A Historic Airfield With Marshes, Camping, and Hangars

Floyd Bennett Field turns a former World War II naval air station into a wide open Brooklyn escape. Start at the historic control tower and terminal, now the William Fitts Ryan Visitor Center, then follow the runway toward Hangar B, where a museum traces the era of early aviators. Across 1,300 acres, grassland, saltmarshes, and tidal mudflats meet a marina, archery, fishing, waterfront camping, and RC flying.

The scale is the point. Walk past the old airfield buildings, pick a direction toward the shoreline, and give the landscape time to change. Check the schedule first, with Hangar B open on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday and the field itself open daily from 6 AM to 9 PM. The visitor center makes a natural first stop, then the runway leads you toward a quieter stretch of water and a sharper sense of the places early pilots once used.