Run the Runways: Floyd Bennett Field’s Birthday Bash! Brings Community to Historic Airfield

Run the Runways: Floyd Bennett Field’s Birthday Bash! was a huge success! Thank you to all our partners, friends and neighbors for participating in our 2 mile fun-run (or walk) and afternoon of family activities. Over 250 people turned up to support Floyd Bennett Field with a day of full of movement, community, shared history—and a preview of the park’s bright future.

Following the morning run across the runways, the afternoon included picnicking, a daytime DJ dance party, lawn games, photo opportunities (including with a surprise historic aviator!), and arts and crafts – including a giant group birthday card for Floyd Bennett Field and the opportunity for young aviators to make their own wings for ‘flight’ across the Hangar Lawn.

Run the Runways also provided a deeper look into the rich history and exciting future of Floyd Bennett Field. Free Circuit shuttles took participants from activities on Hangar Lawn to a scavenger hunt at Hangar B, which houses a beautifully curated aircraft collection covering 70 years of aviation history, with a focus on the glamorous era of early aviation when records were set and broken from Floyd Bennett Field. Volunteers from the Historic Aircraft Restoration Project (H.A.R.P.) were on hand to offer tours and answer questions.

Hangars 3 & 4, where a rehabilitation and adaptive reuse project is underway, had its doors open for a sneak-peek of things to come – new spaces being constructed for community programming and events, food and beverage service and other visitor amenities, and a workforce development and tech accelerator focused on nature-based solutions. The renderings below, from LTL Architects show what Hangars 3 & 4 will look like after completion.

Now, as we advance design development for this ambitious project, JBRPC seeks more detailed community feedback about Hangar 3 program offerings in particular.  Hearing from all of you will help us better understand what local communities would like to see, do, and experience in these spaces -- including food and beverage preferences, program and event offerings, and visitor amenities -- so we can continue to shape programs and partnerships that reflect those priorities, both in the buildings and the surrounding park areas. Please take the brief survey below to make your voice heard.

Thank you again to our partners, the National Park Service, National Parks Conservation Association, Rockaway Track Club, Circuit, Runway Green and Millennium Development for making this wonderful day possible. Some of our favorite moments were captured in the gallery below. We hope to see you out at Floyd Bennett Field another time this summer!