Aviator Sports and Events Center is a sports and events center in

Floyd Bennett Field Floyd Bennett Field is an airfield in the Marine Park neighborhood of southeast Brooklyn in New York City, along the shore of Jamaica Bay. The airport originally hosted commercial and general aviation traffic before being used as a naval air ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Operating as a concessionaire of

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

, Aviator has refurbished four historic aircraft hangars and surrounding grounds in partnership with the NPS. The area includes 175,000 square feet of indoor sports and event space along with adjoining outdoor turf fields and free parking for 2,000 cars. Aviator provides a variety of sports and leagues play including basketball, football, gymnastics, ice hockey, ice skating, lacrosse, soccer and volleyball. Activities such as parties, field trips, camps, and birthday celebrations are held at the facility. The NPS and Aviator formed a partnership in 2003, and the facility opened in 2006. By combining several of Floyd Bennett Field's hangars, they created one of the largest sports complexes in the country.

Facilities

The Aviator Complex contains

ice skating rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...

s within two of the hangars. The other two hangars contain a

field house Field house or fieldhouse is an American English term for an indoor sports arena or stadium, mostly used for college basketball, volleyball, or ice hockey, or a support building for various adjacent sports fields, e.g. locker room, team room, coac ...

, a

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

and dance complex, and a

fitness center A health club (also known as a fitness club, fitness center, health spa, and commonly referred to as a gym) is a place that houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise. In recent years, the number of fitness and health se ...

totaling more than , as well as a 6,000-seat football field outside. Aviator's Sports Facilities include: *Two synthetic turf outdoor fields *Outdoor event space *Two indoor ice rinks * field house with hardwood floor, climbing wall and turf field * Gymnastics Center * Fitness center *Arcade *Food court *Indoor and Outdoor Sports Bar *Full catering and food service *Large corporate meeting and private events rooms Aviator Sports and Events Center hosts programs and activities including camps, birthday parties, field trips, and sporting meets. The complex also hosts sporting events and shows throughout the year, and the occasional air show. Once inside the indoor entrance to the center, an entire inner wall tribute several stories high is dedicated to the history of Aeronautics which took place on the site of the sports facility and the people of flight who made Bennett Field famous. These include

Wiley Post Wiley Hardeman Post (November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935) was a famed American aviator during the interwar period and the first pilot to fly solo around the world. Also known for his work in high-altitude flying, Post helped develop on ...

, the first pilot to solo around the world, who flew around the world from the field and returned to it in 7 days 19 hours and 49 minutes in July 1933; and billionaire

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

, who flew around the world from Floyd Bennett Field in July 1938 and returned to it with a crew of four men in 3 days, 19 hours, 8 minutes, 10 seconds to collect important navigational data.

Events

Since 2011, Aviator Sports and Events Center has become a prominent location for obstacle races and expos in New York City. Events that have taken place through a rental agreement include
Rugged ManiacBig Bounce AmericaNight Nation RunSneaker Exit

UniverSoul Circus The UniverSoul Circus is a single ring circus, established in 1994 by Cedric Walker and Calvin "Casual Cal" Dupree, an African-American man who had a vision of creating a circus with a large percentage of people of color performing. He began searc ...

St. Jude's Kids for Kids FundraiserTomato BattleCivilian Military Combine
weddings, and more.

Strategic relationships

* Concessionaire of National Park Servicebr>
servicing Floyd Bennett Field area of Gateway National Recreation Area

Tenants

* ASA College#Athletics Programs, ASA College Soccer *

Berkeley College Berkeley College is a private for-profit college with campuses in New York, New Jersey, and online. It was founded in 1931 and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificate programs. Berkeley College is accredited by the Middle ...

Men's & Women's Soccer teams * Bishop Ford High School Football & Soccer teams
Brooklyn Lacrosse ClubBlau Weiss Gottschee Soccer ClubDutch Total Soccer
*

FA Euro Euro Youth Football Association (FA Euro or FA Euro New York) is a soccer team based in Brooklyn, New York that plays in USL League Two. The club is a 501(c)(3) non-profit youth soccer organization based in Brooklyn, New York. Established in 201 ...

, member of the Premier Development League * Medgar Evers College Men's & Women's Soccer teams *Mendy Kolko Football
Metro Fighting Moose Hockey Team
* New York Empire, member of the

American Ultimate Disc League American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

New York Aviators Hockey Team
*

New York Sharks The New York Sharks were a women's American football team that was based in New York City. Their final season in 2018 was played as a member team of the Women's Football Alliance (WFA). They were the longest running and most winning team in women ...

, member of the

Independent Women's Football League The Independent Women's Football League (IWFL) was the first Women's American football league established by women players for women players. The league was founded in 2000, began play in 2001, and played its last season in 2018. Members of th ...

* NYU-Poly Men's & Women's Soccer & Women's Lacrosse
SABA Youth Soccer
* St. Ann's School Soccer *

Xavier High School A multitude of schools and universities have been named after St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Roman Catholic saint and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. This page lists notable educational institutions named after St. Xavier, arranged by country a ...

Football and Soccer *Multiple semi pro football teams

Historical footage

rare airplane silent black and white video footage taking off with his team on his historical round the flight from

* Howard Hughes rare silent black and white video footage landing at Floyd Bennett Field and being interviewed after a 10½ hour nonstop transatlantic flight

References

External links