Rodman's Neck (formerly Ann Hook's Neck)
refers to a peninsula of land in the
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
borough of
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
that juts out into
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...
. The southern third of the peninsula is used as a
firing range
A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by military ...
by the
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
; the remaining wooded section is part of
Pelham Bay Park
Pelham Bay Park is a public park, municipal park located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. It is, at , the largest public park in New York City. The park is more than three times the siz ...
. The north side is joined to what used to be
Hunters Island and
Twin Island to form
Orchard Beach and a parking lot.
Rodman's Neck has three meadows. One is a natural salt water meadow; the other two are manmade freshwater meadows, one of which was created by
Robert Moses
Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...
' projects. The City Island Traffic Circle and several small ballfields also exist, while every original building has been razed. A
landfill
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
area for City Island Road crosses Turtle Cove Saltwater Marsh with a culvert made of concrete pipes connecting it to the salt water
Eastchester Bay
Eastchester Bay is a sound between City Island and the mainland Bronx in New York City, New York. Technically, it is not a bay, since it is open to larger bodies of water at both ends. The northern end connects via a narrow channel to Pelham ...
. A second land berm built for horsecars had its always-clogged three foot diameter culvert removed, and a trench with a stainless steel bridge was installed.
History
The first inhabitants of the land now known as Rodman's Neck were the
Siwanoy
The Siwanoy () were an Indigenous American band of Wappinger people, who lived in Long Island Sound along the coasts of what are now The Bronx, Westchester County, New York, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. They were one of the western bands of ...
, the indigenous people of the area.
The land was included in the purchase made by
Thomas Pell
Thomas Pell, 1st Lord of Pelham Manor (1608 – September 21, 1669) was an English-born physician who bought the area known as Pelham, New York, as well as land that now includes the eastern Bronx and southern Westchester County, New York, and foun ...
in 1654.
Rodman's Neck is named after a local man, Samuel Rodman, while the southern tip, known as "Pell's Point", is where the British landed during the
Revolutionary War's
Battle of Pell's Point
The Battle of Pell's Point (October 18, 1776), also known as the Battle of Pelham, was a skirmish fought between British and American troops during the New York and New Jersey campaign of the American Revolutionary War. The conflict took place ...
. It was originally named "Anne's Hoeck" (or Ann Hook's Neck
) after
Anne Hutchinson
Anne Hutchinson (née Marbury; July 1591 – August 1643) was a Puritan spiritual advisor, religious reformer, and an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her ...
; her killer,
Wampage I
Wampage I (), also called Anhōōke and later John White, was a Sagamore (or chieftain) of the Siwanoy Native Americans, who resided in the area now known as the Bronx and Westchester County, New York. He was involved in the murder of Anne Hutc ...
, who took the name Anhõõke after the massacre; and his son, Wampage II, who used the name "Ann Hook".
Rodman had owned a ferry that ran between Minneford Island (now known as City Island) and Anne's Hoeck where the bridge is now. Then L.R. Marshall built a Southern-style mansion on his estate, renamed "Hawkswood", at the southernmost tip of Rodman's Neck. His mansion was converted and used as an inn until 1888, when the
New York City Parks Department
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...
acquired the property for
Pelham Bay Park
Pelham Bay Park is a public park, municipal park located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. It is, at , the largest public park in New York City. The park is more than three times the siz ...
.
A dock for the eastern shore of Rodman's Neck was approved in 1891, with funds appropriated for said dock.
Due to overcrowding at the nearby Hunter Island campsite, NYC Parks opened a campsite in 1906 at Rodman's Neck on the south tip of the island, with 100 bathhouses.
The land was first used as a
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
training location from 1917 to 1919, during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, when it was used by the
105th and
108th Infantry Regiments.
It became parkland in the 1920s,
but was seldom utilized.
Between 1930 and 1936, the southern tip of the peninsula was used by the
New York City Police Academy
The New York City Police Academy is the police academy of the New York City Police Department (NYPD).
Within the organization of the New York City Police Department, the Chief of Training oversees the Training Bureau, which includes the Police Aca ...
for summer training and explosives detonation. It was also part of Camp Mulrooney, a summer camp for the NYPD, and was used in that sense until 1936.
In 1941, during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the
U.S. Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...
began to use the area as a
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
base. The Army used Rodman's Neck again in the 1950s during the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
, building a radar
fire control center there.
In 1959, the peninsula's operation was transferred to the NYPD who built the current firing range at the peninsula's southern tip.
Early signs at the entrance said, "NYPD Pistol Range". In 1976, one NYPD Officer was killed and another was badly injured in The Pit when a
bomb
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...
went off accidentally.
NYPD firing range
A 54-acre police training facility is operated by the NYPD Firearms & Tactics Section and is used for handgun and rifle practice and qualification by the
NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
, Fire Department Fire Marshals, Correction Department,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration tha ...
, and training probationary police officers, as well as for antiterrorist, disorder control,
Emergency Service Unit
In American law enforcement (municipal, county, or state), the Emergency Service Unit, or ESU, is a multi-faceted element within a law enforcement agency’s Special Operations Command.
Structure
The NYPD is credited with establishing the conce ...
s, and
Organized Crime Control Bureau
The Organized Crime Control Bureau (OCCB) was one of the ten bureaus that formed the New York Police Department. The Bureau was charged with the investigation and prevention of organized crime within New York City. The OCCB was disbanded in March ...
training. The base has seven
rifle range
A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by military o ...
s with a 230 total firing points for trainees. The base has a school with lecture hall and seven classrooms with instructors. The base also has a training area designed to look like a city neighborhood for practical training exercises. It has one of the world's largest police armories and a firearms machine shop for maintenance and experimental weapons development.
The grounds include mock buildings called Urban Training Center/Tactical Village and Tactics House used for urban training scenarios, and a FireArms Training Simulator building including an interactive video simulator that was all paid for by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. There is also a specially equipped vehicle armed for disorder control nicknamed "The War Wagon" in case of rioting. The base was used during the 1960s by the
National Guard
National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards.
Nat ...
to train riot troops and was an emergency base of operations during the
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
. This area is restricted for police and military use only. The area is also used for destroying unexploded bombs. Many bombs have been detonated since 1930, including ones made by
George Metesky
George Peter Metesky (November 2, 1903 – May 23, 1994), better known as the Mad Bomber, was an American electrician and mechanic who terrorized New York City for 16 years in the 1940s and 1950s with explosives that he planted in theaters, ter ...
, the
Weathermen, the
Black Panthers
The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxism-Leninism, Marxist-Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. New ...
, the
Animal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) is an international, Leaderless resistance, leaderless, decentralized political and social resistance movement that engages in and promotes non-violent direct action in protest against incidents of animal cruelt ...
,
al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
, and serial bomber
Cesar Sayoc. These explosives are always detonated at the southernmost point that juts out into Eastchester Bay in a crater called "The Pit". Around July 2 every year, impressive impromptu volcanic displays are put on as seized illegal fireworks are destroyed.
The range was intended as a temporary facility, according to the plans laid out by
Robert Moses
Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...
and Mayors
Robert F. Wagner, Jr.
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
,
John Lindsay
John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...
, and
Abraham D. Beame
Abraham David Beame (March 20, 1906February 10, 2001) was the 104th mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As mayor, he presided over the city during its fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, when the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy.
...
. However, Mayor
Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was may ...
favored it becoming permanent. The range was previously part of
Pelham Bay Park
Pelham Bay Park is a public park, municipal park located in the northeast corner of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. It is, at , the largest public park in New York City. The park is more than three times the siz ...
. In the late 1980s, Governor
Mario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo (, ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo previously served as t ...
signed an eminent domain law separating this land from the park and giving the NYPD the right to stay permanently. The range was to have been converted into the
Olympic Firing Range for the unsuccessful
New York City 2012 Olympic bid. The range has
Biohazard Safety Level 4 lab facilities to deal with radiological devices, bioweapon bombs and gas chemical weapons.
A widely used paper target figure officially known as "Advanced Silhouette SP-83A" or target "B-60" may have been developed in the early 1960s as a likeness of Sergeant Fred V. Worell, an instructor at the range. The target is
colloquially
Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...
known as "The Thug".
In April 2007, the NYPD announced that all gun practice would move to a new indoors facility in
College Point, Queens
College Point is a working-middle-class neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded to the south by Whitestone Expressway and Flushing; to the east by 138th Street and Malba/ Whitestone; to the north by the East River; an ...
. Due to shortages in funding, the move was canceled and it was deemed cheaper to renovate Rodman's Neck for $275 million.
References
External links
* - NYPD Rodman's Neck Firing Range
Rodman's Neck History
{{coord, 40, 51, 09, N, 73, 48, 02, W , display=title
Long Island Sound
Landforms of the Bronx
Peninsulas of New York (state)
Parks in the Bronx
New York City Police Department
Pelham Bay Park