Re: Halsey Street, Astoria, Queens

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Re: Halsey Street, Astoria, Queens
Posted by: edy	Date: February 13, 2002 at 14:24:25
In Reply to: Halsey Street, Astoria, Queens by harold young	of 1608

Lighthouses of New York Harbor
North Brother Island Lighthouse

This little known lighthouse located in the Bay of Brothers, between the Bronx and Queens, near Rikers Island, served the captains of the harbor who sailed through Hell’s Gate from 1869 to 1953. An octagonal ight tower atop the keeper’s house was originally fixed with a sixth order lens, beaming a fixed white light. In 1900, installation of a fourth order lens increased the intensity of the light. The lighthouse shared the same island with an infamous New Yorker by the name of Typhoid Mary. Typhoid Mary (Mary Mallon) was quarantined on the island’s Riverside Hospital, which specialized in infectious diseases.

North Brother was witness to the greatest maritime disaster in New York City history. On June 15,1904, the excursion ship "General Slocum" was on a leisurely afternoon cruise, when it was consumed by fire. When the fire broke out the captain headed for North Brother Island. People on the island assisted in the rescue of hundreds of passengers, but panic set among those on board and over 1000 lives were lost.

The keeper of North Brother Light at the time was J.T.P. Jacobs. The lighthouse is visible from the northeast shore of Randalls Island or approached by small boat. The light tower is now gone and the keepers’ house is deteriorating with each passing year. It remains on the doomsday list of lighthouses.

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Source: Lighthouses of New York (Greater New York Harbor, Hudson River & Long Island)
Text and photographs © Jim Crowley.

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this may very well be your lighthouse......
good luck Edy......email me if you want nannaedy@aol.com

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Re: Halsey Street, Astoria, Queens harold young 2/14/02

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