Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Elisabetta Di Stefano
Pratt Institute Fall 2011
DES-660 Directed Research
In order to foster the growth and preservation of a his-
torical landmark such as, Floyd Bennett Field, a designer
must engage the interest of various constituencies which
include public, private and non-governmental organiza-
tions. Throughout this semester I have been collecting
information on those parties that show enthusiasm in
this subject. However, the search does not limit me from
further pursuits in attracting more individuals and/or
groups with a similar passion, perseverance, and focus.
Who would have thought that a bike ride can lead to a
discovery of such a wonderful open space?
A majority of Floyd Bennett Field has been an unresolved
design problem ever since it became a part of Gateway
National Recreation Area, owned by the National Park
Service. In efforts to create a viable identity for Floyd
Bennett Field, I have come to realize that many areas
of expertise are required in order to create one that is
timeless. While deserving preservation for its rich role in
the History of Aviation alone, FBF is also part of Gateway
National Park which is under the aegis of the National
Park Service (NPS). Prior to ownership of the Depart-
ment of Interior, FBF was used by the Navy. Through my
own extensive research I found that the space has been
proposed to be used for numerous things all of which are
not aligned with NPS standards and ideals, but most of all
do not preserve the history.
The first proposal was done by Commissioner, Charles J.
Urstadt in 1969 titled: “A Total Residential Community”.
In retrospect to the newspaper articles, (Daily News, New
York Times, NY Newsday that I have cited from the 1970’s),
this proposal took wind of much criticism. The Urstadt
proposal was considered to be a long term dream to
solve a short term problem. The problem was the amount
of homeless people in Brooklyn at the time and to have
this low-income residential community was a far stretch
to accomplish. The second proposal for the field, which
had been rejected quickly, was to convert the field into a
prison. This was pushed by Mayor Koch back in 1986 and
I am happy that it was widely opposed. Other proposals
included: Converting part of the field as a racetrack and
the other was a report done by Floyd Bennett Field Blue
Ribbon Panel granting a proposal with various uses
(see: FBF Blue Ribbon Panel Report: http://www.rpa.org/
floydbennett/)
In addition to the preliminary research, I made sure
to take advantage of opportunities that lends itself to
learning more about the field. One of those opportunities
included the State of the Bay: Jamaica Bay Symposium
held at Brooklyn College. Floyd Bennett Field resides
in Jamaica Bay and is directly affected by the state of
the bay. Throughout the Symposium, I kept thinking,
as Christopher Simmons would say, “Designers should
have a seat at the roundtable.” About a year ago, I heard
Simmons speak at the AIGA Compostmodern Confer-
ence and his presentation left me questioning our role
as designers. From Day 1, the symposium was directed
to scientists, marine biologists and key leaders with the
discussion turning on topics and strategies to improve
Jamaica Bay (FBF is adjacent to the Bay). Unrepresented
in this discussion was the community involvement as
well as the design and art perspective to articulate these
issues. I have had thoughtful interactions with a range
of concerned people. I introduced myself to Linda
Canzanelli, NPS Gateway Rec Area Superintendent, who,
in turn, introduced me to National Park Ranger David
Taft. Taft led the boat tour of the Bay on Day 2. I also
met Anthony Pignatello, Commodore of the Sebago
Canoe Club, located in Paedergat Basin in the Bay.
Pignatello introduced me to Vivian Rattay Carter, a
columnist for The Wave, Rockaway’s newspaper since
1893. While photographing images to post on my Blog
(http://thesis.elisabetta.me, See Fig. 1), I had a conversa-
tion with Peter I. May, Senior Environment Scientist/
Restoration Ecologist from Biohabitats. His presentation
on Day 1 demonstrated how moved people are by ideas
that engage community, design, science and education.
The State of the Bay Symposium is an illustration of the
benefits of cross-disciplinary collaboration, a method of
design which I intend to further explore for my thesis.
Secondly, I also reached out to students, teachers, and
administrators regarding this topic at our own school,
Pratt Institute. The School of Architecture’s attention
was captured very quickly with the scale of this “park”.
A student in the 5 year program for Architecture, Brian
Schulman, is interested in proposing something for the
field and collaborating along side with me. Further-
more, I have been in constant communication with John
Shapiro, Chair of City & Regional Planning Graduate
Program at the Pratt Institute. John Shapiro coordinates
the Programs for Sustainable Planning and Develop-
ment, which includes the Historic Preservation, Urban
Environmental Management, and Construction/Facili-
ties Management Programs. He’s been incredibly helpful
with resources to further pursue my endeavors for the
field. See attached for list of all the people, groups, and
resources I already communicated with and/or will be in
communication with.
Lastly, I have also paid visit to Hanger 8 where it’s labeled
as H.A.R.P. (Historical Aircraft Restoration Project).
They are open to the public on Tuesdays and Saturdays
from 9:00am–4:00pm. (See Fig. 2) The conditions of this
hanger are very poor. The roof leaks and the windows
are not fully repaired leaving the workers and visitors
freezing cold in the fall/winter. The workers are volun-
teers and most are veterans. They are over 65 years old at
least. The man who gave me a tour was thrilled to see my
interest in the place and really would love for the youth to
be interested in the historic preservation of FBF. While I
am still unraveling the depth of my pursuit, it is indeed a
project that one can not be bored with researching!
In summary, I have discovered what is needed in order
to preserve this space is the visibility of it’s existence. In
efforts to increase its visibility, I would reach out to the
list of various constituencies and also draft proposals
to non-profits that advocate for spaces such as this.
Simultaneously, I will further explore the history of the
Highline and other projects similar to advocating for his-
torical preservation or revival. One that I have explored
already was Grafik Intervention. The project had caught
my attention and in turn I automatically reached out to
William Culpepper who is now a professor at Ferris State
University. The project called “Grafik Intervention” was
created for Professor Culpepper’s MFA thesis at the
Academy of Art University. We had a skype conversation
about my project and he gave me excellent feedback and
recommendations for rapid prototyping, getting involved
with events that are already sponsored in the area and
trying to reach out to the community at those events.
(see: http://vimeo.com/grafikintervention/introducing)
Pratt Institute [Contacts]
John Shapiro | Chair of City & Regional Planning Graduate Program at Pratt Institute
Jaime Stein | Visiting Assistant Professor., Academic Coordinator. Design Management., Grad Center for Planning
Lacey Tauber | Assistant to the Chair-person (John Shapiro), Professor atGrad Center for Planning, School of Architecture, Pratt Institute
Anthony Cardonna | Professor Undergraduate Architecture, School ofArchitecture, Pratt Institute
Jenny Lee | Adjunct Professor Fine Arts Department
Brian Schulman | Student School of Architecture
National Park Service [Contacts]
Richard Barrett | Program ManagerNew York Harbor ParksOffice 718-354-4613Cell 646-739-5790
Christopher Parsons | ArchitectProject Management DivisionGateway National Recreation Area210 New York AvenueStaten Island, New York 10305office 718.354.4727 cell 917.295.7136
Steve Salgo | Park RangerPublic Affairs OfficeGateway NRAPhone: 718-354-4602Fax: [email protected]
Emina (Minka) Sendich | Planner Gateway NPS718.354.4628
Community + Jamaica Bay interest
Peter I. May, Ph.D. | BiohabitatsSenior Environmental Scientist410.554.0156www.biohabitats.com
Vivian R. Carter | JournalistColumnist for the Wave, Rockaway’s newspaper since [email protected]
Other [Contacts]
William Culpepper | Professor at Ferris State UniversityMFA Academy of Art UniversityThesis: Grafik Interventionhttp://grafikintervention.com
Politicians [Contacts]
Joseph P. Addabbo Jr | NY Senator15th Senate Districthttp://www.nysenate.gov/senator/joseph-p-addabbo-jr/contact
Marty Markowitz | Brooklyn Borough President 209 Joralemon Street Brooklyn, NY 11201
718-802-3700Robert L. TurnerRepublicanNew York District 9
Edolphus TownsDemocratNew York District 10
Yvette D. ClarkeDemocratNew York District 11
NON-Profit Organizations
The Design Trust for Public Space is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving public space in New York City.http://www.designtrust.org
Place Matters City Lore & the Municipal Art Society founded the Place Matters project in 1998 to identify, promote, and protect such places in New York City.http://www.placematters.net/
Fig. 1 Fig. 1
Fig. 2 Fig. 2
1970’s Newspaper Articles 12/17/11 12:18 PM Work Cited Kline, Polly “City Agencies Set Meeting On Use of Bennett Field” Daily News 22 April 1970 Shipler, David K. “1-Billion State Development Plan For Floyd Bennett Field Scored by City” New York Times 25 May 1970 “Volpe backs General Aviation Use of Floyd Bennett Field” New York Times 20 April 1970 “Housing at No Cost to City Proposed at Bennett Field” Daily News 25 May 1970 Kline, Polly “Bennett a Golconda: Urstadt” Daily News 25 Nov. 1970 Kline, Polly “Calls Subway Link to Floyd Bennett Impossible Dream” Daily News 27 November 1970 Kline, Polly “Group seeks Nixon’s Nix on Bennett Field Housing” Daily News 11 Jan. 1971 Greene, Mel “Bennett Housing Plan Meets Flak” Daily News 12 Jan. 1971 Kline, Polly ”Urstadt Rips Plan to Use Bennett Field for Relievers” Daily News 19 Feb. 1971 Layton, Preston and Frank Mazza “Sees Housing Plan, park at Airport as ‘Compatible’’ Daily News 28 June 1971 Morritz, Owen “State makes a new pitch for Floyd Bennett Housing” Daily News 15 May 1972 ”Local Plan Chiefs, Sharoff sue to ban Floyd Housing” Daily News 15 May 1972 ”Bennett Housing Foes off to Capital” NY Newsday 21 Sept. 1972
Silverman, Berton ”Housing at Floyd Bennett Nearing Showdown Vote” New York Times 24 Sept. 1972 McCardell, Michael ”Dispute on Floyd Bennett may keep park up in air” Daily News 16 April 1973 Kline, Polly ”Gateway Park moving toward Reality” Daily News 8 Jan. 1974 Lane, Robert ”U.S. Launches in depth survey of our shoreline” Daily News 14 Oct. 1973 McCardell, Michael ”Cops Rehearsed the hostage bit, but for Naught” Daily News 22 Jan. 1973 ”Rep. Holtzman assailed over Bennett air field” Daily News 15 May 1973 ”Floyd Bennett astronomy day” Daily News 11 April 1979
1980’s Newspaper Articles 12/17/11 12:18 PM ”50 Years For Floyd Bennett” New York Times 22 May 1981 Copage, Eric V. ”Bennett Field Development is proposed” Daily News 8 Jan. 1982 Chira, Susan “$25 million Development for Floyd Bennett Field” New York Times 13 Jan. 1982 Rabin, Bernard ”Fete to mark milestone in flight” Daily News 30 Jan. 1986 Moses, Paul ”Koch wants Stockades for Crack Dealers” NY Newsday 21 August 1986 Fleming, Robert “Prison at airfield’s widely opposed” Daily News 17 Dec. 1986 “Gardeners Youngsters Enjoy Festival” NY Newsday 29 Aug. 1988 Weiner, Caryn Eve “Making Ideas Fly at Airport: Development sought for Floyd Bennett Field” NY Newsday 4 Jan. 1989 Weiner, Caryn Eve “Making Ideas for Air Field in Call for Initial Plans” NY Newsday 3 Feb. 1989
1990’s Newspaper Articles 12/17/11 12:18 PM 1990’s Thomson, Sheila “Renewing the Meadows” NY Newsday 11 Feb. 1993 Queen, Joseph W. “Brooklyn Eyed as Radar Site” NY Newsday 27 Jan. 1995 Fuentes, Annette “Weather station radar is feared” Daily News 1 Feb. 1995 McG. Thomas Jr., Robert “Douglas Corrigan 88, Dies; Wrong Way Trip was the right way to Celebrity as an Aviator” New York Times 14 Dec. 1995 Cohen, Mark Francis “Precision, Pride, and Plastic” New York Times 28 April 1996 “Military copters head out” Daily News 18 May 1998 Superville, Denisa R. “Brooklyn’s Best-Kept Secret is Blooming at Floyd Bennett Field” Park Slope Courier 13 Sept. 1999
2000’s Newspaper Articles 12/17/11 12:18 PM 2000’s Farrell, Bill “Hangars eyed for rec site” Daily News 20 May 2011 Rayer, Anne “In Brooklyn, Lasagna Gardening (No Pasta)” New York Times 18 Aug. 2002 Maisel, Todd “Firm Commitment” Daily News 23 Sept. 2002 Woodberry Jr., Warren “Airport Radar to Aid Safety” Daily News 7 Feb. 2003 “Historic Desolate Floyd Bennett Field to be Reborn as Recreation Center” Brooklyn Daily Eagle 23 April 2003 Farrell, Bill “Sports Complex for Gateway” Daily News 3 June 2003 Silverbush, Ben “Plans for $15 million Sports Complex at Floyd Bennett Field Unveiled” Brooklyn Daily Eagle 3 June 2003 Silverbush, Ben “Surprise! Surprising Sports Complex Plan For Empty Airfield Now Controversial” Brooklyn Daily Eagle 4 June 2003 Silverbush, Ben “Weiner, Federal Parks Official Defend Gateway Sports Complex” Brooklyn Daily Eagle 5 June 2003 Hayes, Elizabeth and David Saltonstall “Revved up over Bennett FIeld Auto Race Plan” Daily News 25 April 2006 Geberer, Raanan “Floyd Bennett Field” Brooklyn Daily Eagle 27 April 2006
Books 12/17/11 12:18 PM BOOKS Stoft, Joshua Images Of Aviation: John F. Kennedy International Airport United States: Arcadia Publishing, 2009 Baiter, Richard Lower Manhattan Waterfront 1979 Quinn, Judith A. The Administration Building (The Ryan Center) Gateway National Recreational Area Floyd Bennett Bennett Field University of Michegan: 2000 Grant, R.G. Flight: The Complete History Ed. Dominick A. Pisano. New York: DK Publishing, 2007
Pamphlet | .PDF’s 12/17/11 12:18 PM Pamphlet | .PDF’s A Total Residential Community. Commissioner, Charles J. Urstadt A Total Residential Community: Floyd Bennett Field New York: 1969 United States. New York City Department of Transportation. Reconstruction of Seven Bridges Sept 2011 < >
