Hidden New York
ENES

Islands, forts & lighthouses

Quarantine islands, harbor forts and lighthouses that most visitors never see: a different New York, out on the water. Each page comes with its history, curiosities, a map and tours nearby.

Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors

21 places

Shore of Deep Creek at Dead Horse Bay, on the former Barren Island in Brooklyn
Island, fort & lighthouse

Barren Island

Barren Island · former island of fish oil, garbage and Dead Horse Bay

Battery Weed, the four-tiered stone fort at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island
Island, fort & lighthouse

Battery Weed

Battery Weed · a four-tier stone fort at the Narrows on Staten Island

Blackwell Island Light, the small octagonal stone lighthouse on Roosevelt Island
Island, fort & lighthouse

Blackwell Island Light

Blackwell Island Light · a Gothic stone beacon in the East River

Castle Williams, the round red sandstone fort on Governors Island
Island, fort & lighthouse

Castle Williams

Castle Williams · round 1811 fort and former military prison

Photograph related to Fort Hamilton, the U.S. Army post in Brooklyn
Island, fort & lighthouse

Fort Hamilton

Fort Hamilton · Brooklyn’s harbor fort and Army post

Historic print of Fort Lafayette on its island in New York Harbor
Island, fort & lighthouse

Fort Lafayette

Fort Lafayette · lost island prison fort beneath the bridge

South gate of Fort Schuyler on Throggs Neck in the Bronx
Island, fort & lighthouse

Fort Schuyler

Fort Schuyler · a brick coastal fort that became a college

The Fort Totten Officers’ Club, known as the Castle, in Queens
Island, fort & lighthouseFilmed here

Fort Totten

Fort Totten · unfinished fort, neo-Gothic Castle and bay views

Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, a former military installation on The Narrows
Island, fort & lighthouseFilmed here

Fort Wadsworth

Fort Wadsworth · Staten Island’s harbor fortress on The Narrows

Hart Island in the Bronx seen across the water of Long Island Sound
Island, fort & lighthouse

Hart Island

Hart Island · New York City’s public cemetery off the Bronx

Historic sketch of the Royal Navy frigate HMS Liverpool
Island, fort & lighthouse

HMS Liverpool

HMS Liverpool · a Royal Navy frigate wrecked in Jamaica Bay

Hoffman Island in Lower New York Bay off Staten Island
Island, fort & lighthouse

Hoffman Island

Hoffman Island · quarantine island and seabird refuge off Staten Island

The Little Red Lighthouse in Fort Washington Park on the Hudson River
Island, fort & lighthouseFilmed here

Jeffrey’s Hook Light (Little Red Lighthouse)

Little Red Lighthouse · Hudson River beacon under the bridge

The bridge of the fireboat John J. Harvey
Island, fort & lighthouse

John J. Harvey

John J. Harvey · the 1931 fireboat that answered the call on 9/11

Mill Rock, a small island in the East River between Manhattan and Queens
Island, fort & lighthouse

Mill Rock

Mill Rock · a tiny island joined by a huge blast

Snowy egret with breeding plumes, one of the wading birds of the East River islands
Island, fort & lighthouseFilmed here

North Brother Island

North Brother Island · abandoned quarantine hospital in the East River

Robbins Reef Light rising out of the mist in New York Bay
Island, fort & lighthouse

Robbins Reef Light

Robbins Reef Light · the harbor lighthouse kept by a widow for decades

Roosevelt Island in the East River beneath the Queensboro Bridge
Island, fort & lighthouseFilmed here

Roosevelt Island

Roosevelt Island · from prison island to a car-light city neighborhood

Snowy egret showing its white plumage, one of the wading birds that nest on South Brother Island
Island, fort & lighthouse

South Brother Island

South Brother Island · a closed East River island for herons

Aerial view of the islands of New York Bay, with the quarantine islands off Staten Island
Island, fort & lighthouse

Swinburne Island

Swinburne Island · ruined quarantine hospital, now a seal haul-out

U Thant Island in the East River seen from the west, with its lighted beacon
Island, fort & lighthouse

U Thant Island

U Thant Island · Manhattan’s smallest island, off limits to visitors