Gantry Plaza State Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Gantry Plaza State Park |
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Transfer bridges, support gantries, and piers in the park
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| Type | State park |
| Location | Hunters Point, Queens, New York City, United States |
| Area | 12 acres (4.9 ha) |
| Created | May 1998 |
| Operated by | New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation |
| Visitors | 905,450 (in 2014) |
Gantry Plaza State Park is a cool 12-acre (4.9 ha) park right on the East River. It's located in the Hunters Point area of Queens, one of New York City's famous boroughs.
This park used to be a busy dockyard and factory area. Today, you can still see parts of its old industrial past. The most famous things here are the huge "gantries" with their special bridges. These bridges helped move train cars on big boats called "car floats" between Queens and Manhattan.
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Park History: From Docks to Fun
The southern part of Gantry Plaza State Park was once a busy dock. In 1925, special bridges were built here. These bridges helped load and unload train cars from boats. The boats carried freight for factories on Long Island.
The northern part of the park used to be a PepsiCo soda bottling plant. This plant closed down in 1999. The old train tracks that ran through the area were covered up in the early 2000s.
The Famous Pepsi-Cola Sign
One of the coolest things in the park is the giant, glowing Pepsi-Cola sign. It's 120-foot-long (37 m) and 60-foot-high (18 m)! The sign is bright red and made of neon. It was first built in 1939.
The sign used to sit on top of the Pepsi bottling plant. In 2009, it was carefully moved and put back together in the park. It's now a permanent landmark. In 2016, the Pepsi-Cola sign was even named a New York City landmark.
How the Park Grew
Gantry Plaza State Park first opened its doors in May 1998. It was later made even bigger in July 2009. The park is still growing! It's being developed by the Queens West Development Corporation.
The first part of the park was designed by famous landscape architects. They are Thomas Balsley, Lee Weintraub, and architect Richard Sullivan. The newer six-acre (2.4 ha) section of the park was designed by Abel Bainnson Butz. When it's all finished, Gantry Plaza State Park is expected to be a huge 40 acres (16 ha) in size!
What You Can Do at the Park
Gantry Plaza State Park offers lots of fun things to do. You can have a picnic with friends or family at the picnic tables. There's also a playground where kids can play.
The park has playing fields for games and a beautiful walkway along the water. From here, you get amazing views of the United Nations building and the Midtown Manhattan skyline. It's a perfect spot for photos!
If you like fishing or crabbing, you can do that at pier #4. Just make sure to follow the rules from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
