Ft Tilden - Bunkers

On my recent visit to New York, my brother and I spent a morning wandering around  Ft. Tilden.  This is an old military base that was turned over to the National Park Service in the early 70's.  When active, the base served as a coastal artillery installation and eventually was used as a missile base as well.  The area is now overgrown with thick, coastal forest.  It is a bit surreal to be wandering the trails and come upon one of the massive gun bunkers, shelters, or barracks.  The largest bunkers housed a 70 foot long gun that shot 16" projectiles as far as 25 miles out to sea.  Pretty amazing to stand there, no more than about 10 miles from Manhattan,  and contemplate why these were built.  Now, the structures are in disrepair, overgrown, and covered in graffiti.  If you are ever in NYC and have a bit of time to kill, it is worth making the trip to Ft Tilden.

Images were created using the Canon 5D Mk II and the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L and Canon 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lenses.