STATEN ISLAND PARKS - For years, residents of the New York metropolitan area have been visiting the beautiful parks in Staten Island. It is these parks that have lead to Staten Island being nicknamed “The Borough of Parks”. Foremost in people’s minds when they think of the parks on Staten Island are those of the Gateway National Recreation Area, which include Great Kills Park, Miller Field, Fox Beach, and Fort Wadsworth.

The United States Park Police has been assigned the duty of patrolling these heavily visited parks with their yearly average visitation exceeding 2.1 million people. By diligent patrolling and unwavering community policing, this makes the Gateway National Recreation Area one of the most heavily visited National Park installations in the country.

Miller Field alone boasts visitation numbers of 1 million visitors per year, averaging 10,000 visitors per weekend in the spring and fall. Miller Field, named in 1919 for Captain James Ely Miller, which served as a military installation from 1919-1969. After its transfer to the National Park Service in 1974, Miller Field began its transformation into the popular recreation area you see today. Miller Field supports more than half of Staten Island’s residents recreation. The 187 acres of open field is home to soccer, baseball, softball, cricket, and football. Altogether, there are 80 leagues, 2,000 teams, and 75,000 players that utilize Miller Field for their recreational needs. There are also picnic areas, playgrounds, community gardens, and beaches.

 Great Kills Park has become the standard by which all other parks on Staten Island are measured. Great Kills Park covers about 580 acres of land, and reaches a total size of about 900 acres including water. You will find a Ranger/Police Station, an Education Station, and a Beach House, which includes a concessionaire’s stand. Great Kills Park boasts about 800,000 visitors per year. There is a wide variety of reasons to visit the park, including a swimming beach, a playground, hiking trails, a boat launch, a model airplane flying field, a marina, multiple fishing areas, a promenade on Great Kills Harbor, a multi-use path (approximately 3 miles long) for walking, running, rollerblading, and biking, as well as softball, baseball, and soccer fields.

 Fort Wadsworth is the newest addition to the Gateway National Recreation Area, becoming part of the National Park Service in 1994. Fort Wadsworth is the headquarters for both the National Park Service and the United States Park Police on Staten Island. The United States Park Police Horse Mounted Unit also have their office and stables on the fort. Fort Wadsworth opened to the public in 1998, and now has over 300,000 visitors per year.