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Long Island Sound

Grumman’s Long Island Test Pilot Bruce Tuttle

March 21, 2023 by Chris Kretz Leave a Comment

long island history project logoJet fighters once roamed the skies above Long Island. Grumman, the aviation powerhouse behind such planes as the Hellcat and the Avenger, turned its attention to jets by the end of the Second World War. And to test those jets, they turned to men like Bruce Tuttle. [Read more…] about Grumman’s Long Island Test Pilot Bruce Tuttle

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Aviation History, Industrial History, Long Island, Long Island Sound, Military History, Podcasts, World War Two

Watchable Wildlife: Harbor Seals

December 10, 2022 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

harbor seal courtesy U.S. Fish & Wildlife ServiceNew York’s most abundant seal is the harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), which can be found in the state’s marine waters from late fall to late spring. Harbor seals can range in color from brown, tan, or gray to silvery-white. [Read more…] about Watchable Wildlife: Harbor Seals

Filed Under: Nature, New York City Tagged With: Fire Island National Seashore, Great South Bay, Long Island, Long Island Sound, Montauk Point State Park, Nassau County, nature, New York City, New York Harbor, Seals, Spring, Suffolk County, Wildlife, winter

Death By Fire And Ice: The Steamboat Lexington Calamity

November 13, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Death by Fire and Ice The Steamboat Lexington CalamityIn January 1840 the steamboat Lexington left Manhattan bound for Stonington, Connecticut, at four o’clock in the afternoon on a bitterly cold day carrying an estimated one hundred forty-seven passengers and crew and a cargo of, among other things, baled cotton.

After making her way up an ice-encrusted East River and into Long Island Sound, she caught fire off Eaton’s Neck on Long Island’s north shore at approximately seven o’clock. The fire quickly ignited the cotton stowed on board. [Read more…] about Death By Fire And Ice: The Steamboat Lexington Calamity

Filed Under: Books, History, New York City Tagged With: Cornelius Vanderbilt, Long Island, Long Island Sound, Manhattan, Maritime History, New York City, Steamboating, Transportation History

Records Reveal an Overlooked Hero of the Culper Spy Ring

November 7, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Selah StrongIn late 1777, Patriot and Long Island-native Selah Strong was arrested for what in present-day terms would be regarded as spying. While Selah’s spouse, Anna “Nancy” Strong, and his close friends would be considered part of George Washington’s Culper Spy Ring, only a few historians have included Selah as a member.

This network of spies operated during the Revolutionary War and smuggled information out of the British headquarters in New York City via British-occupied Long Island and across the Long Island Sound, eventually to the Commander-in-Chief himself. By re-examining primary sources for the first time in hundreds of years, Selah’s heroic role in the Culper Spy Ring finally comes to light. [Read more…] about Records Reveal an Overlooked Hero of the Culper Spy Ring

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: American Revolution, Culper Spy Ring, Long Island, Long Island Sound, Military History, New York City, New York State Archives, Port Jefferson, Setauket, Suffolk County

2022 Long Island Sound Seaweed Bioextraction Symposium

May 15, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

harvested sugar kelp hanging to dry in a greenhouse by Deborah AllerThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the 2022 Long Island Sound Seaweed Bioextraction Symposium will be held virtually this year on May 18th and 19th, from 1 to 5 pm. [Read more…] about 2022 Long Island Sound Seaweed Bioextraction Symposium

Filed Under: Events, Food, Nature, New York City Tagged With: Conferences, Long Island, Long Island Sound, Marine Life, Science

New Whelk Regulations Effective May 11

May 8, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Long Island Sound Management RegionEffective May 11th, 2022, the minimum size limit for whelk (sea snails) is 5½ inches shell length or 2¼ inches shell height for all marine waters of New York State except Long Island Sound Region (LIS). [Read more…] about New Whelk Regulations Effective May 11

Filed Under: Food, Nature, New York City, Recreation Tagged With: DEC, Long Island, Long Island Sound, nature, Whelk, Wildlife

1940s Tugboat, Barge Sunk For Artificial Reef

December 23, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

45-foot steel tugboat Chickadee deployed to McAllister Grounds Reef courtesy DECNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the deployment of two steel vessels, the Chickadee on the McAllister Grounds Reef and Barge 226 on Smithtown Reef, as part of the State’s ongoing efforts to expand New York’s network of artificial reefs.

These final deployments for 2021 continue to build on DEC’s efforts to develop a stronger, more diverse marine ecosystem and provide shelter for fish and other marine life off New York’s shores. [Read more…] about 1940s Tugboat, Barge Sunk For Artificial Reef

Filed Under: Nature, New York City, Recreation Tagged With: Atlantic Ocean, DEC, Diving, Fisheries, fishing, Great South Bay, Long Island Sound, Marine Life, McAllister Grounds Reef, Navy

NYC Plans to Demolish Historic Hart Island Buildings

July 20, 2021 by John Warren 1 Comment

The Pavilion on Hart Island today from above the roof of the Catholic chapel Alon Sicherman and Sean Vegezzi photo courtesy The Hart Island ProjectThe city of New York plans to tear down most of the historic buildings on Hart Island, where more than one million people are buried in unmarked graves. The city declared an emergency, which bypasses cultural resource and environmental reviews.

New York State designated the entire island off the coast of the Bronx eligible for listing on the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 2016. About 20 institutional and residential structures remain at the mile-long site, including a women’s insane asylum built in 1885 known as “The Pavilion,” a 1912 electrical generating dynamo building, and a 1930s Catholic chapel – 18 are planned to be demolished. [Read more…] about NYC Plans to Demolish Historic Hart Island Buildings

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Civil War, Hart Island, Historic Preservation, Long Island Sound, New York City, poverty, The Bronx

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