Fort Totten Opened As City Park

One of the few places to catch a nice breeze this Monday was along the Queens waterfront, as Mayor Bloomberg and a host of elected officials officially opened portions of Fort Totten as a city park.
For more than 25 years, the military facility has been rumored to be closing and being transformed into everything from apartment buildings to a college. Now, the mayor said, it was finally in the hands of all city residents.
“This is a dream long held by many residents of Queens,” Bloomberg said. “[This] is certain to become one of the city’s most popular waterfront parks.”
The park will be home to soccer fields, picnic grounds, the Flushing YMCA’s outdoor pool, concerts and plays this summer. Also, it will help complete a Brooklyn/Queens Greenway that will eventually extend from Coney Island to Little Bay.
Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said Fort Totten Park would be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.
“Queens is a rapidly growing borough when it comes to parks,” he added.
Fort Totten Park will also offer guided tours of the 147-acre grounds, most of which will still be under control of the Army. Some of the fortifications along the waterfront are from the Civil War era.
editrich@queenscourier.com