Editing Floyd Bennett Field (section)

===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}}