar Row. Instead, the Navy redesignated 

runway 6-24 as taxiways 1 and 2 (taxiway 1 forming the eastern half, taxiway 2 the 

western) that tied into a new perimeter system of taxiways. The Navy did extend 

the runway a short distance at its eastern end to connect with the expanded Naval 

Aviation Patrol Base apron and taxiways 5 and 6. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, the Navy paved over sections 

of the original concrete surface with asphalt. In c.1996, the park built earthen 

berms at the west end of the taxiway at its intersection with runway 15-33 (taxiway 

10/public entrance road). 

Evaluation: Contributing

Taxiways 1 and 2, completed in 1930, contribute to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as a defining circulation feature 

of the municipal airport period. Aside from repaving and addition of berms, 

taxiways 1 and 2 have not been altered since the end of the historic period. The 
293 

taxiways have special interpretive value as a relatively intact feature of the original 

municipal airport circulation system. 

C-17. World War II Taxiway System (Taxiways 3-6)

Historic Condition: In 1942, the Navy built a circumferential taxiway system as 

part of its expansion of the airfield. Aside from taxiways 1 and 2 on the former 

runway 6-24, the system included five new runways, numbered 3 through 7. 

This system connected the ends of each of the four runways and added a fourth 

taxiway to the Hangar Row apron. The system also connected to the Naval 

Aviation Patrol Base and Coast Guard Air Station, which previously had no 

connection to the runways. One taxiway (#7) accessed a new seaplane base on 

Barren Island south of the airfield (extending south from runway 15-33, outside of 

historic district).The taxiways were 100 feet wide and surfaced in asphalt. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1960, the Navy added an eighth 

taxiway to its circumferential system (see C-18). In c.1972, the Coast Guard 

erected a fence across taxiway 5 to enclose its expanded property that included 

the south half of runway 12-30. In c.1996, the park built earthen berms that closed 

off taxiway 4 at its intersection with runway 15-33 (taxiway 10/public entrance 

road) and taxiway 3 at its intersection with runway 6-24. The park uses part of 

taxiway 5 as a storage area for mulch. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The World War II taxiway system (taxiways 3-6) contributes to the historic 

character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as a defining 

circulation feature of the World War II period. Circumferential taxiway systems 

were typical circulation features of Naval Air Station design during World War II. 

Aside from the addition of berms and fences closing off three of the taxiways, the 

system has remained intact since the end of the historic period. 

C-18. Taxiway 8

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of taxiway 8 was open airfield during 

the historic period.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1960 at the beginning of the Vietnam 

War, the Navy built a short asphalt taxiway, designated as #8, at the northeast 

corner of the airfield to connect the extension of runway 6-24 that was built at the 

same time with the extension of runway 1-19 that was built in c.1951.

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

Taxiway 8 does not contribute to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field 

historic district landscape because it did not exist during the historic period. 

The taxiway is compatible with the character of the landscape and illustrates its 

continued aviation use during the Cold War.

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C-19. Municipal Airport Compass Rose

Historic Condition: As part of the WPA-funded improvements to the airport, 

the city built a compass rose in 1935 between the Hangar Row apron and runway 

15-33. The feature consisted of one solid circle approximately thirty feet in 

diameter surrounded by a ring approximately sixty feet in diameter comprised 

of concrete panels. The compass rose was used by pilots to recalibrate their onboard compasses, a process known as compass swing. Pilots would taxi their 

planes across the airfield turf onto the center concrete circle, from where they 

could see the cardinal directions. The outer ring was probably marked to indicate 

true cardinal directions and the inner circle, magnetic cardinal directions. During 

World War II, the Navy built a larger compass rose in the eastern end of the 

airfield to accommodate larger aircraft.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: With advances in navigational 

technology, the compass rose fell out of use after World War II, but was not 

removed or altered. The labels indicating cardinal directions have apparently 

worn off. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The municipal airport compass rose contributes to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as a distinctive circulation feature 

of the municipal airport period. Aside from possible loss of navigational labels, the 

feature has remained intact since the end of the historic period. 

C-20. Navy Compass Rose

Historic Condition: In c.1944, the Navy constructed a steel-reinforced concrete 

compass rose at the eastern edge of the airfield between taxiways 1 and 2 and 

taxiway 5. Unlike the earlier compass rose built by the city, the Navy’s consisted of 

a solid circular concrete pad that probably had navigational markers painted on 

it, and a short taxiway connecting to taxiway 5. The use of solid concrete surfaces 

was necessary given the heavier weight of aircraft. The compass rose was used 

by pilots to recalibrate their on-board compasses, a process known as compass 

swing. Pilots would taxi their planes to the center of the circle from where they 

could see the cardinal directions.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1960 the Navy added a second short 

taxiway to the compass rose from taxiways 1 and 2. The navigational markings 

have apparently worn off. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The Navy compass rose contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett 

Field historic district landscape as a distinctive circulation feature of the World 

War II period. Aside from the loss of its navigational markings, the feature has 

remained intact since the end of the historic period. 
295 

C-21. Patrol Road

Historic Condition: The Navy built an asphalt-paved drive around the 

eastern and northern perimeter of the airfield in 1942 as part of its war-time 

expansion. This road began in Naval Aviation Patrol Base, proceeded through the 

ammunitions-communication area north of the airfield, and ended at Flatbush 

Avenue at the north service substation (117). 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1951-52 as part of the Navy’s 

Korean War improvements, the patrol road was partially removed for the 

expansion of the patrol base apron, and was realigned around the extensions 

and improved approaches to runways 1-19 and 12-30. The patrol road was also 

extended to Hangar Row at this time. In c.1980, the road became part of the 

North 40 Natural Area trail system (see C-23). Most of the asphalt surface of the 

patrol road north of runway 6-24 was either removed or covered with earth. The 

section of the patrol road within the ammunitions-communication area (North 40 

Natural Area) is outside of the historic district. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The patrol road contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field 

historic district landscape as a typical circulation feature of the World War II 

period. The section north of runway 6-24, including the part in the approach to 

runway 15-33, does not retain its historic character due to removal or covering 

of the asphalt pavement. The setting of the road has been altered through the 

encroachment of vegetation. 

C-22. Ground Control Approach Radar Facility

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the ground control approach 

radar facility was open airfield during the historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1953 during the Korean War, the 

Navy constructed a ground control approach (GCA) radar facility, consisting of a 

circuit of three curved road legs and a circular segment between, off the northwest 

side of the intersection of runways 1-19 and 6-24. It is not known if the facility 

contained any other built features. Only one of the three road legs remains. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The ground control approach radar facility does not contribute to the historic 

character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because it was built 

after 1945. The existing road is only a remnant of the original feature. Further 

research would be needed to document the original appearance and function of 

this feature. 

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C-23. North 40 Natural Area Trails

Historic Condition: During World War II, the navy built a perimeter patrol road 

that ran through the northern part of the airfield and the adjoining ammunitionscommunication area. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1980, the park laid out a system of 

earthen trails in the young woods north of runway 6-24 in an area managed as 

the North 40 Natural Area. The system followed sections of the patrol road. The 

trailhead to this system, built at the mid-point of runway 6-24, includes wood 

bollards, signs, and garbage cans. Only a part of the trail system is within the 

historic district. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The North 40 Natural Area trails do not contribute to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape. The patrol road does contribute, 

but not as part of this trail system (see C-21). The small-scale features within the 

trailhead along the runway 6-24 flight-path clear zone are compatible due to their 

small scale and temporary construction.

C-25. Aviation Patrol Base Access Road

See Naval Aviation Patrol Base Character Area.

C-28. Coast Guard Hangar Apron

See Coast Guard Air Station Character Area.

C-29. Coast Guard Taxiway

See Coast Guard Air Station Character Area.

Buildings and Structures Features

The Doppler radar tower at the southeastern edge of the airfield is not evaluated 

here because it is outside of National Park Service jurisdiction due to its location 

on a separate federal property belonging to the Federal Aviation Administration 

(U.S. Department of Transportation). Erected in 1998, the tower would be a noncontributing feature that detracts from the historic circulation patterns of the 

airfield due to its location with the flight-path clear zone for runway 12-30.

117. North Service Substation 

Historic Condition: Building 117 was built in c.1942 as part of the Navy’s World 

War II expansion of the airfield. Located along the patrol road near Flatbush 

Avenue at in the northwest approach to runway 12-30, the small one-story redbrick building with a concrete roof was part of the expanded electrical system, 
297 

probably used to service the communications towers and ammunitions magazines 

north of the airfield. Its materials matched those of the two brick powerhouses 

erected during the war at the Naval Aviation Patrol Base and marginal wharf. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since 1945, there appears to have been 

no substantial exterior changes to the north service sub-station aside from the 

possible installation of glass block in the window opening. Its setting has changed 

due to growth of woods on formerly open airfield. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The north service substation (117) contributes to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as a typical utility building of the 

World War II period. Its exterior appears to be largely intact from the historic 

period, but it is now concealed by successional woods. 

217. Liquid Oxygen Facility

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of building 217 was open airfield 

during the historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: The Navy constructed building 217 

within the clear-zone north of runway 1-19 and west of taxiway 6 in 1959. It is 

a one-story gable-roof building sided in corrugated metal, with low concrete 

walls extending from the side apparently used for supporting oxygen tanks. The 

building is surrounded by chain-link fence and young successional woods. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The liquid oxygen facility does not contribute to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because it was built after 1945. It is 

compatible with the historic character of the landscape due to its small scale and 

location outside of a flight-path clear zone and taxiway. The building reflects the 

continued use of the landscape for military purposes during the Cold War. 

403. Jamaica Bay Bulkhead 

Historic Condition: As part of the initial construction of the municipal airport 

that began in 1928, the city erected a sheet-pile bulkhead along the eastern and 

southern sides of the airfield in order to support the sixteen feet of fill used to 

build the airfield out of tidal estuary. The eastern side of the bulkhead bordered 

Jamaica Bay and the southern side addressed the grade change to Barren Island. 

The Coast Guard used the fill supported by this bulkhead to build its air station 

in 1936-37. In 1940, the Navy built a timber bulkhead along Jamaica Bay north of 

the original sheet-pile bulkhead as part of the development of the Naval Aviation 

Patrol Base. During the Navy’s expansion during World War II, the timber 

bulkhead along the patrol base was extended north, and the southern side of the 

original airport bulkhead along Barren Island was either buried or removed as 

part of the construction of the main barracks area (South Administrative Area). 

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Additional areas of bulkhead were constructed to the south along the Jamaica 

Bay and Rockaway Inlet shorelines (outside of historic district). The Navy did not 

install a bulkhead along the Jamaica Bay and Mill Basin shorelines bordering the 

expansion north of the airfield. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In 1952, the Navy added an extension 

to the timber bulkhead at the Naval Aviation Patrol Base to accommodate an 

expansion of the apron. In c.1960, the Navy built an additional timber bulkhead 

along Jamaica Bay for the extension of runway 6-24. At some point after 1972, 

stone rip-rap was added along the Jamaica Bay shoreline at the patrol base to 

stabilize the deteriorating bulkhead. The sheet-pile bulkhead along the former 

airport seaplane base has deteriorated extensively, allowing erosion of the fill 

behind it. 

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The Jamaica Bay bulkhead does not contribute to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape due to extensive deterioration 

and alteration. Although sections of the bulkhead continue to provide structural 

support for the Coast Guard Air Station and Naval Aviation Patrol Base, these 

areas have either been rebuilt or retrofitted with stone rip-rap. 

404. New York Police Aviation Unit Guard Booth

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the guard booth during the 

historic period was open airfield within the flight-path clear zone for runway 12-

30. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: At the time of its relocation to the Coast 

Guard Air Station in 1998, the New York Police Aviation Unit built a small guard 

booth along the main access road south of the original Coast Guard property. The 

booth is a small white enclosure.

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The New York Police Aviation Unit guard booth does not contribute to the 

historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because it 

was added after the historic period. Although inconspicuous, the booth detracts 

from the historically open character of the airfield within the approach to runway 

12-30. 

405. Taxiway 6 Comfort Station

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the comfort station was open 

airfield along taxiway 6 during the historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In 2000, the park constructed a comfort 

station along taxiway 6 to service adjoining Camps Tamarack and Goldenrod. 

The tan and brown building is built of recycled plastic and has a front-facing lowpitched gable roof and two restrooms. It is surrounded by mown grass and woods.
299 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The Camps Tamarack and Goldenrod comfort station does not contribute to the 

historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because it 

was built after the historic period. Its design, materials, and location directly along 

the taxiway detracts from the historic character of the landscape.

406. Runway 6-24 Comfort Station

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the comfort station was open 

airfield during the historic period within the flight-path clear zone for runway 

6-24. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: : In 2006, the park installed four prefabricated comfort stations manufactured by CXT Concrete Buildings, including 

one along runway 6-24 that serves the North 40 Natural Area and model airplane 

flying field on runway 1-19. The tan and brown building is built of recycled plastic 

and has a front-facing low-pitched gable roof and two restrooms. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The runway 6-24 comfort station does not contribute to the historic character of 

the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because it was built after the 

historic period. Its design, materials, and location within the flight-path clear zone 

of runway 6-24 detracts from the historic character of the landscape.

Views and Vistas

VV-2. Runway Sight Lines

Historic Condition: The city and Navy maintained each of the runways 

completed in 1930, 1935, and 1942 with clear sight lines that were critical for safe 

take offs and landings. These sight lines were primarily along the length of the 

runways, but also extending peripherally to adjoining runways and taxiways. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After the runways ceased being used 

for aviation, some of the sight lines became obstructed, especially the peripheral 

ones from one runway to adjoining runways and taxiways. This was especially 

true in the northeast part of the airfield due to growth of woods on formerly open 

airfield, and on runway 12-30 where the Coast Guard erected fences and parked 

vehicles. The park’s placement of earthen berms also partially blocked groundlevel views down runways 1-19. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The runway sight lines contribute to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett 

Field historic district landscape as character-defining features of the municipal 

and World War II periods. Although partially obstructed, most of the key views 

along the length of the runways remain intact. The loss of peripheral sightlines 

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from one runway to adjoining runways and taxiways detracts from the historic 

character of the landscape. 

Constructed Water Features

CWF-1. North 40 Pond

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the North 40 pond during 

the historic period was open airfield adjacent to the runway 12-30 northwest 

approach. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.198o, the park constructed a small 

pond within a part of the airfield managed as the North 40 Natural Area. The 

pond was designed to enhance wildlife habitat and included a small photo shelter 

at its north end. The pond is surrounded by woods. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The North 40 pond does not contribute to the historic character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district landscape because it was built after the historic 

period. The pond is compatible with the historically open and level quality of the 

airfield. 

Small-Scale Features

SSF-1. Perimeter Fence

See Hangar Row Character Area.

SSF-7. Airfield Navigational and Utility Remnants

Historic Condition: During the historic period, the city and the Navy installed a 

variety of small-scale features within the airfield related to navigational aids and 

utility systems. The Navy removed and/or replaced most of the municipal airport’s 

runway lighting system during the World War II expansion. No documentation 

has been found on the Navy’s navigational lighting installed during World War II.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In the years after the naval air station 

was decommissioned in 1971, most of the navigational lighting was apparently 

removed. The remaining small-scale features scattered across the airfield are 

remnants of either utility systems or navigational aids, such as an iron post near 

the airport compass rose. These features have not been inventoried for this report.

Evaluation: Unevaluated

The navigational and utility remnants within the airfield have not been evaluated 

due to lack of documentation on historic and existing conditions. 
301 

Archeological Features

A-1. Municipal Airport Seaplane Ramp Remnants

In c.1931, the city built a fifty-foot wide wood-pile seaplane ramp as part of 

plans for a seaplane base at the southeast corner of the airfield along Jamaica Bay. 

The ramp remained intact during World War II when the Navy developed the 

adjoining area into a boat basin. The ramp fell to ruin at some point between 1945 

and 1972. The remnant piles are identified as feature JB-50 in “Cultural Resources 

Inventory of the Gateway National Recreation Area” (John Milner & Associates, 

1978).

A-2. Municipal Airport Seaplane Pier Remnants

In c.1931, the city built an approximately 500-foot long wooden pier at its planed 

seaplane base at the southeast corner of the airfield along Jamaica Bay. The pier, 

which extended on alignment with the airport south boundary road, was intended 

for the docking of seaplanes that did not come ashore. It was partly located on the 

site of an earlier pier erected by the city in c.1918 as part of an unrealized major 

port development. This early pier was probably removed with initial construction 

of the airport in 1928-30 that extended out the Jamaica Bay shoreline. In c.1938, 

the city added a ramp to the east end of the seaplane pier. The Navy maintained 

the pier during World War II, and after the war gave it the designation of building/

structure #141. At some point after 1972, the pier fell to ruin, leaving only the 

wood piles. 

A-3. Navy Boat Basin Pier Remnants

In c.1942, the Navy built a wooden pier between the earlier airport seaplane ramp 

and seaplane pier along Jamaica Bay. The approximately 300-foot long pier, which 

featured four arms extending perpendicular to the main section, defined a boat 

basin, and was associated with a boat house (35) constructed on shore opposite 

the pier. At some point between 1945 and 1972, the boat basin pier fell into ruins, 

leaving only its wood piles. 

naval aviation patrol base landscape features

The Naval Aviation Patrol Base, developed between 1940 and 1945 with later 

additions during the Korean War, is the character area along the Jamaica Bay 

shoreline east of the airfield and north of the Coast Guard Air Station. This area 

encompasses the existing New York City Sanitation Department training area, the 

former Navy maintenance area that is partly within the area assigned to the New 

York City Police Aviation Unit, Hangar B housing the Historic Aircraft Restoration 

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Project (H.A.R.P.) and the surrounding concrete apron, seaplane ramp B, and 

a former Navy utility area north of the apron and east of taxiway 6. Overall, the 

Naval Aviation Patrol Base retains its World War II-period character as a cluster 

of development defining the eastern edge of the airfield. Significant features lost 

since 1945 include Hangar A, two frame barracks (24, 38), and three buildings 

within the maintenance area (92, 93, 95, 104). Features added after 1945 include 

the northern part of the apron that replaced a war-time storage yard, and the Navy 

utility area that includes five small buildings (168, 169, 173, 174, and 205), a scrap 

yard, and successional woods in the area north of the patrol base apron. 

Natural Systems and Features 

NS-1. Successional Woods

See Airfield Character Area.

NS-2. Jamaica Bay Beach

See Airfield Character Area.

Spatial Organization Features

SO-7. Naval Aviation Patrol Base Area

Historic Condition: On November 27, 1939 following the outbreak of war in 

Europe and President Roosevelt’s resulting proclamation of the Limited National 

Emergency, the Navy publicized its plans for development of an air base at Floyd 

Bennett Field that would house seaplanes used to patrol the coast. Plans for 

the project, estimated to cost $600,000, called for two large seaplane hangars 

to house two squadrons, offices, and workshops; storage for ammunition, and 

barracks for stationing 400 men. On January 18, 1940, the city granted a lease 

to the Navy for eighteen acres north of the Coast Guard Air Station for the new 

base, located outside of the flight-path clear zones for runways 12-30 and 6-24 

(original). Construction of the first phase of the project began soon after the 

lease was signed. It included the apron and timber bulkhead, seaplane ramp, pier, 

three ammunition magazines, one seaplane hangar (Hangar A), and two frame 

barracks (24, 38), one for enlisted men, the other for bachelor officers. These 

features defined a rectangular space adjoining the Jamaica Bay shoreline. In 1942 

after the Navy’s acquisition of Floyd Bennett Field, it expanded the apron and 

built a second seaplane hangar (Hangar B, 100) and seaplane ramp (B, 174). The 

expansion extended the rectangular space to the north. The original limits of 
303 

the space defined by the flight-path clear zone for the original runway 6-24 were 

removed when the Navy converted that runway to a taxiway in 1942. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1952 during the Korean War, the 

Navy expanded the patrol base apron to the north by a third and added a number 

of small ammunition lockers around both hangars. In 1970, the Navy established 

NARDET (Naval Air Reserve Detachment) at the south half of the base including 

Hangar A, which was fenced off from the north half (current New York City 

Sanitation Department assigned area). At the same time, the Navy demolished 

the two frame barracks within NARDET and replaced them with a brick-faced 

barracks named Tylunas Hall (278). In 1998, the park demolished Hangar A. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The Naval Aviation Patrol Base area contributes to the historic character of 

the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as a character-defining 

spatial feature of the municipal airport and World War II periods. The Korean 

War-period expansion of the apron, which did not include new buildings, is 

compatible with the historic character of the space and conveys its continued use 

during the Cold War. The loss of Hangar A and the two barracks, and the division 

of the area with fencing, detracts from the historic definition of the space. Despite 

this, the historic limits of the patrol base area is evident through the apron and 

Hangar B, while Tylunas Hall maintains some of the historic spatial definition 

along the south side. 

SO-8. Maintenance Area

Historic Condition: In 1942, the Navy developed a complex of twelve utilitarian 

buildings (89-99, 104) along the west side of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base apron 

and coast Guard Air Station, bordering the east side of the airfield outside of 

the flight-path clear zone for runways 12-30, 1-19, and 6-24. The buildings were 

aligned with the main access road to the patrol base on the east and taxiway 5 on 

the west, creating an overall rectangular space with many smaller spaces between 

the individual buildings. The Navy used this area for ammunitions and supply 

storage, and also located the field’s fire station and second power plant there. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, the Navy added several small 

buildings to the area, but did not change its overall limits and spatial character. 

In c.1972, the south half of the area was fenced off as part of the expanded Coast 

Guard Air Station. After this time, several of the buildings were abandoned and 

four small buildings within the center of the maintenance area were demolished. 

These included World War II-era buildings 92, 93, 95, 104, and 126 and Cold Warperiod buildings 146 and 147. Building 260, a small filling station built in c.1964, 

was left standing. In c.2004, the New York City Police added a large temporary 

building (404) at the southwest corner, and a memorial garden at the southeast 

corner of the area. The garden consists of a central monument surrounded by 

hedges and a circular walk.

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Evaluation: Contributing

The maintenance area contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett 

Field historic district landscape as a character-defining spatial feature of the 

World War II period. While the loss of four buildings and division of the 

space with fencing detracts from its historic character, overall major buildings, 

roads, and limits of the space remain intact. The police memorial garden, while 

inconspicuous in the overall maintenance area, is not compatible with the historic 

utilitarian character of the landscape. 

SO-9. Taxiway 6 Utility Area 

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The taxiway 6 utility area was undeveloped 

fill during the historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: As part of the Korean War-era 

expansion of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base apron, the Navy relocated the World 

War II-era storage yard to the undeveloped area north of the apron outside the 

flight-path clear zone for runways 6-24 and 1-19. The new yard was a fenceenclosed rectangular space accessed off taxiway 6. At the same time, the Navy 

built two ammunitions magazines (168, 169) north of the yard and aligned with 

taxiway 6. In 1967, the Navy added two electrical utility buildings to the east of 

the magazines (273, 274), accessed via a short road off taxiway 6. A antennae or 

electrical component was mounted on a tall wood pole adjacent to building 273. 

These facilities formed a small developed area along the east side of taxiway 6. 

After 1972, the buildings were abandoned and the area became overgrown with 

woods. The storage yard is presently used as a towing service’s lot (lot #3). 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The taxiway 6 utility area does not contribute to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because it was developed after the 

historic period. The area has also lost its spatial character from the post-historic 

period due to growth of successional woods. 

Vegetation Features

V-6. Tylunas Hall Plantings

Historic Condition: In 1940, the Navy built two frame barracks (24, 38) along the 

southern side of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base. There was a small area of lawn 

surrounding these buildings and a parking lot to the east. There were most likely 

no foundation plantings around the buildings. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In 1970, the Navy replaced the two 

frame barracks with a single brick-faced building, Tylunas Hall, as part of its 

NARDET (Naval Air Reserve Detachment) facility. Lawn was established around 
305 

the new building, and, at an undetermined date, plantings were added, including 

clipped privet hedge, fruit trees, and trees in planters. The lawn strip surrounding 

the adjoining parking area to the east was removed as part of an expansion of the 

lot. 

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The Tylunas Hall plantings do not contribute to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because they were added after the 

historic period. The ornamental character of the plantings is not compatible with 

the utilitarian character of the war-time landscape. 

Circulation Features

C-21. Patrol Road 

See Airfield Character Area.

C-24. Naval Aviation Patrol Base Apron

Historic Condition: In 1940, the Navy built a concrete apron extending west 

from Jamaica Bay as the first phase of development of the Naval Aviation Patrol 

Base. The apron provided circulation for seaplanes housed at Hangar A, and 

included a wood seaplane ramp. In 1942, the Navy doubled the size of the apron 

to accommodate Hangar B. A new concrete seaplane ramp was built at its north 

end. The new section of apron connected to taxiways 1 and 5. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In 1952, the Navy added another 

concrete extension off the north side of the apron to accommodate jet aircraft, 

nearly doubling the area. The extension, which did not include a new hangar, 

connected to taxiway 6 by two short concrete taxiways. At some point after 1972, 

three turf areas along the west edge of the apron adjacent to Hangar A were paved 

over. In c.1970, the Navy erected a perimeter fence around the southern half 

of the apron surrounding Hangar A as part of its NARDET (Naval Air Reserve 

Detachment) facility, disrupting circulation between the two sections of apron. 

This fence presently serves as the boundary for the New York City Sanitation 

Department assigned area. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The Naval Aviation Patrol Base apron contributes to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as a typical circulation feature of 

the World War II period. The apron remains intact except for the Korean War-era 

extension, paving of the turf areas near Hangar A, and addition of the NARDET 

fence. The Korean War-era extension is compatible with the character of the 

historic apron and illustrates its adaptation for jet planes during the Cold War. 

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The New York Department of Sanitation fence detracts from the apron’s historic 

circulation patterns. 

C-25. Naval Aviation Patrol Base Access Road

Historic Condition: In 1940, the Navy built an asphalt road to provide access to 

the Naval Aviation Patrol Base then under construction. The road ran parallel to 

the Jamaica Bay shoreline and extended north from the airport south boundary 

road. The new road also provided access to the Coast Guard Air Station, which 

previously was accessed by a road that ran directly along the bulkhead from the 

airport seaplane base. With elimination of the airport south boundary road during 

the World War II-era expansion, the Navy tied the patrol base entrance road to 

the main road through the main barracks area (current Floyd Bennett Boulevard). 

At the same time, seven driveways were built on the west side of the road to access 

buildings in the maintenance area. The Navy also built a concrete sidewalk parallel 

to the west side of the access road. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: At some point after 1945, concrete curbs 

were built along parts of the road and street lights were installed. The original 

sidewalk appears to have been replaced by a new sidewalk integral with the curb. 

In c.1996, the New York City police added a gate and guard booth on the access 

road to control access to their facility at the former Coast Guard Air Station. 

Around the same time, the turf panels that separated the north end of the access 

road from the apron surrounding Hangar A were paved over, blurring the edges of 

the road. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The Naval Aviation Patrol Base access road contributes to the historic character of 

the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as a typical circulation feature 

of the municipal airport and World War II periods. The road retains its historic 

alignment, but has been altered through the addition of curbs and replacement of 

the sidewalk. 

C-26. Tylunas Hall Parking Lots

Historic Condition: During World War II, the Navy built a small parking lot on 

the east side of the bachelor officers’ quarters (38) within the Naval Aviation Patrol 

Base. The lot was south of the apron and accessed from a drive that ran along the 

bulkhead. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: The parking lot was retained following 

replacement of the frame barracks with Tylunas Hall in 1970. Subsequently, the 

surrounding lawn area was removed as part of an expansion of the parking lot, 

probably when the sanitation department moved into the building in 1998. A 

second parking lot was added on the west side of Tylunus Hall on the site of the 

barracks (24). 
307 

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The Tylunas Hall parking lots do not contribute to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because the west lot post-dates 

the historic period, and because the east lot does not retain its World War II-era 

character. 

C-27. Maintenance Area Driveways

Historic Condition: As part of the development of the maintenance area in 1942, 

the Navy built seven driveways extending west from the main road to access the 

maintenance and storage buildings. Each driveway was built of asphalt and most 

wrapped around the buildings and/or led to small parking and loading areas. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: The driveways appear to retain their 

historic alignment. The driveways that accessed removed buildings (92, 93, 95, 

126) remain. A detailed inventory of existing conditions was not completed for 

this evaluation. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The maintenance area driveways contribute to the historic character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district landscape as typical circulation features of the 

World War II period. Based on limited existing conditions documentation, it 

appears the driveways remain intact from their World War II condition. 

Buildings and Structures Features

89, 90A-B, 91, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99, 178. Maintenance Area Buildings 

Historic Condition: During World War II, the Navy constructed fourteen buildings 

along the west side of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base that formed the field’s 

primary maintenance area. Anchoring the north end was the largest building in 

the area, the general storehouse (98), a three-story concrete building with a flat 

roof, two four-story hoist towers, sheltered loading docks, and rectangular steelframe windows. Off the southwest corner of the building was Power Plant B (96), 

a large brick building with a corbelled parapet and tall steel-frame windows. This 

was a duplicate of Power Plant A (86) located in the main barracks area near the 

marginal wharf (outside of historic district). South of general storehouse next 

to a miscellaneous storage building (104) was the cold storage and commissary 

(97), a flat-roofed brick and concrete building with a loading dock and minimal 

fenestration. South of this building was the torpedo storage building (94), a threebay steel-frame and corrugated-metal sided structure with a central monitor and 

steel-frame window walls. To the south were four small buildings: a paint and oil 

storehouse (92) and a bombsight storage building (93), both one-story shed-roof 

buildings with extensive glazing; an ordinance overhaul shop (95), and a paint 

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storage building (126). No documentation was found on the historic appearance 

of these two buildings. Farther south was the station maintenance shop (91), a 

wide one-story building with a low gable roof; and the fire station and garage 

(90A-B), a large two-part building with an arched roof on the west part. There 

were also several small utility buildings within the complex, including a sewage 

pump station (89), and a fire pump station and water tank (99, 178; this higher 

number was added to the water tank after 1945).

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, the Navy added several small 

buildings to the complex: two public works storage buildings (146, 147), and the 

maintenance area filling station (260). Except for the filling station, these buildings 

and World War II-era buildings 92, 93, 95, 104, and 126 were removed after 1972. 

The park abandoned buildings 94 and 96, which today have lost much of their 

glazing and are open to the elements. Buildings 89, 90, 91, and 260 fall within the 

area presently assigned to the New York City Police Aviation Unit. The police 

added a large tent-like temporary building (407) at the southwest corner of the 

complex in c.2005. A detailed evaluation of the existing conditions and changes to 

these buildings since 1945 was not completed for this report. 

Evaluation: Contributing

Buildings 89, 90A-B, 91, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99, and 178 contribute to the historic 

character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as typical utility 

buildings of the World War II period. While 94 and 96 are in poor condition, they 

appear to remain largely intact on the exterior. Buildings 90A-B and 91, which are 

presently used by the New York City police, have had a number of details altered 

since 1945, but retain their overall massing. The filling station (260) and temporary 

police storage building (407) do not contribute because they were added after the 

historic period. The filling station is compatible due to its small scale and because 

it illustrates the continued military use of the site. The police temporary building 

detracts from the historic character of the landscape due to its large size, materials, 

and location within the flight-path clear zone for runway 12-30.

BS-100. Hangar B

Historic Condition: In 1942, the Navy constructed Hangar B, a duplicate of 

Hangar A completed in 1940. Hangar B was built approximately 450 feet north 

of Hangar A and slightly to the west, probably to provide additional space on 

the apron, which was used as a firing area with a test backstop along its northern 

edge. Hangar B was approximately 250 feet wide and 400 feet long, more than five 

times as big as the municipal airport hangars. The hangar was built of a clear-span 

trussed steel frame with angled skylights, sliding glazed doors on the north and 

south sides, and narrow one-story lean-tos on the other ends. Unlike the airport 

hangars, Hangar B was sided in sheet metal without architectural adornment. 

It was built according to a standard Navy design used for hangars at other air 

stations during the war. The standardized plan may have been designed by the 
309 

renowned industrial architect, Albert Kahn, who was a consultant to the military 

during World Wars I and II. Kahn’s firm produced many of the building designs at 

naval installations, including air hangars.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In 1951, the Navy enlarged the leanto on the west side of the hangar. Seven small shed were also built around the 

periphery of the hangar in 1948, including line crew operators’ buildings and 

a crew shelter (202, 203, 204); and inc.1952, a sonobuoy storage building (228) 

and three portable line storage sheds (241, 242, 248). By 1970, the Navy vacated 

Hangar B and concentrated its NARDET (Naval Air Reserve Detachment) 

facilities in the adjoining Hangar A. The peripheral sheds were removed after 

this time. The building remained vacant until c.1995, when the Historic Aircraft 

Restoration Project (H.A.R.P.) moved their operations into the building. 

Evaluation: Contributing

Hangar B contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic 

district landscape as a character-defining building of the World War II period. 

The building remains intact except for the 1951 addition, which is compatible and 

conveys the building’s continued use during the Korean War. 

168, 169, 205, 273, 274. Taxiway 6 Utility Area Buildings

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the utility area buildings was 

undeveloped fill east of taxiway 6 during the historic period.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1952 during the Korean War, 

the Navy built two ready ammunitions magazines(168, 169) parallel to the east 

side of taxiway 6 north of the Aviation Patrol Base apron. These were one-story 

rectangular concrete buildings with flat roofs and heavy steel doors. At the 

same time, the Navy fenced in a scrap yard to the south of the magazines, which 

included an open steel-frame shed with a corrugated steel roof. In 1967, the Navy 

built two small flat-roof brick-faced electrical utility buildings (273, 274) to the 

east of the ammunitions magazines. These buildings were abandoned after 1972 

and became overgrown by vines and woods. 

Evaluation: Non-contributing

The taxiway 6 utility area buildings do not contribute to the historic character of 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because they did not exist during 

the historic period. Although deteriorated and overgrown, the buildings are 

compatible with the historic character of the landscape and convey the continued 

use of the site during the time of the Korean and Vietnam Wars. 

174. Seaplane Ramp B

Historic Condition: Seaplane ramp B was constructed in 1942 as part of the 

war-time expansion of the Aviation Patrol Base that included construction of 

Hangar B. The concrete ramp was approximately fifty feet wide and 300 feet long, 

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310

with concrete curbs and iron tie-ups. Seaplane ramp A, constructed at the same 

time and according to the same design, was built as part of a seaplane base along 

Rockaway Inlet (outside of historic district).

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Seaplane ramp B probably fell out of use 

by the jet age of the 1950s and 1960s that led to the decline of seaplanes. The park 

presently uses the ramp as a boat launch. It appears unchanged since its original 

construction aside from deterioration of the adjoining bulkhead and growth of 

woody vegetation on the apron.

Evaluation: Contributing

Seaplane ramp B contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field 

historic district landscape as a character-defining structure of the World War II 

period. Although no longer used for its original purpose and not well maintained, 

the ramp appears to remain intact.

403. Jamaica Bay Bulkhead

See Airfield Character Area. 

Small-Scale Features 

SSF-8. Jet Engine Run-Up Stand

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the jet engine run-up stand was 

undeveloped fill during the historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1952 as part of the Korean War-era 

enlargement of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base, the Navy installed a jet engine runup stand along the north side of the expanded apron. The stand consisted of a 

series of pre-cast concrete structures with angled pads facing south. The stand was 

abandoned after 1972 and is presently covered in vines.

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The jet engine run-up stand does not contribute to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because it did not exist during 

the historic period. The stand is compatible with the historic character of the 

landscape due to its small scale. It conveys the adaptation of the Naval Aviation 

Patrol Base for use by jet aircraft during the Cold War.

Archeological Features 

A-4. Hangar A Remnants 

The Navy constructed Hangar A in 1940 as the first of two seaplane hangars in the 

Naval Aviation Patrol Base. Hangar A was a match of Hangar B, which still stands. 
311 

In 1998, the above-ground part of Hangar A was demolished to provide room for 

the New York City Sanitation Department’s training area. Remnants of Hangar 

A visible today include the concrete floor (an extension of the surrounding 

apron), cut-off steel structural members, and the tracks for the sliding doors. The 

footprint of the building is clearly visible.

A-5. Hangar A Seaplane Ramp Remnants

The Navy constructed a timber seaplane ramp in 1940 as part of its initial 

development of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base that included Hangar A. A larger 

concrete seaplane ramp was built along with Hangar B during expansion of the 

base in World War II. This timber ramp was abandoned after World War II and its 

deck was removed prior to 1972. Today, wood piles from the ramp remain along 

the shoreline. 

A-6. Naval Aviation Patrol Base Pier Remnants

As part of the initial development of the Aviation Patrol Base in 1940, the Navy 

built a wooden boat pier near the barracks at the south edge of the base. At some 

point between 1945 and 1972, the pier was removed except for the wooden piles. 

Some of the piles remain visible today along the shoreline. 

Coast Guard Air Station Character Area

The Coast Guard Air Station, initially built in 1936-1937 and expanded during the 

World War II, is the character area along the Jamaica Bay shoreline between the 

airfield on the south (former airport seaplane base) and the Naval Aviation Patrol 

Base on the north. This character area encompasses only the original twelve-acre 

Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn property and not the area leased from the Navy 

in c.1948, or the areas along runway 12-30 and the patrol base maintenance area 

that were transferred from the Navy to the Coast Guard in 1972. This larger Coast 

Guard property including the original twelve-acre property is presently assigned 

to the New York City Police Aviation Unit. The Coast Guard Air Station retains 

its original buildings, the main hangar and garage, and its associated apron and 

taxiway that were enlarged during World War II. Features lost since 1945 include a 

two-story frame barracks and a boat pier constructed in c.1943. The Coast Guard 

added a number of secondary buildings, structures, vegetation, and small-scale 

features after 1945. Inventory of existing conditions was limited due to restricted 

public access to the area. 

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Natural Systems and Features

NS-1. Jamaica Bay Beach

See airfield character area.

Spatial Organization Features

SO-10. Coast Guard Air Station Area

Historic Condition: The Coast Guard Air Station area was initially developed 

as a distinct space along the edge of the airfield in 1936-1937. The air station was 

established when the city entered into a fifty-year lease with the Coast Guard 

on July 9, 1936 for a ten-acre, 650-foot square parcel that had probably been 

bulkheaded and filled by the time of the lease as part of the city’s unexecuted 

plans for expanding the adjoining airport seaplane base. After initial work on 

seeding the sandy soil, construction began on the hangar, located in the center 

of the site and the garage at the northwest corner, both completed in 1937. At the 

time, the buildings were surrounded by the open space of the airfield. Within the 

air station, the area to the north of the hangar contained the support buildings, 

while the area to the south containing the apron and taxiway was open. The 

Navy’s development of the Naval Aviation Patrol Base in 1940, with two barracks 

bordering the northern boundary of the Coast Guard Air Station, established a 

northern edge to the area. During World War II, the Navy’s development of the 

maintenance area along the west side, and fuel tanks to the south in the former 

airport seaplane base further defined the spatial limits of the air station. While the 

area spatially became part of a larger cluster of development lining the Jamaica 

Bay shore at the eastern edge of the airfield, the Coast Guard reinforced the 

distinction of its campus through a unified architectural style employing white 

concrete buildings in the Moderne style. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, the Coast Guard built several 

new buildings, but maintained the spatial organization of the secondary buildings 

to the north of the hangar and open space to the south. In c.1950, the Coast Guard 

expanded the area of the air station by extending the apron to the south onto land 

leased from the Navy. The northern edge of the air station was altered through 

the Navy’s replacement of the two frame barracks with Tylunas Hall in 1970 and 

the Coast Guard’s replacement of its barracks in 1973. In c.1972, the Coast Guard 

fenced in its enlarged area to the south of the original parcel, to the west within 

the maintenance-storage area, and along runway 12-30. This fencing blurred the 

spatial distinction of the original ten-acre parcel. 

Evaluation: Contributing
313 

The Coast Guard Air Station area contributes to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape as a defining spatial characteristic 

of the municipal airport and World War II periods. The limits of the area have 

been blurred through the loss of the Navy barracks to the north, fuel tanks to the 

south, and the addition of perimeter fencing of the enlarged area. Despite this, 

the spatial organization within the air station, consisting of a central hangar with 

support buildings to the north unified by a common architectural style, remains 

largely intact. 

Vegetation Features

V-7. Coast Guard Hangar Plantings

Historic Condition: Soon after completion of its hangar in 1937, the Coast Guard 

established ornamental plantings along the north, east, and west sides. These 

plantings consisted of a lawn strip with clipped hedges along the foundations and 

a row of deciduous trees along a parking area to the west. The remainder of the 

site was mown grass without trees. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: At some point after 1972, probably at 

the time the new barracks (Edwards Hall) were constructed in 1973, a number of 

specimen trees and shrubs were planted in the area to the north of the hangar. The 

original plantings around the hangar were probably replaced during this time. 

Evaluation: Unevaluated

The U.S. Coast Guard hangar plantings are not evaluated due to lack of 

documentation of historic and existing conditions. It appears that the hedge 

along the north front of the hangar is an original feature, but it is not known if the 

species and location has been changed. Most of the specimen trees and shrubs in 

the lawn area north of the hangar were probably planted after 1945. These trees 

detract from the historically open spatial character of the landscape.

Circulation Features

C-28. Coast Guard Apron

Historic Condition: As part of the initial development of the air station in 1936-

1937, the Coast Guard built a concrete apron extending south from the hangar. 

This apron tapered in width and terminated in a half hexagon. The apron was 

crossed from east to west by a concrete taxiway on axis with the seaplane ramp. 

During World War II, the Coast Guard expanded the apron to the east and west, 

creating a large rectangular paved area that subsumed part of the taxiway. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1950, the Coast Guard expanded 

the apron to the south onto land leased from the Navy. This expanded apron 

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accommodated a nose hangar. Aside from repaving, no substantial changes were 

made to the apron after this time.

Evaluation: Contributing

The Coast Guard apron contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett 

Field historic district landscape as a typical circulation feature of the World War 

II period. The original limits of the apron completed in 1937 are not visible. The 

non-historic c.1950 expansion is a compatible addition that reflects continued use 

of the air station during the Cold War. 

C-29. Coast Guard Taxiway

Historic Condition: As part of the initial development of the air station in 1936-

1937, the Coast Guard built a concrete taxiway extending west from the seaplane 

ramp to the apron. In c.1940, the taxiway was extended farther west to the access 

drive to the Naval Aviation Patrol Base. During World War II, the taxiway was 

extended into the airfield to taxiway 5 to access the runways. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: At some point between 1945 and c.1960, 

the Coast Guard or the Navy built a spur off the taxiway within the airfield to 

connect to runway 12-30. This spur was labeled as “GCA” on a 1960 plan of the 

field, indicating it was part of a Ground Control Approach system. Aside from 

repaving, no substantial changes were made to the taxiway after this time. The 

New York City Police placed concrete barriers across the taxiway at the entrance 

road in c.1998, blocking its historic circulation pattern.

Evaluation: Contributing

The Coast Guard taxiway contributes to the historic character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district landscape as a typical circulation feature of the 

World War II period. The original limits of the taxiway completed in 1937 are 

not visible due to the expanded apron. The non-historic spur to runway 12-30 is 

a compatible addition that reflects continued aviation uses during the Cold War. 

The concrete barriers detract from the taxiway’s historic character.

C-30. Coast Guard Roads

Historic Condition: As part of the initial development of the air station in 

1936-1937, the Coast Guard built several roads within the air station to access 

the buildings. The main entrance road ran along the Jamaica Bay bulkhead, 

extending from the road within the airport seaplane base to the south, which in 

turn connected to Flatbush Avenue and Hangar Row via the road along the south 

boundary of the airfield. Within the air station, the road turned west to access the 

garage, and two spurs ran along the east and west sides of the hangar. The east 

road contained a small parking area, and another small parking area was built off 

the east road in c.1938. During World War II, the Coast Guard extended the main 
315 

access road along the bulkhead north to the roads within the Naval Aviation Patrol 

Base. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: Since the historic period, several 

additions and minor changes in alignment were made to the Coast Guard roads. 

The original access road along the bulkhead was partly removed with construction 

of the new barracks (Edwards Hall) in 1972. The road in front of the north 

entrance to the hangar was widened into an oval to form a small parking area and 

plaza for a flagstaff in c.1973; and driveways were built to access a storage building 

constructed in 1959 and a police storage building added in 2004. A new road 

with diagonal parking was also built along the northern boundary of the site at an 

undetermined date after 1972.

Evaluation: Contributing

The Coast Guard roads contribute to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett 

Field historic district landscape as typical circulation features of the municipal 

airport and World War II periods. While there have been several modifications 

to the roads since 1945, overall the system remains intact. The road and parking 

along the northern boundary detracts from the historic character of the landscape.

Buildings and Structures Features

CG-1. Coast Guard Hangar 

Historic Condition: The main building in the original development of the Coast 

Guard Air Station was the hangar, built in 1936-37 by private contractors, Graves 

and Quinn Corporation. The hangar, which at 161 by 182 feet was substantially 

larger than the 120- by 140-foot airport hangars, featured an innovative steelframe barrel vaulted roof with glazed sliding doors facing south, one-story leantos on the east and west sides, and a two-story wing along the north side housing 

offices and barracks. The hangar was designed in the Moderne style with strong 

horizontal lines and white-painted concrete walls, in stark contrast to the standard 

architectural style of the earlier airport buildings. Moderne-style details included 

octagonal projections on the one-story side lean-tos, horizontal parapets, 

unadorned concrete (stucco) walls, and bands of windows with horizontal 

divisions. The parapet over the hangar doors featured the Coast Guard insignia 

in bas-relief, and the parapet over the main entrance on the two-story office wing 

also featured the insignia but set within stylized wings. On the roof of the hangar 

was an illuminated north arrow and name “U.S. Coast Guard.” The building was 

not substantially changed during World War II, when it was used for the storage 

and testing of Sikorsky helicopters. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In 1964, a small one-story 

communications wing was built on the east side of the hangar, and in 1969, a 

similar addition, called the avionics wing, was built on the west side. At some 

Analysis and Evaluation
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316

point, glazing on the hangar doors was removed or covered, and the windows on 

the lean-tos and office wing were replaced. After c.1998, the Coast Guard insignia 

was removed from above the hangar doors and the Coast Guard name was painted 

over as part of the change in tenants to the New York City Police Aviation Unit. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The Coast Guard hangar contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett 

Field historic district landscape as a defining building of the municipal airport 

period. The style of the building reflects its origin as part of the distinct Coast 

Guard Air Station Brooklyn. Although some of its details have been altered, 

overall the building retains its historic character. 

CG-2. Coast Guard Garage

Historic Condition: The second building in the original development of the 

Coast Guard Air Station was a six-bay garage built by the same private contractors 

as the hangar, Graves and Quinn Corporation, in 1936-1937. The garage, although 

much simpler than the hangar, was designed in the same Moderne style with white 

concrete walls, flat roof, and horizontal bands below the parapet.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: No changes to the mass and footprint 

of the garage occurred after 1945. Changes in the building’s details were not 

inventoried for this report. 

Evaluation: Contributing

The Coast Guard garage contributes to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett 

Field historic district landscape as a typical building of the municipal airport 

period. The style of the building reflects its origin as part of the distinct Coast 

Guard Air Station Brooklyn. The building appears to remain largely unaltered 

since the end of the historic period. 

CG-3. Edwards Hall 

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of Edwards Hall was an open area 

long the bulkhead of the Coast Guard Air Station. West of this site was a two-story 

frame barracks erected in c.1943 during World War II. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In 1972, the Coast Guard demolished 

its World War II-era barracks and began construction on a new barracks building 

paralleling the bulkhead along Jamaica Bay. The concrete-frame building, which 

did not continue the white concrete wall/Moderne style standard of the air 

station, is rectangular in plan, with a central three-story section and flanking onestory wings. Balconies line the second and third floors on the west façade. The 

New York Police Aviation Unit currently uses the building for office space. 

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

Edwards Hall, a former Coast Guard barracks, does not contribute to the historic 

character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because it was built 
317 

after the historic period. The building detracts from the historic architectural unity 

of the air station. 

CG-7. South Pyro Locker

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the south pyro locker was an 

open area along the Jamaica Bay bulkhead during the historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1955, the Coast Guard built a small 

ammunitions locker along the Jamaica Bay bulkhead across from the hangar. No 

documentation is available on its original construction. 

Evaluation: Non-Contributing 

The south pyro locker does not contribute to the historic character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district landscape because it was added after the historic 

period. It is a minor building that does not detract from the historic character of 

the landscape and illustrates continued military use during the Cold War.

CG-8. Paint Locker

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the paint locker was open turf to 

the north of the hangar during the historic period.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In 1959, the Coast Guard built a small 

building as a paint locker in the lawn area north of the hangar. No documentation 

is available on its original or existing condition. 

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The paint locker does not contribute to the historic character of the Floyd Bennett 

Field historic district landscape because it was added after the historic period. It is 

a minor building that does not detract from the historic character of the landscape 

and illustrates continued military use during the Cold War.

CG-12. Transformer Vault

Historic Condition: In c.1943, the Coast Guard built a small transformer vault in 

the lawn area to the north of the hangar. The vault may have been constructed as 

part of the barracks going up to the east at the same time. The transformer vault 

was probably a white-painted concrete building with a flat roof, matching the 

overall style of the hangar and garage. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: No documentation is available on 

changes to the transformer vault after the historic period. The building appears to 

retain its original massing and footprint. 

Evaluation: Unevaluated

Insufficient documentation is available to evaluate the transformer vault. If it 

retains its historic character, it should be considered a contributing feature 

Analysis and Evaluation
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318

that reflects war-time improvements to the air station and the Coast Guard’s 

continuation of a unified architectural style. 

CG-13. Storage Building

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the storage building was open turf 

north of the garage during the historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In 1959, the Coast Guard erected a large 

one-story storage building at the northwest corner of the air station, adjoining the 

garage. The concrete building has a flat roof and is painted white. 

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The storage building does not contribute to the historic character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district landscape because it was built after the historic 

period. The building is compatible with the historic character of the landscape 

because it reflects a later interpretation of the standard architectural style used by 

the Coast Guard. 

CG-400. Coast Guard Seaplane Ramp and Helicopter Pad

Historic Condition: As part of the original development of the air station in 

1936-37, the Coast Guard built a seaplane ramp that extended into Jamaica Bay at 

the southeast corner of the property, on axis with a taxiway leading to the hangar 

apron. The seaplane ramp was constructed of wood and measured approximately 

fifty feet wide and 260 feet long. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1955, the Coast Guard rebuilt 

the seaplane ramp in concrete, and added a square level area at its upper part 

adjoining the bulkhead as a helicopter landing pad. 

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The Coast Guard seaplane ramp and helicopter pad does not contribute to the 

historic character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because 

it was built after the historic period. The ramp is compatible with the historic 

character of the air station because it is on the site of an earlier seaplane ramp and 

reflects the continued use of seaplanes and helicopters during the Cold War. 

CG-401. Finger Pier and Boathouse

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the finger pier and boathouse was 

open water and beach during the historic period. A wood boat pier built in c.1943 

was located approximately 100 feet to the south.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: At some point between 1960 and 1965, 

the Coast Guard removed the World War II-period boat pier and built a new pier 

near the northern boundary of the air station. The new pier was also wood, and 
319 

featured two perpendicular sections (fingers). In 1969, a small boathouse was built 

at the foot of the pier on its north side. 

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The finger pier and boathouse do not contribute to the historic character of the 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because they were built after the 

historic period. The pier is compatible with the historic character of the landscape 

because it replaced a similar pier erected to the south during the historic period. 

CG-402. New York City Police Equipment Building

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the equipment building was open 

turf north of the hangar and west of the barracks during the historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In 2004, the New York City Police 

constructed an equipment building. The building consists of a lower section 

bordered on the east and south sides by taller sections apparently built of stacked 

modular units. These sections are used as a training facility. 

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The New York Police equipment building does not contribute to the historic 

character of the Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because it was 

built after the historic period. In design, materials, scale, and location, the building 

detracts from the historic character of the Coast Guard Air Station landscape.

403. Jamaica Bay Bulkhead

See airfield character area. 

Constructed Water Features

CWF-2. Swimming Pool

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the swimming pool was within 

the footprint of a two-story frame barracks built in 1943. The Coast Guard 

maintained a recreation area including a baseball field in the open ground west of 

the hangar during the historic period. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In 1972, the Coast Guard demolished 

the frame barracks and built a new barracks (Edwards Hall) to the east of the site 

along the Jamaica Bay bulkhead. In 1979, the Coast Guard built a swimming pool 

within the footprint of the demolished barracks. The pool included a small pool 

house and a concrete terrace surrounding the pool. The pool is empty and has not 

been used since c.1998. The terrace and pool bottom are covered in weeds. 

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The swimming pool does not contribute to the historic character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district landscape because it was built after the historic 

Analysis and Evaluation
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320

period. In design, materials, and location, it detracts from the historic character of 

the landscape.

Small-Scale Features

SSF-9. Coast Guard Flagstaff

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the flagstaff during the historic 

period was turf in front of the barracks built in 1943, adjoining the east-west road 

through the air station. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1973 following demolition of the 

frame barracks, the Coast Guard erected a steel flagstaff on axis with the north 

entrance to the hangar, on the north side of the east-west road. As part of this 

installation, the road in front of the hangar was widened into an oval, symmetrical 

with the flagstaff and hangar entrance walk. 

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The Coast Guard flagstaff does not contribute to the historic character of Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district landscape because it did not exist during the historic 

period. Although there is no record of a flagstaff on the site historically, the 

existing flagstaff is compatible with the historic character of the landscape because 

it is a feature typically found at federal government installations. 

SSF-10. Coast Guard Monument 

Historic Condition: Not applicable. The site of the Coast Guard monument 

during the historic period was open turf between the garage and hangar. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: At some point between 1955 and 1959, 

the Coast Guard erected a pyramidal stone monument in the lawn area east of the 

storage building erected around the same time. No documentation on the purpose 

of the monument was inventoried for this report.

Evaluation: Non-Contributing

The Coast Guard monument does not contribute to the historic character of 

Floyd Bennett Field historic district landscape because it was added after the 

historic period. Because of its small scale and association with the Coast Guard, 

the monument appears to be compatible with the historic character of the 

landscape. Further documentation is needed to assess other values associated 

with the monument. 
321 

Archeological Features 

A-7. Coast Guard Pier Remnants 

During World War II, the Coast Guard built a wood boat pier on axis with 

the road that ran east-west to the north of the hangar. This pier was probably 

abandoned when the Coast Guard built a new finger pier farther north at some 

point between 1960 and 1965. The wood piles from the old pier remain along the 

shoreline. 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

322

Table 3.1 

FLOYD BENNETT FIELD HISTORIC DISTRICT 

LANDSCAPE FEATURES EVALUATION SUMMARY (Keyed to Drawing 3.1)

FEATURE CODE FEATURE NAME (LCS NUMBER) EVALUATION DATE CONSTRUCTED 

HANGAR ROW 

Natural Systems and Features (no associated features) 

Spatial Organization 

SO-1 Hangar Row Contributing 1929-1942 

SO-2 Maintenance-Barracks Area Contributing 1931-1945 

SO-3 Aviator Sports Fields Non-contributing c.2005 

Land Use (no associated features) 

Cluster Arrangement (no associated features) 

Topography (no associated features) 

Vegetation (no associated features) 

Circulation 

C-1 Airport South Boundary Road Contributing c.1930 

C-2 Hangar Row Apron Contributing 1930, 1935 

C-3 World War II Entrance Road Contributing 1942

C-4 Aviation Road Contributing 1942, c.1951, 1996 

C-5 Hangar Row Apron Parking Lots Non-Contributing c.1996, 2006 

Buildings and Structures 

3, 4, 5, 6 Hangars 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8; 08271-08274 Contributing 1930, 1934-1937 

26 Dope Shop 08275 Contributing 1937

30 Sewage Ejector Pump House Contributing c.1931 

44 Ammunition Locker Contributing c.1942 

50 Fire House Contributing 1942

54 Synthetic Training Building Contributing 1942

57 South Transformer Vault, 08284 Contributing c.1932 

120 North Transformer Vault, 08285 Contributing 1938

126 Paint Storage Building Non-Contributing c.1944 

401 Hangar Row Comfort Station Non-Contributing 2006

402 Aviator Sports Chiller Building Non-Contributing 2005

Constructed Water Features (no associated features) 

Small-Scale Features 

SSF-1 Perimeter Fence Contributing 1941, 1942, c.2000 

Archeological Features (no associated features) 

AIRPORT ENTRANCE 

Natural Systems and Features (no associated features) 

Spatial Organization 

SO-4 Airport Entrance Area Contributing 1930-35 

Land Use (no associated features) 

Cluster Arrangement (no associated features) 

Topography (no associated features) 
323 

Vegetation 

V-1 Central Lawn and Sycamore Trees Contributing c.1932, 1935 

V-2 Admin. Building Foundation Plantings Non-Contributing c.1935, post-1972 

V-3 South Lawn Non-Contributing c.1996 

Circulation 

C-6 Airport Entrance Drives Contributing c.1932 

C-7 Airport Entrance Walks Contributing c.1932 

C-8 Airport Entrance Central Parking Lot Contributing c.1932 

C-9 Airport Entrance North Parking Lot Contributing c.1932 

C-10 Gateway-Rockaway Grnway Bikepath Non-Contributing c.2004 

Buildings and Structures 

1 Administration Building (Ryan V.C.) Contributing 1931

29 Fire Pump House Contributing 1938

145 Beacon Tower Non-contributing 1957

Views and Vistas 

VV-1 Control Tower View Contributing 1931

Constructed Water Features (no associated features) 

Small-Scale Features 

SSF-2 Airport Entrance Light Standards Non-contributing c.2000 

SSF-3 Airport Entrance Flagpole Contributing 1935

SSF-4 Airport Entrance Sign Contributing 1935/2006 

SSF-5 Airport Entrance Furnishings Non-contributing c.2000 

SSF-6 Airport Entrance Fence Non-contributing c.2000 

Archeological Features (no associated features) 

AIRFIELD 

Natural Systems and Features 

NS-1 Successional Woods Non-contributing Post-1972 

NS-2 Jamaica Bay Beach Contributing 1928-1945+ 

Spatial Organization 

SO-5 Airfield Contributing 1928-30, 1942 

SO-6 Cricket Field Non-contributing c.2000 

Land Use (no associated features) 

LU-1 Airfield Campgrounds Non-contributing c.1974 

LU-2 Floyd Bennett Community Gardens Non-contributing c.1980 

LU-3 Model Airplane Flying Field Non-contributing c.1980 

LU-4 North 40 Natural Area (part) Non-contributing c.1980 

Cluster Arrangement (no associated features) 

Topography 

T-1 Berms Non-contributing c.1996 

Vegetation 

V-4 Airfield Grasslands Non-contributing c.1985 

V-5 Ecology Village Pine Plantation Non-contributing c.1974 

Circulation 

Analysis and Evaluation
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324

C-4 Aviation Road Contributing 1942, c.1951, c.1996

C-11 Runway 15-33 (Public Entrance Road) Contributing 1930

C-12 Runway 1-19 Contributing 1935, 1942, c.1951 

C-13 Runway 12-30 Contributing 1935, 1942 

C-14 Runway 6-24 Contributing 1942, c.1960 

C-15 Hangar Row Taxiways Contributing 1935

C-16 Taxiways 1 and 2 (Former runway 6-

24) 

Contributing 1930 

C-17 WWII Taxiway System (Taxiways 3-6) Contributing 1942

C-18 Taxiway 8 Non-contributing c.1960 

C-19 Municipal Airport Compass Rose Contributing 1935

C-20 Navy Compass Rose Contributing c.1944 

C-21 Patrol Road Contributing 1942, c.1951-52 

C-22 Ground Control Approach Radar Fac. Non-contributing c.1953 

C-23 North 40 Natural Area Trails Non-contributing c.1980 

C-28 Coast Guard Hangar Apron (part) Contributing 1937, c.1943, c.1955

C-29 Coast Guard Taxiway (part) Contributing 1937, c.1943 

Buildings and Structures 

117 North Service Substation Contributing c.1942 

217 Liquid Oxygen Facility Non-contributing 1959

403 Jamaica Bay Bulkhead Non-contributing 1928, 1940, 1942, 1952, 

1960 

404 NYPD Aviation Unit Guard Booth Non-contributing c.1998 

405 Taxiway 6 Comfort Station Non-contributing 2000

406 Runway 6-24 Comfort Station Non-contributing 2006

Views and Vistas 

VV-2 Runway Sight Lines Contributing 1930, 1935, 1942 

Constructed Water Features 

CWF-1 North 40 Pond Non-contributing c.1980 

Small-Scale Features 

SSF-1 Perimeter Fence Contributing 1941, 1942, c.2000 

SSF-7 Airfield Navigational/Utility Remnants Unevaluated Undetermined 

Archeological Features 

A-1 Mu. Airport Seaplane Ramp Remnants Unevaluated c.1931 

A-2 Muni. Airport Seaplane Pier Remnants Unevaluated c.1931 

A-3 Navy Boat Basin Pier Remnants Unevaluated c.1942 

NAVAL AVIATION PATROL BASE 

Natural Systems and Features 

NS-1 Successional Woods Non-contributing Post-1972 

NS-2 Jamaica Bay Beach Contributing 1928-1945+ 

Spatial Organization 

SO-7 Naval Aviation Patrol Base Area Contributing 1940, 1942, c.1952 

SO-8 Maintenance Area Contributing 1942-1945 
325 

SO-9 Taxiway 6 Utility Area Non-contributing 1952-1967 

Land Use (no associated features) 

Cluster Arrangement (no associated features) 

Topography (no associated features) 

Vegetation 

V-6 Tylunas Hall Plantings Non-contributing c.1970 

Circulation 

C-21 Patrol Road Contributing 1942

C-24 Naval Aviation Patrol Base Apron Contributing 1940, 1942, c.1952 

C-25 Naval Aviation Patrol Base Access 

Road 

Contributing 1940, 1942 

C-26 Tylunas Hall Parking Lots Non-contributing c.1942, c.1998 

C-27 Maintenance Area Driveways Contributing c.1942 

Buildings and Structures 

89 Sewage Pumping Station ‘B’ Contributing c.1942 

90 A-B Fire Station and Garage Contributing c.1942 

91 Station Maintenance Shop Contributing c.1942 

94 Torpedo Storage Contributing c.1942 

96 Power Plant ‘B’ Contributing c.1942 

97 Cold Storage and Commissary Contributing c.1942 

98 General Storehouse Contributing c.1942 

99 Fire Pump Station Contributing c.1942 

100 Hangar B Contributing c.1942 

168 Ready Ammunition Magazine Non-contributing c.1952 

169 Ready Ammunition Magazine Non-contributing c.1952 

174 Seaplane Ramp B Contributing c.1942 

178 Pumping Station Water Storage Tank Contributing c.1942 

205 Storage Yard Shed/Fuel Station Non-contributing c.1952 

260 Maintenance Area Filling Station Non-contributing c.1964 

273 Remote Revr. Building Non-contributing 1967

274 Generator Building Non-contributing 1967

403 Jamaica Bay Bulkhead Non-contributing 1928, 1940, 1942, 1952, 

1960

407 NYPD Temporary Building Non-contributing c.2005 

Views and Vistas (no associated features) 

Constructed Water Features (no associated features) 

Small-Scale Features 

SSF-8 Jet Engine Run-Up Stand Non-contributing c.1952 

Archeological Features 

A-4 Hangar A Remnants Unevaluated 1940

A-5 Hangar A Seaplane Ramp Remnants Unevaluated 1940

A-6 Naval Aviation Patrol Base Pier 

Remnants 

Unevaluated 1940 

Analysis and Evaluation
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326

COAST GUARD AIR STATION 

Natural Systems and Features 

NS-2 Jamaica Bay Beach Contributing 1928-1945+ 

Spatial Organization 

SO-10 Coast Guard Air Station Area Contributing 1937, 1942-43, c.1950, 

c.1972 

Land Use (no associated features) 

Cluster Arrangement (no associated features) 

Topography (no associated features) 

Vegetation 

V-7 Coast Guard Hangar Plantings Unevaluated c.1938, post-1945 

Circulation 

C-28 Coast Guard Apron Contributing 1937, c.1943, c.1955

C-29 Coast Guard Taxiway Contributing 1937, c.1943 

C-30 Coast Guard Roads Contributing 1937, c.1943, post-1972

Buildings and Structures 

CG-1 Coast Guard Hangar Contributing 1937, 1964, 1969 

CG-2 Coast Guard Garage Contributing 1937

CG-3 Edwards Hall Non-contributing 1972

CG-7 South Pyro Locker Non-contributing c.1955 

CG-8 Paint Locker Non-contributing 1959

CG-12 Transformer Vault Unevaluated c.1943 

CG-13 Storage Building Non-contributing 1959

CG-400 Coast Guard Seaplane Ramp and 

Helicopter Pad 

Non-contributing c.1955 

CG-401 Finger Pier and Boathouse Non-contributing c.1965, 1969 

CG-402 New York Police Equipment Building 

(with temporary training tower) 

Non-contributing 2004 

403 Jamaica Bay Bulkhead Non-contributing 1928, 1940, 1942, 1952, 

1960

Views and Vistas (no associated features) 

Constructed Water Features 

CWF-2 Swimming Pool Non-contributing 1979

Small-Scale Features 

SSF-9 Coast Guard Flagstaff Non-contributing c.1973 

SSF-10 Coast Guard Monument Non-contributing c.1959 

Archeological Features 

A-7 Coast Guard Pier Remnants Unevaluated c.1943 
327 

B. evaluation of Areas outside historic district

(Drawing 3.1)

The following evaluation of the landscape outside of the proposed expanded 

historic district corresponds to most of the North 40 Natural Area to the north 

of the district, and the South Administrative Area to the south. The evaluation is 

organized according to landscape characteristics within these two areas. Each 

characteristic evaluation provides a summary evaluation based on conditions 

during the period of significance for the historic district (1929-1945) and 

existing conditions (2008) to indicate change over time in the landscape. Each 

characteristic includes a list of extant associated features that are keyed to the 

analysis and evaluation plan (Drawing 3.1). 

north 40 natural area

The North 40 Natural Area evaluated here corresponds to the historic limits of 

the Navy ammunitions-communication area outside of the flight-path clear zones 

for runways 1-19, 15-33, and 6-24. There was limited documentation available 

on historic and existing conditions within this area. While the area was well 

documented on Navy plans, no historic photographs were found aside from aerial 

views. Inventory of existing conditions was limited due to dense vegetation that 

prevented access to the ammunition magazines and radio tower sites. Despite the 

lack of documentation, the loss of three buildings, four prominent radio towers, 

and change from open field to dense woods has led to loss of the landscape’s 

historic World War II-period character.

Natural Systems and Features 

Historic Condition: During the historic period, the North 40 Natural Area 

was tidal estuary along Irish Channel and Mill Basin that was filled by 1942 for 

development of the Navy’s ammunitions-communication area. The fill was most 

likely not managed as mown turf except around the buildings. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, grasses and low scrub 

became established in the ammunitions-communication area, but the vegetation 

was kept low overall in order to maintain sight lines from the airfield. After 

decommissioning of NAS New York in 1972, the park allowed the fields and scrub 

to mature into dense woods. A narrow beach strewn with concrete and asphalt 

debris (rip-rap) exists along Mill Basin.

Evaluation: Natural systems and features within the North 40 Natural Area have 

changed from limited and young grass and scrub during the historic period, to 

dense woods today (see fig. 3.3). These woods, which extend into the adjoining 

airfield within the historic district, obstruct the open spatial character of the 

landscape that existed during the historic period. 

Analysis and Evaluation
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328

List of Natural Features

NS-1. Successional Woods (post 1972). See Airfield Character Area.

NS-3. Mill Basin Beach (c.1942).

Spatial Organization 

Historic Condition: During the historic period, the North 40 Natural Area 

(outside of historic district) was open field north of runway 6-24, bordered by 

a perimeter chain-link fence along Shore Parkway and the open waters of Mill 

Basin. The open space was interspersed by nine widely spaced buildings and 

four radio towers at its eastern end, sited outside of the flight-path clear zones for 

runways 15-33, 1-19, and 6-24.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, grasses and low scrub 

became established in the ammunitions-communication area, but the vegetation 

was kept low overall in order to maintain sight lines from the airfield. In c.1955, 

the Navy removed the four World War II radio towers and installed eleven new 

towers. After decommissioning of NAS New York in 1972, the towers were 

removed and the park allowed the fields and scrub to mature into dense woods. 

Small cleared areas were maintained around some of the buildings.

Evaluation: The spatial organization of the North 40 Natural Area has changed 

from completely open with scattered buildings and structures during the historic 

period, to mostly enclosed today (see fig. 3.3). The existing woods and scrub close 

off the space except along the patrol road, paths, and some of the buildings. The 

spatial organization of the development defined by the flight-path clear zones is 

no longer visible. 

Land Use 

Historic Condition: During the historic period, the Navy used the remote 

area north of the airfield as an ammunitions storage area and as the site of highfrequency radio towers for ship-to-shore communication. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, the Navy continued 

to use the area for ammunitions storage and radio transmission. After the 

decommissioning of NAS New York in 1971, these facilities were abandoned and 

the towers were removed. In c.1980, the park began managing the area as the 

North 40 Natural Area for hiking and nature observation. 

Evaluation: The land use of the North 40 Natural Area has changed from 

military to natural resource conservation and recreation. 

List of Land Use Features

LU-4. North 40 Natural Area (c.1980)
329 

Topography 

Historic Condition: After completion of filling operations in 1942, the 

topography of the North 40 Natural Area was largely level, except where it 

dropped down to the shoreline. Unlike the Jamaica Bay frontage, there were no 

bulkheads along Mill Basin. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: There are no documented substantial 

changes to the overall topography, aside from some erosion has occurred along 

the Mill Basin shoreline. 

Evaluation: The topography of the North 40 Natural Area today is overall the 

same as it was during the historic period, although it is obscured by woods that 

have grown up since c.1972. 

Circulation 

Historic Condition: The primary circulation through the North 40 Natural 

Area during the historic period was an asphalt-paved patrol road constructed in 

c.1942 that ran from the Aviation Patrol Base on the east to Flatbush Avenue on 

the west. Nine short spurs extended off the patrol road to access the ammunitions 

magazines and other buildings in the area. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After c.1972, portions of the patrol were 

abandoned or incorporated into a network of foottrails that the park built in c. 

1980 as part of the North 40 Natural Area. The park removed or covered over 

most of the asphalt surface of the patrol road to create a grass walking surface. The 

spurs to the magazines are generally obstructed by dense vegetation.

Evaluation: Circulation in the North 40 Natural Area has changed from a single 

asphalt road with spurs to buildings, to walking paths on either new alignments 

or former asphalt road surfaces. While the original alignment of the patrol road 

is discernable, most of its paved surface is not. The patrol road extends into the 

historic district. A comprehensive inventory of the patrol road and spurs was not 

possible due to heavy vegetation. 

List of Circulation Features

C-21. Patrol Road (c.1942). See Airfield Character Area.

C-23. North 40 Natural Area Trails (c.1980). See Airfield Character Area.

Buildings and Structures 

Historic Condition: The Navy constructed twelve buildings and four 150-foot tall 

radio transmitter towers in the area north of runway 6-24 between 1942 and 1945 

(see fig. 3.4).18 Eleven of the buildings were used for ammunitions storage (107, 

108, 110-115) and one to house equipment related to the radio transmitter towers 

(118) for ship-to-shore communications. The ammunitions magazines (110-115) 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

330

were heavy poured-concrete buildings with steel doors that were partially below 

grade. The other buildings were concrete or frame with corrugated sheet-metal 

siding. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1955, the Navy replaced the four 

radio towers with eleven new towers (180, 181) in the same general area, and 

added a second radio transmitter building (237). After transfer of NAS New York 

to the National Park Service in 1972, most of the buildings in the North 40 Natural 

Area were abandoned. The eleven radio towers, two radio transmitter buildings 

(118, 237), smoke drum storage building (107) and S.A. pyrotechnics building 

(108) were demolished at an unknown date after c.1972. The park maintains the 

former practice bomb shelter building (109) as a storehouse, while the former 

inert storage building (106) is in a state of ruins. The concrete ammunitions 

magazines probably remain intact given their heavy construction, but an inventory 

of existing conditions was not possible due to overgrown conditions that 

prevented access. (See historic district evaluation for building 117.)

Evaluation: Three of the twelve buildings and the four radio transmitter 

towers that existed during the historic period no longer stand. Of the remaining 

buildings, only the practice bomb storage building (109) is maintained, while 

the inert storage building (106) is in ruins. The character of the high-explosive 

magazines (110-115) was not assessed for this report due to inaccessibility. 

List of Buildings and Structures Features

106. Inert Storage (c. 1942)

109. Practice Bomb Storage (c. 1942)

110. Fuse & Detonator Magazine (c. 1942)

111. Fuse & Detonator Magazine (c. 1942)

112. High Explosives Magazine (c. 1942)

113. High Explosives Magazine (c. 1942)

114. High Explosives Magazine (c. 1942)

115. High Explosives Magazine (c. 1942)

116. Warhead (c. 1942-1945)

Views and Vistas 

Historic Condition: The treeless, level character of the area north of the airfield 

allowed for expansive views in every direction, except toward Shore Parkway 

where trees in the right-of-way may have screened views. The four 150-foot tall 

radio towers were prominent features visible from all parts of Floyd Bennett Field 

(see fig. 3.4).

Post- Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1955, the four radio towers were 

replaced by eleven new ones. Since c.1972, these towers were removed and the 
331 

open fields or low scrub grew into dense woods that blocked views into and out 

from the North 40 Natural Area. 

Evaluation: The views that existed historically within the North 40 Natural Area 

no longer exist, nor do the radio towers that were visible from all parts of Floyd 

Bennett Field. 

Small-Scale Features 

Historic Condition: Aside from the chain-link perimeter fence along Shore 

Parkway, there is no documentation of small-scale features within the area north 

of runway 6-24 during the historic period. There were probably signs, fences, and 

other small-scale features associated with the ammunitions magazines and radio 

towers. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1972, the park installed some 

small-scale features within the North 40 Natural Area, including a fence closing 

off the patrol road near runway 1-19. Signs, trash cans, and wood bollards are 

located at the trailhead along runway 6-24, but these are within the boundaries of 

the historic district. 

Evaluation: Insufficient documentation is available to determine the historic 

character of small-scale features within the North 40 Natural Area. There may be 

historic small-scale features within the area, but it was not possible to determine 

this due to dense vegetation that prevents access. 

Archeological Features 

There may be above-ground remains from buildings and structures within the 

former ammunitions-communication area, such as foundations from the radio 

towers and demolished buildings 106, 1078, and 118, but it was not possible to 

determine this due to dense vegetation that prevented access. 

south administrative area 

The South Administrative Area corresponds to the area south of the airfield/

historic district that the Navy redeveloped during World War II from the former 

site of the Barren Island community. This area encompasses the former main 

barracks area and west barracks area from Flatbush Avenue east to Jamaica Bay 

south to a portion of the Rockaway Inlet frontage. Most of this frontage, including 

a seaplane base the Navy built during World War II, is not evaluated here because 

it is a separate federal property under the Department of Defense (Marine Corps 

Reserve Center). Overall, the landscape of the south administrative area does 

not retain its historic World War II-period character due to loss of buildings and 

structures, new construction, and growth of woods on formerly open land. 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

332

Natural Systems and Features 

Historic Condition: During the municipal airport period, the area corresponding 

to the South Administrative Area corresponded largely to Barren Island, a 

natural landmass that had undergone considerable changes over the preceding 

century. Despite this, the island contained natural tidal estuary off Rockaway 

Inlet and natural sand beach along Jamaica Bay, with patches of woods and dune 

environments. When the Navy acquired this property in 1942, it cleared the land 

and filled it to a level surface, building timber and steel bulkheads along the entire 

Figure 3.11: Historic (1943, top) and existing (c.2008) aerial photographs of the South Administrative Area 

showing changes in natural systems, spatial organization, cluster arrangement, vegetation, circulation, 

and buildings and structures. The numbered buildings in the lower photograph are those that remain 

from World War II. (Top: Photograph 85512, Still Pictures Unit, National Archives II, annotated by SUNY 

ESF; bottom: USGS photograph reproduced from Microsoft Live Earth, annotated by SUNY ESF.)
333 

Jamaica Bay and Rockaway Inlet shorelines. By 

1945, there were few natural features left within 

the area, with the possible exception of some areas 

where natural grasses had become reestablished. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, 

grasses and low scrub became established outside 

of the main and west barracks areas where the 

ground was not maintained as mown grass. After 

1972, the park allowed natural succession to take 

its course in portions of the South Administrative 

Area, leading to the growth of woods between the 

main and west barracks areas, along Jamaica Bay, 

and to the north along the airfield. In addition, a 

natural beach and dune environment has become 

partially reestablished along the Jamaica Bay and 

Rockaway Inlet frontage, accelerated in part by the 

deterioration of the bulkhead.

Evaluation: Natural systems and features within 

the South Administrative Area, notably deciduous 

woods, were inconspicuous in the landscape at the 

end of the historic period in 1945 and have become 

reestablished in the years since, particularly since 

1972 (fig. 3.11) The growth of woods has altered 

the historically open character of the landscape and 

obstructed views north to the airfield. 

List of Natural Features

NS-1. Successional Woods (post-1972). See Airfield Character Area.

NS-2. Jamaica Bay Beach (post-1945). See Airfield Character Area.

NS-4. Rockaway Inlet Beach (post-1945)

Spatial Organization 

Historic Condition: The South Administrative Area was organized into two 

main spaces during the historic period: the main barracks area and the west 

barracks area, each defined by loose clusters of buildings within the flight-path 

clear zones. Within each of these areas was a series of smaller spaces defined by 

the arrangement of buildings. Two barracks complexes in the northern half of 

the main barracks area featured central buildings flanked by individual barracks 

that created formal, symmetrical spaces in the landscape. Some of the large 

buildings, such as the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters (68) and dispensary (87), had 

multiple wings that created small courtyards. The marginal wharf and adjoining 

Figure 3.12: Historic (c.1944, top) 

and existing (2008) views of the 

eastern side of the main barracks 

area looking north toward the 

airfield and Coast Guard Air 

Station showing changes in 

spatial character, vegetation, and 

buildings and structures. The 

large multi-winged building was 

the dispensary (87), which was 

torn down in the late 1960s and is 

today the site of the park nursery 

(wooded area with flowering tree 

at right). The arched-roof building 

visible at the left side of both 

photographs is the former Enlisted 

Men’s Recreation Building (74). 

(Top: Uncatalogued maintenance 

file photograph, Floyd Bennett 

Field, Gateway National Recreation 

Area; bottom: SUNY ESF.)

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

334

industrial buildings (power plant, laundry, fuel 

tanks) formed a space within the main barracks area 

along Rockaway Inlet oriented around delivery of 

services and goods. Unlike the main barracks area, 

the west barracks area had little spatial definition 

due to its limited number of buildings. Between the 

main and west barracks area was the seaplane base 

(parking apron), which was spatially defined within 

the open landscape only by the limits of its concrete 

pavement. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, 

the symmetrical spatial organization of the two 

groups of barracks (around building 70, present 

Ecology Village gym, and building 69, present park 

administration building) was altered through loss of 

eight of the thirteen buildings, and loss of the multiwinged buildings (Bachelor Officers’ Quarters, 68, 

and dispensary, 87). New buildings, notably the 

Gateway Environmental Education Center (272) 

and new dispensary (275) did not reinforce the 

earlier spatial organization of the landscape. Most 

importantly, the growth of woods altered the overall 

open spatial character of the landscape. 

Evaluation: The spatial organization of the South Administrative Area has 

changed overall from open to enclosed due to the growth of successional woods 

(figs. 3.12, 3.13). The two primary spaces defined by building clusters—the main 

barracks area and the west barracks area—are no longer visible as distinct spaces 

in the landscape. The secondary spaces formed by the arrangement of buildings 

are also largely gone due to extensive loss of buildings. 

Land Use 

Historic Condition: During the municipal airport period prior to World War 

II, the South Administrative Area was used primarily for residential purposes 

within remnants of the Barren Island community. The last industry, the Products 

Manufacturing Company at the foot of Flatbush Avenue, closed in c.1931. In 1936, 

the city evicted residents from the western two-thirds of the island in preparation 

for redevelopment of the land into Brooklyn Marine Park. The eastern third of the 

island, which remained in private ownership, contained approximately twentyfive families until c.1941, along with a Roman Catholic church. These private 

residential uses disappeared when the Navy took over the property from the 

private owners and the city in 1941-1942. The Navy redeveloped the property for 

use as the support area for NAS New York, which included primarily residentialFigure 3.13: Near-historic (c.1949, 

top) and existing (2008) view of 

World War II-period temporary 

construction in the main barracks 

area. The photograph at the top 

illustrates the dispensary (87), 

the lower is a similar existing 

building, barracks 15 (72) 

showing current vacant condition 

and later siding. The plantings 

were added after 1945. (Top: 

Photograph 20302, Gateway 

National Recreation Area Museum 

Collection; bottom: SUNY ESF.)
335 

related uses (barracks, recreation halls, mess halls, etc.), with service and shipping 

uses along the marginal wharf and military transportation at a seaplane base along 

Rockaway Inlet. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, the Navy moved its 

administrative offices to the main barracks area and allowed the west barracks 

area to be used by the state for public housing. The Navy granted the seaplane 

base along Rockaway Inlet in 1952 to the Department of Defense for use as an 

Armed Forces Reserve Center. In c.1968, the city Board of Education operated a 

public school in a new building (278) constructed within the main barracks area. 

Most changes in land use came after transfer of the property to the National Park 

Service in 1972. The Armed Forces Reserve Center remained the only part of the 

South Administrative Area that continued in military use. The park did not have 

enough need for most of the buildings and many stood vacant. Several remained 

in use by either the park or one of its partners, including building 69 for park 

administrative offices, 272 for public education, 129-132 for a federal Job Corps 

program, and 275 for park police headquarters. Parts of the South Administrative 

Area were redesigned for recreational uses, including an archery range, nursery, 

youth environmental programs, fishing access, remote-controlled car track, and 

ballfields. 

Evaluation: Land uses within the South Administrative Area have changed from 

primarily military-residential during the historic period to a mix of administrative, 

educational, and recreational uses today. Portions of the South Administrative 

Area are not in use, with vacant buildings and overgrown grounds. 

List of Land Use Features

LU-5. Archery Range (c.1980)

LU-6. Friends of Gateway Nursery (c.1980)

LU-7. Polytechnic University Ballfields (c.2000)

Cluster Arrangement

Historic Condition: During the municipal airport period, there were initially two 

clusters of development on Barren Island, one at the eastern end of the island 

and the other at the western off the foot of Flatbush Avenue. This western cluster 

was demolished when the city evicted the residents in 1936 as part of the planned 

development of Brooklyn Marine Park. The Navy cleared the remnants of the 

eastern cluster in 1942 when it began building the main and west barracks areas. 

These two areas formed distinct clusters of development defined by the flightpath clear zones for runways 1-19, 12-30, and 15-33. The main barracks area 

formed a triangular cluster with approximately twenty-seven buildings, while the 

west barracks area was a narrow linear cluster consisting of just two buildings 

Analysis and Evaluation
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336

and the field’s sewage and garbage plant. The two clusters of development were 

surrounded by open field without any woods or other development. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, the two clusters began 

to erode due to loss of buildings. In the west barracks area, the conversion of 

runway 15-33 to a taxiway allowed development of public housing in the late 

1940s to extend beyond the narrow limits of the original flight-path clear zone. 

After the Navy transferred ownership of the field to the National Park Service, 

the distinction of the clusters became further blurred due to additional building 

demolition and growth of woods on formerly open field that obscured the limits 

of the World War II-period development. 

Evaluation: The World War II-period cluster arrangement is no longer visible 

in the landscape. The west barracks area has largely disappeared, with only the 

sewage tank remaining from World War II. While post-1945 development within 

the main barracks area has not extended beyond the historic flight-path clear 

zones, the loss of all but eleven of the twenty-seven buildings and growth of 

woods has blurred the historic limits of the cluster. 

Topography 

Historic Condition: During the municipal airport period, Barren Island 

consisted of a combination of natural and built land. In the World War II-period 

redevelopment, the Navy transformed the topography into an entirely constructed 

character. The shoreline along Jamaica Bay and Rockaway Inlet was moved east 

and south upwards of 800 feet, requiring filling and construction of bulkheads. 

The remainder of the island was graded to a level surface. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: The topography of the South 

Administrative Area remained largely unchanged until after its transfer to the 

National Park Service in 1972. The most notable changes occurred along the 

shoreline, where fill eroded due to failure of the bulkheads and marginal wharf. 

Minor topographic changes occurred in c.1996, when the park constructed 

earthen berms to close-off and edge the road to Hangar Road (Aviation Road), 

and the taxiway 7 intersection with the main road (Floyd Bennett Boulevard).

Evaluation: The topography of the South Administrative Area retains its overall 

level character as built during World War II, but has eroded along the shoreline 

(see fig. 3.11). The park’s addition of berms along some of the roads and taxiways 

has altered the topography, but more noticeably the circulation patterns in the 

landscape. 

List of Topography Features

T-1. Berms (c.1996)
337 

Vegetation 

Historic Condition: During the municipal airport period, there were a variety 

of trees and shrubs within the remnants of the Barren Island community, along 

with natural upland and estuarine plant communities. During the World War II 

redevelopment, the Navy removed all vegetation and reestablished mown grasses 

in the developed areas. Based on available documentation, it appears the Navy did 

not plant any trees or shrubs within the South Administrative Area during World 

War II.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, the Navy planted foundation 

shrubs around the buildings in the main barracks area, but kept the landscape 

devoid of trees with very few exceptions probably to maintain sight lines and 

flight-path clear zones. After transfer to the National Park Service in 1972, 

the park planted thousands of trees, mostly sycamores and pines around the 

buildings and along the roads, and masses of Japanese black pine in the open areas 

between the main and west barracks areas, many of which are dying. The park 

also planted a variety of trees and shrubs within a nursery established at the site 

of the dispensary (87), and as foundation plantings around the park headquarters 

building (69). Portions of formerly mown turf are not maintained and are in 

varying states of natural succession, from scrub to dense woods (see Natural 

Systems and Features characteristic). 

Evaluation: With the exception of lawn, the existing vegetation in the South 

Administrative Area was planted after 1945, and the vast majority by the park after 

1972. The trees, especially those planted in masses, detract from the historic open 

spatial character of the landscape, block historic circulation patterns, and obstruct 

views of the airfield. 

List of Vegetation Features

V-8. Main Barracks Area Lawn (c.1942+)

V-9. Foundation Plantings (post-1945)

V-10. Specimen Trees (post-1972)

V-11. Planted Woods and Japanese Black Pine (post-1972)

Circulation 

Historic Condition: During the municipal airport period, circulation within 

the South Administrative Area was limited to a few roads remaining from the 

Barren Island community, notably Main Street that ran east-west from Flatbush 

Avenue to Jamaica Bay, with two cross streets, Bay Street and White Street. The 

Navy removed these three streets in its World War II-period expansion of Floyd 

Bennett Field and laid out a new system of vehicular roads, which the Navy 

apparently did not name. The system, which was separate from the taxiways, 

included a new entrance from Flatbush Avenue at the south end of Hangar Row 

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

338

(within historic district), which led to a road that paralleled Flatbush Avenue 

(present Aviation Road) to the west barracks area. Aviation Road intersected the 

road to the main barracks area (present Floyd Bennett Boulevard) that continued 

north to the Coast Guard Air Station and Aviation Patrol Base. Off this main 

road, the Navy built a number of side roads. All were paved in asphalt and most 

apparently did not have concrete curbs. Parking was generally accommodated 

by single-stack areas within widened roads. In addition to roads, the Navy also 

built an extensive network of concrete sidewalks throughout the main and west 

barracks areas. These included walks paralleling the main roads and walks leading 

up to each building. In addition to vehicular and pedestrian circulation, the South 

Administrative Area also included aviation circulation along taxiway 7, which 

ran north-south between the main and west barracks area within the flight-path 

clear zone for runway 15-33. This taxiway provided access to the seaplane base/

seaplane parking area along Rockaway Inlet that was built in c.1942. The Navy 

may not have completed paving of the northern part of taxiway 7 until after 1945.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1948, Aviation Road was extended 

south to access state veterans’ housing, and around the same time, the Navy 

built a parking lot on the site of barracks (63) adjoining building 69 where it had 

relocated its administrative offices. During the Korean War improvements of the 

early 1950s, the Navy made a number of changes to the circulation in the South 

Administrative Area. In c.1951, the Navy built a new entrance off Flatbush Avenue 

that was an extension of the main road through the main barracks area (present 

Floyd Bennett Boulevard). This new entrance, which was built to circumvent the 

extension of runway 1-19, featured a planted median and a gatehouse (135) and 

sentry booth (207) at the intersection with Aviation Road. At the same time, the 

northern part of Aviation Road where it crossed the extension of runway 1-19 was 

realigned and parts of the sidewalk removed. Also as part of the new entrance, 

the Navy built a parking lot off the southeast corner of the intersection of Floyd 

Bennett Boulevard and Aviation Road adjacent to the west barracks area. Within 

the main barracks area, a new parking lot and sidewalks were added as part of the 

construction of the new brick barracks complex (129-131). In c.1965, Aviation 

Road was extended south and east as a cul-de-sac for development of mobile 

home courts, and a similar drive was added near the Navy headquarters building 

(69) for a second set of mobile home courts built in c.1970. Consisting of asphalt 

pads on which mobile homes were parked, these may have been used by Navy 

reservists for their weekend tours of duty.

A number of additional circulation changes were made to the South 

Administrative Area after transfer of Floyd Bennett Field to the National Park 

Service in 1972, including the addition of several small parking lots and changes 

to sidewalks and building approaches due to demolition and new construction. 

Deterioration of the marginal wharf bulkhead led to collapse of the roadbed along 

the wharf. The Department of Defense built a new entrance road, later named Cei 
339 

Angelo Nania Way, to its reserve facility on the former seaplane base in c.1975. 

Most of the post-Navy circulation changes came in c.1996 when the park built a 

new public entrance road to Hangar Row on runway 15-33 (taxiway 10), which 

began on taxiway 7. As part of this project, the northern intersection of Aviation 

Road with Floyd Bennett Boulevard was removed and replaced by an earthen 

berm to prevent access to the remaining abandoned roadbed to the north that led 

to Hangar Row. At the same time, the Korean War-era parking lot was replaced by 

a new parking lot that realigned the intersection of Aviation Road to the east of 

the gatehouse. A berm was also added to close off the section of taxiway 7 south of 

Floyd Bennett Boulevard, and a remote-controlled race track was built on a part 

of the abandoned taxiway. 

Evaluation: Much of the World War II-period circulation system, including 

roads, sidewalks, and a taxiway, remain in the south support area. The changes 

made after the war were largely limited to minor additions to the system. The 

alterations made by the park in c.1996, however, altered the character of the road 

and taxiway system by obscuring the historic circulation. The park also removed a 

portion of Aviation Road, which was one of the primary roads during World War 

II leading from the main entrance off Flatbush Avenue. 

List of Circulation Features

C-4. Aviation Road (1942, c.1951, c.1996). See Hangar Row Character Area.

C-31. Taxiway 7 (c.1942)

C-32. Floyd Bennett Boulevard/current park entrance (c.1942, c.1951)

C-33. Ranger Road (c.1942)

C-34. Enterprise Avenue (c.1942)

C-35. Independence Lane (c.1942)

C-36. Cei Angelo Nania Way (c.1975)

C-37. Sidewalks (c.1942)

C-38. Parking Lots (post-1945)

C-39. West Barracks Area Mobile Home Courts (c.1965)

C-40. Main Barracks Area Mobile Home Courts (c.1970)

C-41. Main Visitor Parking Lot (c.1996)

Buildings and Structures 

Historic Condition: During the municipal airport period, there were a variety of 

buildings and structures on Barren Island, including houses, churches, a school, 

factories, and wharfs. Most of these buildings and structures were demolished 

between 1931 and 1936 as the city made plans to redevelop the island into 

Brooklyn Marine Park. By 1941, there were approximately twenty houses and 

a church remaining on the eastern end of the island that remained in private 

ownership. These buildings were demolished by the Navy in 1941-42 in the warAnalysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

340

time expansion of Floyd Bennett Field that established the main and west barracks 

area on Barren Island. Most of the new buildings were designed according to 

the Navy’s standards for temporary construction, intended for removal after the 

war. These buildings, including the barracks, mess halls, recreation buildings, a 

dispensary, and single-family houses used as married officer’s quarters, were built 

of frame construction with low hipped roofs, clapboard siding, and double-hung 

windows with horizontal window muntins. Some of these buildings, such as the 

Bachelor Officers’ Quarters (68) and main mess hall (67) were two stories and 

had multiple wings. Two of the barracks complexes featured a central mess or 

recreation building symmetrically flanked by rows of barracks that were linked by 

concrete-block breezeways. The most unusual of the frame buildings within the 

main barracks area was the Officers’ Mess Hall (73), which featured an elaborate 

interior decorated by famed interior designer Dorothy Draper, with art deco 

elements recovered from the ocean liner, the S.S. Normandie, which sank in 1941. 

The second type of building in the main and west barracks areas was designed 

according to the Navy’s standards for permanent construction using masonry 

and steel. These include Power Plant A (86) and a laundry (85) built of red brick, 

and small utility buildings (58, 59, 88, 101, 102) built of brick or concrete. The 

power plant was a duplicate of Power Plant B in the Naval Aviation Patrol Base 

maintenance area. In addition to buildings, the Navy also erected a variety of 

structures, including steel aviation gas storage tanks (187, 188), concrete water 

tanks (179, 180), a concrete sewage treatment tank (60), steel bulkhead along the 

shoreline, a marginal wharf, and a seaplane ramp along Rockaway Inlet (currently 

Department of Defense property). In total, during the war the Navy erected 

approximately thirty-four buildings and structures within the main barracks area, 

and seven buildings and structures within the west barracks area.

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In c.1948, the Navy removed eight of 

the frame barracks from the main barracks area. These may have been relocated 

to the west barracks area for use by New York State as veterans’ housing. These 

housing units, together with the two World War II barracks (80, 81) within the 

west barracks area, were removed by c.1960 except for one (267). In c.1952 as part 

of the Korean War-era improvements, the Navy constructed a new brick-faced 

barracks complex (129-132) within the main barracks area. Other major changes 

to buildings and structures during the Navy’s tenure included construction of 

a new garage in c.1958, three ranch-style houses (268-270) as Married Officer 

Quarters in c.1960, and a three-story school building (272) in 1968; demolition of 

the dispensary (87) and construction of a new dispensary (275) in c.1968; and loss 

of the main mess hall building (67) due to fire in the winter of 1968-1969. 

Major changes to buildings and structures following transfer of the field to 

the National Park Service in 1972 included demolition of the Bachelor Officers’ 

Quarters (68) and Officers’ Mess Hall (73), and collapse of the marginal wharf 

due to failure of the steel bulkhead and the swift currents of Rockaway Inlet. 
341 

A number of buildings have stood vacant and several have suffered extensive 

deterioration and/or structural failure. These include two World War II barracks 

(62, 72), Power Plant A (86), laundry (85), married officers’ quarters (156, 157), the 

Korean War-era barracks complex (129-132), Enlisted Men’s Recreation Building 

(74), water tanks (179, 180), and sewage treatment tank (60). The has park erected 

several minor buildings in the South Administrative Area, including a shelter for 

the archery range, a shed and wood-frame greenhouse at the nursery, a pavilion 

near the Ecology Village gym (70), and two pre-fabricated comfort stations. 

Evaluation: Little historic World War II-period character remains in the 

buildings and structures of the South Administrative Area. The largest World War 

II-era buildings in the main barracks area, the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters (68), 

dispensary (87), and enlisted men’s mess hall (67) no longer stand. Of the thirtyfour buildings and structures erected in the main barracks area during World War 

II, sixteen remain standing (see fig. 3.11). Of these, twelve are vacant and four 

are in an advanced state of deterioration (plans are underway for demolition of 

Power Plant A (86) and the laundry (85) which have collapsed roofs). Despite 

condition issues, the buildings retain their massing and varying amounts of their 

exterior details, with later siding common on the frame buildings (fig. 3.13). The 

two World War II-era buildings that are actively used, park headquarters (69) and 

Ecology Village gym (70), together with the vacant former Job Corps gym (74), 

have been more extensively altered with new siding and windows. In the west 

barracks area, the only World War II-era building or structure remaining is the 

inactive sewage treatment tank, which the park is also planning on demolishing. 

Approximately twenty buildings and structures post-date 1945. Most are minor 

buildings except for the Gateway Environmental Education Center (272) and the 

park police headquarters (275), both built in c.1968. Although not within National 

Park Service property, the large Department of Defense buildings constructed 

in 1975 on the former seaplane base are conspicuous in the setting of the South 

Administrative Area. 

List of Buildings and Structures Features

(First name is original designation, followed by current name)

60. Sewage Treatment Tank (c.1942)

62. Barracks Number 2 (c.1942)

69. CPO Barracks No.5, Jamaica Bay Unit Headquarters (c.1942)

70. West Recreation Building, Ecology Village Gym (c.1944)

72. Marine Barracks Number 15 (c.1942)

74. Enlisted Men’s Recreation Building, Former Job Corps Gym (c.1942)

75. Pump Station A (c.1942)

85. Laundry (1942, c.1944)

86. Power Plant A (1942)

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

342

88. South Service Substation (c.1942)

101. Fuel Oil Storage Substation 2 (c.1942)

102. Water Storage Pump House (c.1942)

129. Mess Hall, Former Job Corps Center (c. 1952)

130. Barracks, Former Job Corps Center (c. 1952)

131. Barracks, Former Job Corps Center (c. 1952)

132. Heating Plant, Former Job Corps Center (c. 1952)

135. Gate House (c. 1951)

142. Marginal Wharf (c.1942)

154. Pump House (c. 1952)

157. Married Officer Quarters A (c.1942)

158. Married Officer Quarters B (c.1942)

179. Water Storage Tank (c.1942)

180. Water Storage Tank (c.1942)

207. Main Entrance Sentry Booth (1960)

250. Handball courts (c.1942)

258. Garage & Crash Fire Station, Park Maintenance Shop (c. 1958)

267. Relocated barracks, housing (c.1942, 1960)

268. Married Officer Quarters C, park staff housing (c.1960)

269. Married Officer Quarters D, park staff housing (c.1960)

270. Married Officer Quarters E, park staff housing (c.1960)

272. School, Gateway Environmental Education Center (c.1968)

275. New Dispensary, Park Police Headquarters (c. 1968)

403. Jamaica Bay Bulkhead (c.1942). See Airfield Character Area.

408. Archery Range Shelter (c.1980)

409. Nursery Comfort Station (c.2006)

410. Nursery Shed (c.1980)

411. Nursery Greenhouse (c.1980)

412. Ecology Village Comfort Station (2006)

413. Visitor Parking Area Comfort Station (2006)

414. Sewage Plant Buildings (post-1945)

Views and Vistas 

Historic Condition: The South Administrative Area was characterized by broad 

views during World War II made possible by the level topography, lack of trees, 

and broad expanses of the airfield and adjoining water. Buildings and structures 

within the area do not appear to have been designed to capture specific views, but 

the Navy probably considered visual connection to the airfield important for the 

operation of the air station. Taxiway 7, leading to the seaplane parking apron along 

Rockaway Inlet, was designed with a clear sight line. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: In the years after transfer of the field to 

the National Park Service in 1972, the growth of planted and successional woods 
343 

and trees blocked many of the broad views out from the South Administrative 

Area. There is no visual connection from the South Administrative Area to the 

airfield. The sight line along taxiway 7 was obstructed with the addition of a berm 

along Floyd Bennett Boulevard in c.1996. 

Evaluation: The broad views that characterized the South Administrative Area 

during the World War II period have been lost due to growth of planted and 

successional woods (see fig. 3.11, 3.12). The sight line along taxiway 7 has also 

been lost. 

Small-Scale Features 

Historic Condition: During World War II, the Navy probably installed a variety 

of small-scale features within the South Administrative Area, including utility 

components such as manhole covers and vent pipes, iron bollards along the 

marginal wharf, and a perimeter chain-link fence along Flatbush Avenue. There 

were no street lights and electrical utilities were located underground. 

Post-Historic and Existing Conditions: After 1945, the Navy added smallscale features, notably a steel flagstaff with a yard arm at the entrance to the 

headquarters building (69) in c.1946, and a sign at the new entrance built in 

c.1951 that read “U.S. Naval Air Station New York, Naval and Marine Air Reserve 

Squadrons and Units Attached.” Steel streetlights were probably installed along 

the main roads outside of the flight-path clear zones around the same time, as 

well as street signs. After transfer of the field to the National Park Service in 1972, 

the park added a variety of small-scale features, many for recreational purposes. 

These included directional signs, picnic tables, garbage cans, benches, additional 

streetlights, cyclone fences, archery targets, and various other play equipment. A 

chain-link fence separates the areas managed by the park and the Department of 

Defense. This fence does not follow the property boundary. 

Evaluation: No known small-scale features remain in the South Administrative 

Area from the World War II period with the exception of the perimeter fence 

along Flatbush Avenue, and utility components such as manhole covers. There 

were apparently few small-scale features within the landscape during World War 

II. The post-1945 small-scale features in the South Administrative Area were 

not inventoried for this project with the exception of the perimeter fence and 

headquarters building flagstaff. 

List of Small-Scale Features

SSF-1. Perimeter Fence (1941, 1942, c.2004). See Hangar Row character area.

SSF-11. Headquarters Building Flagstaff (147, c.1946)

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

344

Archeological Features 

In addition to the above-ground features listed below, there are traces of removed 

buildings visible in the ground surface in the main barracks area, some with 

remnant concrete approach walks. 

A-8. Enlisted Men’s Mess Hall Foundation (67, built c.1942, burned winter of 

1968-69)

A-9. AVGAS Storage Tank Foundations (187, 188, built c.1942, removed post1972)

ENDNOTES

1. National Park Service, “National Register Information System Database,” National Register of Historic Places, http: //

www.cr.nps.gov/nr/research/nris.htm; Richard Greenwood and Ricardo Terres, “National Register of Historic Places 

Inventory Nomination Form, Floyd Bennett Field Historic District” (National Park Service North Atlantic Region, drafted 

30 June 1976, revised April 1978).

2 National Register Nomination Form, Floyd Bennett Field, Section 8, 1.

3 Criterion 1 relates to National Register Criterion A, while Criterion 5 does not have a direct relation to the National 

Register Criteria; Criterion 5 states the property is “composed of integral parts of the environment not sufficiently 

significant by reason of historical association or artistic merit to warrant individual recognition but collectively compose an 

entity of exceptional historical or artistic significance, or outstandingly commemorate or illustrate a way or life or culture.”

4 John W. Roberts, Acting Chief, National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program, to 

William Nelligan, Cultural Resources Management Specialist, Gateway National Recreation Area, August 2005 [day not 

indicated on letter]. 

5 Roberts to Nelligan.

6 Roberts to Nelligan; Bob Page, Director, NPS Olmsted Center, communication with author, 17 November 2008.

7 Except where noted, sources of information are cited in the site history chapter. 

8 This area of significance is indicated on the existing National Register form, but is not supported in the statement of 

significance.

9 Eusebio Garcia Palacios, “National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Rockwell Field Historic District” 

(National Park Service, Unpublished document, 1990), Section 8, 4. 

10 M. L. Shettle, Jr. United Stated Naval Air Stations of World War II, Volume I: Eastern States, (Bowersville, Georgia: 

Schaertel Publishing Co., 1995), 7.

11 These recommendations reflect the findings of the Cultural Landscape Inventory for Floyd Bennett Field (2008), 

although the district boundaries are slightly different with respect to the flight path clear-zones. 

12 In the event that the recommendations to amend the existing National Register documentation are carried out, the 

existing historic district should still be revised to include the southeastern portion of runway 12-30, which falls within the 

original airport’s boundaries.

13 National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 15, How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation, 44.
345 

14 Robert Page, Cathy Gilbert, and Susan Dolan. A Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and Techniques, 

(Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Cultural Resource and Stewardship and 

Partnerships, Park Historic Structures and Cultural Landscapes Program, 1998).

15 National Park Service, “Electrical Primary Distribution Site Plan Design Alternatives Floyd Bennett Field” (Drawing 

646, December 1985).

16 Mangi Environmental Group and Lone Tree Archeology and Environmental, Inc., “Jamaica Bay Unit Archaeological 

Overview and Assessment” (Draft report prepared for the National Park Service, September 2005).

17 National Register Nomination Form, Floyd Bennett Field, Section 8, 2.

18 Several other buildings existed north of runway 6-24 during the historic period, including a pistol range that featured a 

range house (105) and five shooting houses, and a direction finder station (119). The sites of these buildings are within the 

historic district because they were within the flight-path clear zones.

Analysis and Evaluation
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

346
56

55 52 53

Ammunitions

magazines

all vacant/overgrown

0’ 200’ 400’

Site of south 

parking lot

Site of rustic light

standards

Site of hedges

Aviator Sports

& Recreation assigned area

Site of cast-iron

light standards

403

SEE INSET

142 Marginal wharf

Doppler 

tower area 

Archery

range

Park 

entrance

C-11 Former runway 15-33 (Taxiway 10)

LU-4 North 40 

Natural Area

100

C-20

89

94 91 90A-B

96

98 97 99

178

V-4 Airfield grasslands C-1

C -16 Taxiways 1 and 2 (former runway 6-24)

C-12 Runway 1-19

C-13 Runway 12-30

C-28

C-24 

C-14 Runway 6-24

C-3

C-17 Taxiway 4

C-17 Taxiway 5

C-17 Taxiway 6

C-31 Taxiway 7

C-19

57

126

30

26

CG-400

120

54

50

168

169

273

274

217

 405

401

404

C-23

SO-5 Airfield 

SO-9 Taxiway 6 Utility Area

174

C-30

SO-8 Maintenance Area

LU-2

Community 

Gardens

C-15

V-4 

Jersey

barriers,

berm

A-4

LU-1

Camps Tamarack 

and Goldenrod

106

109

111

113 114

115 116

117

LU-6

135

88

60

258

70

69

A-6

74 75

101

86

85

102

272

250

275

207

72 62

409 

A-2

406

C-41

C-32

C-33

C-34

411

408

SSF-1

112

110

Nursery

278

LU-1 Ecology Village

campgrounds

V-5 Pine woods Site of dirigible 

landing area

T-1 (typ.) C-15 C-1

C-1

C-4 

C-17

Taxiway 3 SO-1 Hangar Row

4

6

5

C-5 

NYC Police 

Department

Aviation Unit

Assigned

Area

NYC Department 

of Sanitation

Assigned Area

V-4 

C-21

SO-3

SO-6

C-5

Proposed

expanded

National Register

district boundary

CG-401

Approximate north edge 

of airfield turf in 1945

(former airport north boundary)

Site of

Sperry

floodlight

tower

Site of

Sperry

floodlight

tower

NYPD area C-18 Taxiway 8

T-1 (typ.)

NS-1 

Site of

rifle

range

Site of 

Navy AmmunitionsCommunication

Area

Site of 150-foot

tall radio

towers (4)

C-2

158

267

268, 269, 270

Site of

tetrahedron

Site of

rocking platform

Soil cement

Soil cement

Soil cement

Soil cement

Site of Navy recreation area

196-198

Dept. of Interior-Dept. of Defense

property boundary (approximate)

White mask corresponds to defacto

DOI-DOD management boundary

following fence line 

LU-5

SO-7 Naval Aviation

Patrol Base Area

Site of seaplane runway 18-36

Public entrance road

205

A-3 A-1

A-6 A-7

A-5

C-21

C-21

76

77

78

79

61

71

132

129 131

130

157

68

73

64

65

63

87

179

180

187188

192-195

Site of 

contractor’s pier

35 49

125

41

23 24

38

93 92

104 95

Hangar

B

CWF-1

3

H-7

H-8

H-5

H-6

H-3

H-4

H-1

H-2

154

58

59

80 82

81

1

C-15

C-4 

SO-2 Maintenance-Barracks Area

Aviator Sports infill building

C-22

C-25

C-25

Site of Navy

picnic area

Historic limits of

parking lot

126

SSF-8

403

Mulch piles

C-27

C-26

C-26

C-29

C-29

C-26

260

LU-4 North 40 

Natural Area

Police

memorial

garden

CG-402

Site of open coal storage

119

105

108

107

118

LU-7: Polytechnic

University

athletic fields

LU-8: Remotecontrol

race track

Ecology

Village

gym

67

C-38

124

123

122

C-35 C-38

C-36

C-4

412 C-37 (typ.)

V-8

V-11 V-11

V-11

V-10 (typ.)

V-9 (typ.)

NS-1 

T-1 

410

C-38

414

403

SSF-1

SSF-1

SSF-1

413

A-7

C-40

C-39

403

V-6

C-2

C-5

C-5

4

5

NS-2

LU-3

Model Airplane 

Flying Field

C-31 Taxiway 7

C-23

C-21

C-21

C-21

V V-2 (typ.)

NS-1

NS-1

NS-2

NS-2

NS-1

NS-1

C-1

407

V-7

403

NS-3

NS-1

NS-1

C-32

Floyd Bennett Boulevard

Ranger Road

Enterprise Ave.

Indep. Ln.

Aviation Road

SSF-11

(US

 DOT)

Site of 

rotating platforms

B A R R E N I S L A N D

F L O Y D B E N N E T T F I E L D 

Flatbush Avenue 

NPS

City of New York

C5

 Parking lot

C2 Hangar Row apron

V-1

SSF-3

SSF-4

SSF-2

1

C9 North parking lot

C8 Center parking lot

Site of gate area

 Parade ground

C6

C-10

Site of wartime

guard booths/gates

Site of

wartime

fence

SSF-6

29

Site of entry drive

V-2

Site of hedges, 

shrubs

Blue Nose

hangar

walks

Mulch

over 

runway

Mulch

over 

runway

Site of 

storage

yard

CG13 CG2

CG3

CG8

CG-12

CG1

CG7

SSF-10

SSF-9

C5 

Parking lot

402

176

H-6

58 27

28

46

51 Entrance road

Entrance road

V V-1

V-3

44

48

55

Site of 

tunnel hatches

2

47

Expanded apron (c.1965)

Site of 

test backstop

Site of ammo.

storage locker

CWF-2

SS-x

Entrance to Marine Corps Reserve Center

To former

seaplane 

parking area

SSF-6

SO-4

C6

C7

C7

SSF-5

SSF-5

Drawing 3.1

DRAWN BY

John Auwaerter and Sarah K. Cody

Illustrator CS3, 2008

Cultural Landscape Report

for Floyd Bennett Field

Gateway National Recreation Area

Brooklyn, New York

LEGEND

Features added since 1945 (white mask) 

Features removed since 1945 

1945 flight-path clearance line

Property boundary

Building/structure, inventory number

Paved circulation 

Unpaved circulation 

Piles

Fence, light

Woods, specimen tree

Berm, mulched pavement

Lawn or managed grassland

Upland, low scrub

Marsh

Open water

OLMSTED

for LANDSCAPE PRESERVATION

CENTER

SOURCES

National Park Service

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

www.nps.gov/oclp

in partnership with: 

Department of Landscape Architecture

SUNY College of Environmental 

Science and Forestry

NOTES

1. Plan evaluates existing conditions with 1945 conditions

at end of World War II (proposed revised period of signif.).

2. All features shown in approximate scale and location.

2. Feature evaluation not comprehensive outside of 

historic distict.

4. Plan does not show minor park structures (sheds, shelters,

tent platforms, etc.),furniture (benches, picnic tables), 

and building remnants. 

5. Landscape outside of project area (masked) not

evaluated.

x x x

Analysis and Evaluation

1. CLR Drawings 1.3, 2.1

2. Field survey, 2006-2008

Character Areas Legend

Hangar Row

Airport Entrance

Airfield

Aviation Patrol Base

Coast Guard Air Station

Area North of District North 40 Natural Area

Area South of District South Administrative Area

48

0’ 400’ 800’ 1200’ 1600’

349 

Preliminary Treatment Recommendations

IV. Preliminary Treatment Recommendations

The landscape of Floyd Bennett Field has witnessed many changes since its 

development as New York City’s first municipal airport between 1928 and 

1941, and its expansion into Naval Air Station New York during World War II. 

Among airports where change is a constant due to shifts in technology, increasing 

traffic volumes, and commercial pressures, Floyd Bennett Field remains a rare 

surviving example of a first generation municipal airport. The landscape today 

also illustrates its redevelopment as Naval Air Station (NAS) New York, which 

served as a key facility in the World War II home front. While the changes 

made by the Navy were extensive, they did not remove most of the original 

municipal airport infrastructure. The World War II naval landscape remains 

largely intact thanks also due to its relatively brief history as a major naval facility. 

Except for improvements during the Korean War, the field largely served as a 

secondary reserve base that required relatively few changes to the airfield prior to 

decommissioning in 1971. 

Since its acquisition of Floyd Bennett Field in 1972, the National Park Service 

has worked to fulfill its recreation and natural-resource conservation objectives 

in a relatively inhospitable environment of concrete, asphalt, barren fields, and 

enormous buildings. These challenges have led to changes in the landscape, 

including deterioration and removal of buildings, obstruction of runways and 

taxiways, construction of public amenities, and conversion of open field to woods. 

The recent rehabilitation of Hangar Row into a sports facility is the most recent of 

many changes to the field’s numerous buildings, aircraft circulation features, and 

vast open spaces. 

Despite its conversion to a recreational park more than three decades ago, 

the landscape still conveys its aviation origins, although partly obscured. The 

park has long recognized the significance of Floyd Bennett Field’s history as 

a municipal airport, and focused its initial preservation efforts as directed in 

the park’s 1980 Development Concept Plan on the major municipal airport 

buildings—the Administration Building and its flanking hangars lining Flatbush 

Avenue. In response, features added after 1941, many built during World War II, 

were removed from Hangar Row. Over the past decade, however, the park has 

also begun to recognize the significance of the field’s later resources that reflect 

its important role in the World War II home front. During this same time, the 

National Park Service has broadened its preservation efforts to include cultural 

landscapes. These shifts, together with the comprehensive history documented in 

this report, should help to forge a new management approach for Floyd Bennett 

Field that provides a more comprehensive approach to preservation of its unique 

cultural landscape in the context of current park operations. This approach will be 
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

350

defined in a new General Management Plan presently being developed for all of 

Gateway National Recreation Area.

Once the new General Management Plan is completed, a cultural landscape 

treatment plan (Cultural Landscape Report Part II: Treatment) should be 

developed to implement the prescribed management direction for Floyd Bennett 

Field. In the interim, however, the research for this report has revealed a number 

of treatment issues and tasks that would enhance the historic character of the 

landscape. The report has also identified additional research needed to fully 

inform treatment of the landscape. 

The following landscape treatment recommendations, based on the findings of 

the Site History, Existing Conditions, and Analysis & Evaluation chapters, provide 

preliminary guidance prior to completion of the new General Management Plan 

and Cultural Landscape Report Part II: Treatment. These recommendations 

pertain to the landscape within the proposed expanded boundaries of the Floyd 

Bennett Field Historic District encompassing the airfield, Hangar Row, the 

Aviation Patrol Base, and the Coast Guard Air Station. The recommendations 

address an overall treatment approach and general treatment issues that affect 

the historic character of the landscape. These issues also address planned 

construction projects, notably the replacement of approximately eight miles 

of primary electrical cables that provide power to the field’s main buildings 

(PMIS 77297), and proposed construction of two new Flatbush Avenue 

entrances based on a park transportation study completed in March 2006. These 

recommendations will require further development in the Cultural Landscape 

Report Part II: Treatment. 

Treatment of the Floyd Bennett Field cultural landscape is presently addressed in 

three main documents: General Management Plan (1979), Development Concept 

Plan (1980, revised 1983), and Facility and Recreation Use Plan (1993). The General 

Management Plan gives a broad outline of a plan to fully redevelop Floyd Bennett 

Field. The plan emphasizes creating a balance between natural and cultural 

resources by dividing the site into different management zones. The Development 

Concept Plan identifies three main areas of focus for the Floyd Bennett Field 

landscape: conservation of natural resources, interpretation of cultural resources, 

and integrating existing institutions in New York City into new uses on the 

site. The Facility and Recreation Use Plan also addresses the need to establish 

programs to preserve the natural and cultural resources, but emphasizes the need 

for recreational opportunities. None of the existing documents provides direct 

guidance on the stewardship of the landscape as a cultural resource. The National 

Park Service produced these documents at a time when cultural landscape 

preservation was first emerging. While these planning documents provide a good 
351 

foundation, they were written at a time when the theories and practices of cultural 

landscape preservation were just being developed. The opportunity now exists to 

reassess the outlined objectives and suggest treatment alternatives that preserve 

and enhance the historic character of the landscape as the park continues to work 

toward adapting Floyd Bennett Field to new uses. 

More recently, the private Van Alen Institute sponsored a public design 

competition, “Envisioning Gateway” that called for redesigning Floyd Bennett 

Field.1

 The competition produced a number of design proposals that call for major 

interventions and changes. While future management documents such as the 

General Management Plan or Cultural Landscape Report Part II: Treatment, may 

consider design proposals generated by this completion, it should be recognized 

that the entrants were not provided with comprehensive documentation on the 

history and significance of the cultural landscape. 

Treatment approach

Based on the recommendations in the Analysis & Evaluation chapter, treatment 

of the landscape should aim to maintain and enhance the character of the Floyd 

Bennett Field historic district as it evolved through the end of World War II in 

1945, in keeping with the proposed expanded period of significance (1928-1945) 

and expanded boundaries. This treatment period represents a shift from current 

management that focuses on the municipal airport period that ended in 1941. 

The 1945 date will allow for interpretation of both the municipal airport and 

World War II periods because the Navy improvements were largely additive, 

leaving much of the municipal airport landscape intact. Treatment should support 

interpretation of the layered character of the landscape, conveying the story 

of its initial development as New York City’s first municipal airport and site of 

record-breaking flights, and its subsequent redevelopment into NAS New York 

and important role in the World War II home front. As part of this treatment 

approach, it is not necessary to remove post-1945 resources from the landscape, 

especially those related to continued military use through 1971. Later military 

features can provide insight into the field’s use during the Cold War while also 

providing a tangible connection between past and present—the history of what 

has happened since 1945.

Due to the extensive alterations undertaken by the Navy during World War II, 

it would be difficult to manage the landscape for its municipal airport character, 

except in one area. It would be appropriate to treat the airport entrance area 

according to an earlier treatment date of 1941 to focus interpretation on the 

municipal airport period. While creating two different treatment periods is 

generally not appropriate, it would work here for several reasons. This entrance 

Preliminary Treatment Recommendations
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

352

landscape was a distinctive and central part of the municipal airport, but during 

World War II largely served as a backyard to Administration Building, the reverse 

of its function prior to 1941. The Navy did not significantly change the entrance 

during the war with the exception of adding one building (48) and security 

fencing along Flatbush Avenue, and possibly removing the airport entrance 

sign.2

 The entrance area is also relatively contained through its framing by the 

Administration Building and hangars, a condition that would avoid contradiction 

with interpretation of the larger landscape to 1945. Retention of the existing 

reconstructed sign, removal of the fencing, restoration of the original planting 

plan, and reconstruction of the field house (building 2) would allow the park to 

continue its work at reestablishing the character of the airport entrance during the 

municipal airport period, a goal it has been working toward over the past decade. 

Current planning documents largely focus preservation efforts at Hangar Row. 

Future efforts should instead take a comprehensive approach toward enhancing 

the historic character of the entire historic district, including the maintenance 

and barracks area at the south end of Hangar Row; the airfield with its runways, 

taxiways, and open field; the Naval Aviation Patrol Base with its hangar, apron, 

seaplane ramp, and maintenance buildings; and the Coast Guard Air Station 

with its original hangar and garage. Treatment should follow the Secretary of the 

Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. Given the need to 

adapt the field to contemporary uses, including recreation, interpretation, and 

natural resource conservation, the following Standards for Rehabilitation would be 

the most appropriate general treatment for the landscape: 

1. A property shall be used as it was historically or be given a new use that 

requires minimal change to its distinctive features, spaces, and spatial 

relationships.

2. The historic character of a property is to be retained and preserved. 

The removal of distinctive materials or alterations of features, spaces, and 

spatial relationships that characterize a property is to be avoided.

3. Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, 

and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as 

adding conjectural features or elements from other historic properties, shall 

not be undertaken.

4. Changes to a property that has acquired historic significance in its own 

right shall be retained and preserved.
353 

5. Distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or 

examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property shall be preserved.

6. Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. 

Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive 

feature, the new shall match the old in design, color, texture and where 

possible, materials. Replacement of missing features shall be substantiated by 

documentary and physical evidence.

7. Chemical or physical treatments, if appropriate, shall be undertaken 

using the gentlest means possible. Treatments that cause damage to historic 

materials shall not be used. 

8. Archeological resources shall be protected and preserved in place. If such 

resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.

New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall 

not destroy historic materials, features, and spatial relationships that 

characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the 

old and shall be compatible with the historic materials, features, size, scale, 

proportion, and massing to protect the integrity of the property and its 

environs. 

9. New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be 

undertaken in such a manner that, if removed in the future, the essential 

form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be 

unimpaired. 3

While returning aviation to Floyd Bennett Field may not be feasible, 

contemporary uses should follow the aviation constraints that historically shaped 

the distinctive character of the landscape. These constraints included keeping 

runways and taxiways free of obstructions, locating buildings and vertical 

structures outside of flight-path clear zones, maintaining aircraft access to the 

hangars, keeping sight lines open along the runways and across the airfield, and 

maintaining panoramic views from the control tower in the Administration 

Building. New uses should utilize historic features where feasible, rather than 

require new construction. 

While the North 40 Natural Area and South Administrative Area are excluded 

from the recommended expansion of the Floyd Bennett Field Historic District 

due to a lack of historic integrity, both areas remain part of its setting. Application 

of the treatment approach for the historic district would also be appropriate for 

management of these areas as cultural resources. This approach would also help 

Preliminary Treatment Recommendations
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

354

preserve historic features that do remain in these areas that may be eligible for 

National Register listing under areas of significance separate from the cultural 

landscape. 

general treatment issues and recommended tasks

The following section outlines key treatment issues that affect the historic 

character of the expanded Floyd Bennett Field Historic District landscape. 

These issues generally apply to all of the character areas within the district. Each 

of the issues includes a bulleted list of related tasks that should be considered 

in development of the new General Management Plan and Cultural Landscape 

Report Part II: Treatment and in management of the landscape in the interim. 

Refer to Drawing 3.1 (Analysis and Evaluation plan) for location of features 

discussed in the text.

Proposed Electrical Service Replacement

The project to replace the nearly eight miles of underground electrical cables at 

Floyd Bennett Field (PMIS 77297) is presently in the planning stages and a final 

design has not been selected as of 2008. In-kind replacement of the existing cables 

and related infrastructure would be the most appropriate approach in terms of the 

landscape. During the historic period, all electrical lines and other utilities were 

underground. There were no overhead electrical lines at Floyd Bennett Field or 

even street lights, apparently to reduce obstructions to aircraft. 

•	 Avoid use of overhead utility lines, especially within historic flight-path 

clear zones.

•	 Avoid construction of new above-ground facilities, such as electrical 

vaults. If necessary, new vaults should be compatible in design and 

location to the historic vaults (such as buildings 57, 117, 120).

•	 Avoid addition of electrical equipment on the exterior of historic 

buildings. 

Loss of Historic Circulation Patterns

A key characteristic of the airfield that has been diminished over the past two 

decades is the aviation circulation system. Today, it is difficult to understand how 

planes moved around in the landscape due to covering of runways with mulch 

and vegetation; construction of vehicular roads and parking lots on runways, 

taxiways and aprons; and blocking of runways with berms and concrete barriers. 

The park added many of these features to control drag racing, accommodate 

visitor parking, and to reestablish natural conditions. Most of the changes were 
355 

additive and therefore reversible, but further study will be needed to address 

alternative solutions to the natural resource and operations problems that the 

changes were intended to address. The park’s recent transportation study, 

“Jamaica Bay Transportation Studies Development Concept Plan/Environmental 

Assessment/Assessment of Effect” (National Park Service and Federal Highway 

Administration, March 2006), should be revisited to incorporate the objective of 

retaining and enhancing the historic circulation system. Because it was completed 

before this cultural landscape report, this study lacked documentation on the 

history and significance of the landscape. 

In general, vehicular circulation should be kept to the historic roadway system, 

with the taxiway system as the secondary vehicular route. Building of new 

asphalt roads over the runways (as was done in c.1996 with the existing public 

access road) should be avoided. Parking should use parking areas that existed 

historically, or be incorporated without obscuring historic paved surfaces. Vertical 

features that interrupt the historic circulation patterns and original pavement, 

such as guiderails, light standards, curbs, berms, bleachers, and buildings, should 

be avoided. Recommended tasks include: 

•	 Remove berms (T-1) and concrete barriers that currently block taxiways 

and runways. Access may be controlled with less visually obtrusive 

features, such as narrow guiderails or bollards that would maintain the 

visual continuity of the circulation.

•	 Remove mulch/vegetation cover over the runways. 

•	 Remove the public access road on runway 15-33 (taxiway 7/10, C-11). 

Reestablish Aviation Road (C-4) as the vehicular connection from 

Hangar Row to the South Administrative Area, as it was historically. The 

intersection of Aviation Road and Floyd Bennett Boulevard is blocked by 

a berm. 

•	 Remove or redesign parking lots and access roads on the Hangar Row 

apron, especially along the east side of the Administration Building that 

was the site of the municipal airport boarding-gate area and the World 

War II parade ground. Visitor parking should be accommodated within 

the three historic lots in the airport entrance area. Parking on the aprons 

for Aviator Sports would be best accommodated by simple striping of the 

original concrete surface. 

•	 Relocate New York City Police vehicle storage currently along the 

southeast half of runway 12-30 to another location, such as the vacant 

north half of the Aviation Patrol Base apron or outside of the historic 

district in the South Administrative Area. Remove the chain-link fence 

that encloses the runway.

Preliminary Treatment Recommendations
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

356

Proposed New Flatbush Avenue Entrances

One of the main alterations to the existing circulation system of Floyd Bennett 

Field proposed in the “Jamaica Bay Transportation Studies Development Concept 

Plan” (2006) is the construction of new entrances off Flatbush Avenue. The report 

identified Alternative D (Multi-Access) as the “NPS Preferred Alternative.” Under 

this alternative, the park would build two new entrances to Floyd Bennett Field 

off Flatbush Avenue: one at the north end of Hangar Row approximately 1,500 

feet south of the Shore (Belt) Parkway as a dedicated entrance to Aviator Sports 

& Recreation; and the second at the airport entrance area, aligning with taxiway 

1-2 (original runway 6-24) that would intersect Flatbush Avenue just south of the 

existing south diagonal entrance drive. The new road through the entrance area 

would consist of a two-lane twenty-six foot wide roadway extending across the 

former south parking area (now lawn) and Hangar Row apron. According to the 

report, this entrance would “...create a grand, park-like entrance adjacent to the 

gated, historic entrance loop in front of the Ryan Visitor Center.” 4 The existing 

park entrance (Floyd Bennett Boulevard) would also be retained under this 

preferred alternative. 

Overall, the most historically appropriate location for new entrances off Flatbush 

Avenue would be historic entrances, including the diagonal entrance drives (C6), the World War II entrance drive (C-3) or airport south boundary road (C-1) 

south of Hangar Row, or the Patrol Road (C-21) north of Hangar Row. There were 

also secondary entrances within the airport entrance area and north of Hangar 

Row (see Drawing 1.2, Municipal Airport Period) that may be appropriate for 

introducing new vehicular entrances. 

The general location of the dedicated Aviator Sports & Recreation entrance is 

compatible with the historic character of the landscape because it could tie into 

the existing Patrol Road (C-21) and avoid impacts to the Hangar Row apron (C2). The proposed visitor center entrance, however, would significantly detract 

from the historic character of the landscape in a number of ways. It would disrupt 

the symmetry of the airport entrance landscape, alter the historic isolation of the 

airport entrance area from the adjoining airfield, preclude possible restoration of 

the south parking lot (now lawn), further break up the circulation patterns of the 

Hangar Row apron (former passenger boarding area and Navy parade ground), 

and confuse the historic distinction between vehicular and aircraft circulation 

through extension of taxiway 1-2 (original runway 6-24). 

Reestablishment of vehicular circulation off Flatbush Avenue into the airport 

entrance area has, however, the potential to enhance the historic character of 

the landscape by returning activity to the now-closed entrance. Alternatives to 

the proposed new visitor entrance drive should be explored to avoid altering 
357 

the historic design of this landscape (see also preceding recommendations 

under “Loss of Historic Circulation System). These may include (in order of 

appropriateness): 

•	 Reopening of the diagonal entrance drives, with the short drives to the 

north and south of the Administration Building providing access to the 

Hangar Row apron. This option should be explored as part of an overall 

plan to reestablish the historic circulation patterns within the airport 

entrance area, including the north and south parking lots (C-9).

•	 Reopening of the World War II entrance drive (C-3) or airport south 

boundary road (C-1) at the south end of Hangar Row, which could tie 

into a reopened Aviation Road (C-4) to provide access to the visitor 

center.

•	 Use of the proposed north entrance (Aviator Sports) as the public 

entrance to the visitor center.

Balancing Natural and Cultural Resource Values

One of the most visible changes to the Floyd Bennett Field landscape is the woods 

that have grown up on formerly open field, mostly through natural succession. 

Successional woods have altered the historic open spatial character of the airfield 

and its critical sight lines. The woods have also lent the landscape a poorly 

maintained and overgrown character, especially where woods are encroaching on 

roads, buildings, and taxiways. Another change has occurred through the natural 

maritime systems of Jamaica Bay, Mill Basin, and Rockaway Inlet that have slowly 

eroded the bulkheads and landfill of the field. Finding a balance between cultural 

and natural resources will require thoughtful consideration by park planners given 

the field’s extensive acreage, limited budget, and location in a sensitive ecosystem. 

Recommended tasks include: 

•	 Remove or reduce the successional woods in the airfield, at a minimum 

from the flight-path clear zones. A possible solution may be to replace 

the woods by enlarging the managed grasslands that presently exist. 

While not the mown turf that existed historically on most of the airfield, 

the natural grasslands maintain the open character of the airfield and 

its historic sight lines while also providing rich wildlife habitat and 

minimizing maintenance (mowing). In some ways, the grasslands better 

approximate the native tidal estuary habitat that existed prior to the 

airfield than do the successional woods. 

•	 Provide a sense of the mown character of the airfield by establishing 

mowing strips, perhaps ten to twenty feet wide, along the runways and 

Preliminary Treatment Recommendations
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

358

taxiways. This limited mowing would also help to return the historically 

well-maintained character to the airfield.

•	 Replace timber and steel bulkheads in-kind in order to maintain the 

historic limits of the filled landmass. Reinforcing the bulkheads with 

stone rip-rap preserves the landmass and adjoining features, such as the 

Naval Aviation Patrol Base apron in the short term, but over time will 

allow continued erosion of the landfill as the bulkheads deteriorate. 

•	 Remove or replace the pine woods at the Ecology Village campgrounds, 

which were planted in c.1974 and are now declining. Although the pines 

are mostly outside of the flight-path clear zone, they are incompatible 

with the historic open character of the airfield and block sightlines along 

taxiway 4 and views from the control tower. Replacement of the pines 

with shrubs or small trees would be more appropriate to the historic 

character of the landscape and provide campers with a sense of the 

unique character of Floyd Bennett Field. It would also be appropriate 

to relocate the campgrounds to the North 40 Natural Area along with 

Camps Tamarack and Goldenrod, or to the wooded area off taxiway 7 in 

the South Administrative Area. 

Detracting Features and New Construction

While new features may be necessary given contemporary uses, they should 

be designed to be compatible with the historic character of the landscape, yet 

distinguishable from historic features. If the need arises for new buildings and 

structures, these should be located within the historic building clusters defined 

by the flight-path clear zones, and outside of historic circulation systems. New 

construction should also respect the historic spatial organization of the landscape. 

Footprints of lost historic buildings would be the most appropriate sites for 

new buildings and structures. The Navy’s standards for temporary World War 

II construction, using clapboard siding, double-hung windows, and low able or 

hipped roofs, would be an appropriate vocabulary for new construction, such as 

comfort stations and utility buildings. 

As noted in the cultural landscape evaluation, a number of features built by the 

National Park Service and others since opening of the park detract from the 

historic character of the landscape. 

Recommended tasks include: 

•	 Relocate comfort stations 405 and 406 outside of the clear zones adjacent 

to runway 6-24 and taxiway 6; move comfort station 401 off the Hangar 
359 

Row apron. These locations conflict with historic aircraft circulation 

patterns. 

•	 Relocate the Doppler radar tower outside of the flight-path clear zone 

for runway 12-30 (under separate federal ownership). An appropriate 

location would be the site of the radio towers in the North 40 Natural 

Area. 

•	 Remove the Aviator Sports chiller building (402) and air-conditioning 

towers, which block the aircraft doors to Hangar 6 and intrude on the 

setting of the airport entrance area. A more appropriate location would 

be to the north of hangars 7-8 near the Aviator Sports fields.

•	 Remove the Victorian-style water fountains, benches, and Central Parkstyle light standards (SSF-2, 5) from the airport entrance area. Replace 

the light standards with reproductions of the historic standards. If it 

is necessary to install features that did not exist historically such as 

benches, water fountains, and bike racks, use contemporary designs that 

either recede in the landscape or that recall early twentieth-century park 

furniture used in city and state parks in New York. 

•	 Remove the black metal-picket fence (SSF-6) along the outer edges of the 

diagonal entrance drives that divides the airport entrance space. If the 

airport entrance is managed according to a 1941 treatment date, no fence 

should be installed in this area. If a fence is necessary, it would be more 

appropriate to locate it along Flatbush Avenue where there was a fence 

during World War II. 

Lost Historic Landscape Features

A number of character-defining features have been lost from the landscape 

since 1945. While preservation of extant historic features must be a priority, 

consideration should be given to reestablishing character-defining landscape 

features if resources permit. Recommended tasks include: 

•	 Reestablish historic plantings in the airport entrance area, including the 

hedges and shrubs along the entrance drives and foundation plantings 

around the Administration Building. Remove non-historic deciduous 

trees that line the entrance drives.

•	 Reinstall cast-iron light standards at the foot of the central entrance walk 

in the airport entrance area (these are purportedly in storage). Remove 

the existing non-historic “Central Park-style” light standards (SSF-2).

•	 Reconstruct the two rustic wood light standards that were along the east 

edge of the lawn in the airport entrance area. 

Preliminary Treatment Recommendations
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

360

•	 Reconstruct the municipal airport field house (building 2) that stood 

along the east side of the north parking lot in the airport entrance area. 

This building was a companion to the Administration Building. 

•	 Restore or reconstruct the four piers and two seaplane ramps along 

Jamaica Bay, which were distinctive features that reflected the naval and 

aviation origins of the property. 

If there is the need and if resources permit, it would be appropriate to reconstruct 

character-defining buildings that have been lost, notably Hangar A (23) in the 

Aviation Patrol Base, the field house (2) adjacent to the Administration Building, 

and the WAVES barracks (27) in the maintenance-barracks area south of Hangar 

Row. 

ENDNOTES

1 See http://www.vanalen.org/gateway/logistics_prog_req.php.

2 The Navy did alter the former passenger/boarding area on the Hangar Row apron east of the Administration Building by 

removing the gate and fences that delineated this area. The Navy used the apron for a parade ground. 

3 Charles A. Birnbaum and Christine Capella Peters, eds., The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of 

Historic Properties with Guidelines for the Treatment of Cultural Landscapes (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the 

Interior, 1996), 49.

4 National Park Service and U.S. Federal Highway Administration Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division, “Jamaica 

Bay Transportation Studies Development Concept Plan/Environmental Assessment/Assessment of Effect” (Unpublished 

report, 24 March 2006), 35-36.
361 

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365 

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Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

368

Contacts

Adamo, Doug. Chief of Natural Resources, Gateway National Recreation Area. 

Ciccione, Felice. Archivist, Fort Wadsworth, Gateway National Recreation Area.

Eckert, Lisa. Superintendent, Gateway National Recreation Area. 

Foppes, Kathy. Chief, Cultural Resources, Gateway National Recreation Area.

Foor, Jodi L. Navy Archivist, National Archives II.

Hallowell, John Lincoln. Park Ranger, Gateway National Recreation Area. 

Judy, Barbara. Historical Architect (former), Gateway National Recreation Area.

McCarthy, Pete. Park Ranger, Gateway National Recreation Area. 

O’Neill, Richard. Facility Manager, Jamaica Bay Unit, Gateway National 

Recreation Area. 

Salvatore, Susan. National Park Service, National Historic Landmarks Program. 
369 

Appendices

Appendix A: Research contacts

City of New York, Municipal Archives, New York

No records found pertaining to Floyd Bennett Field aside from 

documentation already held by Gateway National Recreation Area. The 

photograph collection was not researched.

Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn, New York

One holding regarding residential community proposal.

Image Database has several images of Floyd Bennett Filed dating 

primarily from the 1920s and 1930s; approximately nine are aerial photos 

and the others are a mixture of related images or detail shots.

Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection, Brooklyn, New York

Mill Basin Records by Gary Schiller. Records consist primarily of 

correspondence, clippings, leaflets, photos, and maps concerning local 

civic improvement efforts in the Mill Basin section of Brooklyn.

Gateway National Recreation Area Archives, Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, New 

York 

Originals and copies of historical photographs and plans and park 

planning documents.

Kingsborough Historical Society, Brooklyn, New York

Floyd Bennett Field Photograph Collection, 1929-1955. Includes photos 

of military airfield in Brooklyn, including WPA murals; buildings; aerial 

views; celebrities such as General Douglas MacArthur, 1955, Douglas 

Corrigan, 1938, Howard Hughes, 1938-1939, Will Rogers and Wiley Post, 

1932-1935.

National Archives and Records Administration, Archives I, Washington, D.C.

Textual information on the Coast Guard Air Station at Floyd Bennett 

Field.

National Archives and Records Administration, Archives II, College Park, 

Maryland (continued)

Appendices
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

370

Originals, copies , and three microfilm rolls of historical documents, photographs, 

maps, and plans of Floyd Bennett Field, primarily from the Navy and City of New 

York, dating to late 1920s through 1950.

Naval Historical Center, Washington Navy Yard, Washington D.C.

No materials on Floyd Bennett Field.

Naval Historical Foundation, Washington Navy Yard, Washington D.C.

Brief report documenting history of Floyd Bennett Field.

Navy collection of World War II Administrative Histories includes five 

titles that may have information pertaining to Floyd Bennett Field; these 

were not researched for this project.

New York Public Library, New York.

Historical photographs in the online Digital Gallery, http://digitalgalery.

nypl.org/nypldigital/. Searched for Barren Island, Floyd Bennett Field, 

Jamaica Bay, and Rockaway Inlet. 
371 

Appendix B: select Glossary of airport & Military 

Terms

Apron: An area, typically concrete, where aircraft are parked to be loaded 

and unloaded, refueled, and boarded by passengers. (The American Heritage 

Dictionary online, http://dictionary.reference.com.)

Commissary: A building specific to a military base that sells food and supplies to 

the personnel. (Trevor N. Dupuy, Curt Johnson, Grace P. Hayes, Dictionary of 

Military Terms.)

Compass Rose: a large paved or concrete area, typically circular, used to calibrate 

aircraft magnetic compass, which often become unaligned during flight. It is a 

feature unique to airfield. (Agricultural Aviation Update Online, “Compass Rose,” 

http://www.agairupdate.com.)

Dirigible: A term coined in 1885 for an aerostatic aircraft, also known as a lighterthan-air aircraft for its lift through hydrogen, helium, or heated air. Zeppelin was 

a brand name for rigid airships; blimps are non-rigid dirigibles. (The American 

Heritage Dictionary online, http://dictionary.reference.com; Wikipedia http://

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airship.) 

Dope Shop: A maintenance shop where water proof varnish, known as dope, is 

applied to aircraft. (English Heritage Online Thesaurus, http://thesaurus.englishheritage.org.uk/.)

Marginal Wharf: A platform, typically built on pilings and projecting into a body 

of navigable water for the purpose of loading ships, constructed parallel to the 

shoreline. (The American Heritage Dictionary online, http://dictionary.reference.

com).

Nose Hangar: a hangar that covers only the front or nose of an aircraft. (Times 

Standard Online, “New Mission Sought for WWII Hangar,” http://times-standard.

com.)

Synthetic Training Building: A military facility that provides models and 

simulations designed to support training exercises. (BAE Systems, “Hawk 

Synthetic Training Facility,” http://www.baesystems.com.)

Taxiway: An area on which the aircraft can slowly move along the ground, or taxi. 

The taxiway connects areas, such as hangars, the main passenger terminal, aprons, 

Appendices
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

372

and runways. (The American Heritage Dictionary online, http://dictionary.

reference.com.)

Tetrahedron: Also known as a hedgehog or Element C, a tetrahedron is a training 

device used to simulate beach conditions. The tetrahedron consists of three 

steel riveted rails with flattened ends to prevent sinking in the sand. (The Navy 

Historical Center, “The Invasion of Normandy, D-Day June 6, 1944.” http://www.

history.navy.mil/ac/d-day/exdday/exdday6.htm.)
373 

Appendix C: recommendations for further 

research

This Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field was scoped at a thorough 

level of research, which provided sufficient documentation on the overall 

development of the vast landscape but was inadequate to fully explore some 

details of its history and existing conditions. Documentation from manuscript 

collections was largely based on prior research for historic structures reports and 

historic resource study of Jamaica Bay, which did not focus specifically on the 

landscape. Inventory of existing conditions also proved inadequate due to lack 

of access at the North 40 Natural Area due to overgrown conditions, and to the 

Coast Guard Air Station, due to its high security status under assignment to the 

New York City Police Aviation Unit. 

The following is a list of recommendations for further research for the Site 

History, Existing Conditions, and Analysis and Evaluation chapters (see also 

Appendix A, Repositories Consulted and Results).

Site history

The following documentation would complete the site history of Floyd Bennett 

Field and enhance interpretation of the landscape. This documentation may also 

be necessary to inform the Cultural Landscape Report Part II: Treatment, but is 

not necessary for evaluation of the landscape’s historic integrity. 

•	 Documentation of plant species on 1935 planting plan in the airport 

entrance area compared with implemented plantings.

•	 Type of fence during municipal airport period around boundary of 

airport entrance area (east, north, and south sides).

•	 Existence of airport entrance sign (SSF-4) during World War II.

•	 Historic photographs or plans of rocking platform and tetrahedron 

within the airfield.

•	 Documentation on the World War II-period runway lighting system. 

•	 Documentation on changes to runway, taxiway, apron, and road 

pavements. 

•	 World War II-period ground-level photographs of the main and west 

barracks area, and the maintenance-barracks area south of Hangar Row.

•	 Original planting plan for Coast Guard hangar.

•	 Post-1937 construction history of Coast Guard Air Station.

•	 Historic photographs of the ammunitions-communications area. 

•	 Historic photographs of barracks complexes in main barracks area 

(buildings 70/76-79, 61-67, 69, 72) and west barracks area (80, 81, 82), 

and Officers’ Mess Hall (73) and its Dorothy Draper designed interior.

Appendices
Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field

374

Existing Conditions

•	 Document small-scale features (navigational and utility remnants) within 

the airfield remaining from military uses (pre-1971).

•	 Assess if there are remnants of the rocking platform and tetrahedron 

within the airfield.

•	 Document plantings around the Administration Building.

•	 Assess type of soil cement pavement in runway approaches.

•	 Check inventory of small-scale features, vegetation, and circulation 

within the Coast Guard Air Station (New York Police Aviation Unit 

assigned area). 

•	 Document high-explosive magazines and remnants of the radio towers in 

the North 40 Natural Area.

analysis and evaluation

Further research pertinent to the landscape includes the following items. 

However, this list does not include further research to assess significance in terms 

of architecture, engineering, archeology, or other areas of significance.

•	 Undertake research to assess whether Floyd Bennett Field possesses 

national significance under Criterion A in the area of transportation.

•	 Evaluate navigational and utility remnants in the airfield (SSF-7).

•	 Evaluate Coast Guard hangar plantings (V-7).

•	 Evaluate Coast Guard transformer vault (CG-12).

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation

Boston National Historical Park 

Charlestown Navy Yard, Quarters C

Boston, Massachusetts 02129

Phone: 617.241.6954

Fax: 617.241.3952

web: www.nps.gov/oclp/