Editing Floyd Bennett Field (section)

==History==
[[File:HTL-1 and XJR2F-1 (4622095120).jpg|thumb|A [[Bell HTL-1]] taking off near a [[Grumman Albatross]] prototype at Floyd Bennett Field (1948)]]

===Planning===
====Need for an airport====
Floyd Bennett Field was New York City's first municipal airport, built largely in response to the growth of commercial aviation after [[World War I]].{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=1}}<ref name="Davies 1964"/> During the 1920s, air travel in Europe was more popular than in the United States because, although Europe had a surplus of airplanes, the United States already had a national railroad system, which reduced the need for commercial aircraft.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|pp=1–2}}<ref name="Davies 1964"/>{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=7}} While other localities (such as [[Atlantic City, New Jersey]], and [[Cleveland, Ohio]]) had municipal airports, New York City had a multitude of private airfields, and thus did not see the need for a municipal airport until the late 1920s.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=3}}<ref name="Davies 1964">{{cite book|last=Davies |first=R.E.G.|title=A history of the world's airlines|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1964|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=52qmAAAAIAAJ|pages=39–55}}</ref>

The [[New York City Board of Estimate]] submitted a recommendation for a New York City municipal airport in 1925, but it was denied. Two years later, the [[Port Authority of New York and New Jersey]] announced a similar recommendation, which was largely ignored.{{sfn|Kaufman|1950|pp=149–150}} By this time, the city urgently needed an airport. This was underscored by the construction of the [[Newark Liberty International Airport|Newark Metropolitan Airport]] in 1928, as well as several transatlantic flights from the New York area that were piloted by such figures as [[Charles Lindbergh]], [[Clarence D. Chamberlin]], and [[Charles A. Levine]].{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=5}}{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=7}} Most of the nation's air traffic around this time was from [[airmail]] operations, and the [[United States Postal Service]] designated Newark Airport as the airmail terminal for the New York City area, since Newark was the region's best-equipped airport for airmail traffic.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=49}}{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=7}} New York City officials decided that an airport in the city itself was necessary, because placing the airmail terminal in Newark represented a missed opportunity to put New York City on the aviation map.{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=7}}

In mid-1927, [[Herbert Hoover]], the [[United States Secretary of Commerce]], approved the creation of a "Fact-Finding Committee on Suitable Airport Facilities for the New York Metropolitan District".{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=4}} The Hoover committee, composed of representatives from New York and New Jersey,{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=12}} identified six general locations in the metropolitan area where an airport could be built.<ref>{{cite news |title=Long Island Sites for Airports Recommended |page=5 |work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=[[Brooklyn Public Library]]; [[newspapers.com]] |date=December 31, 1927 |url=http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/83362954/ |access-date=December 20, 2017 |archive-date=December 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228171737/http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/83362954/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The committee recommended [[Middle Village, Queens|Middle Village]], in Central [[Queens]], as the first location for an airfield. Its second choice was an existing airstrip on [[Barren Island, Brooklyn|Barren Island]] in southeastern [[Brooklyn]].<ref name="DailyStar-Airport-Disfavored-1928">{{cite news |url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252015%2FBrooklyn%2520NY%2520Daily%2520Star%2FBrooklyn%2520NY%2520Daily%2520Star%25201927%2FBrooklyn%2520NY%2520Daily%2520Star%25201927%2520-%25204891.pdf |title=Barren Island Airport Disfavored – Aviation Lines Cite Fog Conditions |work=Brooklyn Daily Star |page=6 |date=February 9, 1928 |access-date=December 15, 2017 |via=[[Fultonhistory.com]]}}</ref> Another site in the eastern part of the bay, near the present-day [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|JFK Airport]], was also recommended.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=17}} At the time, the report listed three "Federal or State Fields", three "Commercial Fields", and seventeen "Intermediate Fields" in the New York metropolitan area.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=12}} Chamberlin was appointed as the city's aeronautical engineer to make the final decision on the airport's location.{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=7}}

There was much debate over where the airport should be located. U.S. Representative and future New York City mayor [[Fiorello La Guardia]], himself a former military airman,{{efn|La Guardia had been commissioned into the [[United States Army Air Service]], rising to the rank of major in command of a unit of [[Caproni Ca.44|Ca.44]] bombers on the [[Italian Campaign (World War I)|Italian-Austrian front]] in [[World War I]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Profiles in World War I Immigration History: Fiorello La Guardia | website=USCIS | date=April 6, 1917 | url=https://www.uscis.gov/history-and-genealogy/our-history/profiles-world-war-i-immigration-history-fiorello-la-guardia | access-date=November 5, 2018 | archive-date=November 6, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106004935/https://www.uscis.gov/history-and-genealogy/our-history/profiles-world-war-i-immigration-history-fiorello-la-guardia | url-status=live }}</ref>}} advocated for a commercial airport to be placed in [[Governors Island]], as it was closer to [[Manhattan]] and located in the middle of [[New York Harbor]]. He left open the possibility that the outer boroughs could also build their own local airports.<ref>{{cite web |last=LaGuardia |first=Fiorello |title=A Governors Island Airport Again is Urged – Representative LaGuardia Calls This Harbor Site Just Off the Battery the Logical Place for the Commercial Flying Station That New York Seeks |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=August 7, 1927 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/08/07/95016757.pdf | access-date=December 20, 2017}}</ref> La Guardia, along with Representative [[William W. Cohen]], introduced a motion in the [[70th United States Congress]] to establish the airport on Governors Island, but it was voted down.<ref>{{cite web |title=Acts on Governors Island – House Defeats LaGuardia – Cohen Motion Looking to Airport There |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=December 9, 1927 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/12/09/96683364.pdf | access-date=December 20, 2017}}</ref>

====Site chosen====
Chamberlin chose Barren Island as the site for the new municipal airport.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252011%2FNew%2520York%2520Evening%2520Post%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Evening%2520Post%25201928%2520Grayscale%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Evening%2520Post%25201928%2520Grayscale%2520-%25204191.pdf |title=Airport Catches Chamberlin's Eye |work=New York Evening Post |page=2 |date=June 3, 1928 |access-date=December 15, 2017 |via=[[Fultonhistory.com]] |archive-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614154006/https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2011/New%20York%20Evening%20Post/New%20York%20NY%20Evening%20Post%201928%20Grayscale/New%20York%20NY%20Evening%20Post%201928%20Grayscale%20-%204191.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="NYTimes-Sand-Waste-1930">{{cite news |title=Floyd Bennett Field Grows from Sand Waste; Municipal Airport Will Have Facilities for Both Land And Water Planes – Other Fields Rank High Battle With Sand. Two Concrete Runways. To House Services. |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=July 20, 1930 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/07/20/107112388.pdf |access-date=January 8, 2018 |archive-date=March 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331132711/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/07/20/107112388.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=17}} An isolated settlement{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=10}} on the island had been developed in the late 19th century,{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=15}} and at its peak, had been home to "several thousand" people.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=10}} A [[Garbage incineration|garbage incinerator]] and a [[glue factory]] had been located on the island.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=10}} By the 1920s, Barren Island's industrial presence had dwindled, and only a small percentage of residents remained on the island.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=13}} In 1927, a pilot named [[Paul Rizzo]] had opened the Barren Island Airport, a private airstrip, on the island.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=34}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Seitz |first1=Sharon |last2=Miller |first2=Stuart |title=The Other Islands of New York City: A History and Guide |publisher=Countryman Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-58157-886-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zRjMPZW4heMC&pg=PA257 |page=263 |edition=3rd |access-date=January 20, 2018 |archive-date=March 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331132146/https://books.google.com/books?id=zRjMPZW4heMC&pg=PA257 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Chamberlin chose the Barren Island location over Middle Village for several reasons. First, city officials had already spent $100 million between 1900 and 1927 toward constructing a [[seaport]] in Jamaica Bay, having dredged land for the proposed shipping channels.{{sfn|Kaufman|1950|p=151}}{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=12}} Chamberlin also favored the Barren Island location because of the lack of obstructions nearby, as well as the presence of Jamaica Bay, which would allow [[seaplanes]] to also use the airport.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=49}}{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=9}}{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=12}} Finally, the site was city-owned, while the land in Middle Village was not.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=49}}{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=9}}<ref name=DailyStar-Airport-Disfavored-1928/> City officials believed that an airport at Barren Island would be able to spur development of Jamaica Bay, despite the abandonment of the seaport proposal.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=49}} However, [[airline]] companies feared that the Barren Island Airport would have low visibility during foggy days,<ref name=DailyStar-Airport-Disfavored-1928/> a claim Chamberlin disputed because he said there was little history of fog in the area.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=9}}

===Construction===
In February 1928, the Board of Estimate unanimously approved Chamberlin's suggestion to build the airport at Barren Island, allotting a {{convert|380|acre|ha}} plot on Barren Island for that purpose. The project also received an appropriation of $500,000, paid for with taxes. One of the members of Hoover's Fact-Finding Committee objected because Middle Village was located at a higher elevation with less fog, while Barren Island was more frequently foggy during the spring and fall. However, Barren Island was already flat, so an airport located there would be ready for use in less time than an airport built on the hills of Middle Village.<ref name=NYTimes-Barren-Island-Airport-1928>{{cite web |title=A Barren Island Airport |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=February 4, 1928 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/02/04/91469534.pdf |access-date=December 20, 2017 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422151046/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/02/04/91469534.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=49}} After the plan was approved, two airmail companies announced that they would not move their operations from New Jersey to Barren Island, because the airmail facilities at Newark International Airport were closer to Manhattan than the proposed Barren Island Airport was.<ref name=BDE-Rooftop-Landing-Airport-1928/>

Designs for the proposed Barren Island Airport were being solicited in 1927, even before the city had given its approval of the Barren Island site. By January 1928, the [[New York City Department of Docks]] had composed its own team to create plans for the airport.{{sfn|Cody|2009|pp=53–54}} The future airport would be able to accommodate both airplanes and seaplanes. A "Jamaica Bay Channel" on the airport's east side would provide loading docks and hangars for seaplanes. The airplane hangars and an administrative building would occupy the northwest corner of the airport. Four runways would be built across the rest of the grass field.<ref name="NYTimes-Sand-Waste-1930"/><ref name=BDE-Rooftop-Landing-Airport-1928>{{cite news |title=World's First Roof-Top Landing Field to Link Downtown Brooklyn With Barren Island Airport |page=8C |work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=[[Brooklyn Public Library]]; [[newspapers.com]] |date=February 12, 1928 |url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/57563480/ |access-date=December 20, 2017 |archive-date=December 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228171742/https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/57563480/ |url-status=live }}</ref> By fall 1928, the Department of Docks had published a more detailed plan that would theoretically allow the Barren Island Airport to get an "A1A" rating, the highest rating for an airport awarded by the [[United States Department of Commerce]]. This new plan called for two perpendicular concrete runways in a "T" shape, with one being {{convert|3110|ft|m}} long and the other being {{convert|4000|ft|m}} long. An administration building, fourteen [[hangar]]s, and other maintenance facilities would be constructed on the west side of the airport, parallel to Flatbush Avenue. The rest of the airport would be a grass field.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=55}}

The Department of Docks was in charge of constructing the Barren Island Airport.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=18}} The first contract for construction was awarded in May 1928. The $583,000 contract entailed filling in or leveling {{convert|4.45|e6yd3|m3}} of soil across a {{convert|350|acre|ha|adj=on}} parcel. Sand from Jamaica Bay was used to connect the islands and raise the site to {{convert|16|ft|m}} above the high–tide mark. This contract was completed by May 1929. A subsequent contract for $75,000 involved filling in an extra {{convert|833000|yd3|m3}} of land, and was finished by the end of 1929.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|pp=13, 75}}{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=18}} In order to secure an "A1A" rating, the planners built {{convert|200|ft|m|adj=mid|-wide}} runways, twice the minimum runway width mandated by the Department of Commerce. These runways were designed for planes taking off.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=15}}{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=19}} The planners also constructed grass fields with several layers of soil, which would allow for smooth plane landings.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=18}}{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=127}} They conducted studies on other infrastructure, such as the power, sewage, and water systems, to determine what materials should be used to allow the airport to get an "AAA" rating, which was the same as an "A1A" rating.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=19}}

Barren Island Airport was renamed after the aviator [[Floyd Bennett]] in October 1928.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=25}}<ref>{{cite news |title=City Airport Urged as Site Of Floyd Bennett Monument |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=October 4, 1928 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/10/04/91712459.pdf |access-date=December 28, 2017 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422151046/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/10/04/91712459.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Floyd's wife, Cora, recalled that they had once toured Barren Island when Floyd said, "Some day, Cora, there will be an airport here."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bennett |first=Cora L |title=Floyd Bennett |location=New York |publisher=W. F. Payson |date=1932 |page=163}}</ref> Bennett and [[Richard E. Byrd]] claimed to have been the first to travel to the [[North Pole]] by airplane, having made the flight in May 1926, for which they both received the [[Medal of Honor]]. They were preparing to fly to the [[South Pole]] in 1927 when Bennett placed these plans on hold in order to rescue the crew of the ''[[Bremen (aircraft)|Bremen]]''.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=26}} Bennett died of [[pneumonia]] in April 1928, during the ''Bremen'' rescue mission, and he was subsequently buried with honors at [[Arlington National Cemetery]].{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=29}}{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=13}} Many things were named after Bennett, including the aircraft Byrd and three others flew to the South Pole in 1929 and the Barren Island Airport.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=13}}

[[File:Runway Floyd Bennett Field.JPG|thumb|left|A concrete runway at Floyd Bennett Field]]

After the field was completely filled and leveled, the two concrete runways were built. The shorter runway was numbered 15–33 while the longer runway was numbered 6–24. At the time, Runway 6–24 was the longest concrete runway in the U.S.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=57}}<ref name="NYTimes-Ready-1931">{{cite news |title=Municipal Airport is Ready; Floyd Bennett Field at Barren Island Converted From Rubbish Dump Into Modern Air Base at Cost of About $4,000,000 Chamberlin Urged Airport. Fenced to Aid Grass. Expect High Rating. Fly Glider-Kites NowLY |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=May 17, 1931 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/05/17/103213588.pdf |access-date=January 8, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422151046/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/05/17/103213588.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The {{convert|8|in|cm|adj=mid|-thick}} layer of reinforced concrete, gravel drainage strips, and extra {{convert|100|ft|m|adj=mid}} width contributed to the airport's "AAA" rating.<ref name="NYTimes-Ready-1931"/>{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|pp=79, 93}} The new airfield's runways, built at a time when most "airports" still had dirt runways and no night landings, made the airport among the most advanced of its day, as did its comfortable terminal facilities with numerous amenities.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=25}}

As work on the runways was ongoing, plans for the administration building and hangars were being revised. The number of hangars was reduced from fourteen to eight due to a lack of funds; the other six hangars were supposed to be built later, but it never happened.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=60}} After the plans were finalized in late 1929, construction started on the administration building and eight hangars.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=19}}{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=15}} Materials were shipped by boat to a temporary pier west of Flatbush Avenue.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=57}}{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|pp=93–97}} In 1930, work started on the administration building.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=60}} The administration building was erected on the west side of the field, near [[Flatbush Avenue]], and four hangars each were constructed to the north and south of the building.{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=7}}  The architect of the hangars and administration building is not documented, but Tony P. Wrenn, a preservation consultant, surmises that [[Edward C. Remson]] designed these structures.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=19}}  In 1929, builders awarded contracts for hydraulic filling operations, a wooden perimeter fence, soil placement and seeding, and runway widening.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=20}} These contracts were substantially complete by 1930.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=21}}

===Opening===
The airport dedication occurred on June 26, 1930. A crowd of 25,000 attended this aerial demonstration led by [[Charles Lindbergh]] and [[Jimmy Doolittle]]. A flotilla of 600 [[U.S. Army Air Corps]] aircraft circled the field as part of the airport dedication. [[Richard E. Byrd|Admiral Byrd]], [[Jimmy Walker|Mayor Walker]] and his wife, and Cora Bennett were present at the event.<ref name=NYTimes-DedicatesFBF-1930>{{cite news |title=Byrd Dedicates Bennett Air Field |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=June 27, 1930 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/06/27/96162776.pdf| access-date=December 28, 2017}}</ref> However, the airport was not finished at that time.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=29}} The administration building and parking areas had yet to be completed.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=61}}{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=3}} The costs of the proposed airport were increasing even as its completion was being delayed. A few days after the dedication, ''[[Brooklyn Eagle|The Brooklyn Daily Eagle]]'' reported that the airport would not be complete until 1932 and would cost $4.5 million.<ref>{{cite news |title=Floyd Bennett Field Far From Completed; Costs Are Piling Up |pages=1, 3 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=[[Brooklyn Public Library]]; [[newspapers.com]] |date=July 1, 1930 |url=http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/57394362/ |access-date=December 28, 2017 |archive-date=December 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228171738/http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/57394362/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Floyd Bennett Field was formally dedicated again on May 23, 1931, upon its official completion.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=13}}{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=30}} At the time, the Administration Building was almost finished, and the United States Navy was to occupy part of the airfield.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=30}} The dedication was attended by 25,000 people, including Chamberlain; Byrd; Captain [[John H. Towers]], who flew the first [[transatlantic flight]]; [[F. Trubee Davison]], the assistant [[United States Secretary of the Army]] for Aviation; and Colonel [[Charles Lindbergh]], who flew the first solo transatlantic flight.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=13}} Many of the attendees were also there to view the largest aircraft demonstration to date in the United States' history: that day, 597 aircraft flew over the metropolitan area. ''[[The New York Times]]'' stated that if the aircraft demonstration had not been visible around the city, Floyd Bennett Field's dedication might have attracted more spectators.<ref>{{cite news |title=Air Show Dedicates Floyd Bennett Field – Pilots Thrill Crowd of 25,000 in Exhibitions at Opening of City's First Airport – Walker Extols Dead Hero – Parade of Air Armada Passes in Review Before Stands as Climax of the Day – Air Show Dedicates New Bennett Field |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=May 24, 1931 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/05/24/107116305.pdf |access-date=December 28, 2017 |archive-date=June 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615113538/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/05/24/107116305.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=30}}

===Commercial use===
[[File:SOC-4 at Floyd Bennett Field.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|alt=A U.S. Coast Guard Curtiss SOC-4 "Seagull" at Bennett Field|A U.S. Coast Guard [[Curtiss SOC Seagull|Curtiss SOC-4 ''Seagull'']] at Floyd Bennett Field]]
From May 23, 1931, through the end of the year, the airport recorded 1,153 commercial aircraft and 605 military craft, which made a combined 25,000 landings.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=63}} According to the 1932 Annual Report from the Department of Docks, Floyd Bennett Field had become "the most desirable American Field as an ocean hop terminal": at least four transatlantic flights had occurred there that year, and at least four more flights had been scheduled for 1933.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=15}} By 1933, Floyd Bennett Field accommodated more flights than Newark Airport: there were 51,828 arrivals and departures at Floyd Bennett Field in 1933, compared to 19,232 at Newark the same year.  By number of flights, Floyd Bennett Field was the second-busiest airport in the U.S. that year, behind only [[Oakland International Airport]] in California.{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=8}}{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=16}}

Floyd Bennett Field was never a commercial success due to its distance from the rest of New York City. Through 1934, there were no commercial passenger airlines that made regular scheduled arrivals or departures at Floyd Bennett Field.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=67}} This was partly because Floyd Bennett Field was never able to secure a lucrative stream of airmail traffic, which went to Newark Airport instead.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=44}} According to the 1933 annual report, Newark Airport carried 120,000 airline passengers, {{convert|1.5|e6lb|kg}} of mail, and {{convert|425,000|lb|kg}} of [[express mail]], as opposed to Floyd Bennett Field's 52 airline passengers, 98 bags of mail, and {{convert|100|lb|kg}} of express. According to Tony Wrenn, most of the passenger aircraft and mail planes that landed at Floyd Bennett Field likely only did so because the planes could not land at Newark Airport.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=16}} In 1937, [[American Airlines]] became the only commercial airline that regularly operated at Floyd Bennett Field,{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=69}} and for one specific flight: an [[air shuttle]] from New York to [[Boston]].{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=16}} Seaplane taxi routes running from Floyd Bennett Field to piers on the East River at [[Wall Street Skyport|Wall Street]] and [[Midtown Skyport|31st Street]] were established, but they failed to attract airlines.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=69}}

As a [[general aviation]] airfield, Floyd Bennett Field attracted the record-breaking pilots of the [[Aviation between the World Wars|interwar period]] because of its superior modern facilities, lack of nearby obstacles, and convenient location near the [[Atlantic Ocean]] (see {{Section link||Notable flights}}).{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=8}}{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=47}} The airport hosted dozens of "firsts" and time records as well as a number of [[air racing|air races]] in its heyday, such as the [[Bendix trophy|Bendix Cup]].{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=51}} Civilians were also allowed to take flying lessons at Floyd Bennett Field.<ref name=FWP-Guide-1939>{{cite fednyc |pages=503–504}}</ref>

Various improvements were made to the airport throughout its entire commercial existence: first as a seaplane hangar, then by the [[Works Progress Administration]] (WPA), and finally by the [[United States Navy]].{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=55}} However, Floyd Bennett Field's lack of commercial tenants, a byproduct of its isolation from the rest of the city, caused the city to begin developing [[LaGuardia Field]] in northern [[Queens]]. The new airfield was much closer to Manhattan.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=81}}{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=44}} Commercial aviation activity at Floyd Bennett Field ceased in 1939, when LaGuardia Field (now Airport) was opened.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=17}} The Navy gained ownership of the field in 1941 after leasing space there for several years.<ref name=NYTimes-Air-Show-1941/><ref name=BDE-Navy-1941/>

====Accessibility====
[[File:Marine Parkway Bridge.JPG|thumb|left|upright=1.0|alt=The Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge|The [[Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge|Marine Parkway Bridge]], opened in 1937, is located south of Floyd Bennett Field]]
Flatbush Avenue was widened and straightened to create a more direct route into Manhattan.{{sfn|Kaufman|1950|pp=152–153}}  In 1937, the avenue was extended south to the [[Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge]], which in turn connected to [[the Rockaways]].{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=5}}<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/07/04/94397468.pdf |title=New Riis Park is Opened by Mayor; He Pays High Tribute to Moses at Dedication of Bridge Over Rockaway Inlet |date=July 4, 1937 |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 9, 2017 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=June 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615113648/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/07/04/94397468.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false |url-status=live }}</ref> However, this had more to do with the expansion of Marine Park and [[Jacob Riis Park]].{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=52}} The same year, a bus route to the subway, the current [[Q35 (New York City bus)|Q35]] route to the [[Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College (IRT Nostrand Avenue Line)|Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College]] station, was established in order to create a faster connection to Manhattan.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rockaway Bus Line Extends Service; Operation to Start Today Over Bridge to Flatbush and Nostrand Avenues |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=July 3, 1937 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/07/03/94396909.pdf |access-date=January 5, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422151046/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/07/03/94396909.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Kaufman|1950|pp=152–153}} However, the Q35 bus only started making stops at Floyd Bennett Field in 1940.<ref name=BDE-Green_Bus-1940>{{cite news |title=Approval Looms For Green Bus Lines Franchise |page=13 |work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=[[Brooklyn Public Library]]; [[newspapers.com]] |date=July 2, 1940 |url=http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52606654/ |access-date=January 5, 2018 |archive-date=January 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109064114/http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52606654/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Floyd Bennett Field's poor location in outer Brooklyn inhibited its usefulness.<ref name=FWP-Guide-1939/> There were no [[limited-access road]]s between Manhattan and the airport, and the only direct route from Manhattan to Floyd Bennett Field was Flatbush Avenue, a congested street with local traffic throughout its length.{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=8}} This was exacerbated by the fact that the bus-to-subway connection did not occur until 1940.<ref name=BDE-Green_Bus-1940/> The [[Belt Parkway]], which was constructed between 1934 and 1940, provided a limited-access connection to Manhattan for cars. However, commercial traffic could still only use Flatbush Avenue since commercial vehicles were banned from [[parkways in New York]].{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=52}}
{{Clear}}

====Airmail terminal proposals====
During the 1930s, commercial air traffic at airports nationwide was low because few people could afford plane tickets, and airmail made up the majority of air traffic in the United States.{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=8}} Officials believed that "all aviation activity in the New York area" should be located at Floyd Bennett Field.{{sfn|Kaufman|1950|pp=152–153}} LaGuardia pushed for Floyd Bennett Field to replace [[Newark Liberty International Airport|Newark Airport]] in [[Newark, New Jersey]] as the city's de facto main air terminal, including designs and plans to shuttle passengers to and from Manhattan in [[flying boat]]s.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=16}} However, Newark Airport turned out to be adequately equipped to handle commercial traffic.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=33}} In the early days of [[commercial aviation]], the bulk of profits was provided by freight instead of passengers. As [[airmail]] was a major fraction of [[air freight]] at the time, airports having contracts with the [[United States Post Office Department]] attracted commercial airlines, and the Post Office Department had already designated Newark Airport as New York City's airmail terminal.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=34}} In order to try and compete, an expansion of [[Pneumatic tube mail in New York City|the city's pneumatic tube mail system]] was planned between Floyd Bennett Field and the main post office in Brooklyn, with a branch of the system continuing to lower Manhattan.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=15}}

In one well-publicized incident in November 1933, shortly before La Guardia assumed the New York City mayor's office, he refused to get off a plane at Newark Airport because his ticket said that the flight went to New York, and the mayor-elect demanded that the plane be flown to Floyd Bennett Field.{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=8}}{{sfn|Kaufman|1950|p=153}}{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=16}} In 1934, officials requested that the Post Office Department compare the merits of Newark Airport and Floyd Bennett Field, as they believed that the latter was better equipped. In letters to Postmaster General [[James Farley]], U.S. Representatives from Brooklyn extolled the new facilities at Floyd Bennett Field and compared them to the inadequate facilities at Newark Airport.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nine in the House Ask Airport Shift – Brooklyn Group Urges Farley to Remove Mail From Newark to Floyd Bennett Field |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=December 6, 1934 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/12/06/94585316.pdf |access-date=January 2, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422151311/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/12/06/94585316.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the representatives failed to note that the Postal Service had chosen Newark Airport because it was built first.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|pp=36–37}}

In 1935, La Guardia succeeded in convincing the Post Office Department to review the benefits and drawbacks of Floyd Bennett Field. The department's review of the airport consisted mainly of drawbacks: there was no direct highway or train route from Floyd Bennett Field to Manhattan, but there were such links between Newark and Manhattan.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=38}} La Guardia suggested that the [[New York City Subway]] be extended to Floyd Bennett Field in order to resolve this problem.<ref name="NYTimes-Subway-1935"/> In August 1935 the department decided to keep the metropolitan area's airline terminal at Newark.{{sfn|Kaufman|1950|p=155}} However, La Guardia persisted in lobbying for Floyd Bennett Field. He had the [[New York City Police Department]] calculate how long it would take, in clear weather, to go from [[Pennsylvania Station (1910–1963)|Penn Station]] to each airport and then back to Penn Station. The NYPD found that it only took 24 minutes to get to or from Newark, but that the same trip to Floyd Bennett Field took 38 minutes.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=40}} ''The New York Times'' determined that it would take five to ten minutes more to go from [[Midtown Manhattan]] to Floyd Bennett Field than to Newark.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cleveland |first=Reginald M. |title=A World Air Center – New York, Now Adding Facilities, Has a Large Ebb and Flow of Planes Daily |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=March 10, 1935 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/03/10/93460040.pdf |access-date=January 2, 2018 |archive-date=August 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809145324/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/03/10/93460040.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false |url-status=live }}</ref> After learning of this evidence, La Guardia then petitioned to make Floyd Bennett Field a suitable alternative to the Newark airmail terminal.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=40}} To support his argument, La Guardia cited several flights that had been diverted to Floyd Bennett Field.<ref>{{cite web |title=Scores Point for Airport – Mayor Cites Another Plane That Has to Land at Bennett Field |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=October 24, 1936 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1936/10/24/88707056.pdf |access-date=December 31, 2017 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422151047/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1936/10/24/88707056.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In December 1935, a meeting was held at the Post Office Department headquarters in [[Washington, D.C.]], concerning Floyd Bennett Field's suitability as an airmail terminal.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=43}} [[Grover Whalen]], chairman of La Guardia's Committee on Airport Development, argued that the city had an "inalienable right" to appear on maps of the United States' airspace, and that Floyd Bennett Field was ready for use as an alternate airmail terminal.<ref>{{cite news |title=Text of Grover Whalen's Statement |page=4 |work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=[[Brooklyn Public Library]]; [[newspapers.com]] |date=December 12, 1935 |url=http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52639778/ |access-date=January 2, 2018 |archive-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103072410/http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52639778/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In March 1936, Farley announced that he had rejected the bid to move airmail operations to Floyd Bennett Field because all evidence showed that doing so would cause a decline in traffic and profits.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=44}}{{sfn|Kaufman|1950|p=156}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Farley Again Bars City Airport Plea – Refuses for the Second Time to Make Bennett Field an Air-Mail Terminus – To Retain Newark Set-up – Declares the Change Would Be Costly and Cause Delay in Handling Mail – But City Can Try Again – Postal Chief Willing to Hear Another Application When Conditions Warrant |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=March 22, 1936 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1936/03/22/85194273.pdf |access-date=January 2, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422151550/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1936/03/22/85194273.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Ultimately, La Guardia was never able to convince the Postal Service to move its New York City operations from Newark to Floyd Bennett Field.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=44}} Because airmail traffic did not move to Floyd Bennett Field, neither did most of the commercial lines, save for American Airlines flights to Boston.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=16}} Instead, he decided to allow the city to construct [[LaGuardia Airport]] in Queens.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=81}}{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=44}} The new airport was much closer to Manhattan, and it took advantage of the then-new [[Queens-Midtown Tunnel]].{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=81}}  Moreover, the federal government created a new airmail contract in which it divided airmail traffic between Newark Airport and LaGuardia Airport once the latter was completed. This confirmed that Floyd Bennett Field was denied an airmail contract not in spite of being located in New York City, but because it was too far from Manhattan.{{sfn|Kaufman|1950|p=159}}

====Military and police activity====
[[File:Floyd Bennett Field - 1 (3477300073).jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|One of the original hangars]]
After the 1930 closure of [[Naval Air Station Rockaway]] across Rockaway Inlet, a hangar at Floyd Bennett Field was dedicated as '''Naval Air Reserve Base New York''' within the larger civilian facility. The Naval Reserve Aviation Unit started using Floyd Bennett Field in April 1931, when it moved from Long Island's [[Roosevelt Field (airport)|Curtiss Field]] to Hangar 1 in Floyd Bennett Field, leasing the hangar for $1 per year. The Department of Docks allowed the Navy to use the airport's other facilities as needed, but left the Navy to pay for any additional expenses on its own.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=63}} The unit soon moved to Hangar 5 because they required more space.{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=8}}{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=54}}{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=61}}

Starting in 1934,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/21/nyregion/neighborhood-report-police-up-close-evolution-nypd-by-land-sea-and-air.html |title=Neighborhood Report: Police up Close – Evolution – N.Y.P.D: By Land, Sea and Air |last=Scott |first=Georgia J. |date=September 21, 1997 |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 4, 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105123130/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/21/nyregion/neighborhood-report-police-up-close-evolution-nypd-by-land-sea-and-air.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the NYPD also occupied a hangar for the world's first police aviation unit.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=52}} The NYPD Aviation Unit occupied Hangar 4.{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=8}}

In 1935, the [[United States Coast Guard]] wrote a letter to the city requesting that part of Floyd Bennett Field be set aside for Coast Guard use.<ref>{{cite news |title=Coast Guard Plans Big Air Base Here – City Requested to Deed Part of Floyd Bennett Field for Federal Project |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=November 30, 1935 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/11/30/93782838.pdf |access-date=January 2, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422151552/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/11/30/93782838.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1936, a {{convert|650|by|650|ft|m|adj=on}} square parcel of Floyd Bennett Field along Jamaica Bay, covering an approximately {{convert|10|acre|ha|adj=on}} area, was leased to the Coast Guard for the creation of '''Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn''' (CGAS Brooklyn).{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=52}}{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=78}}<ref>{{cite news |title=New Air Base Approved – Site for Coast Guard at Floyd Bennett Field Accepted |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=May 7, 1936 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1936/05/07/87934815.pdf |access-date=January 2, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422151551/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1936/05/07/87934815.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In February 1937, the Graves-Quinn Corporation was hired to create a hangar, barracks building, garages, and "other support facilities" for the new Coast Guard station.<ref name=NYTimes-CGAS-Base-1937>{{cite web |title=Bennett Field to Get Coast Guard Base – Main Station at Cape May to Be Transferred-Buildings to Be Ready in Fall |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=February 5, 1937 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/02/05/94333547.pdf |access-date=January 2, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422151552/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/02/05/94333547.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=53}} The $1 million facility opened in June 1938.<ref>{{cite news |title=Coast Guard Opens New Air Base Here – La Guardia Praises Design of $1,000,000 Station Attached to Floyd Bennett Field |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=June 18, 1938 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/06/18/98152114.pdf | access-date=January 2, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%25205%2FBrooklyn%2520NY%2520Daily%2520Eagle%2FBrooklyn%2520NY%2520Daily%2520Eagle%25201938%2520Grayscale%2FBrooklyn%2520NY%2520Daily%2520Eagle%25201938%2520Grayscale%2520-%25205033.pdf|title=Dedicate New Coast Guard Base at Bennett Field|date=June 18, 1938|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=April 18, 2018|pages=3|via=[[Fultonhistory.com]]|archive-date=April 22, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422153157/http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%25205%2FBrooklyn%2520NY%2520Daily%2520Eagle%2FBrooklyn%2520NY%2520Daily%2520Eagle%25201938%2520Grayscale%2FBrooklyn%2520NY%2520Daily%2520Eagle%25201938%2520Grayscale%2520-%25205033.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> At the time, the Coast Guard was only paying $1 per year in rent, which was insufficient in light of Floyd Bennett Field's commercial troubles.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=53}}

The Navy expanded in 1937 and again in 1939 (see {{section link||Improvements}}).{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=54}} The Navy wished to further expand its presence in Floyd Bennett Field, and in June 1940, the government started a third, $1 million expansion of the naval facilities there.<ref name=NYTimes-Navy-Expansion-1940>{{cite web |title=Brooklyn Airport New Training Base – $1,000,000 Expansion Will Make Field Navy Center |work=The New York Times |date=June 28, 1940 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/06/28/112744790.pdf |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422152102/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/06/28/112744790.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> It built barracks for 125 Naval Reserve cadets, expanded Hangar 2,<ref name=NYTimes-Navy-Expansion-1940/> and took over Hangars 3 and 4.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=54}} The Navy agreed to rent the expanded complex for $8,000 per year, effective October 1.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=59}} However, by August 1940, the Navy was considering purchasing the entire airport.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=100}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Navy Eyes N.Y. Field – Now Considering Outright Purchase of Floyd Bennett Airport |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=August 18, 1940 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/08/18/93989463.pdf |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422152103/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/08/18/93989463.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The city valued Floyd Bennett Field at $15 million, but was at first uncertain about whether to sell the airport.<ref name=NYTimes-Navy-Wants-FBF-1940>{{cite news |title=Navy Wants to Buy Floyd Bennett Field – Negotiations Are On, but City's Willingness Is Uncertain |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=September 4, 1940 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/09/04/93003059.pdf |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422152109/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/09/04/93003059.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The city wanted to retain control of the airport because the NYPD base was housed there. La Guardia also felt that the federal government might buy the airport for less than the assessed price of $15 million because it had already paid for improvements.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=59}}

Throughout this time, World War II's [[European theatre of World War II|European theater]] was growing in intensity.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=59}} In December 1940, while the Navy and the city were in negotiations about the proposed sale of Floyd Bennett Field, the Navy pilot [[Eddie August Schneider]] died in a training crash on the tarmac, together with another pilot whom he was training.<ref>{{cite news |title=2 Die As Planes Crash at Field – Eddie Schneider, Who Flew at 15, Is Killed When His Craft and Navy Trainer Collide – Passenger Also Victim – U.S. Ship Is Landed Safely at Floyd Bennett Airport Despite Damaged Wings |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 24, 1940 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/12/24/95793896.pdf |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=April 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407010220/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/12/24/95793896.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

A security survey, conducted in spring 1941, weighed the benefits and drawbacks of Floyd Bennett Field. The benefit was that the Navy already had a base there, but the drawback was that it was going to be too hard to manage both military and civilian traffic at the same airport.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=100}} The solution was to close the airport to all civilian uses (see {{section link||World War II}}).<ref name=NYTimes-Changes-1941/> Soon after the survey was conducted, the city suggested that the Navy take an 8-year lease on the airport, while the Coast Guard continued to lease its own hangar.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=101}}<ref name=NYTimes-Changes-1941/>

====Improvements====
[[File:Archives of American Art - Eugene Chodorow - 2023.jpg|thumb|Mural in progress, {{circa|1939}}]]

Improvements to Floyd Bennett Field continued even after its second dedication.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=33}} A study from the [[State University of New York]] lists four phases of construction through 1941, including three phases after the airport's opening. The first additional phase, between 1932 and 1933, covers the completion of the seaplane facilities at Floyd Bennett Field. A second phase from 1934 to 1938 covers improvements WPA, while a third phase includes additions by the United States Navy between 1939 and 1941.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=55}}

A vehicle parking area was completed in May 1931, and the Administration Building was opened in October of the same year. New [[taxiway]]s and a temporary wire fence were completed in 1932. That year, contracts for repairing the hangars' roofs and grading the land were also awarded.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=22}} Floyd Bennett Field did not yet have an A1A rating, so the city gave a contract to the [[General Electric Company]] to install lights along the runways; lighted directional signs on the roofs of three hangars; and wind-recording equipment. A local company, the Sperry Gyroscope Company, was contracted to install two {{convert|28|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}} [[floodlight]] towers around the field. An electrical wiring system was built around the airport, and two accompanying buildings hosting a [[transformer]] and [[Sewage pumping|sewage pump]] were built alongside it.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|pp=98–99}}{{sfn|Cody|2009|pp=63–64}} The other maintenance facilities were not added until later. A gravel parking area with two entrance driveways, as well as a separator fence between the parking area and the runways, was completed in 1932. Three [[taxiway]]s, each {{convert|30|ft|m}} wide, were constructed in order to reduce congestion from planes who were lining up to take off.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|pp=117–118}}{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=65}}

A [[seaplane]] base was also constructed as part of the first additional phase of construction. It had been part of the original plans for the airport, but only a steel [[bulkhead (barrier)|bulkhead]] had been constructed.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=66}} During the initial construction phase, seaplane ramps had been built on the east side of the airport.{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=7}} The contract for a seaplane base with four hangars{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=67}} was awarded in 1930 and completed in October 1931.{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=22}} The city had finished building a {{convert|220|ft|m|-long|adj=mid}} by {{convert|50|ft|m|-wide|adj=mid}} seaplane ramp by August 1931. It was accompanied by a {{convert|480|ft|m|-long|adj=mid}} by {{convert|30|ft|m|-wide|adj=mid}} seaplane pier and three anchorage buoys.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=66}} Three seaplane runways were built, as well as a turning basin.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=67}}

{{anchor|WPA expansion}}Spurred by the expansion of air travel across the United States, the Department of Docks began planning extensive upgrades to Floyd Bennett Field in 1934. The plans coincided with the authorization of the WPA, which provided the labor needed to carry out these upgrades.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=68}} In 1935, the WPA allocated $1.5 million to finish the airport.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/10/11/118516950.pdf |title=146 Airport Projects Are Approved by WPA – Improvements to Cost $15,000,000 Are in 24 States and District of Columbia |date=October 11, 1935 |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422152104/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1935/10/11/118516950.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The federal government ultimately contributed $4.7 million toward Floyd Bennett Field's expansion, while the city spent only slightly more than $339,000. The WPA constructed two extra runways; expanded hangars and [[airport apron]]s; erected extra maintenance buildings; added a passenger tunnel under the administration building; and placed utility wires and pipes underground.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=123}}{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=68}} The WPA also planted a landscaped lawn in front of the administration building.{{sfn|Cody|2009|pp=70–71}} The work involved the demolition of a brick chimney at the south end of Barren Island, which lay in the way of one of the new runways.<ref name="NYTimes-Chimney-Razed-1937">{{cite news |title=Chimney is Razed at Bennett Field; Mayor Fires Dynamite Blast to Remove Last Hazard to Fliers at Airport |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=March 21, 1937 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/03/21/96732533.pdf |access-date=January 9, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422152105/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/03/21/96732533.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

There were plans to add four more hangars and two more ramps to the existing seaplane base, but they were not acted upon due to low passenger traffic volumes.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=67}} The expanded seaplane base was also in the path of Runway 12–30, which was added as part of the WPA renovations.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=77}} Because the base was not going to be expanded, the Coast Guard started using the unfinished seaplane base for their own purposes.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=77}}{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=15}} The Coast Guard added a new hangar, a taxiway, and three radio towers.{{sfn|Cody|2009|pp=79–80}}

{{anchor|Navy expansion}}The Navy, which already occupied part of Floyd Bennett Field, unveiled plans to expand its facilities there in 1938. The next year, the timeline was moved up due to World War II in Europe.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=81}} In 1939, the Navy started constructing a base for 24 seaplanes at Floyd Bennett Field, in preparation for expanding its "neutrality patrol" activities during [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Bennett Field Naval Base Mapped For Planes To Enforce Neutrality |page=2 |work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=[[Brooklyn Public Library]]; [[newspapers.com]] |date=November 28, 1939 |url=http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52769941/ |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104073201/http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52769941/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=NYTimes-Navy-Air-Base-1939>{{cite web |title=Navy to Construct Big Air Base Here for Coast Patrol – Site for Housing 24 Seaplanes Adjacent to Floyd Bennett Field to Be Ceded by City – To Be Ready by March 1 – La Guardia Praises Project as Strengthening Defense of City in Emergency |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=November 28, 1939 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1939/11/28/112728165.pdf |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422152104/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1939/11/28/112728165.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> After its 1939 expansion, the Navy occupied Hangars 1 and 2; the new Building A in between Hangars 1 and 2; and half of the field's "Dope Shop".{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=54}} In January 1940, Congress approved the Navy's request to take over ownership of {{convert|16.4|acre|ha}} in Floyd Bennett Field so it could construct a new base.<ref>{{cite news |title=Floyd Bennett Field to be Navy Air Base – Bill in Senate Authorizes Transfer to Government |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=January 24, 1940 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/01/24/94784387.pdf |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422152105/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/01/24/94784387.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Like the Coast Guard, the Navy would lease the land for $1 per year, but if the Navy stopped using their facilities at Floyd Bennett Field, the Navy base's ownership would revert to the New York City government.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=82}}

===Naval Air Station New York===
[[File:Six U.S. Coast Guard Sikorsky HNS-1 at Floyd Bennett Field, New Jersey (USA), circa in 1944.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|The Coast Guard station as seen {{circa|1944}}]]

====Acquisition====
Changes to the Navy's expansion plan were announced on May 25, 1941. As part of the plan, all private airlines were ordered to leave, and all remaining residents on Barren Island would be evicted to make way for a larger facility.<ref name=NYTimes-Changes-1941>{{cite news |title=Changes in Navy Field; Alterations Continue as Floyd Bennett Nears Air Station Role |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=May 25, 1941 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/05/25/85499714.pdf |access-date=January 10, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422152611/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/05/25/85499714.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> On May 26, 1941, the airport was closed to all commercial and general aviation uses.<ref>{{cite news |title=Floyd Bennett Field Turned Over to Navy |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=May 26, 1941 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/05/26/85500432.pdf |access-date=January 2, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422152607/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/05/26/85500432.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> A week later, on June 2, the Navy opened '''Naval Air Station New York''' (NAS New York) with an air show that attracted 30,000<ref name=NYTimes-Air-Show-1941/> to 50,000 attendees.<ref name=BDE-Navy-1941>{{cite news |title=50,000 Watch As Navy Accepts Bennett Field |pages=[http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53519916/ 1], [https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/53519950/ 11] |work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle |date=June 2, 1941 }}</ref>{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=60}} The audience included Navy undersecretary [[James Forrestal]]; Admiral [[Harold R. Stark]]; Rear Admiral [[Clark H. Woodward]], commandant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard; Rear Admiral [[Chester W. Nimitz]]; Rear Admiral [[John H. Towers]]; New York City mayor La Guardia, and Brooklyn borough president [[John Cashmore]].<ref name=NYTimes-Air-Show-1941>{{cite news |title=Air Show Marks Transfer of Base – Navy Takes Over Bennett Field While Planes in Formation Manoeuvre Overhead – 30,000 Attend Exercies – Admiral Andrews Says Center Forms Important New Link in Defense of Seaboard |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=June 3, 1941 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/06/03/87616803.pdf |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422152607/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/06/03/87616803.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=60}}

By fall 1941, the Navy decided that Floyd Bennett Field was the best place to put its air station in New York. After the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] on December 7, 1941, the Navy sought to acquire the property, as well as surrounding land, as soon as possible.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=101}} [[Artemus Gates]], the [[Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air]], wrote a letter to La Guardia stating that the Navy was willing to take over control of Floyd Bennett Field for a price of $9.75 million.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=60}}{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=101}} This offer was substantially less than La Guardia's asking price of $15 million,{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=101}}<ref name=NYTimes-Navy-Wants-FBF-1940/> and it took into account the valuation of the WPA improvements and existing military facilities.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=102}} On February 9, 1942, the Navy submitted a "declaration of taking" that would allow it to acquire most of the desired land for $9.25 million.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=103}} Nine days later, on February 18, the rest of Floyd Bennett Field became part of NAS New York.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=60}} Most prior leases were terminated, but the Coast Guard was allowed to stay if its operations did not conflict with the Navy's.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=103}}{{sfn|Wrenn|1975|p=17}} This meant that the NYPD aviation unit at Floyd Bennett Field was forced to relocate for the duration of the war.<ref name=":0" />

The expanded naval base totaled over {{convert|1280|acre|ha}}. This consisted of {{convert|993|acre|ha}} of the existing airfield; the combined {{convert|34|acre|ha}} that belonged to the Coast Guard and Navy; and the combined {{convert|92|acre|ha}} that belonged to the remaining Barren Island residents.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=101}} The Navy had also wanted to buy {{convert|171|acre|ha}} on the west side of Flatbush Avenue,{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=103}} which was reserved for a future expansion of Marine Park.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=101}}{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=63}} However, [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|New York City Parks Department]] Commissioner [[Robert Moses]] prevented the purchase from happening.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=63}} Some of the money from the transaction was to go toward improving Marine Park.<ref>{{cite news |title=To Improve Marine Park; Some Funds to Be Paid for Floyd Bennett Field to Be Used |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=December 24, 1941 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/12/24/105169292.pdf |access-date=January 10, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422152608/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/12/24/105169292.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

====World War II====
[[File:NAS New York Floyd Bennet Field NAN1-48.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Aerial view of NAS New York in the mid-1940s, showing the original airfield (dark-colored ground) and the new additions (light-colored ground)]]
The Navy awarded the first contract for upgrades to Floyd Bennett Field on December 17, 1941.<ref name="Hyperwar-Ch10"/> The Navy's Design Division developed most of the expansion plans instead of contracting them out.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=107}} It graded the undeveloped land to 16 feet to make it level with the rest of the airport.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=83}}<ref name=1947-map>{{cite map |author =[[United States Navy]] |title=Map of U.S. Naval Air Station New York, N.Y. Showing Conditions on June 30, 1947 |date=June 30, 1947 |publisher=Golden Gate National Archives |location = [[Fort Wadsworth]], Staten Island  }}</ref> Demolition of the future barracks site on the western side of the field started in spring 1941.<ref name=NYTimes-Changes-1941/>{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=84}}<ref name=1947-map/> Because newer craft necessitated longer runways,<ref name="Hyperwar-Ch10"/> a new Runway 6–24 was built on the northern side of the field, and three existing runways were expanded so that all four runways measured {{convert|5000|ft|m}} long by {{convert|300|ft|m}} wide. The Navy built a seaplane hangar and two seaplane runways, as well as extended the taxiways and roads. It also constructed facilities for officers on Floyd Bennett Field's eastern side, such as barracks, training rooms, dining rooms, and auditoriums.{{sfn|Cody|2009|pp=83–84}}{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=63}}<ref name=1947-map/> The Navy also filled in the northeastern section of the former Barren Island.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=110}}<ref name=1947-map/> A new entrance for the Navy was created at the south end of Floyd Bennett Field,{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=111}}<ref name=1947-map/> and a one-story annex on the north side of the Administration Building was added.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=112}}<ref name=1947-map/> A [[dirigible]] landing station and two front-line simulator facilities were installed within the field.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=115}}<ref name=1947-map/> Significant effort was spent toward developing the part of the base that faced Jamaica Bay, where a recreation area was installed.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=116}}<ref name=1947-map/> All remnants of Barren Island's former community and landscape were obliterated.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=119}}<ref name=1947-map/>

The upgrades allowed 6,500 people to use the naval base.<ref name="Hyperwar-Ch10">{{cite book | author=[[United States Navy]] | publisher=[[United States Government Printing Office]] | title=Building the Navy's Bases in World War II | chapter=10 | via=Hyper War Foundation | date=February 12, 1931 | url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Building_Bases/bases-10.html | access-date=January 10, 2018 | pages=234–235 | archive-date=November 20, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120164007/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/Building_Bases/bases-10.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Most of the new structures were designed to be removable because of the possibility that Floyd Bennett Field might become a civilian airfield again after the war.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=107}} In accordance with military conventions, all the buildings at Floyd Bennett Field were given numbers.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=110}}

During the war, NAS New York hosted several [[naval aviation]] units of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, including three land-based antisubmarine patrol squadrons, a scout observation service unit, and two [[Naval Air Transport Service]] (NATS) squadrons (processing the majority of the aircraft destined for the [[Pacific War|Pacific Theater]]).{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=64}} NAS New York served as a training facility, as well as a base where Navy boats could load supplies and officers. NAS New York aircraft also patrolled the Atlantic coastline and engaged German [[U-boats]].{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=60}}  In addition, Navy [[WAVES]] (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) took up several positions, including those of air traffic controllers, parachute riggers, and aviation machinist's mates.{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=65}}{{sfn|Shettle|1995|p=163}} The [[Military Air Transport Service]] opened an East Coast terminal at Floyd Bennett Field in December 1943.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=71}} More than 20,000 new aircraft were delivered to NAS New York during the war, and more than 46,000 aircraft movements were recorded from December 1943 to November 1945.{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=7}}

CGAS Brooklyn worked in conjunction with NAS New York, patrolling [[New York Harbor]] as well as testing equipment, training soldiers, and delivering supplies.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=105}} Starting in 1944, CGAS Brooklyn tested Navy craft and trained the pilots.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=105}}<ref>{{cite web | title=Helicopters Seen as Aid to Combat; Coast Guard Officer at Floyd Bennett Base Expects Navy to Use Craft Soon Coast Guard to Show Way Mass Production Started | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=July 31, 1945 | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1945/07/31/88270705.pdf | access-date=January 10, 2018 | archive-date=April 22, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422152609/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1945/07/31/88270705.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref>

====Korean to Vietnam Wars====
In 1946, after the conclusion of World War II, many naval stations were decommissioned or downgraded.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=137}}<ref name=Navy-Cold-War-Era>{{cite web|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/n/the-navy-in-the-cold-war-era-1945-1991.html|first=Edward J.|last=Marolda|title=The U.S. Navy in the Cold War Era, 1945–1991|work=Navy Historical Center|access-date=January 11, 2018|archive-date=November 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171104122857/https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/n/the-navy-in-the-cold-war-era-1945-1991.html|url-status=live}}</ref> As part of these cutbacks, Floyd Bennett Field became a [[United States Navy Reserve|Naval Air Reserve]] station.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=71}}{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=137}} At the time, it was the largest Naval Air Reserve base in the U.S.{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=10}} The Navy demolished many of the temporary structures, including the barracks, as well as the outdated Sperry floodlights. The Navy renovated the recreation field on the southern side of Floyd Bennett Field.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=138}} The NYPD Aviation Unit resumed its operations at the Naval Air Reserve base.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=138}}<ref name=":0" />

By 1947, there were proposals to use Floyd Bennett Field for commercial purposes again. The airport would have handled the excess traffic from LaGuardia Airport while LaGuardia was being repaired and [[John F. Kennedy International Airport|Idlewild (now JFK) Airport]] was being built.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=71}} In April 1947, the city and the [[Port Authority of New York and New Jersey]] made a preliminary agreement that allowed the Port Authority to take over operations of all airports in New York City by June.<ref>{{cite news |title=City Board Backs Airport Compact – Formal Action on Proposal of Port Authority to Take Over the Fields Is Due Today – Agency Will Issue Bonds – Proposed Contract Calls for $200,000,000 Investment to Improve the Facilities |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=April 17, 1947 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/04/17/87517666.pdf |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422152609/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/04/17/87517666.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The Port Authority hoped to spend $1.5 million to improve facilities for airlines with [[foreign flag|foreign registrations]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Bennett Field Seen Foreign-Flag Air Hub |page=21 |work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle |via=[[Brooklyn Public Library]]; [[newspapers.com]] |date=June 29, 1947 |url=http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52825978/ |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104073049/http://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52825978/ |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the partial conversion of Floyd Bennett Field commercial use was delayed over concerns of cost: the Navy estimated that it would cost $1.2 million to move its facilities, but the Port Authority would not spend more than $750,000 for the Navy to do this.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bennett Field Use Hinges on $450,000 – Port Authority Sets $750,000 as Its Limit for Moving Navy Facilities There – $125,000 Deficit is Seen – Deadlock Delays La Guardia Repair Program – Traffic Diversion Held Imperative |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=August 18, 1947 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/08/18/104329620.pdf |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422152610/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/08/18/104329620.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The Navy mostly operated on the southern and eastern parts of the airport during this time.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=71}} By September 1947, the Port Authority and the Navy were deadlocked, unable to reach an agreement.<ref>{{cite news |title=Navy Seen Keeping Bennett Airfield – Port Authority Has Little Hope for Its Use to Relieve La Guardia, Cullman Says |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |date=September 12, 1947 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/09/12/104337612.pdf | access-date=January 3, 2018}}</ref> Commercial traffic at Floyd Bennett Field ultimately never materialized, as the airspace congestion near LaGuardia Airport was resolved.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=72}}

The Navy allowed [[New York Air National Guard]] and the [[United States Army Air Force|U.S. Army Air Reserve]] to use the hangars on the condition that their activities did not interfere with the Navy's.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=138}}<ref>{{cite news| title=Airlines Lose Hope for Bennett Field; Navy's Excess Facilities There Given to Air National Guard and Army Air Reserve | work=The New York Times | date=September 6, 1947 | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/09/06/104335446.pdf | access-date=January 11, 2018}}</ref> The Coast Guard regained control of CGAS Brooklyn, and it also began leasing nearly {{convert|2|acre|ha}} of the Navy base adjoining CGAS Brooklyn's southern border.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=140}} By 1950, [[Cold War]] and [[Korean War]] preparations were underway,<ref name=Navy-Cold-War-Era/> and the Navy needed to use Floyd Bennett Field's facilities again.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=72}}{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=140}} However, Floyd Bennett Field was less busy during the Korean War than during World War II.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=141}} Five reserve squadrons based at Floyd Bennett Field were recalled to active duty for the Korean War.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=72}} Some minor modifications were made during this time. The Navy lengthened three runways, reconstructed roads and taxiways, built a beacon tower and veterans' housing, and added some fuel storage containers. A new southern entrance was built because one of the runway extensions overlapped with the old entrance.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=141}}{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=166}} The Navy abandoned many of the original buildings on the western side of the field, instead moving to the eastern side.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=167}} The Coast Guard made even fewer modifications: it expanded its apron, built a small hangar, and replaced its wooden seaplane ramp with a concrete one.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=144}}

Throughout the remainder of the postwar period and until the early 1970s, NAS New York-Floyd Bennett Field primarily functioned as a support base for units of the Naval Air Reserve and the [[4th Marine Aircraft Wing|Marine Air Reserve]].{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=71}} The airport was also a training facility for reserve squadrons. Until 1970, more than 3,000 reservists in the Navy and Marines trained at Floyd Bennett Field every weekend, and 34 aircraft squadrons were constantly being maintained at the field.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=141}}{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=72}} The field was busiest during the weekends when there were up to 300 daily departures from Floyd Bennett Field.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=145}}<ref name=NYTimes-Phaseout-1970/> The installation also served as a base for units of the [[List of ANG wings assigned to Strategic Air Command#106th Bomb Wing (New York Air National Guard)|New York Air National Guard]] from 1947 to 1970, when the Air National Guard moved to the [[Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base]] on Long Island.{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=10}} Minor adjustments were made to the field through the 1960s in order to accommodate jet aircraft.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=145}} The Navy also built a [[trailer park]] and a school building in the main barracks area during this time.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=148}}<ref name=1960-map/>

====Decommissioning====
During the height of the [[Vietnam War]] in the late 1960s, military budgets were strained by a combination of combat operations in Southeast Asia and funding constraints due to President Lyndon Johnson's concurrent [[Great Society]] programs.  This necessitated all the services, but especially the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force, to reduce stateside installation infrastructure.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=72}} By 1970, the Navy was offloading property, including NAS New York / Floyd Bennett Field, to pay for the war's expenses.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=149}}{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=10}}

On March 5, 1970, the federal government announced that the Navy would start vacating the military portion of the airport and close the operational airfield. Upon the announcement of NAS New York / Floyd Bennett Field's decommissioning, Mayor [[John V. Lindsay]] asked the federal government for permission to convert the field into a commercial airport.<ref>{{cite web |title=City Seeks Floyd Bennett Field For Use by General Aviation |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 6, 1970 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/03/06/archives/city-seeks-floyd-bennett-field-for-use-by-general-aviation.html |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104132333/http://www.nytimes.com/1970/03/06/archives/city-seeks-floyd-bennett-field-for-use-by-general-aviation.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Simultaneously, Governor [[Nelson Rockefeller]] proposed a $1.4 billion development on the site. If built, Rockefeller's development would contain a [[shopping mall]], an [[industrial park]], 46,100 housing units, and the potential for 180,000 residents.<ref name=NYTimes-FBF-Controversy-1970/>{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=167}} The governor's proposal had been in planning since November 1969.<ref name=NYTimes-FBF-Controversy-1970>{{cite web |last=Within |first=Richard |title=Floyd Bennett Is Socked In by Controversy |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 7, 1970 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/03/07/archives/floyd-bennett-is-socked-in-by-controversy-governor-suggests-housing.html |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104073520/http://www.nytimes.com/1970/03/07/archives/floyd-bennett-is-socked-in-by-controversy-governor-suggests-housing.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=72}}

On April 4, 1970, the Navy conducted its last daily formal inspections, an act that started the process of decommissioning NAS New York / Floyd Bennett Field.  NAS New York's tenant squadrons and units and personnel were transferred to other naval air stations.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=149}}<ref name=NYTimes-Phaseout-1970>{{cite web |last=Silver |first=Roy R. |title=Phasing Out Is Started at Floyd Bennett |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 5, 1970 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/04/05/archives/phasing-out-is-started-at-floyd-bennett.html |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104073532/http://www.nytimes.com/1970/04/05/archives/phasing-out-is-started-at-floyd-bennett.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A Naval Air Reserve Detachment, which supported non-flying units, remained as Naval Air Reserve New York / Naval Reserve Center New York.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspapers%252021%2FRockaway%2520Beach%2520NY%2520%2520Wave%2520Of%2520Long%2520Island%2FRockaway%2520Beach%2520NY%2520%2520Wave%2520Of%2520Long%2520Island%2520%25201969-1971%2FRockaway%2520Beach%2520NY%2520%2520Wave%2520Of%2520Long%2520Island%2520%25201969-1971%2520-%25200471.pdf |title=Training Detachment Succeeds Air Station At Floyd Bennett |work=Rockaway Wave |page=1 |date=December 3, 1970 |access-date=December 15, 2017 |via=[[Fultonhistory.com]] |archive-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422154330/http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspapers%252021%2FRockaway%2520Beach%2520NY%2520%2520Wave%2520Of%2520Long%2520Island%2FRockaway%2520Beach%2520NY%2520%2520Wave%2520Of%2520Long%2520Island%2520%25201969-1971%2FRockaway%2520Beach%2520NY%2520%2520Wave%2520Of%2520Long%2520Island%2520%25201969-1971%2520-%25200471.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The Navy itself continued to own the land for two more years.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=150}}<ref name=NYTimes-Votes-Gateway-1972/> The Naval Air Reserve Detachment would occupy Hangar A until 1983.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=177}}

Meanwhile, the dispute over the possible future uses of Floyd Bennett Field continued. In May 1970, the state government released more details of its redevelopment proposal without consulting the city.<ref>{{cite web |last=Shipler |first=David K. |title=1‐Billion State Development Plan For Bennett Field Scored by City |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 25, 1970 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/05/25/archives/1-billion-state-development-plan-for-bennett-field-scored-by-city.html |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104073314/http://www.nytimes.com/1970/05/25/archives/1-billion-state-development-plan-for-bennett-field-scored-by-city.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The next month, Lindsay's administration wrote to the federal government, advocating for Floyd Bennett Field to be converted to commercial use.<ref>{{cite news |title=Lindsay Urges U.S. to Give Floyd Bennett Field to City |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 25, 1970 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/06/25/archives/lindsay-urges-us-to-give-floyd-bennett-field-to-city.html |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104132359/http://www.nytimes.com/1970/06/25/archives/lindsay-urges-us-to-give-floyd-bennett-field-to-city.html |url-status=live }}</ref> U.S. President [[Richard Nixon]] supported a third proposal: turning the entirety of Floyd Bennett Field into a [[National parks of the United States|national park]].<ref name=NYTimes-Nixon-Gateway-1971/> This had been suggested by the [[Regional Plan Association]] (RPA) the previous year, except that the RPA had advocated for a [[List of United States national lakeshores and seashores|national seashore]].<ref>{{cite news| title=Recreation Area in Harbor Urged; Regional Plan Would Widen Idea Hickel and Lindsay Will Discuss Tomorrow Harbor Recreation Area Urged; Hickel to Come Here Tomorrow| work=[[The New York Times]]| date=May 12, 1969| url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1969/05/12/78345166.pdf| access-date=January 13, 2018| archive-date=April 22, 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240422153137/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1969/05/12/78345166.pdf| url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=167}} In May, the president started the process of getting Congressional approval for this move.<ref name=NYTimes-Nixon-Gateway-1971>{{cite news |last=Madden |first=Richard L. |title=Nixon Backs Gateway Recreation Area |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 9, 1971 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/09/archives/nixon-backs-gateway-recreation-area-president-backs-gateway-plan.html |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=May 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509184202/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/09/archives/nixon-backs-gateway-recreation-area-president-backs-gateway-plan.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The state government objected, since the neighboring [[Marine Park, Brooklyn|Marine Park]] was not used.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sfiipler |first=David K. |title=State Insists Housing Is Needed at Floyd Bennett Site |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 11, 1971 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/11/archives/state-insists-housing-is-needed-at-floyd-bennett-site.html |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104073210/http://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/11/archives/state-insists-housing-is-needed-at-floyd-bennett-site.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In the meantime, Floyd Bennett Field was only sparsely used by Coast Guard and NYPD helicopters.<ref>{{cite web |last=Haitch |first=Richard |title=Airport, Housing Project or National Park? |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 28, 1972 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/05/28/archives/airport-housing-project-or-national-park-airport-housing-site-or.html |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=January 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105180400/http://www.nytimes.com/1972/05/28/archives/airport-housing-project-or-national-park-airport-housing-site-or.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===National Park Service stewardship<span class="anchor" id="National Park Service ownership"></span><span class="anchor" id="National Park Service operation"></span>===
====Creation and early years====
[[File:Floyd Bennett Field - 3 (3477306787).jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|National Park Service entrance sign]]
The [[United States House of Representatives]] approved the creation of [[Gateway National Recreation Area]] in September 1972, and most of the land was transferred to the [[National Park Service]] (NPS) for inclusion in Gateway National Recreation Area. In the same vote, the House denied the state's provision to create a housing development at Floyd Bennett Field.<ref name=NYTimes-Votes-Gateway-1972>{{cite web |last=Madden |first=Richard L. |title=House Votes Bill on Gateway Area But Kills Housing |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 27, 1972 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/09/27/archives/house-votes-bill-on-gateway-area-but-kills-housing-rockefeller-plan.html |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104013846/http://www.nytimes.com/1972/09/27/archives/house-votes-bill-on-gateway-area-but-kills-housing-rockefeller-plan.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The recreation area was officially created on October 27, 1972.<ref name=Act-92-592>{{cite act |title=An Act To establish the Gateway National Recreation Area in the States of New York and New Jersey, and for other purposes. |language=en |date=October 27, 1972 |article=92–592 |articletype=Public Law |url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-86/pdf/STATUTE-86-Pg1308.pdf |access-date=January 12, 2018 }} {{Cite web |url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-86/pdf/STATUTE-86-Pg1308.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=January 14, 2018 |archive-date=March 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306034125/https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-86/pdf/STATUTE-86-Pg1308.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> The National Park Service acquired most of the Navy-owned portion of the field, as well as some city-owned land to the west and north that had not been owned by the Navy. Floyd Bennett Field became the headquarters for the Gateway Area's Jamaica Bay unit.<ref name="NYCAS-v-Slater">{{cite court |litigants=NYC Audubon Society v. Rodney Slater |vol=Docket 99-4081 |court=[[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit]] |date=July 9, 2001 |url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-2nd-circuit/1014899.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114130718/http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-2nd-circuit/1014899.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=168}} The Coast Guard was able to gain ownership of CGAS Brooklyn, which it then proceeded to expand. In circa 1973, new concrete barracks were erected on the site of the former World War II-era barracks.{{sfn|Historic Structure Report Volume 1|1981|p=73}}{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=169}} The remainder of Floyd Bennett Field was owned separately by the Naval Air Reserve Detachment, as well as the [[United States Department of the Interior]] (the NPS' parent agency) and the [[United States Department of Transportation]] (the Coast Guard's parent agency).{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=168}} The NYPD's aviation unit continued to lease space in hangar 3, and later also started leasing hangar 4.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=170}}

The park opened in 1974.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=172}} Most of the National Park Service's early actions regarding Floyd Bennett Field focused on promoting recreational activities. Due to a lack of funds, the NPS let much of the physical field revert to its natural state.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=171}} The NPS added tents in two areas of Floyd Bennett Field, which it then designated as campgrounds. Around 1974, the NPS also planted pine trees near the field's southern boundary, forming the current "Ecology Village".{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=172}} By 1979, the NPS had developed a "General Management Plan" for the entire Gateway Area. The plan allowed for Floyd Bennett Field to be divided into three management zones: the "Natural Area", the "Developed Area", and the "Administrative Area". It also created the new William Fitts Ryan Visitor Center within the former administration building.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=173}} In 1980, many of the airport's structures were listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris"/>{{sfn|Porcelli|2015|p=10}}

In its early years as a park, Floyd Bennett Field had very few visitors. According to a 1991 estimate, about 30 people visited the park on an average day. The field's chief park ranger at the time attributed the low visitor count to several factors, including "the chain-link fence along Flatbush Avenue, the Coast Guard station and the guardhouse". The park was relatively unknown even to people who lived nearby.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/06/nyregion/at-a-field-of-ghosts-a-shadow-of-a-park.html |title=At a Field of Ghosts, a Shadow of a Park |last=Yarrow |first=Andrew L. |date=April 6, 1991 |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 5, 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109063937/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/06/nyregion/at-a-field-of-ghosts-a-shadow-of-a-park.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

====1990s====
In 1988, the NPS started seeking plans for private developments at Floyd Bennett Field. Many of these plans, including those for [[Condominium (living space)|condominium housing]] and an [[amusement park]], were dismissed. By the 1990s, the NPS began looking for commercial tenants to occupy the deteriorating hangars.<ref name=":2" /> In approximately 1996, Floyd Bennett Field received an allocation of funds, which it used to improve parking access in front of the Ryan Center.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=174}}

In 1997, the [[6th Communication Battalion]] of the [[United States Marine Corps Reserve]] moved onto the south side of Floyd Bennett Field.<ref name="Spivak 2015"/> The next year, CGAS Brooklyn was decommissioned following its merger with CGAS Cape May, New Jersey, and relocation to the new [[Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City]], New Jersey. The majority of former Coast Guard land then transferred to the National Park Service.<ref name="Radar-EIS-1999"/>{{rp|33}} A small portion remained in the possession of the Coast Guard's parent agency at the time, U.S. Department of Transportation, so the [[Federal Aviation Administration]] (FAA) could use it.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=170}}<ref name="Radar-EIS-1999">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b741AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA33 |title=Terminal Doppler Weather Radar, JFK International Airport and LaGuardia Airport: Environmental Impact Statement |publisher=[[Federal Aviation Administration]] |year=1999 |access-date=January 5, 2018}}</ref>{{rp|33}} The NYPD moved their aviation operation from a hangar to the former Coast Guard Air Station facilities shortly afterward, under agreement with the NPS.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=170}} The [[New York City Department of Sanitation]] (DSNY) also moved into Floyd Bennett Field by the late 1990s, using the runways as a location for truck-driving practice.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=177}}<ref name="Schlossberg 2014"/>

In 1999, a {{Convert|119|ft|m|-tall|adj=mid}} [[Doppler radar]] tower for recording [[wind shear]]s was placed at Floyd Bennett Field for use by nearby JFK Airport.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/18/nyregion/deal-on-tower-allows-kennedy-airport-to-get-wind-shear-equipment.html |title=Deal on Tower Allows Kennedy Airport to Get Wind Shear Equipment |last=Wald |first=Matthew L. |date=September 18, 1999 |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 5, 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109121920/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/18/nyregion/deal-on-tower-allows-kennedy-airport-to-get-wind-shear-equipment.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The $6 million tower was controversial, as residents protested that the tower was visually unattractive.<ref name="Barnes 1999">{{cite web |last=Barnes |first=Julian E. |title=Neighborhood Report: Marine Park; A Planned Radar Tower Has Residents on a Fight Path |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 4, 1999 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/04/nyregion/neighborhood-report-marine-park-planned-radar-tower-has-residents-fight-path.html |access-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-date=January 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109121931/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/04/nyregion/neighborhood-report-marine-park-planned-radar-tower-has-residents-fight-path.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In September 1999, the Department of the Interior granted the FAA permission to erect the radar at Floyd Bennett Field on the condition that the radar be torn down in 20 years. If a less disruptive radar was developed before then, the tower at Floyd Bennett Field had to be torn down.<ref name=":3" /> The Interior Department disliked the radar's placement within Floyd Bennett Field, but allowed the FAA to build the radar within the NYPD heliport, which had "no recreational value". At the time, JFK Airport was the last major airport in the United States to receive a wind shear radar.<ref name=NYTimes-Radar-1999/> Attempts at building the radar dated to 1993,<ref>{{cite news | last=Pulitzer | first=Lisa Beth | title=Two Areas Fight Radar-Tower Sites | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=June 13, 1993 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/13/nyregion/two-areas-fight-radar-tower-sites.html | access-date=January 13, 2018 | archive-date=January 14, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114183834/http://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/13/nyregion/two-areas-fight-radar-tower-sites.html | url-status=live }}</ref> but were delayed because Long Island residents and U.S. Senator [[Al D'Amato]] opposed it.<ref name=NYTimes-Radar-1999>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/31/nyregion/us-moves-ahead-on-radar-for-wind-shear-at-airports.html |title=U.S. Moves Ahead on Radar For Wind Shear at Airports |last=Wald |first=Matthew L. |date=March 31, 1999 |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 5, 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109180858/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/31/nyregion/us-moves-ahead-on-radar-for-wind-shear-at-airports.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

====21st century====
The NPS issued a [[request for proposals]] for the hangars in 2001 and received two bids, both of which contained an [[ice skating rink]]. A company named Aviator submitted the winning bid.<ref name="NYTimes-Aviator-2006" /> In 2006, hangars 1 through 4 were [[adaptive reuse|adapted for reuse]] and leased as a [[Concession (contract)|business concession]] to the [[Aviator Sports and Events Center]], a community-based sports and entertainment complex.<ref name="DepInterior-Gateway-Transport-May2006" />{{Rp|4}}<ref name="Friedman 2006"/> The site of hangars 9 and 10 was also redeveloped as part of the Aviator Complex.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=175}} Since the opening of the Aviator Sports Complex, there have been other plans to renovate Floyd Bennett Field. These range from grandiose plans, such as an Olympic-size swimming pool or drive-in theater, to regular upkeep, such as clearer signs and transportation across the airport.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/nyregion/27metjournal.html |title=Floyd Bennett Field Panel Looks to Map Park's Future |last=Stelloh |first=Tim |date=November 26, 2010 |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 4, 2018 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105123111/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/nyregion/27metjournal.html |url-status=live }}</ref> By the early 2000s, Ryan Center was being rehabilitated to its original state.{{sfn|Cody|2009|p=175}} In 2010, work started on the restoration of the building.<ref name=":1" /> The renovation was completed in May 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canarsiecourier.com/news/2012-05-10/Other_News/Floyd_Bennett_Fields_Ryan_Visitor_Center_Restorati.html |title=Floyd Bennett Field's Ryan Visitor Center Restorations Take Off |last=Steinmuller |first=Linda |date=May 10, 2012 |website=Canarsie Courier |access-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-date=January 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105180402/http://www.canarsiecourier.com/news/2012-05-10/Other_News/Floyd_Bennett_Fields_Ryan_Visitor_Center_Restorati.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://bklyner.com/photos-historic-william-fitts-ryan-visitor-center-reopens-at-floyd-bennett-field-sheepshead-bay/ |title=Photos: Historic William Fitts Ryan Visitor Center Reopens At Floyd Bennett Field |last=Berke |first=Ned |date=May 9, 2012 |work=BKLYNER |access-date=January 4, 2018 |language=en-US |archive-date=January 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105180343/https://bklyner.com/photos-historic-william-fitts-ryan-visitor-center-reopens-at-floyd-bennett-field-sheepshead-bay/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the 21st century, Floyd Bennett Field has been used for dealing with the aftermath of disasters. After the crash of [[American Airlines Flight 587]] into [[Belle Harbor, Queens|Belle Harbor]] in the nearby [[Rockaway Peninsula]] on November 12, 2001, one of Floyd Bennett Field's hangars was used as a makeshift [[morgue]] for the crash victims.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/incidents/flight587/index.html |title=FDNY Responds: Flight 587 Crashes in the Rockaways |publisher=NYC.gov |access-date=January 1, 2007 |archive-date=July 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720044656/http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/incidents/flight587/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In the [[Effects of Hurricane Sandy in New York|immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy]] in October and November 2012, a portion of one runway was used as a staging area by the [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]], for relief workers who were conducting rescues and evacuations in the Rockaways.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/city-sandy-relief-nerve-center-floyd-bennett-field-brooklyn-article-1.1203835 |title=The city's Sandy relief nerve center: Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, where city workers and National Guardman have been working to help those hardest hit and still recovering from the storm |last=Boyle |first=Christina |work=NY Daily News |date=November 17, 2012 |access-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-date=January 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105123138/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/city-sandy-relief-nerve-center-floyd-bennett-field-brooklyn-article-1.1203835 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In July 2011, U.S. Representative [[Michael Grimm (politician)|Michael G. Grimm]] introduced H.R. 2606 – New York City Natural Gas Supply Enhancement Act, which would convert one of Floyd Bennett Field's hangars to a [[gas meter]] station for a proposed natural gas pipeline through New York City.<ref>{{USBill|112|HR|2606|pipe=H.R.2606 – New York City Natural Gas Supply Enhancement Act}}</ref> The [[Williams Companies|Williams Company]] was to restore that hangar for pipeline use.<ref>{{cite web |title=Background And Need For Legislation |url=https://www.congress.gov/112/crpt/hrpt373/CRPT-112hrpt373.pdf |work=House Report 112-373 – New York City Natural Gas Supply Enhancement Act |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=February 6, 2012 |archive-date=January 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127053949/https://congress.gov/112/crpt/hrpt373/CRPT-112hrpt373.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2015, U.S. Senators [[Chuck Schumer]] and [[Kirsten Gillibrand]] announced that a bill with a $2.4 million upgrade for the New York State Marine Corps Reserve complex in Brooklyn had passed in the U.S. Congress.<ref name="Spivak 2015">{{cite web | last=Spivak | first=Anna | title=Marine Corps Base at Floyd Bennett Field to see upgrades | website=The Brooklyn Home Reporter | date=November 23, 2015 | url=http://brooklynreporter.com/story/marine-corps-base-at-floyd-bennett-field-to-see-upgrades/ | access-date=January 14, 2018 | archive-date=January 14, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114130706/http://brooklynreporter.com/story/marine-corps-base-at-floyd-bennett-field-to-see-upgrades/ | url-status=live }}</ref> The next year, Gillibrand obtained $15.1 million in funding to renovate two Marine Corps Reserve facilities, including the 6th Communications Battalion, which needed $1.9 million to replace electrical duct banks.<ref name="Egan 2016">{{cite web | last=Egan | first=Sean | title=Floyd Bennett Field's Marine's To Get Millions In Renovations | website=BKLYNER | date=December 15, 2016 | url=https://bklyner.com/floyd-bennett-fields-marines-get-millions-renovations-sheepshead-bay/ | access-date=January 14, 2018 | archive-date=January 14, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114183959/https://bklyner.com/floyd-bennett-fields-marines-get-millions-renovations-sheepshead-bay/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

Nonprofit organization Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy presented plans to the [[Brooklyn Community Board 18]] in April 2023 for the restoration of three structures at Floyd Bennett Field.<ref name="Steinmuller a212">{{cite web |last=Steinmuller |first=Linda |date=April 24, 2023 |title=A New Vision for Floyd Bennett Field |url=https://canarsiecourier.com/a-new-vision-for-floyd-bennett-field-p9191-199.htm |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=canarsiecourier.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725202808/https://canarsiecourier.com/a-new-vision-for-floyd-bennett-field-p9191-199.htm |archive-date=July 25, 2023}}</ref> The same year, a charter school in Brooklyn announced plans to construct a [[sustainability]]-themed school at Floyd Bennett Field for $60 million.<ref name="Beer 2023 y168">{{cite web |last=Beer |first=Isabel Song |date=May 9, 2023 |title=Charter school plans new campus on Floyd Bennett Field |url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/brooklyn-charter-school-floyd-bennett-field/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=Brooklyn Paper |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725202808/https://www.brooklynpaper.com/brooklyn-charter-school-floyd-bennett-field/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Rama 2023 p881">{{cite web |last=Rama |first=Kala |date=May 6, 2023 |title=New facility at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn will focus on sustainability |url=https://pix11.com/news/local-news/brooklyn-school-and-nonprofits-unveiled-plans-for-new-high-school/ |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=PIX11 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725202808/https://pix11.com/news/local-news/brooklyn-school-and-nonprofits-unveiled-plans-for-new-high-school/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In August 2023, state and federal officials reached an agreement to build a large shelter for migrants at Floyd Bennett Field, amid a [[New York City migrant housing crisis|citywide migrant housing crisis]] caused by a sharp increase in the number of [[asylum seeker]]s traveling to the city.<ref name="Russo 2023 k305">{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{cite web | last=Russo | first=Melissa | title=Feds approve migrant shelter at Floyd Bennett Field as other new sites fill up | website=NBC New York | date=August 22, 2023 | url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/migrant-crisis/feds-approve-migrant-shelter-at-floyd-bennett-field-as-other-new-sites-fill-up/4578459/ | access-date=August 22, 2023 | archive-date=August 22, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822062403/https://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/migrant-crisis/feds-approve-migrant-shelter-at-floyd-bennett-field-as-other-new-sites-fill-up/4578459/ | url-status=live }}|{{cite web | last=Stark-Miller | first=Ethan | title=Feds give state, city greenlight to use Brooklyn's Floyd Bennett Field to shelter over 2,000 migrants: Hochul | website=amNewYork | date=August 21, 2023 | url=https://www.amny.com/housing/migrant-crisis/feds-greenlight-hochul-floyd-bennett-field-migrant-shelter/ | access-date=August 22, 2023 | archive-date=August 22, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822012746/https://www.amny.com/housing/migrant-crisis/feds-greenlight-hochul-floyd-bennett-field-migrant-shelter/ | url-status=live }}}}</ref> The shelter opened that November, but its remote location deterred many migrants.<ref name="Dow 2023 g141">{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{cite web | last=Dow | first=Jay | title=Migrants unwilling to stay at the Floyd Bennett Field tent facility in Brooklyn | website=PIX11 | date=November 12, 2023 | url=https://pix11.com/news/local-news/brooklyn/some-migrants-unwilling-to-stay-at-the-floyd-bennet-field-tent-facility-in-brooklyn/ | access-date=November 14, 2023 | archive-date=November 14, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114021426/https://pix11.com/news/local-news/brooklyn/some-migrants-unwilling-to-stay-at-the-floyd-bennet-field-tent-facility-in-brooklyn/ | url-status=live }}|{{cite web | last=Rincón | first=Sonia | title=Disappointment, frustration as migrant families turn around after arriving at Floyd Bennett Field shelter in Brooklyn | website=ABC7 New York | date=November 12, 2023 | url=https://abc7ny.com/nyc-migrants-floyd-bennett-field-asylum-seekers-shelter/14048399/ | access-date=November 14, 2023 | archive-date=November 14, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114021432/https://abc7ny.com/nyc-migrants-floyd-bennett-field-asylum-seekers-shelter/14048399/ | url-status=live }}|{{cite web | last=Cruz | first=David | title=Some migrant families refuse to stay at new shelter on remote Floyd Bennet Field, hopping right back on bus | website=New York Daily News | date=November 12, 2023 | url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2023/11/12/some-migrant-families-refuse-to-stay-at-new-shelter-on-remote-floyd-bennet-field-hopping-right-back-on-bus/ | access-date=November 14, 2023 | archive-date=November 13, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231113235726/https://www.nydailynews.com/2023/11/12/some-migrant-families-refuse-to-stay-at-new-shelter-on-remote-floyd-bennet-field-hopping-right-back-on-bus/ | url-status=live }}}}</ref> City officials announced plans in December 2024 to close the shelter.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|{{cite web | last=Stratman | first=Josephine | last2=Bamberger | first2=Cayla | last3=Sommerfeldt | first3=Chris | title=NYC to shutter two dozen migrant shelters, including Floyd Bennett Field, Stratford Arms Hotel | website=New York Daily News | date=December 10, 2024 | url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/12/10/nyc-to-shutter-two-dozen-migrant-shelters-including-floyd-bennet-field-stafford-arms-hotel/ | access-date=December 11, 2024}}|{{cite web | last=Ferré-Sadurní | first=Luis | title=New York to Close Giant Family Shelter to Protect Migrants From Trump | website=The New York Times | date=December 10, 2024 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/10/nyregion/floyd-bennett-shelter-closing.html | access-date=December 11, 2024}}}}</ref>