This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2019) |
Miller Army Air Field Historic District | |
Location | New Dorp, Staten Island, New York, New York, United States |
---|---|
Coordinates | 40°33′51″N74°5′44″W / 40.56417°N 74.09556°W |
Area | 3 acres (1.2 ha) |
Built | 1919 |
Architect | U.S. Army |
NRHP reference No. | 80000362 [1] |
Added to NRHP | April 11, 1980 |
Miller Field was a United States Army facility in the neighborhood of New Dorp, Staten Island, New York. It was founded in November 1919 and completed in 1921.
Miller Field was named after Captain James Ely Miller (1883–1918), commanding officer of the 95th Aero Squadron in the Air Service of the AEF, who died in combat on March 9, 1918 over Rheims in World War I. He was the first United States aviator killed in action while serving with an American military aviation unit. Before World War I, Miller had been vice president of the Columbia Trust Company of New York and manager of its Fifth Avenue office, who trained at his own expense to earn his pilot's license and Reserve Military Aviator rating with the Governors Island Training Corps in 1916. He was also an organizer, along with Major Raynal Bolling, of the 1st Reserve Aero Squadron, the first unit of what would eventually become the Air Force Reserve Command. [2]
When built in 1921, Miller Field was the only coastal defense air station in the eastern United States and was part of the network of fortifications around New York City. It was built on land formerly belonging to the Vanderbilt family. [2] It had a grass runway (and was the last airport with a grass runway in New York City), ramps for seaplanes, and four hangars for planes. Miller Field was used for anti-aircraft fire and training Coast Guard personnel. Miller Field closed as an airbase in 1969. [2] US Army 11th Special Forces Reserve was stationed at Miller Field from March 22, 1963 to August 1, 1970.
The Field was the site of the Elm Tree Beacon Light, a lighthouse from 1856 through 1924 when it was abandoned (and later rebuilt). The light had replaced a prominent elm tree. [2]
The Miller Army Air Field Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. [1]
On December 16, 1960, United Airlines Flight 826, a Douglas DC-8 and Trans World Airlines Flight 266, Lockheed Super Constellation, collided just west of the field, with the Constellation crashing into the northwest corner of the airport while the DC-8 crashed into Park Slope, Brooklyn. The collision was the world's worst airline disaster to that point, with 134 killed.
Miller Field is a part of the Staten Island Unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area, which is managed by the National Park Service. The park includes baseball and soccer fields, and hosts the New York Philharmonic in the summer. The field is directly east of New Dorp High School.
In the documentary film, Glory Daze: The Life and Times of Michael Alig (2015), [3] the police recount the discovery, by a group of children at Oakwood Beach, [4] at Miller Field, of a box containing the remains of Andre "Angel" Melendez, in March 1996. (American Justice reports the box was found in April 1996. [5] ) Melendez had been murdered by Alig and his roommate, Robert "Freeze" Riggs, his legs dismembered, and his upper body enclosed in a box they enjoined an unwitting taxi driver's help to transport and throw into the Hudson River, near Tunnel nightclub. A tropical storm helped propel the cork-lined, [4] floating box to Staten Island. [6] [7] [8] [9]
Staten Island is the southernmost borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York. The borough is separated from the adjacent state of New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull and from the rest of New York by New York Bay. With a population of 495,747 in the 2020 Census, Staten Island is the least populated New York City borough but the third largest in land area at 58.5 sq mi (152 km2); it is also the least densely populated and most suburban borough in the city.
Richmondtown is a neighborhood in the Mid-Island section of Staten Island, New York City. It is bounded by Arthur Kill Road on the northwest, Richmond Road on the north, Amboy Road on the east and southeast, and the United Hebrew and Ocean View cemeteries on the southwest.
New Dorp is a neighborhood on the South Shore of Staten Island, New York City, United States. New Dorp is bounded by Mill Road on the southeast, Tysens Lane on the southwest, Amboy and Richmond Roads on the northwest, and Bancroft Avenue on the northeast. It is adjacent to Oakwood to the southwest, Todt Hill to the northwest, Dongan Hills and Grant City, and Midland Beach and Miller Field to the southeast. New Dorp Beach, bordering to the east, is often listed on maps as a separate neighborhood from Mill Road to the shore of Lower New York Bay, but is generally considered to be a part of New Dorp.
Party Monster is a 2003 American biographical crime drama film written and directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, who are also producers along with Jon Marcus and Christine Vachon. It stars Macaulay Culkin as the drug-addled "king of the Club Kids". The film tells the story of the rise and fall of the infamous New York City party promoter Michael Alig. This was Macaulay Culkin's first film in nearly nine years since his starring role in the 1994 film Richie Rich.
Michael Alig was an American club promoter and artist who was convicted of felony manslaughter. He was one of the ringleaders of the Club Kids, a group of young New York City clubgoers who became a cultural phenomenon in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In March 1996, Alig and his roommate, Robert D. "Freeze" Riggs, killed fellow Club Kid Andre "Angel" Melendez in a confrontation over a drug debt. In October 1997, Alig pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter. Both men were sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison. Riggs was released on parole in 2010. Alig was released on May 5, 2014.
The Club Kids were a group of young New York City dance club personalities. The group was notable for its members' flamboyant behavior and outrageous costumes.
Andre Melendez was a member of the Club Kids who lived and worked in New York City. He was killed by Michael Alig and Robert "Freeze" Riggs on March 17, 1996. His life and death have inspired several pieces of media, including books, films, music, and television.
On December 16, 1960, a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 bound for Idlewild Airport in New York City collided in midair with a TWA Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation descending toward LaGuardia Airport. The Constellation crashed on Miller Field in Staten Island and the DC-8 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, killing all 128 aboard the two aircraft and six people on the ground. The accident was the world's deadliest aviation disaster at the time, and remains the deadliest accident in the history of United Airlines.
The term East Shore is frequently applied to a series of neighborhoods along the Lower New York Bay and the Raritan Bay and within New York City's borough of Staten Island.
Rosebank is a neighborhood in northeastern Staten Island, one of New York City's five boroughs. It borders Clifton to the north, Arrochar to the south, and the Upper New York Bay to the east.
Egbertville is the name of a neighborhood located immediately inland from, but classifiable within, the East Shore of the borough of Staten Island in New York City. Originally named Stony Brook as the island's first county seat, then renamed after a family that owned a farm there in the 18th century, Egbertville was known for a time as Morgan's Corner, from 1838. Soon after this, many Irish families arrived in the area, leading to its being referred to by such names as Tipperary Corners, New Dublin, and Young Ireland.
The New York City Farm Colony was a poorhouse on the New York City borough of Staten Island, one of the city's five boroughs. It was located across Brielle Avenue from Seaview Hospital, on the edge of the Staten Island Greenbelt.
The Aero Club of America was a social club formed in 1905 by Charles Jasper Glidden and Augustus Post, among others, to promote aviation in America. It was the parent organization of numerous state chapters, the first being the Aero Club of New England. It thrived until 1923, when it transformed into the National Aeronautic Association, which still exists today. It issued the first pilot's licenses in the United States, and successful completion of its licensing process was required by the United States Army for its pilots until 1914. It sponsored numerous air shows and contests. Cortlandt Field Bishop was president in 1910. Starting in 1911, new president Robert J. Collier began presenting the Collier Trophy.
Tunnel was a nightclub located at 220 Twelfth Avenue, in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It operated from 1986 to 2001.
Glory Days or Glory Daze may refer to:
The Billiou–Stillwell–Perine House is a Dutch Colonial structure and the oldest standing building on Staten Island, New York.
New Dorp High School, commonly referred to as New Dorp or NDHS, is a public school on the East Shore of the New York City borough of Staten Island in the New Dorp neighborhood. The school is administered by the New York City Department of Education. The school is located at 465 New Dorp Lane next to Miller Field, an army airport turned park, which extends to the Lower New York Bay. New Dorp High School is located in Region 7, which encompasses all of Staten Island and portions of southwest Brooklyn.
The New Dorp Lighthouse is a decommissioned lighthouse located in the New Dorp section of Staten Island, New York City. Funds for the lighthouse were approved by United States Congress on August 31, 1852 and the structure was completed in 1856. The lighthouse, built to serve as a rear range light to mark Swash Channel, was built by Richard Carlow, who also built the similar Chapel Hill and Point Comfort Range Lights in New Jersey around the same time. Ships sailing through Swash Channel were instructed to bring the New Dorp range light “in one” and steer towards the lights until the Chapel Hill Light came into view, which would then mark the channel past West Bank.
Corliss Champion Moseley was a United States Army aviator and later civilian trainer. He won the inaugural Pulitzer Air Race in 1920. Following his service in World War I, where he was credited with one aerial victory, he was placed in charge of all United States Army Air Service schools. As a civilian, he set up flying schools which are estimated to have taught over 25,000 pilots and 5000 mechanics, mostly for service in World War II. He was also a business executive, either helping found or organize Western Air Express.
Screamin' Rachael, born Rachael Cain, is an American musician and Chicago native dubbed the "Queen of House Music" by Billboard magazine,. Rachael has been connected to the evolution of the House music genre. She has worked with performers such as Grandmaster Melle Mel, Marshall Jefferson, Colonel Abrams, Afrika Bambaataa, and many others.