Spectral Codex

Fort Tilden

Locations
Fort Tilden
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 10
Shutter Speed
1/400 sec
Focal Length
18.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
15.3 EV
Original Size
3000 × 2000
Approaching one of the main batteries.

Fort Tilden is a former United States Army coastal defense installation on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, New York City, established in 1917. It was named for Samuel J. Tilden, governor of New York and the defeated presidential candidate of 1876. Its heaviest armament was Battery Harris, a pair of 16-inch guns enclosed in concrete during World War 2 and scrapped along with the fort’s other guns in 1948; anti-aircraft batteries and then Nike Ajax and nuclear-capable Nike Hercules missiles were deployed at the site through the Cold War until 1972. The Army transferred the reservation to the National Park Service in the late 1970s, and the graffiti-covered batteries and magazines now stand among dunes and maritime forest within Gateway National Recreation Area.

Battery Harris, Fort Tilden
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 4.5
Shutter Speed
1/80 sec
Focal Length
18.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
10.7 EV
Original Size
2868 × 1912
Entrance to Battery Harris.
Sunlight Through The Bars, Fort Tilden
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 10
Shutter Speed
1/400 sec
Focal Length
18.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
15.3 EV
Original Size
3000 × 2000
The sun peeks through the bars put up to keep explorers from the abandoned batteries. No building we visited was fully sealed; all barriers have been smashed open or pried aside to permit open and easy access to the ruins.
Inside Fort Tilden
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 5.6
Shutter Speed
1/60 sec
Focal Length
18.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
10.9 EV
Original Size
2914 × 1943
Each battery has a similar cross-shaped layout with storage chambers and washrooms. The main channel, from front to back, presumably would have housed the enormous guns.
Inside The Battery, Fort Tilden
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 5.6
Shutter Speed
1/60 sec
Focal Length
18.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
10.9 EV
Original Size
3000 × 2000
Skulking through dark corridors.
Depths of Fort Tilden
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 5.6
Shutter Speed
1/60 sec
Focal Length
18.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
10.9 EV
Original Size
3000 × 2000
A forgotten domain.
Have Fun and Die!
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 5.6
Shutter Speed
1/60 sec
Focal Length
18.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
10.9 EV
Original Size
3000 × 2000
“Have fun and die!”
Graffiti at Fort Tilden
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 5.6
Shutter Speed
1/125 sec
Focal Length
18.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
11.9 EV
Original Size
2912 × 1941
More graffiti along the walls of the fort.
Abandoned at Fort Tilden
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 6.3
Shutter Speed
1/160 sec
Focal Length
18.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
12.6 EV
Original Size
2895 × 1930
Another supply depot of some kind, this one taken over by distinctive runic graffiti. Off to the left there is a small shrine to someone who perished here several years ago, an eerie find in amidst all the ruin and decay.
Rust Study at Fort Tilden
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 3.8
Shutter Speed
1/40 sec
Focal Length
23.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
9.2 EV
Original Size
2981 × 1987
Focus on rust.
Ruins of Fort Tilden
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 3.5
Shutter Speed
1/50 sec
Focal Length
18.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
9.3 EV
Original Size
2000 × 3000
Chaos and disarray.
Rusty Pipes at Fort Tilden
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 4.5
Shutter Speed
1/80 sec
Focal Length
20.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
10.7 EV
Original Size
2000 × 3000
Rusty pipes study.
Memorial at Fort Tilden
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 5
Shutter Speed
1/100 sec
Focal Length
18.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
11.3 EV
Original Size
1959 × 2938
A memorial to the unknown.
Reclaimed by Nature, Fort Tilden
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 13
Shutter Speed
1/640 sec
Focal Length
18.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
16.7 EV
Original Size
2931 × 1954
Nature reclaims what was once hers on the southern tip of Long Island, just outside of New York’s harbour. Everywhere we went we saw buildings in the slow motion process of being broken down and swallowed up by the ceaseless advance of plant life.
Former Residence Around Fort Tilden
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 4.5
Shutter Speed
1/80 sec
Focal Length
18.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
10.7 EV
Original Size
2970 × 1980
This might have been army housing once upon a time.
Peeling Paint at Fort Tilden
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 7.1
Shutter Speed
1/160 sec
Focal Length
24.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
13.0 EV
Original Size
3000 × 2000
Peeling paint in the golden light.
New York Walls
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 13
Shutter Speed
1/640 sec
Focal Length
26.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
16.7 EV
Original Size
2910 × 1940
Nicely decorated walls in the parkland around the fort.
Leaving Fort Tilden
Date Captured
Camera
NIKON D40
Lens
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II
Aperture
ƒ / 16
Shutter Speed
1/1000 sec
Focal Length
18.0 mm
ISO
800
Exposure Value
18.0 EV
Original Size
2867 × 1911
Sundown on the outer shoreline of New York City.

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Author

Profile photo of Alexander Synaptic, founder of Spectral Codex
Alexander Synaptic
Curator, Spectral Codex

I am a web application developer, photojournalist, urban explorer, and history enthusiast passionate about the open web and documenting my experiences on this planet. This project was founded in the early 2010s and has evolved into a sort of personal Wikipedia of places that interest me (and often the photographs I’ve taken there). I’m originally from Toronto, Canada, but spend most of my time residing in Taiwan.