Fire Island, New York

Coordinates: 40°39′11″N 73°7′33″W / 40.65306, -73.12583
Fire Island, New York
Fire Island
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Suffolk
Area
- CDP	sq mi (km²)
- Land	sq mi ( km²)
- Water	sq mi ( km²)
Elevation	ft ( m)
Population (2000)
- CDP
- Density	/sq mi (/km²)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	11770
Area code(s)	631
FIPS code	36-25839
GNIS feature ID	1852899

This article is about the Fire Island in New York. For other places with the same name, see Fire Island (disambiguation).

Fire Island is a barrier island, approximately 31 miles (49.5 km) long and varying between approximately 0.1 mile (0.16 km) to 0.5 mile (0.8 km) wide, in Suffolk County on the southern side of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York, running approximately WSW to ENE. The land area is 48 km² (18.7 sq mi) and a permanent population of 491 persons was reported as of the 2000 census. (There are many thousands of seasonal residents.)

Geography

Fire Island is separated from Long Island by the Great South Bay, a natural lagoon formed by the island, varying between 5 1/2 miles (8.9 km) wide toward the western end of the island to just a few hundred yards (meters) wide near the eastern end. A small portion of the island is accessible by automobile from Long Island by the Robert Moses Causeway on its western end and by William Floyd Parkway (Suffolk County Road 46) near its eastern end. The island and its resort towns are mainly accessible by the numerous ferries that traverse Great South Bay or by private watercraft.

Landmarks and preserves

Except for the western 4 1/2 miles (7.5 km) of the island, the island is protected as part of Fire Island National Seashore. Robert Moses State Park, occupying the remaining western portion of the island, is one of the popular recreational destinations in the New York City area. The Fire Island Lighthouse is a visible landmark just east of Robert Moses State Park.

A memorial to TWA800 is located on the island.

Inhabitants

The incorporated villages of Ocean Beach and Saltaire within Fire Island National Seashore are carfree during the summer tourist season (Memorial Day through Labor Day) and permit only pedestrian and bicycle traffic (during certain hours only in Ocean Beach). For off-season use, there are a limited number of driving permits for year-round residents and contractors. The hamlet of Davis Park allows no vehicles or bicycles year round. Fire Island also contains a number of unincorporated villages (hamlets). Two of these hamlets, known as the Fire Island Pines and Cherry Grove, have a reputation as being popular destinations for gay and lesbian vacationers.

View of western Fire Island from the top of Fire Island Lighthouse

Beach erosion largely due to construction of jetties at the Moriches Inlet, opened naturally by a storm in 1931 and widened by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1938, is described in a report on the geological effects of the Hurricane of 1938.

The avant-garde American poet Frank O'Hara was struck and injured by a beach buggy on the early morning of July 24, 1966, and died the following day.

In popular culture

When Ocean Meets Sky ^[1] (2003), a documentary detailing the 50-year history of the Fire Island Pines community, had its television premiere on June 10, 2006. Frank Perry's Last Summer (1969), about a summer of sexual discovery on Fire Island, brought an Oscar nomination for actress Catherine Burns. Garbo Talks (1984) has scenes of the Fire Island ferry. Longtime Companion (1990) is a drama that re-creates chronologically the spread of AIDS during the 1980s. Returning Mickey Stern (2003) was shot almost entirely in Seaview and Ocean Beach; the entire cast and crew were housed on Fire Island. The mockumentary Beach Comber ^[2] was filmed on Fire Island in 2004.ABC's reality show One Ocean View (2006) was shot on Fire Island. Fire Island is also the setting of Terrence McNally's play Lips Together, Teeth Apart. The 1977 Judas Priest song Raw Deal has the line "A couple cards played rough stuff, New York, fire island". The Post Office scene in Men in Black II was shot in the Fire Island Light house.

Famous summer residents

After the Manhattan theater community began staying on Fire Island during the 1920s, the island had numerous summer celebrity residents.

Louis Alter, songwriter ("Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans")
Anne Bancroft, actress
Gary Beach, Tony award winning actor.^[3]
Ann Brashares, author whose book, The Last Summer {of You and Me), takes place on Fire Island
Mel Brooks, actor, writer, director
Robert John Burke, Robocop 3
Truman Capote, author
Liz Claiborne, fashion designer
Claudette Colbert, actress
Mart Crowley, playwright
Adam Curry, The Podfather
David Duchovny, actor
Peggy Fears, Broadway performer
Peter Greenberg, TV travel authority
Rex Harrison, actor
Ethan Hawke, actor, novelist
Nat Hentoff, columnist, jazz critic
France Joli, whose career was catapulted after her performance at the 1979 oceanfront party when she was 16 years old
Harvey Keitel, actor
Paul Krassner, author, editor
Carson Kressley, TV fashion authority
Harding Lemay, playwright and soap opera head writer, who scripted Another World on Fire Island
Will Leitch, author
Mary Martin, Broadway performer
Joe Namath, football player
Kevin Nash, professional wrestler
Pola Negri, silent film actress
Frank O'Hara, poet, playwright
Tony Randall, actor
John C. Reilly, actor
Carl Reiner, actor
Tony Roberts, actor
Ally Sheedy, actress
Tedi Thurman, Miss Monitor
Uma Thurman, actress
Stanley Tucci, actor
Jeffrey Zeldman, web guru

Communities and locations

Communities

Atlantique – A hamlet in the western part of the island.
Bayberry Dunes – A former hamlet in the center part of the island. Removed by the National Park Service; partially converted into housing for Park Service Personnel at the Watch Hill facility.
Cherry Grove– A hamlet in the central part of the island popular with lesbians and gay men.
Corneille Estates
Davis Park/Ocean Ridge/Leja Beach – A hamlet in the center part of the island. Since the removal of Bayberry Dunes and other communities by the National Park Service, the easternmost reidential community on the island.
Dunewood – A hamlet in the western part of the island that is very family oriented.
Fair Harbor – A hamlet in the western part of the island.
Fire Island Pines – A hamlet in the center part of the island; a popular vacation spot for gay men.
Kismet – A hamlet in the western part of the island.
Lonelyville – A small town in the western part of the island east of Dunewood.
Long Cove – A former hamlet in the eastern part of the island. Removed by the National Park Service.
Ocean Bay Park – A hamlet in the western part of the island.
Ocean Beach – The village of Ocean Beach.
Point O' Woods – A hamlet in the western part of the island.
Robbins Rest – A hamlet in the western part of the island.
Saltaire – The village of Saltaire west of Fair Harbor.
Seaview – A hamlet in the western part of the island.
Watch Hill – A National Park Service facility in the central part of the island, includin a public marina, camp ground visiotor center and nature trail.
Water Island – A hamlet in the central part of the island.

Other small islands around Fire Island

West Fire Island – A small island with only about five houses
East Fire Island – Another longer and larger island next to West Fire Island, this island, unlike West Fire Island, is uninhabited. People are allowed, although there is no tour, so the only way to get there is on your own boat.

Parks

Fire Island National Seashore
Robert Moses State Park – A state park on the western end of the island.
Smith Point County Park – A county park near the eastern end of the island.

Inlets

Fire Island Inlet – The gap between the west end of Fire Island and Jones Beach Island, allowing watercraft to enter the Atlantic Ocean from the Great South Bay.
Moriches Inlet – An inlet at the eastern end of the island.

Other locations

Clam Pond – A small cove in Saltaire and Fair Harbor

Map

Coordinates: 40.647° N 73.146° W

References

External links

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