As the clock runs out for Aviator Sports and Events Center, parents and coaches have launched a campaign to save the South Brooklyn sports complex from imminent closure.
In late March, Aviator announced that it would be closing on April 14 after its lease with the National Park Service (NPS) expires.
“Since taking on this project, we have together navigated immense challenges—economic downturns, Hurricane Sandy, government shutdowns, COVID-19 and a migrant camp outside our front door. Through it all, we remained committed to providing a top-tier facility for athletes, families, and the broader community and you all responded in kind and made it possible,” reads the post.
The news devastated Aviator’s wide network of parents and kids from Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island.
“The entire team started hysterical crying, sobbing, hugging each other with the coaches. It was devastating to see,” said Jamie Balsamo, whose 10-year-old daughter is on the gymnastics team.
Balsamo said her daughter started coming to Aviator when she was two for a mommy-and-me class. The friendships her family has made over the years at the center is "irreplaceable," Balasamo said.
In the wake of the announcement, parents have organized an all-out campaign to raise awareness and hopefully prevent the closure. A Change.org petition to save Aviator has amassed more than 7,900 signatures. On Monday, parents and children presented “Save our dreams” packages, or messages from children, to the Brooklyn offices of Senator Nicole Malliotakis and Council Member Justin Brannan.
"Although the facility is not located in my district, many of my constituents utilize it," said Malliotakis on X. "With many sports leagues set to begin their next season around the time the lease ends, the future of these youth teams will be jeopardized without an alternative—making it imperative that a new operator is selected as soon as possible to ensure minimal disruption to our community."
The closure comes at a bad time for the gymnastics team, which was set to compete in a state competition in May.
“I've been here for a very long time. This is like a second home to me, like a second family to me,” said Remy Makinde-Beckles, who is on the gymnastics team. “I worked hard for the whole season, and it's just gonna be very sad for me just to know that I worked so hard just to not be in states.”
Aviator, located on federal land at Floyd Bennett Field, south of Marine Park and Mill Basin, has been running various sports programs since 2008. For many families, Aviator is their only option to get the kind of training their children need.
“Besides this place, we don't think we can find another way for her to continue to pursue her dream of ice skating,” said Andy Li, whose daughter has been figure skating at Aviator for the past two years. “The history of the program is really, really good.”
Just off the Belt Parkway on Flatbush Avenue, the complex serves families from many neighborhoods. “It doesn't just service the Brooklyn area. This is not just a Brooklyn issue. This is a Brooklyn, South Queens, North Queens issue," said Adrienne Kieblesz, whose daughter and son have played various sports at Aviator over the past 18 years.
The complex also provides practice space for local high schools, including Xaverian High School. Aviator management said they are negotiating with NPS to allow the use of the outdoor fields through the fall of 2025.
In January, the NPS issued competitive solicitations (Requests for Proposal) to find a different vendor for the facility. NPS said in a statement to BK Reader that they are discussing a potential one-year contract extension with Aviator as it reviews RFP submissions.
