The Historic Resources of the Jamaica Bay Unit

The Jamaica Bay Unit, like all of Gateway National Recreation Area, is a historically rich area that demonstrates the impacts of the growth of New York City and the nation, commerce, the changing nature of national defense, the importance of immigration, and the interplay between human uses and ecology and the environment.

Floyd Bennett Field
Floyd Bennett Field is a significant site in the history of civil and military aviation. It was New York City's first municipal airport, home to record-breaking flights of famous aviators, and served as an important military base and deployment arena during World War II. Floyd Bennett Field as Naval Air Station New York defended the nation and its ships from 1941 to 1971. The people who served at the field and the events that took place there, had a profound effect on military aviation, and on America 's wars.

Fort Tilden
Fort Tilden is the last of a long line of fortifications that stood on the Rockaway peninsula, ready to defend the United States from attack from the sea and air. The site witnessed the use of the most technologically advanced weaponry of the period including smooth-bore cannons, sixteen inch naval rifles, and anti-aircraft missiles.

Jacob Riis Park
Jacob Riis Park was the site of Rockaway Naval Air Station, significant for its relationship to the famous NC-4 crossing of the Atlantic. This historic crossing ultimately changed commercial aviation. As we see it today, Jacob Riis Park was built by the government to give New York City's burgeoning immigrant population a place to escape tenement life and the opportunity to reconnect with the natural beauty and recreation of the sea at the 'resort for the common man.'

Jamaica Bay
Jamaica Bay is a place of contrast, where metropolis and nature are juxtaposed. Natural systems have displayed remarkable resilience in the face of rapidly increasing urban pressures. The marine resources of Jamaica Bay have provided both a source of recreation and sustenance since humans settled near Jamaica Bay. The National Park Service strives to strike a balance between these often conflicting pressures and preservation of the bay's resources.

Plumb Beach
Plumb Beach is one of the few remaining vestiges of the 1920's concept of a “parkway,” a road that is used to bring people to parks from urban centers, and in fact is a park in and of itself to be used for vehicular recreation.