Camp Gateway Brooklyn Campground

Just like the other reviewers here have said, this is a place to camp in/near NYC for $30 a night, you cannot beat that - you really can't, even when you factor in all the negatives and there are a few of those....

This is essentially a very large concrete lot in an abandoned airport from the 1930s. Yes the park service is trying to make this into something, but it's - sadly - very very far from that at this point. If you have visited anything else that is part of the National Park Service, lower your expectations - this is not your regular NPS site.

The positives:
1.) Again, it's a place to stay in/near NYC for $30
2.) Very close to the RV camping area are bathrooms and showers (although only available a few hours a day)
3.) The park itself is on the bus line (Q35) and this takes you to the subway (the 2 line) and these can get you anywhere in the city! Super easy to figure out even if you've never been to the city before. Also, a ferry for $2.75 just opened at Rockaways and is a quick bus ride away (again, on the Q35)

The negatives:
1.) this place is a complete and total free for all! It's under-managed and hardly patrolled by ranger police, so anything goes. People use this place for anything and everything (good and bad): drugs, drinking, car racing, sex, fishing, RC car/planes, bike riding, kayaking, walking, etc. And expect all of this to be going on 24 hours a day. The ranger police will come when called but don't seem to do anything.
2.) It's really noisy! It's in the airport's flight path, it's near the police department's helicopter launch pad, and it's right on the water with loud boats coming by all the time.

Yes, I have a lot of bad to say about this place - but we would definitely stay here again if we were coming back to the city in our RV. While the place was a bit chaotic, I never felt unsafe - just more annoyed than anything. We were there for 4 days and were gone most days into the later evening and never once had anything messed with at our site/RV.

Recommendations:
1.) Drive into the area in the middle of the night - to avoid traffic, pedestrians, etc.
2.) Download the NYC truck route map to select your route (or contact us for our route: twoinamerlin@gmail.com)
3.) The bus stop is way across the park (close to a mile) from the camping area, so be prepared to walk or bring bikes or a tow car to get to the bus stop each day.

****the bus only takes COINS: $2.75 per person, be sure to bring change and then get a PASSPORT​ at either a bodega or the subway station****

We stayed at Camp Gateway for a week to explore NYC. The camp is an old airport so your site is on tarmac and open to a huge paved area on the water. There's regular traffic of people coming and going but not so much so that it's a bother. The convenience of being near NYC is the only thing the camp has going for it. There are no hookups of any kind but you are allowed to run a generator and there are a few water faucets nearby. There's restrooms and showers that are open during the day.

We had an interesting visit and within the first 24 hours of our stay a dead body washed up across from our RV. I watched as a helicopter and a dozen emergency vehicles convened on the location but thought nothing of it due to the fact that they do have a police station and training in the area. Then two detectives walked over to ask if I might have seen anything. Welcome to New York!

We came into NYC from the north and we have a 43' fifth wheel. Make sure you know the route to take with RV's and especially big rigs. We came down 95 to 278 all the way into Brooklyn and then took the Tillary street exit (as directed by the camp website) and then drove all the way down Flatbush ave. It was....crazy but we were able to avoid all of the low clearances and made it alive. Not for the faint of heart!

From the camp we drove over to Coney Island (about 15 minutes away) to catch the F train or Q train to get into Manhattan. It takes about an hour to get to midtown from there.

We stayed at Camp Gateway at Floyd Bennett Field for several nights in order to explore NYC. This site is fairly convenient to the city and very inexpensive. Since we have a National Parks annual pass, the fee was only $15/night. There is a bus stop at the main office, so you can park there and take bus to the nearest subway and be in Manhattan within an hour or so. That is all really great. This is certainly not an RV Park or your typically National Park though. This is strictly boondocking on an abandoned Navy airstrip. When you first drive in you will be very lost and there is not really any signage. You will take your first left, then take your first right, then take your next left and your next right. You will be in a giant concrete space with very few markings. This is where the RV sites are. It is very bizarre, but is much better than a cramped RV park that costs $80/night. I think they are working to restore one of the hangers to be a museum. This is definitely a great place to stay if you are going to be sight-seeing in NYC the whole time. Don't stay here if you plan on hanging out at the RV. This is also an NYPD training area, so helicopters and planes are flying overhead constantly. It did not bother me, but I am a heavy sleeper. Also, be sure to download an NYC Truck Route Map. That will save you a lot of time trying to figure out how to get across town.