Abstract
This thesis examines the cultural landscape of Floyd Bennett Field, a former airport and military base in Brooklyn, New York. Research was funded by the National Park Service to support its management of the cultural landscape.
The 1450-acre Floyd Bennett Field site is significant as the first municipal airport in New York City from 1931 to 1941, and then as Naval Air Station New York until 1972. Due to its remote location, Floyd Bennett Field was never a commercial success, but proved popular for aviators and the military. As demand for naval air facilities increased with the approach of World War II, the city sold the airport to the Navy in 1941. During World War II, Floyd Bennett Field was one of the Navy’s most important air stations. After the war, the Navy gradually closed its operations at Floyd Bennett Field until it was decommissioned and transferred to the Department of the Interior in 1971.Since its acquisition, the park has struggled with management of the extensive infrastructure at the site.
The thesis documents the physical history of the landscape from a tidal estuary and industrial community, to a municipal airport and naval air station, and finally a public park within Gateway National Recreation Area. Based on this documentation and National Register criteria, the thesis inventories and evaluates landscape features to determine how each contributes to the historic character of the landscape. The thesis finds that most of the site retains its historic character, but that sections do not due to loss of buildings and open spatial character.
This thesis is available at SUNY ESF’s Moon Library – Thesis Call Number C621
The project was finalized by the Department of Landscape Architecture into a published National Park Service Cultural Landscape Report (see Published Reports)