# Rodman's Neck > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rodman's_Neck > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rodman's_Neck.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodman's_Neck > Source revision: 1345317309 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Peninsula in the Bronx, New York}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Use American English|date=February 2026}} thumb|200px|Former private mansion on Rodman's Neck '''Rodman's Neck''' (formerly '''Ann Hook's Neck''') is a peninsula of land in the [New York City](/source/New_York_City) borough of [the Bronx](/source/the_Bronx) that juts out into [Long Island Sound](/source/Long_Island_Sound). The southern third of the peninsula is used as a [firing range](/source/NYPD_Rodman's_Neck_Firing_Range) by the [New York City Police Department](/source/New_York_City_Police_Department); the remaining wooded section is part of [Pelham Bay Park](/source/Pelham_Bay_Park). The north side is joined to what used to be [Hunters Island](/source/Hunter_Island_(Bronx)) and [Twin Island](/source/Twin_Island_(Bronx)) to form [Orchard Beach](/source/Orchard_Beach%2C_Bronx) and a parking lot.{{Cite map|url=http://pelhambaypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/F-of-PBP-map.pdf|title=Pelham Bay Park Map|publisher=Friends of Pelham Bay Park|date=February 2014|access-date=October 5, 2017|archive-date=March 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321004610/http://pelhambaypark.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/F-of-PBP-map.pdf|url-status=dead}} Rodman's Neck has three meadows. One is a natural salt water meadow; the other two are manmade freshwater meadows, one of which was created by [Robert Moses](/source/Robert_Moses)' projects. The City Island Traffic Circle and several small ballfields also exist, while every original building has been razed. A [landfill](/source/Causeway) area for City Island Road crosses Turtle Cove Saltwater Marsh with a culvert made of concrete pipes connecting it to the salt water [Eastchester Bay](/source/Eastchester_Bay). A second land berm built for horsecars had its always-clogged three foot diameter culvert removed, and a trench with a stainless steel bridge was installed.{{cite web | title=Overview | website=Friends of Pelham Bay Park | url=http://pelhambaypark.org/?page_id=71 | access-date=2017-10-11}} == History == thumb|200px|Rodman's Neck thumb|200px|US Naval Reserve Training Station at Rodman's Neck The first inhabitants of the land now known as Rodman's Neck were the [Siwanoy](/source/Siwanoys), the indigenous people of the area.{{Citation | last =Pell | first =Robert T. | title =Thomas Pell II (1675/76-1739): Third Lord of the Manor of Pelham | journal =Pelliana: Pell of Pelham |series=New Series | volume =I | issue =3 | date =1965 | pages =25–48 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LF9JAAAAMAAJ }} The land was included in the purchase made by [Thomas Pell](/source/Thomas_Pell) in 1654.{{rp|102}} Rodman's Neck is named after a local man, Samuel Rodman, while the southern tip, known as "Pell's Point", is where the British landed during the [Revolutionary War](/source/American_Revolutionary_War)'s [Battle of Pell's Point](/source/Battle_of_Pell's_Point). It was originally named "Anne's Hoeck" (or Ann Hook's Neck{{cite book |last= Barr|first= Lockwood |title= Ancient Town of Pelham, Westchester County, New York |publisher=The Dietz Press, Inc.|year=1946|page=13|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RywXAAAAIAAJ}}) after [Anne Hutchinson](/source/Anne_Hutchinson); her killer, [Wampage I](/source/Wampage_I), who took the name Anhõõke after the massacre; and his son, Wampage II, who used the name "Ann Hook".{{cite book |last= Bolton |first= Robert |title= History of the Several Towns, Manors, and Patents of the County of Westchester |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WdYpAQAAMAAJ |volume= 2 |publisher=Chas. F. Roper |access-date = 2020-06-08 |location= New York |year = 1881 |pages = 290–291 }} Rodman had owned a ferry that ran between Minneford Island (now known as City Island) and Anne's Hoeck where the bridge is now. Then L.R. Marshall built a Southern-style mansion on his estate, renamed "Hawkswood", at the southernmost tip of Rodman's Neck. His mansion was converted and used as an inn{{citation needed|date=July 2016}} until 1888, when the [New York City Parks Department](/source/New_York_City_Parks_Department) acquired the property for [Pelham Bay Park](/source/Pelham_Bay_Park).{{rp|987}} A dock for the eastern shore of Rodman's Neck was approved in 1891, with funds appropriated for said dock.{{cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/pagefiles/50/Board%20of%20Commissioners%20of%20the%20NYC%20Dept%20of%20Public%20Parks%20-%20Minutes%20and%20Documents%20-%20April%2030%201892_2.pdf |title=Board of Commissioners of the NYC Dept of Public Parks – Minutes and Documents: May 13, 1891 - April 28, 1892 |date=April 30, 1892 |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=January 13, 2017 }}{{rp|17 (PDF p.78)}} Due to overcrowding at the nearby Hunter Island campsite, NYC Parks opened a campsite in 1906 at Rodman's Neck on the south tip of the island, with 100 bathhouses.{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/pelham-bay-park/highlights/12110|title=Orchard Beach|publisher=[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation](/source/New_York_City_Department_of_Parks_and_Recreation)|language=en|access-date=October 2, 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/orchardbeach.pdf|title=Orchard Beach Bathhouse and Promenade|date=June 20, 2006|website=[nyc.gov](/source/Government_of_New_York_City)|publisher=[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission](/source/New_York_City_Landmarks_Preservation_Commission)|access-date=October 3, 2017|page=3|archive-date=March 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301093221/http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/orchardbeach.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4101annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1906.pdf|title=1906 New York City Department of Public Parks Annual Report|date=1906|website=[nyc.gov](/source/Government_of_New_York_City)|publisher=[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation](/source/New_York_City_Department_of_Parks_and_Recreation)|pages=87–88|access-date=January 13, 2017|archive-date=February 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211051419/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/4101annual_report_nyc_dept_parks_1906.pdf|url-status=dead}} The land was first used as a [United States Army](/source/United_States_Army) training location from 1917 to 1919, during [World War I](/source/World_War_I), when it was used by the [105th](/source/105th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)) and [108th Infantry Regiments](/source/108th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)).{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WeVTP3GyFH0C&pg=PA103|title=The Bronx, in Bits and Pieces|last=Twomey|first=Bill|publisher=Rooftop Publishing|year=2007|isbn=978-1-60008-062-3|access-date=2017-10-06}}{{rp|103}} It became parkland in the 1920s,{{Cite enc-nyc2}}{{rp|1118}} but was seldom utilized.{{rp|103}} Between 1930 and 1936, the southern tip of the peninsula was used by the [New York City Police Academy](/source/New_York_City_Police_Academy) for summer training and explosives detonation. It was also part of Camp Mulrooney, a summer camp for the NYPD, and was used in that sense until 1936.{{rp|103}}{{rp|1118}} In 1941, during [World War II](/source/World_War_II), the [U.S. Department of War](/source/U.S._Department_of_War) began to use the area as a [Navy](/source/United_States_Navy) base.{{Citation needed|date=October 2017}} The Army used Rodman's Neck again in the 1950s during the [Cold War](/source/Cold_War), building a radar [fire control center](/source/Fire-control_system) there.{{rp|103}} In 1959, the peninsula's operation was transferred to the NYPD who built the current firing range at the peninsula's southern tip.{{rp|103}}{{rp|1118}} Early signs at the entrance said, "NYPD Pistol Range".{{citation needed|date=July 2016}} In 1976, one NYPD Officer was killed and another was badly injured in The Pit when a [bomb](/source/TWA_Flight_355) went off accidentally.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,946611-1,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114104511/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,946611-1,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 14, 2009|title=SKYJACKINGS: Bombs for Croatia|date=September 20, 1976|magazine=TIME|access-date=August 16, 2013}}* [https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/23/nyregion/ex-tenant-is-sought-in-bomb-case.html Ex-Tenant Is Sought in Bomb Case] * [https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/05/nyregion/the-city-explosives-found-in-bronx-home.html THE CITY; Explosives Found In Bronx Home] * [http://www.nycop.com/Sept_99/Let_s_Get_the_Hell_Out_of_Here/body_let_s_get_the_hell_out_of_here.html Lets Get Outta Here] * [http://archives.cnn.com/2002/LAW/12/24/ctv.laguardia/ Bomb Kills NYPD Officer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080522050529/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/LAW/12/24/ctv.laguardia/ |date=May 22, 2008 }} == {{anchor|NYPD Rodman's Neck Firing Range}}NYPD firing range == A 54-acre police training facility is operated by the NYPD Firearms & Tactics Section and is used for handgun and rifle practice and qualification by the [NYPD](/source/New_York_City_Police_Department), the [Federal Bureau of Investigation](/source/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation), Fire Department Fire Marshals, Correction Department, [Immigration and Customs Enforcement](/source/Immigration_and_Customs_Enforcement), and training probationary police officers, as well as for antiterrorist, disorder control, [Emergency Service Unit](/source/Emergency_Service_Unit)s, and [Organized Crime Control Bureau](/source/Organized_Crime_Control_Bureau) training. The base has seven [rifle range](/source/rifle_range)s with a 230 total firing points for trainees. The base has a school with lecture hall and seven classrooms with instructors. The base also has a training area designed to look like a city neighborhood for practical training exercises. It has one of the world's largest police armories and a firearms machine shop for maintenance and experimental weapons development. The grounds include mock buildings called Urban Training Center/Tactical Village and Tactics House used for urban training scenarios, and a FireArms Training Simulator building including an interactive video simulator that was all paid for by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. There is also a specially equipped vehicle armed for disorder control nicknamed "The War Wagon" in case of rioting. The base was used during the 1960s by the [National Guard](/source/United_States_National_Guard) to train riot troops and was an emergency base of operations during the [September 11, 2001 attacks](/source/September_11%2C_2001_attacks). This area is restricted for police and military use only. The area is also used for destroying unexploded bombs. Many bombs have been detonated since 1930, including ones made by [George Metesky](/source/George_Metesky), the [Weathermen](/source/Weatherman_(organization)), the [Black Panthers](/source/Black_Panthers), the [Animal Liberation Front](/source/Animal_Liberation_Front), [al-Qaeda](/source/al-Qaeda), and serial bomber [Cesar Sayoc](/source/Cesar_Sayoc). These explosives are always detonated at the southernmost point that juts out into Eastchester Bay in a crater called "The Pit". Around July 2 every year, impressive impromptu volcanic displays are put on as seized illegal fireworks are destroyed. The range was intended as a temporary facility, according to the plans laid out by [Robert Moses](/source/Robert_Moses) and Mayors [Robert F. Wagner, Jr.](/source/Robert_F._Wagner%2C_Jr.), [John Lindsay](/source/John_Lindsay), and [Abraham D. Beame](/source/Abraham_D._Beame). However, Mayor [Ed Koch](/source/Ed_Koch) favored it becoming permanent. The range was previously part of [Pelham Bay Park](/source/Pelham_Bay_Park). In the late 1980s, Governor [Mario Cuomo](/source/Mario_Cuomo) signed an eminent domain law separating this land from the park and giving the NYPD the right to stay permanently. The range was to have been converted into the [Olympic Firing Range](/source/List_of_Olympic_venues_in_shooting) for the unsuccessful [New York City 2012 Olympic bid](/source/New_York_City_2012_Olympic_bid). A widely used paper target figure officially known as "Advanced Silhouette SP-83A" or target "B-60" may have been developed in the early 1960s as a likeness of Sergeant Fred V. Worell, an instructor at the range. The target is [colloquially](/source/colloquially) known as "The Thug".{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/17/nyregion/17target.html |title=Cops' Favorite Target Thug, but Just Who Was the Guy |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |date=February 17, 2005 |last=Wilson |first=Michael}} In April 2007, the NYPD announced that all gun practice would move to a new indoors facility in [College Point, Queens](/source/College_Point%2C_Queens).* [http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/bronx/2007/04/19/2007-04-19_nypd_blasts_will_soon_be_thing_of_past_.html Rodmans Neck Range Closing?] * [http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=3&aid=68475 Rodmands Neck Range Closing?] * [http://www.nypost.com/seven/09132006/news/regionalnews/nypd_boom__bomb_shock_regionalnews_geoff_earle_and_murray_weiss.htm Truck Bomb Detonated in 2006] Due to shortages in funding, the move was canceled and it was deemed cheaper to renovate Rodman's Neck for $275 million.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/23/nyregion/nypd-training-facility-rodmans-neck.html|title=New York Police Plan $275 Million Update to Training Complex|last=Santora|first=Marc|date=January 23, 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-10-06|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{cite web|last=Rocchio|first=Patrick|date=February 16, 2015|url=http://www.bxtimes.com/stories/2015/7/07-rodmans-2015-02-13-bx_2015_7.html|title=Community leaders tour Rodman's Neck NYPD range and facility|website=Bronx Times|access-date=2015-11-18}} In February 2024, the NYPD decided to proceed with plans to build an indoor firing range at Rodman's Neck.{{cite web | title=NYPD: Indoor firing range coming to Rodman's Neck | website=News 12 - Default | date=February 28, 2024 | url=https://bronx.news12.com/nypd-indoor-firing-range-coming-to-rodmans-neck | access-date=March 17, 2025}}{{cite web | last=Cohen | first=Jason | title=NYPD announces indoor shooting range coming to Rodman’s Neck | website=Bronx Times | date=February 26, 2024 | url=https://www.bxtimes.com/rodmans-neck-shooting-range/ | access-date=March 17, 2025}} ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * {{official website|http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/training_nypd/firearm_tatics.shtml}} - NYPD Rodman's Neck Firing Range * [http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=12115 Rodman's Neck History] * [http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/vt_pelham_bay_park/vt_pelham_09.html Robert Moses Meadow] {{Protected areas of New York City}} {{coord|40|51|09|N|73|48|02|W |display=title}} Category:Long Island Sound Category:Landforms of the Bronx Category:Peninsulas of New York (state) Category:Parks in the Bronx Category:New York City Police Department Category:Pelham Bay Park --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rodman's Neck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodman's_Neck) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodman's_Neck?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.