Thanks, Robert Moses

Jacob Riis Park in the New York City borough of Queens, is part of the Jamaica Bay Unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area, and managed by the National Park Service (NPS). It lies at the foot of the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge middle of the Rockaway Peninsula, just east of Fort Tilden and west of Rockaway Beach. It features an extensive sand beach, and an early 20th century bath house listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The park, which was largely built on the site of the former Rockaway Naval Air Station, was designed by the powerful Robert Moses and intended to be a destination for the few New York City residents who owned a private vehicle, in a city with extensive public transit. As evidence, he included what was, at the time, the world's largest parking lot (over 5,000 parking spaces) as part of the designs. The lot is still in existence and maintained by the NPS. The park also includes a "pitch and putt" golf course.

In May of 2008 New York Water Taxi began ferry service from a dock in the northwest side of Riis Park to the Brooklyn Army Terminal and Wall Street (Manhattan).