Jacob Riis Park

For the park in Illinois, see Riis Park (Chicago).


Jacob Riis Park Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark District

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Nearest city	New York, New York
Coordinates	40°34′3″N 73°52′24″W / 40.56750°N 73.87333°W / 40.56750; -73.87333Coordinates: 40°34′3″N 73°52′24″W / 40.56750°N 73.87333°W / 40.56750; -73.87333
Built	1932
Architect	Julius Burgevin; Multiple
Architectural style	Art Deco
NRHP Reference #	81000081
Added to NRHP	June 17, 1981^[1]

The beach and bathhouse at dusk at Jacob Riis Park

Jacob Riis Park in the New York City borough of Queens, is part of the Jamaica Bay Unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area, and is managed by the National Park Service (NPS). It lies at the foot of the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, toward the southwestern end the Rockaway Peninsula, just east of Fort Tilden and west of Rockaway Beach. The Jacob Riis Park Historic District features an extensive sand beach and an art deco bath house built in 1932, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The bathhouse provides a place to get out of the sun and learn about the park's history. The park is named for Jacob Riis, a famous New York City muckraker journalist and photographer who documented the plight of the poor and working class.^[2] It is associated with the Jacob Riis Park Historic District, which it is in.

History

The park was largely built on the site of the former Rockaway Naval Air Station, one of the first US naval air stations. Riis Park was designed by the politically powerful NYC Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, who had also created Jones Beach as a state park further east on Long Island in 1929.^[2] Moses saw Riis Park as a Jones Beach for poor immigrants. The Atlantic Ocean beach, boardwalks, courtyards, and walkways gave the city's poor a respite from cramped tenements and crowded city streets.

Moses also wanted to bring public transportation closer to the park, so that it would be closer for poor immigrant citizens to travel to.^[2] In addition to easy access via what are now MTA Bus Company routes Q22, Q35, a huge parking lot with over 5,000 parking spaces, the largest in the world at the time it was built, provides ample space for those who preferred to drive, though a fee is charged to park in the lot.^[3] Also, the New York Water Taxi offered Rockaway ferry service starting in May 2008, though not at the time that Moses was Parks commissioner.^[4] However, the nearest New York City Subway station is Rockaway Park – Beach 116th Street, over 1 mile (1.6 km) away on the A S trains, though a proposed expansion of the New York City Subway in 1929—around the same time that Moses was in office—had plans for such a subway extension to the park.

In 1972, Jacob Riis Park was transferred to the control of the National Park Service.^[2] Today, its sand, surf, seaside recreation areas and famous Art Deco bathhouse are a popular summer destination. Facilities available in season include a pitch and putt golf course and food concessions.^[2]^[5]

The historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.^[1]

Children at the beach in 1974 in a photo taken by Danny Lyon
People enjoying the beach over Labor Day weekend in August 2013
Riis parking lot served as a temporary dump for Hurricane Sandy debris

References

1 2 National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
1 2 3 4 5 "Jacob Riis Park". Nyharborparks.org. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
↑ "Fees & Passes - Gateway National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)". Retrieved 28 July 2016.
↑ Ferry, New York Beach. "New York Whale Watching - Whale, Dolphin, Bird, Turtle Watching NY - July 4th Fireworks New York". Retrieved 28 July 2016.
↑ "Gateway National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)". Retrieved 28 July 2016.

External links

Media related to Jacob Riis Park at Wikimedia Commons

Jacob Riis Park Visitor information
Jamaica Bay Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area

Protected areas of New York City

Federal

National Historic Sites	Lower East Side Tenement Museum Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace

National Monuments and Memorials	African Burial Ground Castle Clinton Federal Hall General Grant Governors Island Hamilton Grange Statue of Liberty Stonewall

Other Protected Areas	Gateway National Recreation Area Floyd Bennett Field Fort Tilden Fort Wadsworth Great Kills Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Jacob Riis Miller Field

State

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Manhattan	79th Street Boat Basin Abingdon Square Albert Capsouto Asphalt Green Battery Bennett British Garden at Hanover Square Bowling Green Bryant Captain Patrick J. Brown Walk Carl Schurz Central Park Chelsea City Hall Collect Columbus Corlears Hook Dag Hammarskjold Plaza Damrosch Dante DeSalvio Playground DeWitt Clinton Drumgoole Plaza Duane East River Greenway East River Esplanade East River Park Stuyvesant Cove Finn Square Foley Square Fort Tryon Fort Washington Gorman Gramercy Hamilton Fish Hanover Square Harlem River Hell's Kitchen Herald Square High Line Highbridge Holcombe Rucker Hudson Hudson River Imagination Playground at Burling Slip Inwood Hill Isham J. Hood Wright Jackie Robinson Jackson Square John Jay Liberty Louis Cuvillier Madison Square Manhattan Waterfront Greenway Marcus Garvey Mill Rock Mitchell Square Morningside Murphy's Brother's Playground Muscota Marsh Paley Peretz Square Peter Cooper Plaza Lafayette Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden Ralph Bunche Randalls Island Richard Tucker Square Riverside Robert Moses Playground Roosevelt Triangle Rucker Sakura Samuel N. Bennerson 2nd Playground Sara Delano Roosevelt Septuagesimo Uno Seward Sheridan Square Sherman Square St. John's St. Nicholas St. Vartan Straus Stuyvesant Square Swindler Cove Teardrop Theodore Roosevelt Thomas Jefferson Thomas Paine Tompkins Square Tribeca Union Square Verdi Square Vesuvio Playground Wards Island Washington Market Washington Square West Side Community Garden Winston Churchill Zuccotti

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Other

Nature centers	Alley Pond Belvedere Castle Blue Heron Crotona Dana Discovery Center Forest Fort Greene Fort Totten Greenbelt High Rock Inwood Hill Orchard Beach Prospect Salt Marsh Van Cortlandt

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