Boats anchored in Great Kills Harbor on Staten Island, Gateway National Recreation Area
Staten Island Unit Home Page | Great Kills Park Home Page
Great Kills Park at Gateway National Recreation Area has both a marina for permanent boat storage and a boat ramp for those looking to launch their towed boats. Both are located on Great Kills Harbor.
Satellite view of Great Kills Harbor
BOAT RAMP
A boat ramp is available for launching motorized boats into Great Kills Harbor. All personal watercraft, including canoes, kayaks, and jet skis, are prohibited. There is no fee to use the ramp, but a permit is required to park in the adjacent parking lot. Only vehicles with an attached boat trailer are allowed to park here, and parking is limited to 24 hours per visit. Permits are on sale each year from March 1st through April 30th. They are good from April 1st through December 1st—the ramp is closed from December through March. Again, this is for parking only, so if somebody drives your vehicle away after launching your boat, you don’t have to pay anything.
Permits are available online only at Recreation.gov (if this link does not work, go to Recreation.gov and search for Gateway NRA Staten Isl Boat Launch Permit). Once you purchase your permit online, you must take your receipt to a specified location within the park to redeem it for an actual parking sticker. Locations are given on Recreation.gov. You need one permit for each of your vehicles. They are not transferable.
Boat ramp at Great Kills Park, part of Gateway National Recreation Area
GREAT KILLS MARINA
Moonbeam Great Kills Marina at Gateway National Recreation Area
Great Kills Harbor is actually a man-made restoration of what was originally a natural harbor. Prior to 1916, the land formation at Great Kills was very similar to how it is today. However, by 1916, the waves had eroded the connecting strip of land (where today’s marina is located) so that the tip of the peninsula, what is now called Crooke’s Point, became an island, thus putting an end to the harbor. It wasn’t until the late 1940s when New York City decided to develop the area into a park that the island was reconnected to the mainland by landfill, and the harbor was restored. When the city turned Great Kills Park over to the National Park Service in 1972, the marina became part of the National Park system.
Moonbeam Great Kills Marina at Gateway National Recreation Area
Hurricane Sandy completely destroyed the marina, so what you see today was built in 2015. There are 350 slips available for summer rental, plus winter storage and maintenance services are available. Transient boats are also welcome. The marina is operated by Moonbeam Leasing and Management LLC, the same authorized park concessionaire that runs the Gateway Marina next to Floyd Bennett Field. See the Moonbeam Great Kills Marina website for more information.
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Last updated on December 5, 2024
