Lower New York Bay is a section of
New York Bay south of
the Narrows
__NOTOC__
The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It connects the Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson Riv ...
(the strait between
Staten Island and
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
). The eastern end of the Bay is marked by two spits of land,
Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and
Rockaway, Queens
The Rockaway Peninsula, commonly referred to as The Rockaways or Rockaway, is a peninsula at the southern edge of the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, New York. Relatively isolated from Manhattan and other more urban parts of the ...
. The waterway between the spits connects the Bay to the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
at the
New York Bight. Traversing the floor of the Bay southeasterly from the Narrows to the Bight and beyond is
Hudson Canyon.
Roughly the northeastern portion of the Bay from the Narrows to Sandy Hook is known as the Lower Bay (named in relation to the neighboring Upper
ew YorkBay); roughly the western portion of the Bay (including the portion at the mouth of New Jersey's
Raritan River
Raritan River is a major river of New Jersey. Its watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean.
History
Geologists assert that the lower Raritan provided t ...
) is called
Raritan Bay
Raritan Bay is a bay located at the southern portion of Lower New York Bay between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey and is part of the New York Bight. The bay is bounded on the northwest by New York's Staten Island, on the west by Per ...
; and roughly the southeastern portion of the Bay (that is, the portion south and the portion southwest from Sandy Hook) is known as Sandy Hook Bay.
History and geography
Since before the time of the
Lenape, the
Native American inhabitants of the area, the Lower Bay has sustained a rich
marine ecosystem
Marine ecosystems are the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems and exist in waters that have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters cover more than 70% of the sur ...
with multiple fish species and
molluscs
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is estim ...
, especially
oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...
,
clam
Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shel ...
and
mussel beds. In the 20th century, due to increased population and industrial pollution, the water quality of the bay and its ability to support marine life was severely diminished. The water quality of the bay began to improve with the passage of the 1972
Clean Water Act.
The main shipping channel through Lower New York Bay is the
Ambrose Channel, wide and dredged to a depth of . The channel is navigable by ships with up to a 37-foot draft at low tide. The entrance to the Ambrose Channel was marked for many years by the
Lightship Ambrose, which was superseded by the
Ambrose Light.
The bay contains popular beaches at
Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach is bounded by Coney Island proper at Ocean Parkway to the ...
and
Coney Island in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. There are also beaches on Staten Island. Just outside the bay, facing the Atlantic, are the beaches of Sandy Hook and the Rockaways.
Lighthouses
Several
lighthouses were built to aid navigation in and around Lower New York Bay, located both on land and in the bay itself. The earliest, at Sandy Hook, was built in colonial times.
In New Jersey:
*
Chapel Hill Rear Range Light
*
Conover Beacon
*
Great Beds Light
*
Navesink Twin Lights
The Navesink Twin Lights is a non-operational lighthouse and museum located in Highlands, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, overlooking Sandy Hook Bay, the entrance to the New York Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean. The Twin Lights, as the ...
*
Sandy Hook Light
In New York:
*
Coney Island Light
*
New Dorp Light
The New Dorp Lighthouse is a decommissioned lighthouse located in the New Dorp, Staten Island, New Dorp section of Staten Island, New York City. Funds for the lighthouse were approved by United States Congress on August 31, 1852 and the structure w ...
*
Princes Bay Light
*
Staten Island Light
*
Fort Wadsworth Light
Within Lower New York Bay:
*
Romer Shoal Light
*
West Bank Light
West Bank Light, officially West Bank Front Range Light, is a lighthouse in Lower New York Bay, within New York City, and acts as the front range light for the Ambrose Channel. It is currently active and not open to the public. The tower was built ...
*
Old Orchard Shoal Light
Islands
There are two small
artificial island
An artificial island is an island that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means. Artificial islands may vary in size from small islets reclaimed solely to support a single pillar of a building or structure to those th ...
s in Lower New York Bay, both located a mile offshore from
South Beach, Staten Island
South Beach is a neighborhood on the East Shore of Staten Island, New York City, situated directly south of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. South Beach is bounded by New York Bay on the southeast, Seaview Avenue on the southwest, Laconia Avenue ...
.
*
Hoffman Island
Hoffman Island is an artificial island in the Lower New York Bay, off the South Beach of Staten Island, New York City. A smaller, artificial island, Swinburne Island, lies immediately to the south. Created in 1873 upon the Orchard Shoal by the ...
was created in 1873 from Orchard Shoals. It was named for former
New York City mayor (1866–1868) and then-current
New York Governor (1869–1871)
John T. Hoffman. Hoffman Island covers 11 acres (4.45 hectares).
*
Swinburne Island, with an area of about 4 acres (16,000 m²), lies immediately to the south.
[Kenneth T. Jackson. ''The Encyclopedia of New York City''. The ]New-York Historical Society
The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum ...
; Yale University Press
Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous.
, Yale Universi ...
; 1995. p. 149 Swinburne Island was originally called Dix Island, but was renamed in honor of
Dr. John Swinburne, a noted military surgeon during the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
.
In the early 20th century, both islands were used as a
quarantine
A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...
station, housing immigrants found to have been carrying contagious diseases when they landed at
Ellis Island
Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...
.
At the start of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
the
United States Merchant Marine
United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...
used both islands as a training station (which opened in 1938);
the
Quonset hut
A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel having a semi cylindrical cross-section. The design was developed in the United States, based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War ...
s built during this period still stand on Swinburne Island.
The other major use for the two islands during World War II were as anchorages for
antisubmarine net
An anti-submarine net or anti-submarine boom is a boom (navigational barrier), boom placed across the mouth of a harbour or a strait for protection against submarines.
Examples of anti-submarine nets
*Anti-submarine boom (Lake Macquarie WWII), L ...
s that fenced off New York Bay from the Atlantic Ocean to keep enemy submarines out. Both islands are now part of
Gateway National Recreation Area
Gateway National Recreation Area is a U.S. National Recreation Area in New York City and Monmouth County, New Jersey. It provides recreational opportunities that are not commonly found in a dense urban environment, including ocean swimming, bir ...
.
Fort Lafayette
Fort Lafayette was an island coastal fortification in the Narrows of New York Harbor, built offshore from Fort Hamilton at the southern tip of what is now Bay Ridge in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The fort was built on a natural island ...
was on a small island in the Narrows, just off the Brooklyn shore. That island was removed during construction of the
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge ( ) is a suspension bridge connecting the New York City boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn. It spans the Narrows, a body of water linking the relatively enclosed New York Harbor with Lower New York Bay and t ...
.
Coney Island, originally separated from the southern shore of Brooklyn by a narrow strait, has since been connected to the main part of Long Island by landfill, and is now a peninsula despite its name.
See also
*
Upper New York Bay
New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in t ...
*
Raritan Bay
Raritan Bay is a bay located at the southern portion of Lower New York Bay between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey and is part of the New York Bight. The bay is bounded on the northwest by New York's Staten Island, on the west by Per ...
*
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...
*
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
*
Raritan River
Raritan River is a major river of New Jersey. Its watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean.
History
Geologists assert that the lower Raritan provided t ...
*
Arthur Kill
The Arthur Kill (sometimes referred to as the Staten Island Sound) is a tidal strait between Staten Island (also known as Richmond County), New York and Union and Middlesex counties, New Jersey. It is a major navigational channel of the Port of ...
*
Geography of New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
*
Port of New York and New Jersey
The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.
It includes the system of navigable water ...
*
New York Harbor
*
New York Harbor Storm-Surge Barrier
The New York Harbor Storm-Surge Barrier was a proposed barrier and floodgate system to protect the New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary from storm surges. The proposed system would consist of one barrier located across the mouth of Lower New York ...
References
{{Authority control
Bays of New Jersey
Bays of New York (state)
Hudson River
Borders of New Jersey
Borders of New York (state)
Estuaries of New Jersey
Estuaries of New York (state)
Bays of Kings County, New York
Bays of Queens County, New York
Bodies of water of Monmouth County, New Jersey
Bodies of water of Staten Island
Bodies of water of Queens, New York
Bodies of water of Brooklyn
Bodies of water of New York City