Complex sentence: Prior to the construction of Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, the island was considered as a site for a municipal airport, and it held a small grass strip, the Governors Island Army Airfield, from the 1950s until the 1960s.
Split into simpler sentences: Prior to the construction of Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, the island was considered as a site for a municipal airport. It did hold a small grass strip, Governors Island Army Airfield, from the 1950s until the 1960s.