Floyd Bennett Field Improvements – Brooklyn NY

City:
Brooklyn, New York City, NY

Site Type:
Infrastructure and Utilities, Airports

New Deal Agencies:
Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Started:
1934

Completed:
1938

Quality of Information:
Very Good

Site Survival:
Extant

Description

Between 1934 and 1938 the WPA funded extensive construction and improvement projects at Floyd Bennett Airport. “Work completed by the WPA significantly modernized the airport facilities. By 1938, federal funds spent on airfield construction far outweighed funds contributed by New York City. During the four years the WPA worked on projects at Floyd Bennett Airport, the federal program spent approximately $4.7 million. During the same period, the city of New York contributed just over $339,000.” (Cody)

WPA projects in New York included “the laying of concrete runways and the erection of a machine shop at Floyd Bennett airport.” Floyd Bennett Field was New York City’s first municipal airport, later a Naval Air Station, and is now a park.

The Field is now part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, and various parts of the Airport are being adapted for use by the National Park Service.

 

Source notes

Millett, John D. The Works Progress Administration in New York City, New York (Arno Press). 1978: 97.
Sarah Cody, "Balancing the Past and Present: The Cultural Landscape of Floyd Bennett Field", last accessed September 2015
New York's first airport is being brought back from its ruins, July 5, 2016

Location Info


50 Aviation Rd.
Brooklyn, NY 11234

Coordinates: 40.593, -73.889

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