Brooklyn sports facility, Aviator Center, to close, due to COVID, migrant center, ousting thousands of young athletes
A sprawling Brooklyn sports complex that hosts one of the few hockey rinks in the city is shutting down in two weeks — throwing out thousands of “devastated” young athletes from a hub they call “home.”Aviator Sports and Events Center at Floyd Bennett Field will close when its lease with the National Parks Service expires on April 14 — after years of dropping revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a nearby migrant camp that made worried people avoid the facility, sources said.“It’s heartbreaking.No aviator — no fun, no family, no home,” said 11-year-old Maddie Gallagher, a young gymnast who trains at Aviator.Any prospect of the 175,000-square-foot multi-sport facility being saved has been turned into a long shot, as the park service has dragged its feet on finding a new operator.Gallagher and her Aviator Gymnastics teammates burst into tears when their coaches broke the news Monday that their practices would cease next month unless a new operator is quickly picked, but the process could take as long as a year.Aviator’s management warned the park service back in October that it would not re-sign its lease, but the federal agency did not start soliciting a replacement until January.The NPS is “currently reviewing the submissions,” a representative confirmed — but couldn’t provide additional information.Gallagher and her friends each handwrote emotional letters to Aviator and the parks service begging that they find a replacement expeditiously — before their teammates were forced to fall behind on their valuable training time.“It’s not fair.
How can someone shut down the only sports complex in the neighborhood? Where are we supposed to go?” 10-year-old Sophia Balsamo, wrote in her two-page plea.Aviator, which has run the site since 2008, said it was forced to close after years of economic hardship that started back in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy walloped the coastal metro area.The venue continued to teeter through the pandemic, bu...