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Gateway National Recreation AreaThe pristine dunes and beach at Fort Tilden in Spring.
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Gateway National Recreation Area
Natural Features & Ecosystems
Phragmites grasslands cover much of Gateway's lands.
National Park Service Photo
Phragmites grass can grow to ten feet in height. It often grows in disturbed areas.

Grasslands

Phragmites grasslands cover vast areas of Gateway, and are subject to frequent burning. Remnants of other more diverse grassland types, particularly at Floyd Bennett Field, are significant remnants of former habitats.

 

 

Throughout Gateway, barrier beaches like Breezy Point and sand spits like Sandy Hook and Crooke's Point are constantly being sculpted and changed by long shore currents and storms.  Learn about shore dynamics. View/print a pdf of the brochure, The Shifting Sands of Sandy Hook

Jacob Riis  

Did You Know?
Journalist Jacob Riis was called "New York's most useful citizen," by Theodore Roosevelt. As police commissioner, Roosevelt often accompanied Riis in raids exposing the hardship of life for New York City's poor and immigrant populations.

Last Updated: October 17, 2006 at 14:55 EST