Lower New York Bay is a section ofNew York Bay south ofthe Narrows (the strait betweenStaten Island andBrooklyn). The eastern end of the Bay is marked by two spits of land,Sandy Hook, New Jersey, andRockaway, Queens. The waterway between the spits connects the Bay to theAtlantic Ocean at theNew York Bight. Traversing the floor of the Bay southeasterly from the Narrows to the Bight and beyond isHudson Canyon.
Roughly the northeastern portion of the Bay from the Narrows to Sandy Hook is known as the Lower Bay (named in relation to the neighboringUpper New York Bay); roughly the western portion of the Bay (including the portion at the mouth of New Jersey'sRaritan River) is calledRaritan Bay; and roughly the southeastern portion of the Bay (that is, the portion south and the portion southwest from Sandy Hook) is known as Sandy Hook Bay.
Since before the time of theLenape, theNative American inhabitants of the area, the Lower Bay has sustained a richmarine ecosystem with multiple fish species andmolluscs, especiallyoyster,clam andmussel beds. In the 20th century, due to increased population and industrial pollution, the water quality of the bay and its ability to support marine life was severely diminished. The water quality of the bay began to improve with the passage of the 1972Clean Water Act.
The main shipping channel through Lower New York Bay is theAmbrose Channel, 2,000 feet (600 meters) wide and dredged to a depth of 40 feet (12 meters). The channel is navigable by ships with up to a 37-foot draft at low tide.[1] The entrance to the Ambrose Channel was marked for many years by theLightship Ambrose, which was superseded by theAmbrose Light.
The bay contains popular beaches atBrighton Beach andConey Island inBrooklyn. There are also beaches on Staten Island. Just outside the bay, facing the Atlantic, are the beaches of Sandy Hook and the Rockaways.
Severallighthouses were built to aid navigation in and around Lower New York Bay, located both on land and in the bay itself. The earliest, at Sandy Hook, was built in colonial times.
InNew Jersey:
InNew York:
Within Lower New York Bay:
There are two smallartificial islands in Lower New York Bay, both located a mile offshore fromSouth Beach, Staten Island.
In the early 20th century, both islands were used as aquarantine station, housing immigrants found to have been carrying contagious diseases when they landed atEllis Island.[4] At the start ofWorld War II theUnited States Merchant Marine used both islands as a training station (which opened in 1938);[2] theQuonset huts built during this period still stand on Swinburne Island.
The other major use for the two islands during World War II were as anchorages forantisubmarine nets that fenced off New York Bay from the Atlantic Ocean to keep enemy submarines out. Both islands are now part ofGateway National Recreation Area.[2]
Fort Lafayette was on a small island in the Narrows, just off the Brooklyn shore. That island was removed during construction of theVerrazano-Narrows Bridge.Coney Island, originally separated from the southern shore of Brooklyn by a narrow strait, has since been connected to the main part of Long Island by landfill, and is now a peninsula despite its name.
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