Over 2,000 art lovers, historians and Floyd Bennett Field enthusiasts gathered on the grounds between the Ryan Visitor Center and Hangars 3 and 4, located at 1 Floyd Bennett Field, on Saturday, October 3rd, from 6 to 9:30 p.m., for a bring your own dinner and a one-of-a-kind Public Arts Festival.
The Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy (JBRPC) and National Parks Service (NPS) hosted extraordinary artists who digitally transformed the brick and glass facade of the historic hangars into an animated canvas that left spectators in awe. Artists collaborated with ATD Audio Visual to map projections onto the hangar canvas.
Seats for the Longest Table were sold out weeks before the event. The Longest Table is a community initiative that encourages outdoor family style dining. Tables and chairs were draped in white, and groups of strangers decorated and filled their tables with lighting, as well as any and every type of food imaginable.
Art aficionados that did not reserve table seating could grab a free spot in the chair and blanket section. Several delivery drivers were sighted following a blinking light on their phone to locate a hungry group.
Dinner and mingling lasted until sundown and then the artists and performers captivated spectators. Viewers thought they were firmly planted on the ground and then were instantly whisked away with digital art, from swimming underwater with mystical creatures to flying down the runway in an aircraft, sounds convincing you that you are part of art, telling fascinating stories with three-dimensional illusions.
JBRPC and NPS partnered with ATD Audio Visual and The Longest Table, with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Secunda Family Foundation and U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, as well as additional support from 7G Group, TenFourteen, NYC Ferry and Williams. Public support was also provided by State Senator Roxanne Persaud, Assemblywoman Jaime Williams and Councilwoman Mercedes Narcisse.
This was the second digital mapping Public Arts Festival hosted by JBRPC and NPS, and there was a significant increase in the turnout, setting the stage for the 2028 event, as well as an indication that New Yorkers want more from the historic Hangars 3 and 4 and the open spaces.
A public campaign, Fifty for Floyd Bennett Field, has been launched to revitalize and rehabilitate the hangars to their former glory days. It supports the $100 million partnership between the JBRPC and NPS to remodel and modify the historic airplane barracks into a reinvigorating piece of architecture that will house arts, education, research, workforce development, recreation and visitor services. Anyone interested in viewing the plans for Hangars 3 and 4 and/or would like to donate anything from $5 to $500 or beyond can visit JBRPC.org/future.
