The three units of Gateway National Recreation Area were called to national service on September 11th in a capacity previously unimaginable.

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Jamaica Bay Unit

The Jamaica Bay Unit closed all entrances to Floyd Bennett Field and other areas. A US Park Police boat and a ferry with an EMT departed to the inner harbor to offer assistance. The front gate was closed and blocked by the NYPD using garbage trucks and Jersey barriers. The airfield houses NYPD Special Operations and Aviation Unit (helicopters) and it was a central staging area for the NYPD in this area of Brooklyn. The FBI used hangar space on the airfield. The Marines increased security for their base inside the Park.

A few days after Sept. 11, the American Red Cross relocated their food preparation center to a hangar on the field and prepared 10,000 meals a day for relief workers at peak operation. About 150 people lived in the hangar during this operation. The Park co-sponsored a prayer vigil on Sept. 28 at Fort Tilden with community groups and churches in Rockaway, a Brooklyn community that was home to many firemen and policemen lost when the Towers collapsed.

After the crash of Flight 587 in Rockaway, NYPD and FD special operations used the airfield for response, and the site was shut down for one day. Hangars on the field were used for investigations of the tail section by the National Transportation Safety Board and as a morgue, and the Ryan Visitor Center was turned over to the Anti-Terrorism Task Force. A prayer service for this crash was held in the Park sponsored by the City of New York; 5,000 people attended. NPS and the NYPD have developed a cooperative agreement for the use of the airfield in future disasters.

Staten Island Unit

Fort Wadsworth was closed for two months and then re-opened with higher security in place. The Fort also served as a center for increased US Coast Guard activity to protect the entrance to New York Harbor. The NYPD utilized an historical hangar at Miller Field for two months. The Coast Guard brought in 200 personnel on special duty to protect the New York Harbor and established a temporary camp at Fort Wadsworth for them. The New York Marathon took place in October as scheduled; runners staged in Fort Wadsworth prior to the start of the race.

Sandy Hook Unit

Sandy Hook responded to a request for assistance by the US Coast Guard and sent a boat to patrol the entrance to New York Harbor during the afternoon and night of Sept. 11, and for several days following. The Park closed on Sept. 11 and partially re-opened at the end of the week under heightened security. Jersey barriers were placed at park entrances and in other areas, and portions of the park remained closed indefinitely due to proximity to Coast Guard and Naval Stations.

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