Flushing Airport

History

It was originally called Speed's Airport and was one of the busiest airports in New York City before the emergence of the larger LaGuardia Airport. In the early 1970s a skywriting company operated there. In 1977, a Piper Twin Comanche crashed shortly after taking off, killing those on board. The incident, along with frequent flooding, led to the closing of this airport in 1984.

The airport has largely reverted to wetland. Since the outbreak of West Nile virus in New York in the late 1990s, the land has received frequent mosquito larvicide spraying. Though considered trespassing, dirt biking trails still see activity and the frozen swamps become an impromptu ice hockey surface used by locals in the winter.

As of 2000, Flushing Airport still had its air corridor reserved under FAA regulations. A company called Airships Unlimited has been lobbying to convert the abandoned airport into a "blimp port," citing the fact that Goodyear blimps used this airport in the 1960s. The benefit of this plan would be to preserve the air corridor for Flushing Airport.

In 2004, the Bloomberg administration proposed rezoning the area for commercial development as part of the already existing College Point Corporate Park. However, the plan has met significant protests from the local residents who fear such zoning would bring too much traffic to the area. The proposal has since been deferred.

As of September 2008, the access road is under reconstruction, to be reopened eventually as a regular public through-street. The north hangar was demolished on September 24. The remaining hangars were also demolished as of October 1.