Prall's Island is an uninhabited island in the

Arthur Kill The Arthur Kill (sometimes referred to as the Staten Island Sound) is a tidal strait in the New York–New Jersey Harbor Estuary between Staten Island (also known as Richmond County), New York, and Union and Middlesex counties, New Jersey. It ...

between

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and Linden,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, in the United States. The island is one of the minor islands that are part of the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

of Staten Island in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The island is named for a descendant or descendants of early Staten Island settler Arendt Jansen Prall Van Naarden (c. 1647–1725) (in Dutch, ''Praal''), probably his grandson Abraham Prall (1706–1775), a local farmer. It was originally known as Dongan's Island, after New York Governor

Thomas Dongan Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick (1634 – 14 December 1715) was an Irish military officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New York from 1683 to 1688. He called the first representative legislature in the Province o ...

(1634–1715), who took the office in 1688. The name was later corrupted to Duncan's Island. Prall's Island did not take hold until the late 19th century. Around 1910, the water between Staten Island and the island was known as Prall's River but was eventually returned to Arthur Kill. The island is now owned by the City of New York and is maintained by

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

as a

bird sanctuary An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and to be protected for the rest of their lives. In addition, sanctuaries are an experimental staging ground for transformative human–animal relations. There are five types of ...

.Recent reports on

wading bird Birders in Canada and the United States refer to several families of long-legged wading birds in semi-aquatic ecosystems as waders. These include the families Phoenicopteridae (flamingos), Ciconiidae (storks), Threskiornithidae (ibises and s ...

and

gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

nesting activity at Prall's Island
Harbor Herons Nesting Survey

References

NYC Audubon Harbor Herons Project
Islands of New York City Uninhabited islands of New York (state) Islands of Staten Island Protected areas of Staten Island Nature reserves in New York (state) Bird sanctuaries of the United States {{StatenIsland-geo-stub

See also

References