Experience the Golden Age of Aviation at Floyd Bennett Field! Now part of the National Park Service’s Gateway National Recreation Area, Floyd Bennett Field served as New York City’s first municipal airport beginning in 1931. The Ryan Visitor Center, formerly the administration building and glamorous terminal for the airport, has been restored by the NPS. The terminal was a marvel of its time, and it now houses a museum telling the story of the airfield and the famous aviators, Amelia Earhart and Howard Hughes among them, who flew there.

Visitors may tour the museum and take a peek at the tunnels underneath the runways, not generally open to the public, where airport staff transported travelers’ luggage to their planes. Visitors can also enter the restored control tower, also not generally open to the public, offering panoramic views of Jamaica Bay and the airport’s runways and grasslands. It’s one of the best views in Brooklyn!

Rangers will also be available at Hangar B, on the shores of Jamaica Bay, approximately one mile east of the Ryan Visitor Center. Home of Floyd Bennett Field’s Historic Aircraft Restoration Project (HARP), Hangar B contains dozens of restored and model aircraft.

Access to tower and tunnel will require use of stairs. No elevator is available. The Ryan Visitor Center is accessible by bus (Q35) along Flatbush Avenue, but Hangar B is approximately one mile east of Flatbush Avenue by car, bike, or on foot.