South Brother Island, the Bronx’s Closed Bird Sanctuary
South Brother Island is a small, uninhabited island in the East River, between the mainland Bronx and Rikers Island. Once sent the city’s garbage and later owned by a Yankees magnate, it is now a wildlife sanctuary overseen by the city’s Parks Department. It is a hidden gem of New York City that you can only look at from afar, because the public cannot land.
New York’s first municipal dump, a brewery tycoon’s summer house and a sale for a nominal sum all belong to one small East River island. Today it belongs to the herons, and people stay away.
The history of South Brother Island, from Dutch claim to bird sanctuary
South Brother Island and its neighbor North Brother Island lie in the East River, a tidal strait of New York City. Both were claimed by the Dutch West India Company in 1614 and were originally named De Gesellen, which can be translated as “the companions” or “the brethren”. One source says the navigator Adriaen Block gave them that name. By the late 1600s the British, who by then controlled the area, owned them, and in 1695 the government granted both to a man named James Graham, who did not develop them because the currents around them were treacherous. The two islands were originally part of Queens County and were incorporated into Long Island City in 1870, before the consolidation of New York City in 1898. North Brother Island was moved to what was then part of New York County, later the borough of the Bronx, in 1881. South Brother Island followed on April 16, 1964, when it was transferred to the Bronx as well.
In the middle of the 19th century Alfred W. White, who was in charge of public health for the city, made South Brother Island the city’s first dump. Garbage, manure, offal and carcasses were sent there to help clean up a city that then consisted only of Manhattan and its islands. The island lies only about half a mile from the Bronx shore, close to the country estates of wealthy families such as William Ligett and Jacob Lorillard, both from tobacco dynasties, and close enough to the villages of Queens County to be a nuisance to them too. Together the Bronx estate owners and the Queens villages persuaded the Queens County Supreme Court to stop the dumping.
Jacob Ruppert, a brewery magnate and early owner of the New York Yankees, had a summer house on the island that burned down in 1909. Nobody has lived on the island since then, and no structures survive. Ruppert owned it until the late 1930s. In 1944 it was bought by John Gerosa, president of a roofing supply company, who said he planned cottages for employees that were never built.
In 1975 the city sold the island to a Long Island investment company, Hampton Scows Inc., for a nominal sum. The company paid property taxes every year but never developed it. In November 2007 a complicated transaction, backed by a federal coastal conservation grant and involving the Wildlife Conservation Society and the POINT Community Development Corporation, led the Trust for Public Land to acquire the island and donate it to the city’s Parks Department as a wildlife sanctuary. It is managed by the Parks Department and the Bronx Zoo, and it was the 13th island to come under Parks jurisdiction.
Today dense brush covers the island, supporting nesting colonies of birds such as the black-crowned night heron, the great egret, the snowy egret and the double-crested cormorant. The New York City Bird Alliance has monitored these colonies for more than 20 years, and in its 2019 nesting survey South Brother Island was among the three largest wading bird colonies recorded.
Little-known facts about South Brother Island
- Its original Dutch name, De Gesellen, was shared with North Brother Island, so the pair was once known as “the companions”.
- In the mid-19th century it served as the city’s first dump, receiving garbage, manure, offal and carcasses from a city that then consisted only of Manhattan and its islands.
- Wealthy neighbors helped end that use: the tobacco-family estates on the Bronx shore and the Queens villages together convinced a court to stop the dumping.
- Jacob Ruppert, the brewer who owned the Yankees, had a summer house here until it burned down in 1909; nothing built has stood on the island since.
- The investment company that bought it in 1975 for a nominal sum paid property taxes every year without ever developing the land.
- It was transferred from Queens to the Bronx only in 1964, and in 2007 it became the 13th island under the Parks Department’s jurisdiction.
Tours near South Brother Island
Experiences in the area that you can book online with Viator:
Visiting South Brother Island: access and viewing
- South Brother Island is a wildlife sanctuary closed to the public. Access is restricted or limited, and landing on it is not allowed, so check the current rules before planning anything.
- There are no buildings left on the island, only dense brush and woodland, so the interest lies in its history and its birds rather than in ruins to explore.
- The island is only about half a mile from the Bronx shore, so it can be seen from the water side of the East River. Do not attempt to reach it by your own means, as it is a protected breeding site for wading birds.
- Its larger neighbor, North Brother Island, is also closed to the public and has its own page on this site.
- For birds, the New York City Bird Alliance publishes survey information on the harbor’s nesting colonies.
Opening hours, access and conditions can change. Check before you go.
Map: where South Brother Island is
Questions
Can you visit South Brother Island?
No. It is a wildlife sanctuary managed by the city’s Parks Department and the Bronx Zoo, and the public cannot land. Check the current rules for any change.
Where is South Brother Island?
It is in the East River in the Bronx, between the mainland Bronx and Rikers Island, a short distance from North Brother Island.
Who owned South Brother Island?
Over time it was granted to James Graham in 1695, owned by the brewer and Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert until the late 1930s, bought by John Gerosa in 1944 and sold to Hampton Scows Inc. in 1975. In 2007 it passed to the city.
Was South Brother Island ever inhabited?
Not permanently by the sources’ account. A summer house of Jacob Ruppert stood there until it burned down in 1909, and nobody has lived on the island since.
What birds nest on South Brother Island?
Colonies of black-crowned night heron, great egret, snowy egret and double-crested cormorant nest in the dense brush.
Is South Brother Island the same as North Brother Island?
No. They are two separate islands in the East River. North Brother Island held a quarantine hospital and is a ruin; South Brother Island never had a hospital and has no buildings.
Also nearby
North Brother Island
North Brother Island · abandoned quarantine hospital in the East River
500 m away
Steinway Mansion
Steinway Mansion · a 19th-century villa hidden in Astoria
2 km away
Hell Gate Bridge
Hell Gate Bridge · a 1917 steel rail arch over the East River
2.5 km away
Marine Air Terminal
Marine Air Terminal · LaGuardia’s landmark flying-boat terminal
2.5 km away