Coney Island, Plumb Beach, 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.[1]
Long Beach Barrier Island lies off the south shore of Long Island. The island is shared by the hamlet of Atlantic Beach to the west, the city of Long Beach and the hamlet of Lido Beach in the central part of the island, and the hamlet of 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, New York.)
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.
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, running approximately SW to NE. The land area is 8.687 sq. mi. (22.5 km2), and a permanent population of 491 people was reported as of the 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 (CDP), which is unincorporated and stretches through the southern portion of the towns of Babylon, Islip, and Brookhaven.
There are several ocean front communities such as, Davis Park and 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 (pop. 43) and 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.
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 (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.[2] The inlet is directly south of West Islip, the nearest town on the main part of Long Island.
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.
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 beach erosion on Fire Island.
