Bonus #1: The Softball Field at JFK Airport
Just south of Federal Circle near the Cargo Area A and JFK Airport Cell Phone Lot is a softball field that very few people have heard of. It is used by a small league formed of employees of the airlines and companies that service the airport, and not open to the public. Foursquare does has a check-in for the ballfield, with a single photograph. In the NYC Aviation forum, one user wrote that the ballfield is the same field Mickey Mantle hit his 1300th home run when the airport was Idlewild. We have not yet verified that claim.
Bonus #2: There Used to Be a Big Fountain at JFK Airport
Back when jet travel was glamorous, the architecture of airports was designed to reflect an aspirational lifestyle. In front of the original International Arrivals Building (IAB) was an immense fountain called the “Fountain of Liberty,” a part of the landscaped “International Park.” The pool was 220 feet in diameter, with a rising ramp used as a visitor’s observation deck. You can see some great shots of JFK Airport when it was Idlewild airport in the above 1964 news reel video, shared to YouTube by Pathé (we’ve auto-started the video at 0:39 where the fountain is shown.
According to the book John F. Kennedy Airport by Joshua Stoff, the fountain had 916 nozzles that shot water to a height of 60 feet and was illuminated by 308 lamps placed inside the pool that displayed five colors. Stoff writes, “like Las Vegas, they produced an ever-changing spectacle on a repeating, six-minute cycle.”
Next, check out all 7 of the demolished terminals at JFK Airport. This article collectively written by Michelle Young, Catherine Ku, Jinwoo Chong and Laura Itzkowitz.