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But many clam diggers prefer to stay on the island, which is less than a mile from Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx and has about 4,500 residents, because it retains the charm of the New England village that it was 100 years ago. Axen said the island has the feeling of a small town. If she visits her friends on the island but not her mother, then the next day her mother will call her to ask why she didn't come by. "Can you believe it?" Axen said. "It is in New York, but everybody knows the other and word always gets around. City Island people are born there. They get married early and live for generations doing the same thing — the boat business." Benjamin Palmer purchased the island from the British in 1761 and changed its name from Minneford to City Island because he thought it would soon be a bustling port to rival New York City's, according to Tom Nye, a fifth-generation City Islander. <Click here to see a timeline of City Island's history>
City Island's famous five boats are the Columbia, the Constellation, the Intrepid, the Courageous and the Freedom, which all won the America's Cup, a premier annual yacht race. But today all the boat yards are gone, Nye said. "There are marinas, small boat garages, but nothing like what it used to be," he said. All the streets that branch out from City Island Avenue, the island's mile-and-a-half-long artery, end with bold dead-end signs. There are no public beaches here; residents own all the beachfront. If someone wants to take a dip, he or she has to sneak into a marina. The island is home to more than 35 yacht clubs, boat rentals and marine supplies shops, as well as more than a dozen seafood restaurants and a maritime museum co-founded by singer/ songwriter Richie Havens in 1976.
In the 1970s rents were low and many artists moved into sail lofts on the island because of its peacefulness and isolation and proximity to the city, said Ron Terner, who runs an art gallery. The locals call the artists "mussel suckers," a term they use for all outsiders who move to City Island. HART ISLAND Hart Island lies a half mile west of City Island. It serves as a potter's field for more than 800,000 unclaimed and unidentified bodies, which have been buried there by Rikers Island prisoners since 1869. Hart Island has also served as a prison for Confederate soldiers during the Civil War, an old men's home, a tuberculosis hospital and a reform school for juvenile delinquents. It was also a missile base for a brief period during the 1960s. <Click here to see video of Hart Island> OTHER ISLANDS IN THE BRONX
The East and South Nonations lie east of Hart Island. They became islands owned by no one, because they were so small that neither the Dutch nor the British were willing to fight for them. The Blauzes are reefs west of Hart Island. The name comes from the Dutch "de blauwtjes," which means little blue ones. They served to guide sailors to City Island. Cuban Ledge can be seen only at low tide and is located west of City Island. It was formed by cargo rocks that were thrown overboard a ship abandoned by its sailors when they left to fight in the Spanish-American War in Cuba. The islet is also cigar-shaped, like Cuba. Connected by a footbridge to City Island, High Island has radio towers owned by WFAN and WNBC, built in the 1960s. Nora and Jack Beatty settled there in 1913. In 1925 the island was bought by the Miller family and the footbridge was constructed in 1928. High Island is not accessible to the public. Big Tom Island is located southwest of City Island. Its name apparently refers to Thomas Pell, who acquired many of these islands, including City Island, from the Native Americans in the 17th century. Middle Reef, situated in the Long Island Sound next to the Nonation Islands, got its name from its location in the middle of the sound. |
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aurel
Axen, 30, is a clam digger, the term City Islanders use to refer
to people who were born and raised on the island. But Axen is a
lapsed clam digger. She left 10 years ago for Brooklyn, because
she wanted to live a more typical New York life and explore acupuncture
and yoga.
ut
Palmer's plans did not materialize because of the onset of the American
Revolution. Instead, the island only lived up to its potential many
decades later. After the Civil War, it became a major boating center
with many commercial yacht and boat yards.
wo
tiny reefs sit northeast of City Island. These are the Chimney
Sweeps, which caused many
shipwrecks in the early part of the 20th century. They got their
name because they resemble a primitive chimney-cleaning tool.
Hog Island is a small rock to the north. Only one resident has
ever lived here: Marion Lang, who claimed squatter's rights, staying
there until her death on Sept. 12, 1930. Rat Island is a
two-acre island located between Hart and City islands. It was an
artists' colony for some time and also housed a hospital during
a yellow fever scare in Pelham Bay.