Fort Tilden at the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens: A Natural Haven
Photography by Valery Rizzo for Gardenista. Looking out the window of a descending airplane can give the impression in the United States at least that... ...the approaching airport has been carved out of abundant wilderness a preview of the topography characteristic to the region Fort Tilden is located on Rockaway peninsula, in the southeast corner of New York City. For residents of Queens and the outer reaches of Brooklyn, Fort Tilden is easy to get to; for those closer to the center of town, NYC Ferry runs from Wall Street to Rockaway, a very scenic journey of just under an hour. A coastal garden could be as simple as this. Dunes are increasingly valued for the job that they have been carrying out for millennia as a natural (as opposed to industrial or military) coastal defense network. A welcoming party of Virginia creeper, grasses, and invasive meadowsweet lurk around the chainlink fences of Fort Tilden. Clearing these smothering plants as part of a group effort can feel cathartic at Fort Tilden and Jamaica... ...Bay volunteers add beneficial natives to plants that are already there while tackling invasives during the summer months Leftover concrete forms random areas for easy navigation through the dunes of Fort Tilden Across the Marine Parkway bridge... ...at Floyd Bennet Field a 3 25 acre nursery was set up by the JBRPC specifically to grow native beachgrass Part of an ammunition bunker from World War II. Fort Tilden is an important nesting site for New York’s shoreline birds, including piping plovers, American oystercatchers and least terns. The ghost of a machine shop for oversized military vehicles. A building like the abandoned machine shop shown above provides shelter and nesting places for birds and ground-hugging animals. With deep roots and water-retaining leaves, seaside goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) is a mainstay on the East Coast, anchoring terrain against erosion and feeding pollinators. Native Virginia creeper beneath pitch pine offers layers of shelter and wildlife habitat. A building decorated by the Rockaway Artists Alliance, which has its headquarters amid the faded buildings at Fort Tilden. Northern bayberry (Myra pensylvanica), a spreading shrub that is native to New York, and a hideout for wildlife. Spanning the Rockaway Inlet, the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, seen from dunes, connects the Rockaway Peninsula to Jamaica Bay.