Manhasset Bay, New York, is an

embayment A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

in western

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

off

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 ...

Description

Manhasset Bay forms the northeastern boundary of the

Great Neck Peninsula Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

and the southwestern boundary of Cow Neck (Port Washington Peninsula or Manhasset Neck). On the north side of the bay there are three points, Barkers Point at the entrance, Plum Point coming the furthest into the Bay, and Tom's Point in the back bay. On the other side, Hewlett Point forms the entrance nearly a mile from Barkers Point. Hart Island lies in the Sound just outside the mouth of Manhasset Bay. The Manhasset Bay area was likely first inhabited in the 17th century by the Matinecook tribe of

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

Indians. However, that view has been challenged. Then the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

settled around the bay in the 17th century because of the proximity of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

. The Bay was called Schout's Bay by the Dutch, and then Howe's Bay by the English. Subsequently, due to the presence of cattle raising, it came to be called Cow Bay, and the local neck, to the northeast, "Cow Neck". It finally became Manhasset Bay in 1907. In the 1920s it began to switch from the cow-and-fish industry to support services for commercial boating, as it is considered to be one of the best harbors on Long Island Sound with little tidal current except at the entrance and average tidal displacement of only six feet. By the 1980s it was full of marinas and yacht clubs. The

Sands Point Seaplane Base Sands Point Seaplane Base is a seaplane landing area in Manhasset Bay, two miles (3 km) northwest of Port Washington, in Nassau County, New York. During 1939-40 Sands Point was the New York base of Pan American's transatlantic Boeing 314 ...

on Manhasset Bay was at one time the main airport for passenger service between New York and Europe. At the beginning of the 21st century, it had about 16% of all the marinas and yacht clubs in the whole of

Sub-watersheds

Manhasset Bay's watershed consists of many smaller sub-water sheds. These sub-watersheds are: * Barkers Point * Baxter and Mill Pond * Eastern Shore * Kings Point Pond * Leeds Pond * Mitchell Creek * Sheets Creek * Southeastern Shore * Southwestern Shore * Toms and Plum Points * Whitney Pond

Gallery

File:Manhasset Bay West Side Sunset Fishing.jpg File:Manhasset Bay East Side Easte by Leeds Pond.jpg File:Manhasset Bay Moored Boat at Sunset 4.jpg File:Manhasset Bay Moored Boat at Sunset 2.jpg

Notes

{{Commons category, Manhasset Bay Bays of New York (state) Bodies of water of Nassau County, New York Long Island Sound Town of North Hempstead, New York