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Miller Army Air Field Historic District | |
 Playing field | |
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| Location | New Dorp,Staten Island,New York, New York, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°33′51″N74°5′44″W / 40.56417°N 74.09556°W /40.56417; -74.09556 |
| Area | 3 acres (1.2 ha) |
| Built | 1919 (1919) |
| Architect | U.S. Army |
| NRHP reference No. | 80000362[1] |
| Added to NRHP | April 11, 1980 |
Miller Field was aUnited States Army facility in the neighborhood ofNew Dorp,Staten Island,New York. It was founded in November 1919 and completed in 1921.
Miller Field was named after Captain James Ely Miller (1883–1918), commanding officer of the95th Aero Squadron in theAir Service of the AEF, who died in combat on March 9, 1918, overRheims inWorld War I. He was the first United States aviatorkilled in action while serving with an American military aviation unit. Before World War I, Miller had been vice president of the Columbia Trust Company of New York and manager of its Fifth Avenue office, who trained at his own expense to earn his pilot's license andReserve Military Aviator rating with the Governors Island Training Corps in 1916. He was also an organizer, along with MajorRaynal Bolling, of the1st Reserve Aero Squadron, the first unit of what would eventually become theAir Force Reserve Command.[2]
When built in 1921, Miller Field was the only coastal defense air station in the eastern United States and was part of the network of fortifications around New York City. It was built on land formerly belonging to theVanderbilt family.[2] It had a grassrunway (and was the last airport with a grass runway inNew York City), ramps forseaplanes, and four hangars for planes. Miller Field was used for anti-aircraft fire and trainingCoast Guard personnel. Miller Field closed as an airbase in 1969.[2] US Army 11th Special Forces Reserve was stationed at Miller Field from March 22, 1963, to August 1, 1970.
The Field was the site of theElm Tree Beacon Light, a lighthouse from 1856 through 1924 when it was abandoned (and later rebuilt). The light had replaced a prominent elm tree.[2]
The Miller Army Air Field Historic District was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1980.[1]
On December 16, 1960,United Airlines Flight 826, aDouglas DC-8 andTrans World Airlines Flight 266,Lockheed Super Constellation, collided just west of the field, with the Constellation crashing into the northwest corner of the airport while the DC-8 crashed intoPark Slope,Brooklyn. The collision was the world's worst airline disaster to that point, with 134 killed.
AFDNY Engine Company, on the day of the disaster, rammed the gates of Miller Field, not waiting on members of theMilitary Police Corps (United States) to let them into the Base.
Miller Field is a part of the Staten Island Unit of theGateway National Recreation Area, which is managed by theNational Park Service. The park includes baseball and soccer fields, and hosts theNew York Philharmonic in the summer. The field is directly east ofNew Dorp High School.
In the documentary film,Glory Daze: The Life and Times ofMichael Alig (2015),[3] the police recount the discovery, by a group of children atOakwood Beach,[4] at Miller Field, of a box containing the remains ofAndre "Angel" Melendez, in March 1996. (American Justice reports the box was found in April 1996.[5]) Melendez had been murdered by Alig and his roommate, Robert "Freeze" Riggs, his legs dismembered, and his upper body enclosed in a box they enjoined an unwitting taxi driver's help to transport and throw into theHudson River, nearTunnel nightclub. A tropical storm helped propel the cork-lined,[4] floating box toStaten Island.[6][7][8][9]
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