Jacob Riis Park

Jacob Riis Park
Type	Public park
Location	Queens, New York City, New York, United States
Coordinates	40°34′3″N 73°52′24″W / 40.56750°N 73.87333°W / 40.56750; -73.87333
Area	262 acres (106 ha)
Created	1937
Operated by	National Park Service
Status	Open all year
Public transit access	Bus: Q22, Q35
Jacob Riis Park Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark District
Location	New York, New York
Coordinates	40°34′3″N 73°52′24″W / 40.56750°N 73.87333°W / 40.56750; -73.87333
Built	1932
Architect	John L. Plock, Gilmore D. Clarke, Aymar Embury II, Clinton Loyd, Julius Burgevin
Architectural style	Art Deco, Moorish
NRHP reference No.	81000081
Added to NRHP	June 17, 1981[1]

Jacob Riis Park, also called Jacob A. Riis Park^[2] and Riis Park,^[3] is a seaside park on the southwestern portion of the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It lies at the foot of the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, east of Fort Tilden, and west of Neponsit and Rockaway Beach. Originally run by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, it later became part of the Jamaica Bay Unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area, and is managed by the National Park Service (NPS). It features an extensive sand beach along the Atlantic Ocean coastline and several historic Art Deco structures.

In 1912, the city, urged on by social journalist Jacob Riis, acquired the land for a park initially called Seaside Park and later Telawana Park. In 1914, the park was renamed for Riis. During World War I, the site was used as the Rockaway Naval Air Station, one of the first naval air stations in the United States and, in 1919, the launching point for the first transatlantic flight. The Art Deco-style bathhouse was built in 1932, but much of the park's infrastructure and approaches were built between 1936 and 1937 by New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, who envisioned it as a getaway for New York City residents, like Jones Beach State Park further east on Long Island. The park was built along with the Marine Parkway Bridge and the Belt Parkway in nearby Brooklyn, which provided access to the park.

After a period of decline, Jacob Riis Park was transferred in 1974 to the control of the National Park Service. The Jacob Riis Park Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. The Neponsit Beach Hospital, which occupies part of the park's site, was razed in 2023. In addition to the bathhouse, the park contains a north–south central mall; a boardwalk to the north of the beach; a large parking lot; an 18-hole golf course; and several sporting fields. The beaches at Jacob Riis Park, on the south side of the Rockaway peninsula, consists of 15 bays on the Atlantic coast.