History
Originally, the range was owned by Samuel Rodman who owned a ferry that ran between Minneford Island (City Island) and Anne's Hoeck (Rodman's Neck), where the bridge is now. Then L.R. Marshall built a Southern-style mansion at the southernmost tip of Rodman’s Neck called Pell's Point on his estate renamed “Hawkswood”. His mansion was converted and used as an inn until 1888, when Parks acquired the property for Pelham Bay Park.
The open firing range's story began when the New York City Parks Department acquired the property for Pelham Bay Park. In 1903 the Parks Department opened Rodman’s Neck to the public with public bathhouses, showers, picnic tables, and cooking facilities. During World War I (1914–1918) the United States Navy used the site as a training facility. In the 1920s Rodman’s Neck was once again used for park purposes.
Between 1930 and 1936 the southern tip of the peninsula was used by the New York City Police Academy for summer training and explosives detonation. It was an ideal site to make bombs safe. The fact that the area was mostly surrounded by Eastchester Bay was considered good, so that any fragments from exploding bombs would not strike people at the remote site. In 1941, during World War II the U.S. Department of War began to use the area as a Navy base and in 1950, the United States Army drained the site and built barracks for soldiers at Fort Slocum. When the Army finished using the land, the site was turned over to the New York City Police Academy, where the police reestablished the permanent training facility and firing range in 1960. Early signs at the entrance said, "NYPD Pistol Range".
The range was supposed to have been a temporary facility, according to the plans laid out by Robert Moses and late Mayors Wagner and Lindsay and Beame. However Mayor Koch favored it becoming permanent.
The range was previously part of Pelham Bay Park. In the late 1980s, Governor Mario Cuomo signed an eminent domain law separating this land from the park and giving the NYPD the right to stay permanently.
In 1976 one NYPD Officer was killed and another was badly injured in The Pit when a bomb went off accidentally.
The range was to have been converted into the NYC Official Olympic Firing Range for the unsuccessful New York City 2012 Olympic bid.
The range now has Biohazard Safety Level 4 lab facilities to deal with radiological devices, Bioweapon bombs and gas chemical weapons.
Read more about this topic: NYPD Rodman's Neck Firing Range
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