Historic Floyd Bennett Field as part of Gateway NRA

Updated: February 11, 2007

An abandoned Floyd Bennett Field becomes a park?

The Navy maintained Floyd Bennett Field as a Naval Air Reserve Training Station until it was deactivated in 1971.

In 1972, the National Park Service took over Floyd Bennett Field as part of Gateway National Recreation Area. The headquarters of Gateway NRA and the Jamaica Bay Unit were established on the field, but it remained relatively abandoned except for an Armed Forces Reserve Center and the helicopter operations of the USCG Air Station Brooklyn along the bay, and the NYPD Aviation Unit along Flatbush Ave. The United States Park Police (USPP) established a headquarters at Floyd Bennett Field for their law-enforcement operations at Gateway NRA.

In 1981, the park had a 50th anniversary air show at Floyd Bennett Field. For the first time in almost 10 years, local residents were able to see aircraft flying from this airfield. Helicopters from the military, Coast Guard, the NYPD, and various government agencies, performed demonstrations and allowed visitors to see the helicopters close-up. The "Blue Nose Hangar" was filled with displays on a wide variety of aviation topics. The Administration Building and control tower were cleaned up for the first time since the military abandoned the field and visitors were allowed into the 1931 vintage art-deco building.

Several years later, the first floor of Administration Building was renovated and it was named the Ryan Visitor Center. There are currently a few historic aircraft on the field thanks to the efforts of the Historic Aircraft Restoration Facility (HARP). This volunteer organization is currently restoring these aircraft for display at the field.

See Vintage Aircraft at the Historic Aircraft Restoration Facility (HARP)

Portions of Floyd Bennett Field have also been used as an Armed Forces Reserve Center, a Job Corp training facility, the NYPD Police Academy Driver Training (PADT) and Emergency Services Unit (ESU) training site, military housing, an FAA Doppler radar site, a radio-controlled airfield, and Gateway's Ecology Village. The FDNY and Sanitation Department have used the hangars for their physical fitness tests. There is also an Armed Forces Reserve Center on the field. The USCG Air Station Brooklyn was decommissioned in May of 1998 and it's personnel and equipment were transferred to Group Air Station Atlantic City, which opened in June of 1998. The NYPD Aviation Unit moved from the original hangar along Flatbush Ave. to the former USCG Air Station hangar along the bay.

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