BK Southie » Floyd Bennett Field

All photos courtsey of Aviator Sports & Event Center

Good news! The Kings County Fair at the Aviator sports complex has been extended by a week, through Memorial Day Monday. The hours are the same as last week – 5pm-11pm Monday through Thursday, 5pm-1am Friday, noon-midnight Saturday, and noon-11pm Sunday. General admission is still $7 plus rides, with specials through the week.

I’m told that the energy-efficient Ferris Wheel needs only the same amount of power that would power a TV. No indication if that’s the fairly benign TV I have in my home now, or the 72″ power-hungry plasma I want to have on my wall.

Hanger 7 photo by Veronica Tookmanian

Kings County Fair at Aviator Complex

Posted by Brian Hedden at 9:00 am Events

May 142010

The Kings County Fair is underway! A host of rides, carnival games, and food stands have descended on the Aviator Sports Center located at Floyd Bennett Field (map), and will remain through this weekend and the next. Ooh – there’s a zoo (I won’t tell PETA if you don’t) with a baby kangaroo, and Buffo, The World’s Strongest Clown.

Hey, this is just my $0.02 of free advice, but if you’re one of those people that’s terrified of clowns…? Stick close to the kangaroo.

The cost to enter is $7 admission, and their are several pay-one-price specials for rides throughout the next ten days, including tonight’s $25 Midnight Madness. The Kings County Fair is open Monday-Thursday 5pm-11pm, Friday 5pm-1am, Saturday noon-midnight, and Sunday noon-11pm.

[UPDATE] Now extended through Memorial Day Monday: see details.

Newsbites Roundup

Posted by Brian Hedden at 6:30 am Canarsie, Gravesend Bay, Parks

Jan 152010

True story: I was half-asleep when I wrote the last two days posts. The following are the remaining week’s stories I thought were worth repeating, yet I can’t bear another sleep-deprived night, so I’m giving you the extra-skinny version!

The ethanol tank on a ship in Gravesend Bay ruptured on Sunday morning when it was evidently overfilled. No ethanol is reported to have leaked into the water. (Staten Island Advance)
A heavily-polluted two-acre section of Floyd Bennett Field will be getting a $2.4 million cleanup. (NY Post)
38 acres of wetlands in Canarsie polluted by sewage overflow will be getting $15 million for their restoration. When complete, the restoration will include a five-acre park. (NY Post)

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At the end of Floyd Bennett Field’s Hanger Row, there is a sprawling community garden complex, unique in the five boroughs*, largely comprised of row upon row of small, individually-tended plots.

*I am qualified to make this absurd overgeneralization because I have, of course, visited every single community garden in each of our five boroughs.

Even Staten Island.

Yeah. I’m THAT awesome. AND all-knowing.

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Garden map.

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Floyd Bennett Field, Part 1

Posted by Brian Hedden at 5:50 am Parks

May 192009

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(Photo: M. Sedwick via Wikipedia)

I went out to Floyd Bennett field last weekend. For those of you not in the know, this was New York City’s first major airport, at the far southern end of Flatbush Avenue. It was meant to draw passenger traffic away from Newark, but for some reason never caught on with the airlines the way LaGuardia and JFK did. Floyd Bennett Field was shut down in the early ’70s and turned over for use as a federal park.

I added the descriptions to the photograph above after my visit based on a 1998 park map on Wikipedia. Too bad I didn’t think to do that before my visit. I walked along that middle runway, thinking I was headed for the archery range. That’s actually a NYC Sanitation facility at the end of that runway.

I’m going to assume it is pursuant to Sanitation’s snow removal mission, because I don’t really want to think of what else I was headed for. Just roll with me on this. Thanks.

The community garden I came across at the end of the day was unexpected, and really amazing. I’ll share those photos tomorrow. For now, I have a few photos from the rest of my trip I would like to share.

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The visitors’ center is housed inside of the old control tower. Which is closed until sometime next year. Or the year after that. Lucky me.

Kevin Walsh of Forgotten NY made the trip a few years ago and has some interior photos on his site.

More photos below the fold…

Kings County Fair Extended Through Memorial Day Weekend

Kings County Fair at Aviator Complex

Newsbites Roundup

Floyd Bennett Field, Part 2: Floyd Bennett Garden Association

Floyd Bennett Field, Part 1

Redistricting: “A baby alien popping out of a stomach,” and other mild reactions

On Redistricting: Time To Downsize The Capitol

Mashup: Our love of Bay Ridge, Downton Abbey, and nine-figure lottery payouts

BK Southie Eats: Nablus Sweets

Tomorrow: “Bay Ridge, Etc” Book Launch

BK Southie Eats: Return To Europa