Abandoned Drive-in & Driving Range
Rocky Point, Long Island

Some of the best things are found by chance–not googled or researched or even actively sought. There is a magic in discovery like that, especially in this day and this age. The Rocky Point Drive-in, which we saw in passing on our way elsewhere, opened in 1961 and quickly earned the nickname “passion pit” for its, er, randy patrons fogging up car windows with amorous activities on summer evenings to the sounds of feature films and B-movies. The grounds are also home to an abandoned driving range which shared the space at some point more recently. Though we were hunting for any remnants of the drive-in screen or concessions, the range is all we found. Delightfully the decay had been repurposed into a skate park… The Range. To follow, a walk into the space’s history.