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| Fort Slocum Mortar Battery |
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| Hart Island Prison Bldg |
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| Old Boat Engine - Hart Island 2011 |
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| Marsh Re-growth Hart Island |
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| Hart Island Abandoned Bldgs |
I’ve been sea kayaking in the western-most end of Long Island Sound since the mid-1990's, so it occurred to me to gather some thoughts and photos of the on-water area I’m most familiar with. Not all kayaking enthusiasts are thrilled about paddling in an urban setting - places with old boats bashed up on the shore, abandoned buildings from a bygone era, and views of bridges and skyscrapers in the distance. If I had to venture a guess I'd say most people who live in this region and enjoy water-related recreation gravitate to more pristine settings: such as the southern shore of Long Island where wave action wipes clean the evidence of yesterday’s visitors or the Hudson Highlands with its unspoiled views of the hillsides Hudson himself witnessed. And that’s fine. But for me, kayaking was initially a revelation in the proximity of nature and “wild” places hidden close to home, and for much of my life my home has been the near suburbs of New York City. It is here, in the western end of Long Island Sound off New Rochelle, Pelham, and the Bronx, that a number of near-shore islands sleep like remnant carcasses from the not-to-distant past.
The secret of this region of Long Island Sound, if you can call it a “secret”, is that few paddlers get out to explore the area. Although kayaking is getting more popular every year, I still rarely see other paddlers here. While it's true the nearby Greenwich, Norwalk and Thimble Islands further east are great places to paddle – most of these CT islands are more actively used for private homes, for summertime beach picnics , etc. So oddly enough, if you’re seeking a feeling of island isolation, in my experience you’re more likely to find it in the western-end of Long Island Sound. Many of these western Long Island Sound islands have been abandoned for decades and attract few visitors.
One of the coolest things about this region is the "ghost town" feel of it, people have left and plants and animals have returned. The isolation of these places, plus the slow but steady battering by wind and waves has reduced former coastal structures to bits and pieces of living space that nature has reclaimed. Decades ago all the Pelham Islands had more active uses, described in some detail below. But over time these uses ended and the abandoned docks, buildings, and bulkheaded shorelines have been modified by a natural "re-scaping". Shore birds seem to be the most obvious beneficiary of this. Sizable, unoccupied rocky islands appropriate for bird nesting are relatively few in number in Long Island Sound. As a result, these abandoned islands are well-used (sometimes crowded) by herons, oyster catchers, sea gulls, cormorants, “peep” sandpipers, etc. It behooves the sea kayaker to visit this area to see the life that has re-colonized since active human use has abated. My encounters with nature while paddling around these "Urban Islands" – bluefish charging past my bow, osprey nesting on an abandoned jetty, harbor seals hauled out on shallow rocks – have been as inspiring to me as any I’ve had in more remote areas.
Islands in Detail:
The islands grouped together off Pelham, New Rochelle, and the Bronx have a unique heritage. Each has its own story to tell. A great deal more can be gleaned from the internet – but here are a few tidbits:
Originally inhabited by the Siwanoy band of Lenape Indians, the Pelham Islands area was settled by Europeans as part of property bought from the Indians by the English nobleman Thomas Pell in 1654. Prior to that, English settlers led by Anne Hutchinson (seeking religious freedom) settled in an area nearby on the river (now known as the Hutchinson River) in 1642. These islands were once part of the town of Pelham, but are now roughly divided between the City of New Rochelle and the Bronx. The map below shows their locations:
City Island:
Although not a dormant island as some of the other islands in this region are, City Island is the largest in the chain and the closest to shore. So it is a good one to describe first. Formerly part of the Town of Pelham until 1895 when the boundary was established between the Bronx and Westchester County, City Island is part of NYC and connected by bridge to the mainland. It’s now the site of many residential homes and restaurants but retains its island and historic feel. Some older, grander homes mixed in with more modest residences, a nautical museum, several churches, a public school, and a variety of eateries catering to New Yorkers who make the trek to have seafood. In the past shipbuilding was perhaps the island’s longest active industry. Many military craft were built there during the World Wars and seven America’s Cup Winning Yachts. Last but not least, City Island is home to the Touring Kayak Club (photo), founded in 1927 as a club for kayaking enthusiasts and very active to this day.
Circumnavigating City Island is fun – I typically launch from the Orchard Beach kayak launch (discussed below) but if you’re paddling solo or in a small group you can find a dead-end street on the island to launch from if you’re intrepid. Check for the monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) on the southern part of the island by the big fast-food restaurants - the parakeets are native to South America, but now naturalized in some local populations in the NYC area where they build large structures of sticks at the top of telephone poles to keep warm next to electrical transformers.
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| NW shore of City Island with Radio Tower on High Island |
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| Touring Kayak Club - City Island |
Davids Island:
To me the most interesting of the “abandoned” islands in this area, and also the one I’m most
familiar with, is David’s Island. Davids Island is the site of the former Fort Slocum, which began as a military fort to house wounded prisoners of war during the American Civil War, and was developed in a configuration common to forts of the time, including the Fort that still exists on Governors Island in NYC. Officers quarters on one side, barracks and common buildings on the other, embattlements to ward off attacks on the corners - all around a central open parade ground. When its military use ended, the island was sold to the city of New Rochelle in mid-60's and for the next 40 years lay dormant and unmaintained. Normally closed to the public, I had the opportunity to visit David’s Island as part of my job doing Environmental Compliance work in the mid-90’s. We were hired by Donald Trump to conduct an environmental review and investigation and the most striking memory of this experience for me was seeing all these beautiful old buildings in brick and marble being reclaimed by nature. It was like the land that time forgot, Victorian officers quarters moth-balled since the time the Army left the island; old 1950’s era cars in a repair garage; huge embattlements dug into the earth that formerly housed massive cannons for harbor defense; a chapel, gymnasium, barracks…just amazing. The photos below were taken some years later during an Asbestos survey and give you the idea. Another interesting thing was how unafraid the wildlife population I encountered on the island was - raccoons coming down in daylight hours to wash mussels. Not surprising really, several generations of animals adapted to seeing few human visitors for 40 years.
Subsequent “landings” I’ve made to the island by kayak were usually on the adjacent rocky/sandy areas exposed at low tide. The island has a long history, too long to summarize here, but after many proposed developments (power plant; residential towers, Trump’s mansions for millionaires) it eventually came under the ownership of New Rochelle. All buildings were demolished in 2008 sadly due to the desire to make the island “safe” for recreational visitors. What is lost was an amazing heritage of historical architecture and military history – too bad really. But I have high hopes that the future use of the island as a park will be a benefit to visitors (and kayakers).
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| 1936 Aerial of Davids Island showing Fort Layout |
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| Water Tower on Davids Island 2002 |
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| Pediment on Davids Island Building |
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| Nature Reclaiming the Island - Davids Island |
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| Trees Growing inside former Army Barracks Bldg |
Hart Island:
The second biggest island in the chain is a great one to circumnavigate by kayak. Derelict buildings from it’s era as a prison annex for Riker’s Island and nature reclaiming the edges by growing salt marsh are the main visual attractions. Hart Island’s “claim to fame” is perhaps its use as potter’s field for the burial of indigent or unclaimed persons beginning in 1868, a function it continues to serve to this day. Landing on the island is offically not allowed.
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| Hart Island - Stack on Former Prison |
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| Western Shore w/ Abandoned Buildings - Hart Island |
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| Osprey Nest - Hart Island |
Columbia and Pea Islands:
These two are next to each other but quite different. Columbia island looks like a concrete bunker, bulkheaded in a square shape – it seems foreboding and unwelcoming. And it is, there’s no easy way to land a kayak there at present so forget it. But it looks cool nonethess. See the photo below – like a concrete ranch house just waiting for someone to reclaim it. In 1939 the island was sold to CBS who renamed it Columbia Island (from Little Pea Island) and turned it into a "radio island", constructing a concrete foundation to support a transmitter building topped by a 410 foot (125 m) antenna tower for WCBS-AM. In 1963 it was purchased by the show-business couple Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy who broadcast a breakfast conversation show from their home there and later gave the island to the College of New Rochelle. Seems there’s some activity there of late (2011) but no major renovations – still basically abandoned.
Pea Island is my most typical lunch spot. Located east of Davids Island, it’s a good ½ way spot for a circumnavigation of the overall island chain. The island is owned by the Huguenot Yacht Club which is located on nearby Neptune Island. The island is littered with the remnants of former club structures that were destroyed during a coastal storm in the late 1990's. (Sorry don't have a photo of Pea Island).
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| Columbia Island taken from kayak |
Huckleberry Island:
Huckleberry Island is little visited and used by waterbirds for nesting (egrets/night herons/cormorants). I’ve landed on the sand/rocky areas surrounding the island for a lunch break. It is largely undeveloped and forested. The island is owned by the Huckleberry Indians, Inc., a club within the New York Athletic Club. In the 19th century local tradition held that the island was the location of the buried treasure of Captain William Kidd, one of the most well known pirates in history.
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| Lunch Break - sandy/rocks exposed at low tide |
Visiting/Launch Sites:
The two primary “designated” launch sites for these islands are:
1. Orchard Beach Kayak Launch – located on the bay side of Pelham Bay Park (NYC). Parking nearby is a cinch and there is no charge after Labor Day. Preferred launch spot for reaching the southern islands – City Island and Hart Island.
2. Glen Island Park Boat Launch – located in New Rochelle. My preferred launch spot and closer to the more northerly islands (Davids/Huckleberry). Again, no parking fee after Labor Day.
In addition to exploring the Pelham Islands, from this area one can paddle further out into the Sound to the Execution Rocks Lighthouse, or across to Long Island itself. I've crossed over to Sands Point and Hewlett Point when boat traffic isn't too bad - both are a very doable day-paddle from the Westchester/Bronx shores. The map above shows launch points and island locations.
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| Orchard Beach Kayak Launch |
The End
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