{"nrhp_refnum":"80000363","name":"Floyd Bennett Field Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Flatbush Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Brooklyn","state":"NY","lat":40.58129015900005,"lon":-73.89203097995338,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-04-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district at Floyd Bennett Field on Barren Island, Jamaica Bay, Brooklyn, within Gateway National Recreation Area. It is New York City's first municipal airport, built 1928-1931 by the City Department of Docks, with later WPA additions and Navy use.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the field is significant for the evolution of aviation history and municipal airport construction. It was New York City's first municipal airport and followed the 1928 Department of Commerce airport guidelines. It was also a base for record-setting flights by Wiley Post, Howard Hughes and Douglas Corrigan, and it keeps much of its original structures and setting.","narrative":"Floyd Bennett Field, on Barren Island in Jamaica Bay, Brooklyn, was New York City's first municipal airport. The City Department of Docks built it between 1928 and 1931, following Department of Commerce guidelines that placed hangars in a line beside the runways and close to Flatbush Avenue. The core of the district is four pairs of steel-frame hangars with brick service wings and Art Deco details, a red and black brick administration building in a neo-Georgian style with a control booth, and the original runway layout. WPA crews added runways and joined the hangar pairs in 1936-1938. The Navy took over the field in 1941 and enlarged it, and the National Park Service later acquired it. In the early 1930s it ranked among the country's busiest airports, and its long runways drew record-seeking fliers including Wiley Post, Howard Hughes and Douglas Corrigan. Because it keeps much of its original buildings and setting, it shows how an early municipal airport worked.","period_of_significance":"1928-31","architect_builder":"New York City Department of Docks","architectural_style":"Neo-Georgian (administration building); Art Deco ornamentation on hangars","criteria":[],"status_note":"Only Hangars 3 and 4 are occupied, by the New York City Police Department. The administration building is unoccupied and needs rehabilitation. The garage and gasoline pump station are unoccupied. Overall condition is marked fair and altered.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:41.341942-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80000363.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000363/df35a49f85-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000363/df35a49f85-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Ad Meskens","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Runway_Floyd_Bennett_Field.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Ad Meskens</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Runway_Floyd_Bennett_Field.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318391","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Bennett_Field","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1430350"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/brooklyn/floyd-bennett-field-historic-district-80000363/"}