Feds To Expand Camping At Floyd Bennett Field
How did that camping stay-cation on June 10 amidst the goose-droppings in Marine Park work out for you? You remember the one — where the Parks Department established that bizarrely rigid lottery “between midnight and 11:59 p.m. on June 1 — and only on June 1,” allowing 30 people to camp out in Marine Park. And who wouldn’t want to be a part of that experience for a lifetime?
If you were not one of the privileged few selected to
find a golden ticket in your Wonka Barenjoy the property that our tax dollars pay for (and if you were, please, tell us about your experience in the comments!), despair not tree-huggers and outdoorsy types — United States Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, who dropped by Floyd Bennett Field on Monday, announced a brand new initiative to bring America’s largest urban park campground to Brooklyn, so even more people can camp out. It’ll be like Woodstock, except not:
Salazar said there are plans to expand the camping facilities at the field from five to 90 sites for tents and RVs within two years.
The expansion is part an effort to emphasize parks and other open spaces in the city. It’s also part of President Barack Obama’s Great Outdoors initiative, which focuses on conservation and access to parks.
“This effort here is intended to open up Gateway and Jamaica Bay and Floyd Bennett Field to all of the people of New York and to make it much more accessible than it has been,” said Salazar. “It is a canvas, really, to be written on.”
The campground at Floyd Bennett Field could eventually contain as many as 600 sites.
Salazar also wants to establish a center for urban ecology for scientists, possibly at Fort Tilden, that would feature laboratories and a library.
Like, groovy, man.
