Flushing Bay facts for kids
Flushing Bay is a part of the East River in New York City. It's like a big, calm inlet of water. You can find it in Queens, near the neighborhood of Flushing. The bay is next to LaGuardia Airport on its west side and the Grand Central Parkway. To the south, it's bordered by Northern Boulevard, and to the east, you'll find the College Point neighborhood. The Flushing River flows into the bay at its southeast corner. There's a special channel in the bay, about 46 meters wide and 4 meters deep, that helps boats move around easily.
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History of Flushing Bay
Early Uses of Flushing Bay
For a long time, Flushing Bay was a very important place. The Matinecock tribe of Native Americans lived here and used the bay to find food. They caught fish, shellfish, and hunted waterfowl (birds that live near water). Early European settlers also relied on the bay for food.
Flushing Bay as a Resort Area
After the American Civil War, the area around Flushing Bay became a popular vacation spot for rich people. They enjoyed the waterfront. The World's Fair Marina was built here for the 1964 New York World's Fair. This marina is at the southern end of the bay, next to the East Elmhurst neighborhood. It's part of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. There's also a 2.2-kilometer long path called the Flushing Bay Promenade where people can walk and enjoy the views.
Important Events at Flushing Bay
On September 21, 1776, a brave American patriot named Nathan Hale was captured near Flushing Bay. He was working as a spy during the American Revolutionary War. The British Army caught him, and he was hanged the very next day in Manhattan.
The Williamsburgh Yacht Club is a boating club located on the east side of Flushing Bay in College Point. It started in Brooklyn in 1865. Later, in 1896, the club moved to North Beach, which is now part of LaGuardia Airport.
Sadly, there have been a couple of plane accidents near the bay. On March 22, 1992, USAir Flight 405 crashed into the bay shortly after taking off. Twenty-seven people out of 51 on board died. Years later, on March 5, 2015, Delta Air Lines Flight 1086 skidded off a runway at LaGuardia Airport and stopped very close to Flushing Bay. Twenty-four people were hurt, and the plane was damaged.
Garbage Transfer Station
The New York City Department of Sanitation has a special station in College Point, on the eastern shore of Flushing Bay. From 1954 to 2001, this place was used to move garbage from trucks onto barges (flat-bottomed boats) to be taken away. A new station was built here starting in 2012 to continue this work.
Flushing Bay and LaGuardia Airport
How the Airport Changed the Bay
The way Flushing Bay looks today has changed a lot because of LaGuardia Airport. Before the airport opened in 1939, millions of cubic yards of dirt and other materials were added to the western side of the bay. This created more land for the airport's runways.
In 1966, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey made the runways even longer. They built a large concrete platform, about 20 hectares in size, over parts of Flushing Bay. This platform was supported by piles (like big stilts) and helped extend the runways. In the 1990s, about 8 more hectares of Flushing Bay were filled in to create a safety area at the end of a runway. To make up for the lost wetlands (areas of land covered by shallow water), new wetlands were built next to the airport in Flushing Bay and in Little Neck Bay.
Safety Concerns Near the Airport
Because the airport is so close to the bay, there have been worries about birds. Large groups of birds could be dangerous if they fly into airplanes. However, the government of New York City has said that the design of the airport and nearby facilities includes ways to prevent birds from gathering too much and causing problems for planes.
Pollution in Flushing Bay
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Why Does Flushing Bay Sometimes Smell Bad?
In 1964, a long wall, about 850 meters long, was built in the bay. People often call it “the Finger.” It was made to protect boats at the World's Fair Marina from strong waves. However, this wall is often blamed for the bad smell that comes from the bay, especially in the summer.
Flushing Bay and the Flushing River have been used for a long time to dump sewage (wastewater from homes) and industrial wastewater (waste from factories). This water pollution is a big problem. The wall, “the Finger,” makes it worse because it stops the water in the bay from moving and cleaning itself naturally. To fix this, people have suggested cutting a waterway through the wall or, more often, digging up the bottom of the bay to help the water circulate better.
Efforts to Clean Up Flushing Bay
In 1987, plans for a 2.7-kilometer long walking path along Flushing Bay were approved. But they were put on hold because there wasn't enough money. In 1994, the U.S. House of Representatives approved money for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to study how to dig up the bottom of the bay near the wall. This plan was supported by politicians like Rep. Thomas J. Manton and Rep. Nita Lowey.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey also wanted to build a $41-million safety area for the airport on 8 hectares of filled land. The USACE later set aside $2.7 million to study how to clean up the bay. In 1999, the Parks Department made a deal with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. This plan included building a huge 108-million-liter sewer overflow tank under the river. This tank would help stop flooding in the area. A new and improved Flushing Bay promenade started being built that May. Even though the promenade reopened in 2001, the "rotten egg" smell sometimes remained.
After many complaints about the smell, a $47 million cleanup project for Flushing Bay was announced in 2015. As part of this cleanup, a $15.4 million project to dig up the bay floor near the World's Fair Marina began in 2017. During the cleanup, old wooden poles were removed and replaced with new wetlands, which are natural areas that help filter water. This part of the project was finished in mid-2018. The city also rebuilt sewer lines that lead to the Bowery Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant nearby. This helped reduce the amount of dirty water flowing into Flushing Bay by about 852 million liters each year.
Images for kids
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The Bowery Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant is seen along the Queens shoreline just above the Rikers Island Bridge.
