Bowery Bay facts for kids

Bowery Bay is a bay in New York City, located next to the East River. You can find it near the Steinway area of Queens. On its west side is a big plant that cleans water, and to its south and east is LaGuardia Airport.

Before LaGuardia Airport was built in the late 1920s, the shores of Bowery Bay and Flushing Bay were a popular place for people to visit. This area was first called Bowery Bay Beach and later North Beach. From 1895 to 1915, North Beach even had a fun amusement park! People called it "the Coney Island of Queens" because it was such a popular spot for entertainment.

The Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia Airport was originally built right along the south end of Bowery Bay. This terminal was special because it was made for flying boats, which are airplanes that can land on water. From 1940 to 1945, a famous airline called Pan American Airways used "Clippers" (a type of flying boat) to fly people from Bowery Bay all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe! Today, the eastern side of Bowery Bay is still next to LaGuardia Airport's terminal for smaller planes.

On the western side of Bowery Bay, there's a large facility called the Bowery Bay Water Pollution Control Plant. This plant is a wastewater treatment plant that cleans dirty water from homes and businesses in northwestern Queens. It's run by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. The plant opened in 1939 and can clean a huge amount of water every day – about 150 million gallons! A hidden underground stream called Luyster Creek also flows into Bowery Bay near this water plant.

The Rikers Island Bridge crosses over the northern part of Bowery Bay. This bridge connects the mainland to Rikers Island.

Images for kids

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  Bowery Bay in 1989, with the wreckage of USAir Flight 5050 in the front.