Outer Barrier

{{Short description|String of barrier islands dividing Long Island from the Atlantic Ocean}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Long Island}} The '''Outer Barrier''', also known as the '''Long Island and New York City barrier islands''', refers to the string of [[barrier islands]] that divide the [[lagoon]]s south of [[Long Island, New York]] from the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. These islands include [[Long Beach Barrier Island]], [[Barnum Island, New York|Barnum Island]], [[Jones Beach Island]], [[Fire Island]] and [[Westhampton Island]]. The outer barrier extends {{convert|75|mi|km}} along the [[South Shore of Long Island]], from the [[Rockaway, Queens|Rockaway Peninsula]] in [[New York City]] to the east end of [[Shinnecock Bay]] in [[Suffolk County, New York|Suffolk County]].

The lagoons enclosed by the barrier islands are [[Jamaica Bay]], [[Brosewere Bay]], [[Hewlett Bay]], [[Reynolds Channel]], [[Middle Bay (Long Island)|Middle Bay]], [[East Bay (Long Island)|East Bay]], [[South Oyster Bay]], [[Great South Bay]], and arms of the Great South Bay that have their own geographic names: Great Cove, Nicoll Bay, [[Patchogue Bay]], Bellport Bay, Narrow Bay, [[Moriches Bay]], Quantuck Bay, Tiana Bay, and Shinnecock Bay. [[East Rockaway Inlet]], [[Jones Inlet]], [[Fire Island Inlet]], [[Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune Wilderness#Old Inlet breach|Old Inlet]], [[Moriches Inlet]], and [[Shinnecock Inlet]] pierce the barrier, forming the individual sandy islands. The resort communities of [[Atlantic Beach, New York|Atlantic Beach]], [[Long Beach, New York|Long Beach]], and [[Westhampton Beach]]; the [[Fire Island National Seashore]], [[Robert Moses State Park (Long Island)|Robert Moses State Park]], [[Jones Beach State Park]], and other recreational areas are found there. The low-lying islands are subject to wave erosion, and, during storms, they are sometimes inundated and cut through.<ref name="eugene">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|date=1992-12-15|title=Storm Strikes Plains; East Coast Bails Out|access-date=2012-03-15|newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QkJWAAAAIBAJ&pg=5421,3440283&dq=storm&hl=en}}</ref>

==The islands== [[File:Long Island Landsat Mosaic.jpg|350px|right|border|frameless]]

===New York City islands=== [[Coney Island]], [[Plumb Beach, Brooklyn|Plumb Beach]], [[Barren Island, Brooklyn|Barren Island]], several smaller islands in [[Jamaica Bay]], and parts of what is now the [[Rockaway peninsula]] formerly comprised the westernmost Outer Barrier islands. Of these, Coney Island was the westernmost island. Most of these islands were either connected to mainland Long Island or combined with each other in the early 20th century.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Sarah K. |last1=Cody |first2=John |last2=Auwaerter |first3=George W. |last3=Curry |title=Cultural Landscape Report for Floyd Bennett Field |url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/gate/floyd_bennett_clr.pdf |website=[[National Park Service|nps.gov]] |publisher=[[State University of New York]], [[State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry|College of Environmental Science and Forestry]] |date=2009 |page=16}}</ref>

===Long Beach Barrier Island=== {{main|Long Beach Barrier Island}} Long Beach Barrier Island lies off the [[South Shore (Long Island)|south shore]] of [[Long Island]]. The island is shared by the hamlet of [[Atlantic Beach, New York|Atlantic Beach]] to the west, the city of [[Long Beach, New York|Long Beach]] and the hamlet of [[Lido Beach, New York|Lido Beach]] in the central part of the island, and the hamlet of [[Point Lookout, New York|Point Lookout]] at the eastern end of the island. (The three hamlets — Atlantic Beach, Lido Beach, and Point Lookout — are part of the town of [[Hempstead (town), New York|Hempstead, New York]].)

Within its section of the barrier island, the city of Long Beach spans the entire north-south width of the island, fronting on both [[Reynolds Channel]] to the north and the [[Atlantic Ocean]] to the south. A [[drawbridge]], the [[Long Beach Bridge]], connects it to [[Island Park, New York|Island Park]], a small island which lies between Long Beach and the mainland of Long Island. To the west, the [[Atlantic Beach Bridge]] connects the island to [[Lawrence, Nassau County, New York|Lawrence]] on Long Island. The [[Loop Parkway]], located to the east where [[Lido Beach, New York|Lido Beach]] and [[Point Lookout, New York|Point Lookout]] border one another, connects the island to [[Jones Beach State Park|Jones Beach]].[[File:Atlantic Beach and Long Beach Aeriel View.JPG|900px|thumb|Long Beach Barrier Island|center]]

===Jones Beach Island=== {{main|Jones Beach Island}} [[Image:Wpdms ev26188 jones beach island.jpg|400px|left|thumb|Jones Beach Island]] Jones Beach Island is a [[barrier island]] off the southern coast of [[Long Island]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[New York (state)|New York]]. It is named for the father of historian [[Thomas Jones (historian)|Thomas Jones]]. It is sometimes referred to as Oak Beach Island, and the former home of the infamous [[Oak Beach Inn]]. It is separated from Long Island by [[Great South Bay]]. The island straddles the county line between [[Nassau County, New York|Nassau]] and [[Suffolk County, New York|Suffolk]] counties and includes the [[census-designated place]]s of [[Gilgo, New York|Gilgo]], [[Oak Beach, New York|Oak Beach]], and [[Captree, New York|Captree]].

The southern side of the island is known for its beaches that face the open [[Atlantic Ocean]]. [[Jones Beach State Park]], on the western tip of the island is a summer recreational destination for the [[New York City]] area. [[Image:Captree state park NY docks.jpg|thumb|right|Charter fishing boats at [[Captree State Park]]]]

It is accessible from Long Island on its western end by the [[Meadowbrook Parkway]] to [[Merrick, New York]], the [[Loop Parkway]] to [[Long Beach, New York]] and the [[Wantagh Parkway]] to [[Wantagh, New York]]. Its eastern end is linked to [[Babylon (village), New York|Babylon, New York]] as well as to [[Fire Island, New York]] by the [[Robert Moses Causeway]] via the [[Great South Bay Bridge]] and the [[State Boat Channel Bridge]]. The [[Ocean Parkway (Long Island)|Ocean Parkway]] connects all three [[causeway]]s and runs the length of the island, while The [[Fire Island Inlet Bridge]] continues on the [[Robert Moses Causeway]] finding its way to the New York's Fire Island on the [[Atlantic Ocean]].

===Fire Island=== {{main|Fire Island}} Fire Island is a [[barrier island]], approximately 31 miles (50 km) long and varying between approximately 0.1 mile (160 m) to 0.25 mile (400 m) wide. Fire Island passes through southern [[Suffolk County, New York]], and is southeast of [[Long Island]] separated from the main land by the [[Great South Bay]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[New York (state)|New York]], running approximately SW to NE. The land area is 8.687 sq. mi. (22.5 km<sup>2</sup>), and a permanent population of 491 people was reported as of the [[United States Census, 2000|2000 census]]. (There are hundreds of thousands of summertime residents, groupers and daytrippers.) The island is composed of three communities, as defined by the Census Bureau. The largest of these is [[Fire Island, New York|Fire Island (CDP)]], which is unincorporated and stretches through the southern portion of the towns of [[Babylon (town), New York|Babylon]], [[Islip (town), New York|Islip]], and [[Brookhaven, New York|Brookhaven]]. {{wide image|FI Lighthouse pan.jpg|1050px|Distorted panoramic view of western Fire Island from the top of [[Fire Island Lighthouse]]}} There are several ocean front communities such as, [[Davis Park]] and [[Watch Hill, New York|Watch Hill]] that are on the eastern side of the [[Great south bay]]. Fire Island has a variety of ocean front communities that can be reached by private boat, or seasonal [[ferry]] service from [[Long Island]]'s mainland. [[Fire Island]] has a 2000 census population of 310 inhabitants. There are also two villages in the Islip section of the island, [[Saltaire, New York|Saltaire]] (pop. 43) and [[Ocean Beach, New York|Ocean Beach]] (pop. 138). In addition, a part of Fire Island CDP is not even on the island, but on a separate island adjacent to [[West Hampton Dunes, New York|West Hampton Dunes]].

[[Fire Island Inlet]] is an inlet on the south shore of Long Island, New York. It connects the Great South Bay with the [[Atlantic Ocean]], passing between [[Robert Moses State Park (Long Island)|Robert Moses State Park]] (the western end of Fire Island) on the south and Oak Beach and [[Captree State Park]] (the eastern end of Jones Island) on the north. The stated land area and population figures result when this section is subtracted out.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |title=U.S. Census website |access-date=2020-03-29 }}</ref> The inlet is directly south of West Islip, the nearest town on the main part of Long Island.[[Image:Robert Moses Lighthouse 1024.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The Lighthouse at the Fire Island National Seashore]]

The inlet has evolved over the years due to natural processes, especially [[longshore drift]]. Jones Island and [[Fire Island]] at one time were connected. The [[Fire Island Light]] was at the mouth of the inlet when built in 1858, but is now six miles east of the inlet.

===Westhampton Island=== Westhampton Island<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:2634469|title=GNIS Detail - Westhampton Island}}</ref> is the easternmost outer barrier island in the [[Southampton (town), New York|Town of Southampton]]. The barrier island was part of [[Fire Island]] until a [[nor'easter]] in 1931 created [[Moriches Inlet]] and made Fire Island a proper island. The [[1938 New England hurricane]] created [[Shinnecock Inlet]] and this Westhampton Island. [[Cupsogue Beach County Park]] is located on the western end of the island.

[[Image:Mastic-inlet-map.jpg|thumb|right|NASA satellite map of Moriches inlet]]

[[Moriches Inlet]] is an [[inlet]] connecting [[Moriches Bay]] and the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. The inlet created a geographic oddity whereby the [[Brookhaven, New York|Town of Brookhaven]] actually has jurisdiction on land immediately west of the village of [[West Hampton Dunes, New York|West Hampton Dunes]] although Brookhaven land access to it involves a nearly 20 mile drive through Southampton.

[[Shinnecock Inlet]] is the easternmost of five major inlets<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nd.edu/~adcirc/shinnecock.htm |title=ADCIRC Example, Shinnecock Inlet |website=www.nd.edu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050103092828/http://www.nd.edu/~adcirc/shinnecock.htm |archive-date=2005-01-03}}</ref> connecting bays to the [[Atlantic Ocean]] through the narrow 100-mile-long [[barrier islands]] that stretch from [[New York City]] to [[Southampton (town), New York|Southampton, New York]] on the south shore of [[Long Island]].

The inlet was formed by the [[Great Hurricane of 1938]] which killed several people when it permanently broke through the island in [[Hampton Bays, New York]].

The inlet is almost directly lined up with the [[Shinnecock Canal]] between Shinnecock Bay and the [[Peconic Bay]] and saves miles for boaters going to the open Atlantic. Consequently, management has been geared to keep the inlet dredged and open. However, maintenance of the inlet has been controversial on grounds that it causes [[Coastal erosion|beach erosion]] on Fire Island.

{{further|Coastal Barrier Resources Act}} [[Image:FireIslandSummerDrawsToAClose.jpg|right|thumb|Great South Bay at mid-2007 sunset]]

==See also== [[Image:Jamaicabay-1.gif|thumb|Map of Rockaway Inlet]] * [[Ocean Parkway (Long Island)]] * [[Robert Moses Causeway]] * [[Robert Moses State Park (Long Island)]] * [[Rockaway Inlet]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=151 Captree State Park] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060924025314/http://www.nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=151 |date=September 24, 2006 }} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060924024748/http://www.nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=46 Jones Beach State Park] * [http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=45 New York State Parks: Robert Moses State Park - Long Island] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090513015702/http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=45 |date=May 13, 2009 }} * [https://www.eastcoastroads.com/states/ny/parkways/ocean Ocean Parkway article from East Coast Roads Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104080202/http://www.greaternyroads.info/nypark/ocean/index.htm |date=January 4, 2009 }} * [http://www.nycroads.com/roads/ocean/ Ocean Parkway article from NYCROADS Website]

[[Category:Islands of Nassau County, New York]] [[Category:Barrier islands of New York (state)]] [[Category:Beaches of Nassau County, New York]] [[Category:Fire Island, New York]] [[Category:Robert Moses projects]] [[Category:State parks of New York (state)]]