The New York Aquarium is the oldest continually operating aquarium in the United States, located on the Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. It was founded at Castle Garden in Battery Park, Manhattan in 1896, and moved to Coney Island in 1957. The aquarium is operated by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) as part of its integrated system of four zoos and one aquarium, most notably the Bronx Zoo. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). As part of WCS, the aquarium's mission is to save wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature.
Introduction
New York Aquarium
New York Aquarium | Introduction
On the Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island The New York Aquarium is the oldest continually operating aquarium in the United States, located on the Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. Riegelmann Boardwalk . It is located on the Riegelmann Boardwalk.
where is coney island in relation to manhattan
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The southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn.
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who were the earliest settlers in this region?
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Dutch
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is it a tourist place?
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Yes, it is a vacation destination
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what are some of the sights to see there?
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The New York Aquarium, KeySpan Park, the Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island
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where is the first place located on the island?
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The New York Aquarium opened in 1957 on the former site of the Dreamland amusement park. It is located on 602 Surf Avenue between West 5th and West 10th Streets. , the New York Aquarium consists of five exhibits: Aquatheater; Conservation Hall; Sea Cliffs; Sharks, Rays & Turtles; and Ocean Wonders: Sharks. The original Bathysphere, a deep-sea submersible that made historic journeys underwater in the 1930s, is on display at the aquarium. KeySpan Park, located on the former site of Steeplechase Park, opened in 2001. It hosts the Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball team. In 2010, it was renamed after the Municipal Credit Union (MCU), the city's largest credit union, in an eleven-year naming rights deal.
Coney Island | Other attractions
The New York Aquarium is the oldest continually operating aquarium in the United States, located on the Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. It was founded at Castle Garden in Battery Park, Manhattan in 1896, and moved to Coney Island in 1957. The aquarium is operated by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) as part of its integrated system of four zoos and one aquarium, most notably the Bronx Zoo. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). As part of WCS, the aquarium's mission is to save wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature.
New York Aquarium | Introduction
On June 6, 1957, the Aquarium opened at its new location in Coney Island, Brooklyn. The new site of the New York Aquarium is the home of the WCS New York Seascape program – the society’s research and conservation program focusing on nearby rivers, harbor, and ocean from Cape May, New Jersey to Montauk, Long Island. The aquarium kept an orca briefly in 1968 and a narwhal in 1969. Both reportedly died of possible pneumonia. The aquarium's beluga whales were transferred to the Georgia Aquarium in 2007 as part of a breeding program. In September 2011, the aquarium named its new electric eel Wattson, and in March 2012, it launched a sea horse breeding program.
New York Aquarium | Brooklyn location
However, the New York Aquarium was significantly damaged by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, which severely flooded the facility and shut down power. A small group of WCS staff who remained onsite during the hurricane were able to save 90 percent of the animals in the collection. As a result, construction on the exhibit was delayed. "Ocean Wonders: Sharks!" ultimately broke ground in January 2014. The exhibit opened on June 30, 2018, becoming the first major exhibit at the New York Aquarium to open after Hurricane Sandy.
New York Aquarium | Brooklyn location
Coney Island, in Brooklyn, is considered one of America's first amusement parks. Playland, Rye, Westchester County Plans were unveiled by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on September 27, 2012 for the New York Wheel, a giant Ferris wheel, to be built at the northern shore of Staten Island, overlooking the Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor, and the Lower Manhattan skyline.
New York metropolitan area | In New York State
Long Island Aquarium (formerly Atlantis Marine World) is an aquarium that opened in 2000 on Long Island in Riverhead, New York, United States. One of its biggest attractions is a coral reef display tank, which is one of the largest all-living coral displays in the Western Hemisphere.
Long Island Aquarium and Exhibition Center | Introduction
Today, the site is near the West Eighth Street subway station opposite Culver Depot, the then-terminal of New York City Subway's BMT Brighton Line and BMT Culver Line. Culver Depot itself later became the site of the New York Aquarium and the adjacent subway station.
Dreamland (Coney Island, 1904) | Creation
One such location was Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, where a horse-drawn street car line brought pleasure seekers to the beach beginning in 1829. In 1875, a million passengers rode the Coney Island Railroad, and in 1876 two million reached Coney Island. Hotels and amusements were built to accommodate both the upper-classes and the working-class. The first carousel was installed in the 1870s, the first Switchback Railway in 1881. It wasn't till 1895 that the first permanent amusement park in North America opened: Sea Lion Park at Coney Island. This park was one of the first to charge admission for entrance to the park in addition to selling tickets for rides within the park.
Trolley park | Coney Island
Second Island is an island in Ontario, Canada, located in Lake Erie north of Long Point. The island was never inhabited, and is located between Ryerson's Island and Snow Island, which together with Second Island are three of the more notable islands near Long Point.
Second Island (Lake Erie) | Introduction
The station is located across Surf Avenue from the Coney Island amusement area. It is close to the Luna Park amusement park, formerly the site of Astroland; the Scream Zone area, operated by Luna Park; Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park; the Cyclone and Thunderbolt roller coasters; and the amusement area on the site of Steeplechase Park, which includes the B&B Carousell. Other nearby attractions include the original Nathan's Famous store and the Riegelmann Boardwalk along the Atlantic Ocean. The New York Aquarium is a few blocks to the east, though the West Eighth Street–New York Aquarium station is closer to the aquarium than the Stillwell Avenue station is.
Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue station | Nearby points of interest
Dog Island is an island on First Lake in Herkimer County, New York. It is located east of Old Forge. DeCamps Island is located northeast of Dog Island.
Dog Island (New York) | Introduction
The wreck is protected on the National Register of Historic Places and now is the first underwater park on Long Island, New York. The park is accessible on a single-lane gravel road at the west end of Soundview Drive. Divers use a large rock with pebbles on top of it to the north of the bluff stairs as the landmark for reaching the wreck. They follow a heading of 333 degrees. It is about off shore. The debris field is marked by buoys. Usually little of the wreck is visible, typically just rust stains in the sand but some portions of the hull can sometimes be seen after storms.
Culloden Point | HMS "Culloden"
The Philadelphia Aquarium was one of the first aquariums in the United States. It was located on the shore of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia’s decommissioned Fairmount Water Works buildings from 1911 to 1962, as part of Fairmount Park.
Philadelphia Aquarium | Introduction
Coney Island began as a resort destination in the early 1830s and gained popularity in the 1860s as advances in transportation reduced the time it took to get there from other parts of New York City. As visitors increased, attractions were added, including a tall observation tower, the Coney Island Elephant hotel, early roller coasters, carousels, and arc lights to enable nighttime swimming. Politician John Y. McKane controlled approval of much of the building for years until he was removed from office for election fraud. Just before 1900 CE, George C. Tilyou built Steeplechase Park, the first of the three major amusement parks of Coney Island.
Coney Island (1991 film) | Synopsis
The following is a list of islands found within New York State.
List of islands of New York (state) | Introduction
Then-president Millard Fillmore and several members of his cabinet, along with several former governors of New York, attended. Several other distinguished individuals came from around the United States. On May 14, the tour arrived in New York City and began their trip on the first ride at Piermont at 7:45 that morning. The Fillmore train arrived at Dunkirk just past 4:00 pm the next afternoon.
Harriman station (Erie Railroad) | First station constructed
Coney Island is a neighborhood, visitor attraction, and former island in Brooklyn, New York. Coney Island may also refer to:
Coney Island (disambiguation) | Introduction
A museum since 1956, it is anchored in the Bolshaya Nevka, near the Sampsonievsky bridge. Just north of the Kronwerk, in the former "Aquarium Gardens", the first motion picture was shown in Russia in 1896, at what is now Lenfilm Studios The island also houses the Baltic House Festival Theatre, the Yubileyny Sports Palace, the Saint Petersburg Planetarium and the Leningrad Zoo.
Petrogradsky Island | Places of interest
The first permanent enclosed entertainment area, regulated by a single company, was founded in Coney Island in 1895: Sea Lion Park at Coney Island in Brooklyn. This park was one of the first to charge admission to get into the park in addition to sell tickets for rides within the park. In 1897, Sea Lion Park was joined by Steeplechase Park, the first of three major amusement parks that would open in the Coney Island area. George Tilyou designed the park to provide thrills and entertainment. The combination of the nearby population center of New York City and the ease of access to the area made Coney Island the embodiment of the American amusement park.
Amusement park | Modern amusement parks
The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Manhattan is a 1903 building located at Central Park West and 96th Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. The building is a designated New York City landmark.
First Church of Christ, Scientist (New York City) | Introduction
In October 2006, the New York Aquarium announced the finalists to a competition to develop a more inviting and visually prominent exterior for the aquarium. In March 2007, the winning design by firms WRT and Cloud 9 was selected, which featured an enclosure resembling a whale over the aquarium. However, in March 2008, that concept was scrapped due to concerns over the cost of the design and the practicality of constructing future exhibits under the enclosure. Instead, plans for a new exhibit based on sharks were announced. The massive , exhibition, "Ocean Wonders: Sharks!," was originally scheduled to break ground in November 2012 and open in 2015.
New York Aquarium | Brooklyn location
The English were the first white settlers in the area. They raised hogs in drier areas, and therefore, the island was named Hog Island. The name was used from 1665 through 1874.
Island Park, New York | History
Sea Lion Park opened in 1895 at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York City with an aquatic show featuring 40 sea lions. It closed in 1903. The second marine mammal park, then called an oceanarium, was established in St. Augustine, Florida in 1938. It was initially a large water tank used to exhibit marine mammals for filming underwater movies, and only became later a public attraction. Today Marineland of Florida claims to be "the world's first oceanarium". In November 1961, Marineland of the Pacific on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, near Los Angeles in California was the first park to display an orca in captivity, although the orca died after two days.
Marine mammal park | History
The Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island is an outdoor live entertainment venue within the Childs Restaurants building on the Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. The venue opened in June 2016.
Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island | Introduction
Coney Island Light (also Nortons Point Light) is a lighthouse located in Sea Gate, on the west end of Coney Island, Brooklyn, in New York City, east of New York Harbor's main channel. The lighthouse was first established in 1890. The current tower was first lit in 1920 and is still operational. It was automated in 1989. The foundation material is steel pile and the lighthouse is made out of steel. It is a skeletal white tower with black trim. The original lens was a fourth order Fresnel lens put up in 1890. The most recent resident keeper was Frank Schubert (1915–2003).
Coney Island Light | Introduction
The New York Aquarium opened on December 10, 1896, at Castle Garden in Battery Park. Its first director was Tarleton Hoffman Bean (1895–1898). He was also instrumental in helping to create similar wild life organizations, especially aquaria. On October 31, 1902, the Aquarium was put under the administration of the New York Zoological Society. At the time, the Aquarium housed only 150 specimens of wildlife. Over time, its most famous director, the distinguished zoologist Charles Haskins Townsend, enlarged the collections considerably, and the Aquarium attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. A towering figure in New York Zoological Society and New York Aquarium history, Doctor Townsend served as the Aquarium's director for thirty years.
New York Aquarium | Battery Park location
Outdoor exhibits include Ancient Reptile Ruins (Green Tree Python and Mangrove Monitor), Creatures of the Night (Brazilian Prehensile-Tailed Porcupine and Pallas's Long Tailed Bats), Gator Invasion, Koi Pond, Interactive Salt Marsh, Lost Temple of Atlantis (Japanese Snow Monkeys), Otter Falls (North American river otters), Penguin Pavilion (African Penguin), Ray Bay, Sea Lion Coliseum, Seals and Critter Corner. Interactive displays include Interactive Salt Marsh, Arcade, Ray Bay, Sea Lion Kiss, Submarine Simulator, hands on touch tank, and an Interactive Creature Feature
Long Island Aquarium and Exhibition Center | Exhibits
, the New York Aquarium consists of five exhibits: Aquatheater; Conservation Hall; Sea Cliffs; Sharks, Rays & Turtles; and Ocean Wonders: Sharks. The original Bathysphere, a deep-sea submersible that made historic journeys underwater in the 1930s, is on display at the aquarium.
New York Aquarium | Exhibits
In 1991, New York City was the first to be offered the statue. Tseretali proposed erecting the statue on Roosevelt Island. However, this plan was met with concerns of its size, as it visually would visually dwarf the Statue of Liberty, yet be dwarfed itself by skyscrapers of the city's skyline that sat near Roosevelt Island. Plans for it to be located New York City were briefly resurrected in 1997 when then-real estate developer Donald Trump proposed that the statue be at his development of rail yards, but this was nixed by city leadership including mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Birth of the New World | New York City
The Island, New Jersey may refer to the following places in New Jersey:
The Island, New Jersey | Introduction
Governors Island National Monument, a unit of the United States national park system, is located in New York City on of Governors Island, a island located off the southern tip of Manhattan Island at the confluence of the Hudson and East Rivers in New York Harbor.
Governors Island National Monument | Introduction
The lighthouse scenes in the first season's finale were filmed at the Fire Island Lighthouse in Fire Island, New York.
The Following | Filming
The first public aquarium was opened in London Zoo in May 1853; the "Fish House", as it came to be known, was constructed much like a greenhouse. P.T. Barnum quickly followed in 1856 with the first American aquarium as part of his established Barnum's American Museum, which was located on Broadway in New York City before it burned down. In 1859, the Aquarial Gardens were founded in Boston. A number of aquariums then opened in Europe, such as the Jardin d'Acclimatation in Paris and the Viennese Aquarium Salon (both founded 1860), the Marine Aquarium Temple as part of the Zoological Garden in Hamburg (1864), as well as aquariums in Berlin (1869) and Brighton (1872).
Public aquarium | History
The First Baptist Church relocated to the present facility in 1890. It occupies a site that, because of a bend in the direction of Broadway, is prominent from a distance down the avenue. The building is set at an angle of 45 degrees to the street grid. The building was designed by George M. Keister, who 25 years later designed the Apollo Theater in Harlem. A balcony was added in 1903. This created a seating capacity of one thousand. Two unequal towers over the corner entrance to the main auditorium are examples of Biblical symbolism. The taller tower represents Jesus Christ as the Head of the Church.
First Baptist Church in the City of New York | Sanctuary at Broadway and 79th Street
The Montauk Point Light was the first lighthouse in New York state and is the fourth oldest active lighthouse in the United States.
Montauk, New York | Introduction
The first bridge to Coney Island was established in 1824, and this was followed five years later by the creation of the Coney Island House, a seaside resort. Due to Coney Island's proximity to Manhattan and other boroughs, and its simultaneous relative distance from the city of Brooklyn to provide the illusion of a proper vacation, it began attracting vacationers in the 1830s and 1840s, and numerous resorts were built. New railroad lines, built after the American Civil War, served Coney Island's restaurants, hotels, bathing pavilions, theaters, the waterfront, and other attractions. A series of fires in the resorts in the 1880s and 1890s opened up large tracts of land for the development of theme parks, the first of which was Sea Lion Park in 1895.
Riegelmann Boardwalk | Context
West Eighth Street–New York Aquarium is a New York City Subway station, located on the BMT Brighton Line and IND Culver Line in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn. The station is located over the private right-of-way of the defunct New York and Coney Island Railroad north of Surf Avenue, running easterly from West 8th Street. It is served by the F and Q trains at all times, and by the train during rush hours in the peak direction. This station is geographically the southernmost station in the entire New York City Subway system.
West Eighth Street–New York Aquarium station | Introduction
The first permanent immigration depot in New York was established in 1855 at Castle Garden, a converted War of 1812 era fort located within what is now Battery Park, at the tip of Lower Manhattan. The first immigrants to arrive at the new depot were aboard three ships that had just been released from quarantine. Castle Garden served as New York's immigrant depot until it closed on April 18, 1890, when the federal government assumed control over immigration. During that period, more than eight million immigrants passed through its doors (two of every three U.S. immigrants). When the federal government assumed control, it established the Bureau of Immigration, which chose the three-acre Ellis Island in Upper New York Harbor for an entry depot.
New York (state) | Immigration
DeCamps Island is an island between First Lake and Second Lake in Herkimer County, New York. It is located east of Old Forge. Dog Island is located southwest of DeCamps Island.
DeCamps Island | Introduction
The former First Church of Christ, Scientist, is an historic Christian Science church building located at 700 22nd Street, Rock Island, Illinois, United States. Designed by architect William C. Jones of Chicago in the Palladian style, it was built between 1914-1915. Its exterior walls are of brick covered by Bedford limestone. Its superimposed front portico is supported by six 2 story columns with egg-and-dart capitals. Its dome actually consists of 2 domes: an outer dome and an inner dome which are separated by a space for lighting fixtures and maintenance. The inner dome consists of some 8,000 colored fish scale glass panes on a wooden support structure.
First Church of Christ, Scientist (Rock Island, Illinois) | Introduction
In this gallery you can see hundreds of clownfish (immortalized in the film "Finding Nemo"). These fish came from a special breeding farm in the Arava. In this gallery there are other species such as Naso tangs and a unique exhibit of living corals.
Israel Aquarium | First Red Sea Gallery
The first bridge to Coney Island was established in 1824, and this was followed five years later by the creation of the Coney Island House, a seaside resort. Coney Island soon developed as a resort destination in the mid-19th century, development of which was helped by the construction of railroads after the American Civil War. A series of fires in the resorts in the 1880s and 1890s opened up large tracts of land for the development of theme parks, of which several had been built by the first decade of the 20th century. Further redevelopment of Coney Island came with the opening of the New York City Subway to Stillwell Avenue in 1920 and the completion of the Riegelmann Boardwalk three years later.
Shore Theater | Context and construction
Pollepel Island is a island in the Hudson River in New York. The principal feature on the island is Bannerman's Castle, an abandoned military surplus warehouse.
Pollepel Island | Introduction
By the late 1870s, Coney Island's hotels had drawn people from many different social classes, and attractions were being built. When the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company electrified the steam railroads and connected Brooklyn to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge at the beginning of the 20th century, Coney Island turned rapidly from a resort to an accessible location for day-trippers seeking to escape the summer heat in New York City's tenements. Charles I. D. Looff, a Danish woodcarver, built the first carousel and amusement ride at Coney Island in 1876, at Lucy Vandeveer's bath-house complex at West 6th Street and Surf Avenue.
Coney Island | 19th century
The Padrón Real of 1527, the first scientific map to show the East Coast of North America continuously, was informed by Gomes' expedition and labeled the northeastern United States as "Tierra de Esteban Gómez" in his honor. In 1609, the English explorer Henry Hudson rediscovered New York Harbor while searching for the Northwest Passage to the Orient for the Dutch East India Company. He proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River (now the Hudson River), named first by Hudson as the "Mauritius" after Maurice, Prince of Orange. Hudson's first mate described the harbor as "a very good Harbour for all windes" and the river as "a mile broad" and "full of fish".
New York City | Early history
The venue, the Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island, opened on July 1, 2016. A new amphitheater stage was built on the western side of the building. The completed amphitheater contains backstage space, a box office, and a restaurant, the first one to operate on the site for over sixty years. An adjacent green space called Seaside Park is also under construction.
Childs Restaurants (Riegelmann Boardwalk location) | Redevelopment
Townsend's work with whaling bans, Galápagos tortoise conservation and the development of aquarium technology are on par with the work of William Temple Hornaday. Early in October 1941, the Aquarium at Battery Park was controversially closed based on claims of NYC Parks Commissioner Robert Moses that the proposed construction of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel from Lower Manhattan to Brooklyn might undermine Castle Clinton's foundation. Many of the Aquarium’s sea creatures were temporarily housed at the Bronx Zoo until the new aquarium was built after World War II.
New York Aquarium | Battery Park location
The museum building in Rock Island was originally the First Church of Christ, Scientist, built in 1896 in the Broadway Historic District. The building was designed by architect William C. Jones of Chicago in the Palladian style, it was built between 1914-1915. Its exterior walls are of brick covered by Bedford limestone. Its superimposed front portico is supported by six 2 story columns with egg-and-dart capitals. The dome actually consists of 2 domes: an outer dome and an inner dome which are separated by a space for lighting fixtures and maintenance. The inner dome consists of some 8,000 colored fish scale glass panes on a wooden support structure.
Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum | Rock Island, Illinois
The original part of the museum, the first floor is home to a life-size Bowhead Whale that guests can walk through to view a large fish tank from the mezzanine. Also on the first floor are a number of tunnels that run across the ceiling, hiding above a sea of fiberglass insulation cut to give the impression of icicles. To get into these, one can climb up a giant Slinky, which is an old refrigerating coil (donated by Anheuser-Busch), or through a tree house which leads into a giant hollowed-out tree and a cabin on the other side of the floor.
City Museum | 1st floor
Conklin Island is an island located by Conklin Station, New York, on the Susquehanna River.
Conklin Island | Introduction
The first recorded visit likely was during the Canadian Army's survey and mapping of the Arctic islands in the late 1940s. A metal "T-shaped" triangulation point survey marker then was installed on the island's highest point, now called Triangle Point. Sometime in the early 1970s, five unmarked, sealed 45 gallon drums of aviation fuel were cached near the point, possibly by an oil exploration company. They were never reclaimed. In the summer of 1973, Stewart D. Macdonald of the Canadian National Museum of Natural Sciences discovered the island was the first known permanent nesting colony of endangered ivory gulls in the New World.
Seymour Island (Nunavut) | Introduction
First Lake is located in the Town of Webb in Herkimer County, New York, by the hamlet of Old Forge. First Lake is part of the Fulton Chain of Lakes. First Lake is the source of the Middle Branch Moose River.
First Lake (New York) | Introduction
Giovanni da Verrazzano was the first European explorer to sight the island of Narrioch during his expeditions to the area in 1527 and 1529. He was subsequently followed by Henry Hudson. The Dutch established the colony of New Amsterdam in present-day Coney Island in the early 17th century. The Native American population in the area dwindled as the Dutch settlement grew and the entire southwest section of present-day Brooklyn was purchased in 1645 from the Native Americans in exchange for a gun, a blanket, and a kettle. In 1644, a colonist named Guysbert Op Dyck was given a patent for 88 acres of land in the town of Gravesend, on the southwestern shore of Brooklyn.
Coney Island | Early settlement
Nearby was the Elephantine Colossus, a seven-story building (including a brothel) in the shape of an elephant, which opened the following year. Until its demolition in 1896, the elephant was the first sight to greet immigrants arriving in New York, who would see it before they saw the Statue of Liberty. Next to be developed were horse-racing tracks, and by 1890, Coney Island had three tracks: Sheepshead Bay Race Track, Brighton Beach Race Course, and Gravesend Race Track. However, crime and corruption in Coney Island were prevalent. The main leader of this corruption was John Y. McKane, who ran prizefighting rings behind the elephant until he was arrested and sentenced in 1894.
Coney Island | 19th century
Construction on the Aquarium began in 1999, and it opened on June 15, 2000. The Town of Riverhead bought the land in 1995 with the hopes the Okeanos Foundation of Hampton Bays, New York would operate it as part of a rehabilitation project of the Peconic waterfront. However, Okeanos was unable to raise funds. Space has been given in the Aquarium to the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation. The Aquarium's original cost of $15 million was provided by developers James J. Bissett and Joseph M. Petrocelli. Bissett's family owns the Bissett Nursery in Holtsville, New York. Petrocelli's family owns Petrocelli Construction based in Ronkonkoma, New York, as well as Raphael Vineyard.
Long Island Aquarium and Exhibition Center | History
The first nourishment project in the U.S. was constructed at Coney Island, New York in 1922–1923.
Beach nourishment | History
Looff personally hand-carved the designs into the carousel. Looff subsequently commissioned another carousel at Feltman's Ocean Pavilion in 1880. Another early attraction was the Seaside Aquarium, which operated from 1877 to 1887 and included aquatic exhibits, aviaries, zoo attractions, and various sideshows. The earliest rides, including Looff's first carousel and the Seaside Aquarium, were located at the Centennial Observatory's site. The first sideshows and fireworks displays came to Coney Island in 1883, and combined with constant musical performances, brought increased excitement to the area. The very first roller coaster at Coney Island was the Switchback Railway, a gravity coaster installed by LaMarcus Adna Thompson at West 10th Street in 1884.
Coney Island | 19th century
The aquarium considered moving to Coney Island on the southern shore of Brooklyn. To expedite construction of the tunnel, the city closed the New York Aquarium and moved its fish to other aquariums in September 1941. Moses advocated for the demolition of Castle Clinton, but preservationists who opposed Moses's proposed action asked federal judge to grant an injunction to prevent demolition. Even though Moses initially had the injunction dismissed, the federal government later designated the castle a U.S. historic monument, which prohibited him from demolishing the castle. The tunnel project would also require demolishing two acres of Battery Park in order to build a seawall, and as a result of the downsizing of Battery Park, an architect was hired to study the redesign of the park.
Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel | Construction starts
Furthermore, a live performance venue, the Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island, opened on the boardwalk in 2016. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy caused major damage to the Coney Island amusement parks, the Aquarium, and businesses. Despite this, the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest was held the following summer, as usual. Luna Park at Coney Island reopened as scheduled on March 24, 2013. Rebuilding of the aquarium started in early 2013, and a major expansion of the aquarium opened in summer 2018. In August 2018, the NYCEDC and NYC Parks announced that Luna Park would be expanded between West 15th and West 16th Streets, next to the Thunderbolt.
Coney Island | Progress on expansion
The Philadelphia Aquarium, one of the first aquariums in the United States, was located on the shore of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia's decommissioned Fairmount Water Works buildings from 1911 to 1962 as part of Fairmount Park.
List of former zoos and aquariums | Philadelphia Aquarium
From 1896 to 1941, Castle Garden was the site of the New York City Aquarium. For many years, it was the city's most popular attraction, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. The structure was extensively altered and roofed over to a height of several stories, though the original masonry fort remained. In 1941, Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Commissioner Robert Moses wanted to tear the structure down completely, claiming that this was necessary to build the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel. To expedite construction of the tunnel, the city closed the New York Aquarium and moved its fish to other aquariums in September 1941.
Castle Clinton | 20th century to present
The original building was soon eclipsed by the south range of the museum, designed by J. Cleaveland Cady, an exercise in rusticated brownstone neo-Romanesque, influenced by H. H. Richardson. It extends along West 77th Street, with corner towers tall. Its pink brownstone and granite, similar to that found at Grindstone Island in the St. Lawrence River, came from quarries at Picton Island, New York. The entrance on Central Park West, the New York State Memorial to Theodore Roosevelt, completed by John Russell Pope in 1936, is an overscaled Beaux-Arts monument. It leads to a vast Roman basilica, where visitors are greeted with a cast of a skeleton of a rearing "Barosaurus" defending her young from an "Allosaurus".
American Museum of Natural History | Expansion
On August 11, 1775, General David Wooster dispatched 120 soldiers to the island, then known as Plumb Island, who were immediately fired upon by the British. After firing a single return volley the soldiers retreated back to Long Island. Although no casualties were reported, this brief skirmish is believed to have represented at least one American military "first": the first amphibious assault by an American army. The historic Plum Island Lighthouse is located at the west end of the island. The original lighthouse on Plum Island was constructed in 1827; the current structure was built in 1869. The light marks the east side of "Plum Gut", a mile-wide entrance to Long Island Sound with extremely strong tidal currents.
Plum Island (New York) | History
The first tower was built of stones found on the island. The government constructed a new brick tower in 1857 with a fog bell added in 1878. No remnants exist today of the Dutch trading post, but a lighthouse and military buildings remain on the island.
Dutch Island (Rhode Island) | History
From September 2 to 14, 1776, the new British garrison engaged volleys with Washington's guns on the Battery in front of Fort George in Manhattan. On September 6, the Americans' unsuccessful attempt to detonate the submersible "Turtle" at the island was the first documented submarine attack in history. The fort, along with the rest of New York City, was held by the British for the rest of the war until Evacuation Day in 1783. During this time, the British continued to improve Governor's Island's defenses.
Governors Island | American Revolution
On January 1, 1903, Thompson and Dundy announced plans to conduct a public hanging of the elephant, set for January 3 or 4, and collect a twenty-five cents a head admission to see the spectacle. The site they chose was an island in the middle of the lagoon for the old Shoot the Chute ride where they were building the centerpiece of their new park, the 200-foot Electric Tower (the structure had reached a height of 75 feet at the time of the killing). Press agent Murray arranged media coverage and posted banners around the park and on all four sides of the makeshift gallows advertising, "OPENING MAY 2ND 1903 LUNA PARK $1,000,000 EXPOSITION, THE HEART OF CONEY ISLAND".
Topsy (elephant) | Death
Davids Island is a island off the coast of New Rochelle, New York, in Long Island Sound. Currently uninhabited, it was previously the site of Fort Slocum. The island is home to the endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle, and birds such as osprey and least terns. Davids Island also supports valuable wetlands, rare rocky intertidal areas, and sandy beaches. The waters surrounding the island are home to winter flounder, Atlantic herring, and Atlantic silverside.
Davids Island (New York) | Introduction
First Crater () is a volcanic crater on Arrival Heights, located north of Hut Point on Ross Island. It was named by Frank Debenham in 1912 on his local survey of Hut Point Peninsula during the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13.
First Crater | Introduction
The first farm on Castle Island was called "Rensselaersburgh" and was established in 1630. The Dongan Charter of 1686, which incorporated Albany as a city, defined the City's southern boundary as the northern "tip of Marte Gerrite's island"; at the time; Castle Island was known as Marte Gerrite's island.
Castle Island (New York) | History
Moore Island is an island located by Conklin Center, New York, on the Susquehanna River.
Moore Island (Susquehanna River) | Introduction
The island was the subject of a bioblitz sponsored by the New York State Museum and the New York State Biodiversity Research Institute in September 2000.
Iona Island (New York) | Wildlife
In 1879, former U.S. Congressman John H. Starin bought Glen Island and four nearby islands. He gave Glen Island its name and converted the islands into Starin's Glen Island, a summer resort for city dwellers that has been called "the first theme park". The islands were connected by causeways and piers, and each island featured a different international theme. Steamships transported visitors from New York City to the park. The park, which opened in 1881, attracted thousands of people daily, included among its attractions a bathing beach, a natural history museum, a zoo, a German beer garden and castle, musical entertainment, and a Chinese pagoda.
Glen Island Park | History
It is now on the National Register of Historic Places and is the only underwater park in the state of New York. The first hamlet of Montauk was built on Fort Pond Bay near what is now the train station for the Long Island Rail Road.
Montauk, New York | 18th century
Horse Island Light, also known as Sackets Harbor Light, is located on Horse Island in Sackets Harbor, Jefferson County in New York on Lake Ontario. In July 2017 the 24-acre island was acquired for preservation by the Civil War Trust, aided by a grant from the National Park Service. This was the first grant in the United States made for a War of 1812 site under the NPS battlefield grants program.
Horse Island Light | Introduction
Grosvenor, grandson of one of the Society's founders, took personal charge of the magazine. In November 1986, after five years of research, Judge wrote and published "Columbus's First Landfall in the New World" which advocated Samana Cay in the Bahamas as the true location of Guanahani, the first island seen by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage to America. (This idea had first been proposed by Gustavus Fox in 1882). Prior to that time, official National Geographic Society maps had shown San Salvador Island as the first landfall. While Judge's theory attracted some support, and drew attention to the many shortcomings of San Salvador, the issue remains unsettled.
Joseph Judge | "National Geographic" career
Island Pond is a lake located east of Brant Lake, New York. Fish species present in the lake are brook trout, and brown bullhead. There is a carry down trail from Long Pond.
Island Pond (New York) | Introduction
Balls Island is an island located by Middle Bridge, New York, on the Susquehanna River.
Balls Island | Introduction
Just Room Enough Island, also known as Hub Island, is an island located in the Thousand Islands chain, belonging to New York, United States. The island is known for being the smallest inhabited island, which appears to be around , or about one-thirteenth of an acre. Purchased by the Sizeland family in the 1950s, the island has a house, a tree, shrubs, and a small beach.
Just Room Enough Island | Introduction
Monterey Bay Aquarium was the first public aquarium to have its interior mapped on Google Street View, creating a virtual walking tour.
Monterey Bay Aquarium | Other permanent exhibits
In 1824, the Gravesend and Coney Island Road and Bridge Company built the first bridge across Jamaica Ditch (by now known as Coney Island Creek), connecting the island with the mainland. The company also built a shell road across the island to the beaches. In 1829, the company also built the first hotel on the island: the Coney Island House, near present-day Sea Gate. Due to Coney Island's proximity to Manhattan and other boroughs, and its simultaneous relative distance from the city of Brooklyn to provide the illusion of a proper vacation, it began attracting vacationers in the 1830s and 1840s, assisted by carriage roads and steamship service that reduced travel time from a formerly half-day journey to two hours.
Coney Island | Resort development
"Cabin" is a concrete reverse cast of a wooden shed. It has been located on Discovery Hill on Governors Island in New York Harbour since 2016. Whiteread uses this idea in order to produce a negative space that had existed but no longer does. Since "Cabin" is away from the noisy city, it creates a peaceful scene and a quiet sense. "Cabin" is said to be her first public commission in the United State that is installed permanently on the island. With this work, Whiteread wanted to "blur the notion of space even further by allowing the booming nature of the park to and hide the installation." Therefore even though the city that is so advanced with technology and is polluted by gasoline, "nature is still present." "What an extraordinary site, and what an honor to be asked to put something there," Whiteread states.
Rachel Whiteread | "Cabin" (2016)
The inner dome is similar to the inner dome of First Church of Christ, Scientist in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which was designed by William C. Jones in 1913. The church building, the second one built in Rock Island by the congregation, is a Rock Island Landmark as designated by the city in 1993. It is also a contributing property in the Broadway Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 14, 1998. It is one of 4 churches in the district and the only Palladian building.
First Church of Christ, Scientist (Rock Island, Illinois) | Introduction
In June 2016, the Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island opened on the boardwalk to the west of MCU Park, hosting several live musical acts as well as other events. It was constructed at the location of the Childs Restaurant, which was originally constructed in 1923 and was renovated when the amphitheater was being constructed. The rooftop part of the restaurant reopened in July 2016.
Coney Island | Other attractions
A new contemporary wings houses various displays related to the history of the island. The garden behind the museum holds a monument with a statue of George Washington, first President of the United States. The base of the monument features a medallion representing Nicolas Martiau, a direct ancestor of George Washington. The monument was inaugurated on October 11, 2007, by the ambassador of the United States to France. The filiation between the two men is described on the monument:
Ernest Cognacq Museum | Introduction
Shoot the Freak was an attraction on the Riegelmann Boardwalk at Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York that operated from 2000 until its demolition in 2010. The game was located on West Boardwalk in Coney Island. The game was considered one of the distinctive attractions of Coney Island. A successor, called Shoot the Clown, opened in a different location on the Boardwalk in 2013.
Shoot the Freak | Introduction
To meet those standards, the panels for the station were rigorously tested in a laboratory in York, Pennsylvania. This makes Stillwell Avenue the first solar-powered subway station in the New York City Subway system. The solar panels were expected to last for at least 35 years, and a catwalk is located below the roof if any solar panel replacements were ever needed. As a bonus feature, a low voltage current, which is emitted from the panels, serves as a deterrent against pigeons. At the time of the panels' installation, Con Edison did not generally allow solar systems to be designed to feed energy back into its grid.
Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue station | Solar panels
Some places may even retain "island" in their names for historical reasons after being connected to a larger landmass by a land bridge or landfill, such as Coney Island and Coronado Island, though these are, strictly speaking, tied islands. Conversely, when a piece of land is separated from the mainland by a man-made canal, for example the Peloponnese by the Corinth Canal, more or less the entirety of Fennoscandia by the White Sea Canal, or Marble Hill in northern Manhattan during the time between the building of the United States Ship Canal and the filling-in of the Harlem River which surrounded the area, it is generally not considered an island.
Island | Introduction
Fort Pond Bay is a bay off Long Island Sound at Montauk, New York that was site of the first port on the end of Long Island. The bay has a long naval and civilian history.
Fort Pond Bay | Introduction
Hart Island, sometimes referred to as Hart's Island, is located at the western end of Long Island Sound, in the northeastern Bronx in New York City. Measuring approximately long by wide, Hart Island is part of the Pelham Islands archipelago, to the east of City Island. The island's first public use was as a training ground for the United States Colored Troops in 1864. Since then, Hart Island has been the location of a Union Civil War prison camp, a psychiatric institution, a tuberculosis sanatorium, a potter's field with mass burials, a homeless shelter, a boys' reformatory, a jail, and a drug rehabilitation center.
Hart Island (Bronx) | Introduction
Mary Island State Park was purchased by the New York State Fisheries, Game and Forest Commission in 1897. Along with Canoe-Picnic Point State Park, it was one of the first New York state parks established along the St. Lawrence River as part of the St. Lawrence Reservation, a recreation area within the Thousand Islands region authorized by New York State in 1896.
Mary Island State Park | History
The island is accessible only by boat.
Alger Island, New York | Introduction
Pershing Hall (building 125), a three-story brick building north of buildings 107 and 108 on the northern waterfront, served as the headquarters for the First Army when built in 1934. The waterfront contains several buildings, including building 130, the original Arsenal workshop, as well as building 134, a modern structure which hosted offices for USCG Group: Station New York. Governors Island also has several small vehicular garages of varying styles. Most of these garages were built in the 1930s and 1940s during the WPA's renovations of the island.
Governors Island | Office and storage
This is said to have been the first European-American settlement on Fire Island, though Cherry Grove also makes that claim. The settlement was originally organized in 1894 for religious retreats, some from the Chautauqua assemblies. In approximately 1898, the Chautauqua group went bankrupt, and ownership passed to the Point O' Woods Association. This group still administers it today.
Point O' Woods, New York | Location and history
At 122 feet tall, the Coney Island Elephant was approximately twice the size of Lucy the Elephant, which had pre-dated it by four years; with the exception of the designs of their respective howdahs and the numbers and relative sizes of the windows, externally it was a nearly exact scaled-up copy of Lucy. Its legs were 18 feet in diameter, with the front legs serving as a cigar store while the back legs held the entrance, a circular stairway. Construction was reported to have cost $65,000. Built two years before the Statue of Liberty, it was said to be the first artificial structure visible to immigrants arriving to the United States.
Elephantine Colossus | Size
The first permanent building at the new site was constructed in 1910. Today the Old Scripps Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1915, the first building devoted solely to an aquarium was built on the Scripps campus. The small, wooden structure contained 19 tanks ranging in size from . The oceanographic museum was located in a nearby building. The institution's name changed to Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1925 to recognize the growing faculty's widened range of studies.
Birch Aquarium | History
The building was used as a candy factory for over 50 years but was vacant and in a state of bad repair until it was converted into the Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island in 2013–2015. A considerably smaller prior Childs location in Coney Island, built in 1917 at Surf Avenue and West 12th Street and also a designated New York City landmark, survived as a Childs until 1943. Today it is owned by Coney Island USA, an arts organization.
Childs Restaurants (Riegelmann Boardwalk location) | Introduction
The sculpture is tall and weighs . The monument is alternatively known as the "Pilgrim Drinking Fountain" and the "Bridge Memorial". It marks the spot where the Passaic River and an early road converged, which became the site of the original colonial market. The "First Landing Party of the Founders of Newark" was originally located in Landing Place Park, at the foot of Saybrook Place near the Park Place station of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad.
First Landing Party of the Founders of Newark | Description and original location
Berkalew Island is an island located by Kirkwood, New York, on the Susquehanna River.
Berkalew Island | Introduction
The first inhabitants of the park area are thought to have been hunting and fishing peoples who arrived following the last glacial period approximately 10,000 years ago. Many artifacts have been found in the park, including a 2500-year-old pot that was found by a diver in 1979. Pictographs are still visible on some shoreline cliffs despite damage due to acid rain and vandals. By the early 17th century, the Iroquois people had put up large summer encampments on the riverbanks from which they fished the rich waters. Around this time they began to be visited by French explorers, fur traders, and missionaries following the St Lawrence river to seek their fortune in the new world.
Thousand Islands National Park | History
Located in the Niagara River, Grand Island is located in Erie County, New York and is a suburb of the city of Buffalo with a population of 20,374 as of the 2010 Census. It is the most populated freshwater island in the United States.
List of populated islands of the Great Lakes | Grand Island (New York)