Miller Field

Miller Field is a 187.5-acre park on the eastern shore of Staten Island in New Dorp Beach, part of the Gateway National Recreation Area managed by the National Park Service. The field is a former military airfield that served as one of the nation's early Army Air Service installations.

The airfield was established in 1919 and named for Captain James Ely Miller, a Staten Island aviator who was the first United States airman killed in combat in World War I, shot down in a dogfight over France in March 1918. The field served as a military air base and later as a Nike missile defense site during the Cold War before being transferred to the National Park Service.

Today Miller Field features expansive athletic fields used for organized sports, open meadows, a model airplane flying field, a community garden, and connections to the FDR Boardwalk and New Dorp Beach. The field's flat, open character reflects its aviation heritage.

The park's proximity to the Atlantic shoreline and the beach communities of New Dorp and Midland Beach makes it an important recreation resource for the eastern shore. The open fields provide space for kite flying, dog walking, and informal recreation alongside the organized sports programs.

Miller Field preserves the memory of early American military aviation while providing nearly 200 acres of recreation space on Staten Island's eastern shore, connecting the borough's military heritage to its contemporary community life.