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76-413: It forms the eastern border of Fire Island and the western border of West Hampton Island – a barrier island on which West Hampton Dunes is located. The inlet was present on Fire Island until it closed up during the 1800s. The inlet which split West Hampton from Fire Island was reformed by a Nor'easter in 1931. The 1931 storm created a geographic quirk for the western tip of West Hampton Island, which

152-625: A deed in 1789. Historian Richard Bayles suggests that the name derives from a misinterpretation or corruption of the Dutch word vijf ("five"), or in another version vier ("four"), referring to the number of islands near the Fire Island inlet, a view echoed by Robert Caro , who suggests in The Power Broker that the island was named to reflect four inlets that have since disappeared. At times histories have referred to it in

228-573: A dollar a front foot. Buildings from the newly deactivated Camp Upton in Yaphank , were ported over to form the core of the new colony. A post office was established in 1922 at the site of where "Tides" (formerly "The Monster") is today; the first boardwalks were built in 1929. In 1930, Duffy's Hotel replaced the original hotel and was the only place with electricity and a phone. The 1938 Long Island Express Hurricane destroyed much of Cherry Grove and discouraged mainlanders from coming. In their stead,

304-541: A group of singing followers. Truman Capote stayed at the Carrington House, just east of Cherry Grove, where in 1957, he completed his groundbreaking novella, Breakfast at Tiffany's . The hamlet's major hotel and lounge in the 1950s was Duffy's, which burned on September 27, 1956, and was replaced by the Ice Palace Hotel. John Eberhardt, a developer who died in 2014, was credited for building

380-399: A handful of destinations comfortably removed from a homophobic America." Only 60 miles from New York City, it was isolated because of its location off Long Island that required access by a ferry or, at the time, seaplane . The gay aura of the town supposedly arose when Christopher Isherwood and W. H. Auden arrived dressed as Dionysus and Ganymede , carried aloft on a gilded litter by

456-625: A miniaturized city. For year-round residents, there are schools, churches, shops and even a school bus service to the mainland of Long Island via an off-road modified school bus. The quiet villages on Fire Island provide solitude, while the larger towns provide a more social atmosphere with clubs, bars and open air dining. Two of these, Fire Island Pines and Cherry Grove , are destinations for LGBT vacationers. The incorporated villages of Ocean Beach and Saltaire within Fire Island National Seashore are car-free during

532-815: A myth that the islands were occupied by "thirteen tribes" "neatly divided into thirteen tribal units, beginning with the Canarsie who lived in present-day Brooklyn and ending with the Montauk on the far eastern end of the island." But modern ethnographic research indicates that before the European invasion, Long Island and Fire Island were occupied by "indigenous groups [...] organized into village systems with varying levels of social complexity. They lived in small communities that were connected in an intricate web of kinship relations [...] there were probably no native peoples living in tribal systems on Long Island until after

608-492: A number of ferries , which run across the bay from Patchogue , Bay Shore , and Sayville , to more than 10 points on the island. The island is accessible by automobile near each end: via Robert Moses Causeway on its western end, and by William Floyd Parkway ( Suffolk County Road 46 ) near its eastern end. Motor vehicles are not permitted on the rest of the island, except for utility, construction and emergency access and with limited beach-driving permits in winter. Fire Island

684-704: A result of their contact with the English settlers." "An early example of [European] intervention into Native American political institutions is a 1664 agreement wherein the East Hampton and Southampton officials appointed a sunk squaw named Quashawam to govern both the Shinnecock and the Montauk." When New York's artistic bohème began frequenting Fire Island during the Jazz Age , Ocean Beach became

760-554: A year-round population of 15. Cherry Grove, along with nearby Fire Island Pines , is considered one of the most popular lesbian, gay, bisexual , and transgender ( LGBT )–accepting resort communities in the United States. Cherry Grove dates its modern history to the 1868 purchase by Archer and Elizabeth Perkinson. They bought the land between Lone Hill (now Fire Island Pines) and the Cherry Grove Hotel from

836-435: Is 9.6 square miles (24.9 km ). Fire Island is part of Suffolk County . It lies within the towns of Babylon , Islip , and Brookhaven , containing two villages and several hamlets . All parts of the island not within village limits are part of the Fire Island census-designated place (CDP), which had a permanent population of 777 at the 2020 census , though that expands to thousands of residents and tourists during

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912-531: Is due to the unique nature of Cherry Grove. There are no roads, only 6-foot wide boardwalks that change with the island's topography, and a typical fire engine would exceed the boardwalk's weight rating. If a fire or emergency is spotted, one should call 911. A fire siren is activated, which along with pagers, alerts the members to respond. CGFD is a Basic Life Support First Response (BLSFR) agency, and as such has New York state certified emergency medical technicians that operate in conjunction with Cherry Grove EMS and

988-522: Is how portions of the island look to be on fire from sea in autumn. Yet another version says it comes from the rash caused by poison ivy on the island. While the western portion of the island was referred to as Fire Island for many years, the eastern portion was referred to as Great South Beach until 1920, when widespread development caused the whole land mass to be called Fire Island. Indigenous Native Americans lived on Long Island and Fire Island for many centuries before Europeans arrived. There exists

1064-636: Is in the Town of Brookhaven : in order to access the western end of the island via land from Brookhaven, one must travel several miles through the Town of Southampton . Between 1933 and 1938 Moriches Inlet widened to 4,000 feet (1,200 m) wide and deepened with sand being deposited on both the bay and ocean. The widening subsided in 1938 when the Great Hurricane of 1938 opened up the Shinnecock Inlet further east between Shinnecock Bay and

1140-629: Is located at 40°39′35″ north, 73°5′23″ west ( 40°39′11″N 73°07′34″W  /  40.653°N 73.126°W  / 40.653; -73.126 ). According to the United States Census Bureau , it has a land area of 9.6 square miles (24.9 km ). In 1834, Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler , a Swiss-American surveyor , measured at Fire Island the first baseline of the Survey of the Coast , shortly before Louis Puissant declared to

1216-886: Is the beach and the surrounding protected portions of the Fire Island National Seashore . Clothing-optional sunbathing is common at the beach. The hamlet's easternmost dunes have been nicknamed the "Meat Rack". The legal name of that area is the Carrington Tract, where Truman Capote famously completed Breakfast at Tiffany's . There are at least six restaurants that operate within Cherry Grove, varying from pizza and breakfast to seafood and fine-dining. Also, there are at least four entertainment venues hosting plays, art shows, dancing, underwear parties, drag shows , and various community events. As of 2005, there were five bars, but one closed during

1292-657: The Homecoming Queen show over Memorial Day weekend, and the Miss Fire Island the longest running contest the weekend of, or after, Labor Day. The ecosystem of Cherry Grove is primarily pine barrens ; however, there are several microclines and ecological niches . Deer are common and quite tame on Fire Island. As noted, some residents consider deer to be a nuisance, while others enjoy seeing wildlife close to their summer homes. Raccoons, foxes, squirrels, and many species of birds can be seen throughout

1368-843: The Cherry Grove Community House and Theatre was listed on the National Register of Historic Places , one of only a few sites so far listed for their role in American LGBT history. A "pop-up" urgent care center opened in 2014, which is part of Northwell Health ; a golf cart for emergency medical services was also purchased for the Grove, for the new 24/7 paramedic services. Local residents "raised about $ 90,000 from donors to hire locally based paramedics, which have responded to more than 30 calls since May as of mid-August and will remain staffed through

1444-654: The French Academy of Sciences in 1836 that Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre and Pierre Méchain had made errors in the meridian arc measurement , which had been used to determine the length of the metre. The island's physical attributes have changed over time, and continue to change. At one point it stretched more than 60 miles (97 km) from Jones Beach Island to Southampton . Around 1683, Fire Island Inlet broke through, separating it from Jones Beach Island. The Fire Island Inlet grew to 9 miles (14 km) in width before receding. The Fire Island Lighthouse

1520-528: The Great Hurricane of 1938 devastated the island, the middle class moved to Saltaire, while the gay community settled in Cherry Grove. Both Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines were established gay enclaves by the 1950s, connected by a notorious cruising area nicknamed the Meat Rack. The party-filled culture of the pre- HIV/AIDS 1970s is portrayed in Andrew Holleran 's 1978 novel Dancer from

1596-591: The Great South Bay to provide necessary assistance. Fire Island's corps of off-road-capable fire apparatus and the firefighters' training to use them effectively provide much-needed support in the event of a wildfire , as was illustrated in the Long Island Central Pine Barrens fires of 1995. Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center, Southside Hospital, and Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center are located directly across

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1672-617: The National Park Service is stationed at the Fire Island Light and Fire Island National Seashore . The United States Coast Guard has a base on Fire Island and provides aerial and nautical patrols to the Fire Island National Seashore as well as all beaches in the area. One of the oldest Coast Guard stations in America, Station No. 25 has been in uninterrupted operation since 1849. School districts that cover

1748-535: The Quiripi of western Connecticut. The information on the Shinnecock was too sparse for any determination [...] The most common pattern of indigenous life on Long Island prior to the intervention of the whites was the autonomous village linked by kinship to its neighbors." "Most of the 'tribal' names with which we are now familiar do not appear to have been recognized by either the first European observers or by

1824-582: The Sayville, New York , post office, reachable from the ferry. The ZIP Code is 11782. Despite the small size of the hamlet, at about 41 acres, the community is further divided into three or four neighborhoods, from west to east: Cherry Grove is accessible via two major walks (Bayview and Lewis), which are generally parallel to the beach, and sixteen minor walks (Ivy, Sumner, Maryland, Aeon, Gerard, Greene, Duryea, Doctors, Main, Ocean, Holly, Surf, Beach, Sea, East, and West), which are generally perpendicular to

1900-445: The longshore drift of sand going from east to west and are blamed for erosion of the Fire Island beachfront. Between these major breaks there have been reports over the years of at least six inlets that broke through the island but have since disappeared. Except for the western 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (7.2 km) of the island, the island is protected as part of Fire Island National Seashore . Robert Moses State Park , occupying

1976-431: The 1980s. The Corps, in turn, ran into controversy with claims that the groynes and jetties were blocking the natural east to west longshore drift that replenished sand. The inlet and groynes were to be blamed for a loss of 8–10 million cubic yards of sand on Fire Island, representing a loss of 100 feet (30 m) of beach and a depth of 12–16 feet along the entire 32-mile (51 km) Fire Island beach zone. The inlet

2052-583: The 3rd, 1st or 5th precinct, or to one of the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office jails. Small claims and property matters are usually handled by the individual village of case origin. It is common practice for police to write tickets then send unruly visitors off the island via water taxi , at the offender's expense. The Suffolk County Park Police and New York State Park Police patrol the Robert Moses State Park , while

2128-593: The Belvedere Hotel and many other properties in the hamlet, from 1956 to the 1970s. In early May 1959, James Baldwin visited Cherry Grove, staying in the Grove Hotel, where he wrote part of his intersectional Novel, Another Country . The Grove is home to three massive homes: Cielo E Mar (an aria from the 1876 opera La Gioconda which translates to "Sky and Sea"), the Belvedere, and Bottom of

2204-521: The Dance . The Botel (today the Grove Hotel) was gay-friendly and ran popular afternoon "tea dances" . Cherry Grove calls itself "America's First Gay and Lesbian Town". Fire Island has "an iconic gay scene" and the Grove Hotel is New York State's only hotel that prohibits those under 21 on the premises; this is legal because the hotel's entrance is through a bar. A 2009 beach renourishment program

2280-547: The Dutch and English remedied this situation by pressing cooperative local sachems to establish a more structured political base in their communities and to define their communities as "tribes" with specific boundaries [...] The Montauk, under the leadership of Wyandanch in the mid-seventeenth century, and the Matinnecock , under the sachems Suscaneman and Tackapousha , do appear to have developed rather tenuous coalitions as

2356-524: The European concept of property, had to be signed by identifiable owners with authority to sell and have specific boundaries on a map. The relatively amorphous leadership structure of the Long Island communities, the imprecise delineation of hunting ground boundaries, and their view of the land as a living entity to be used rather than owned made conventional European real estate deals nearly impossible to negotiate. The surviving primary records suggest that

Moriches Inlet - Misplaced Pages Continue

2432-607: The Europeans arrived. [...] The communities appear to have been divided into two general culture areas that overlapped in the area known today as the Hempstead Plains [...]. The western groups spoke the Delaware - Munsee dialect of Algonquian and shared cultural characteristics such as the longhouse system of social organization with their brethren in what is now New Jersey and Delaware. The linguistic affiliation of

2508-585: The Fire Island National Seashore Jurisdiction, from west to east: Fire Island's population varies seasonally. There are few residents in winter months, with the population rising in the late spring to early fall. Housing is mostly stick-built bungalow -style with generous helpings of bamboo . Some are beachfront, built on the dunes of the Atlantic Ocean, while others are on boardwalks or concrete walks, like

2584-683: The Garden. While the Grove has its charms, several residents in 2005 expressed concerns about the lack of any services and population in the winter, the high cost of food and beverages, some "disrespectful visitors who come to party ... 'Day trippers'" (especially on the 4th of July), over-regulation of zoning by the town of Brookhaven, and a large population of voracious deer who eat up both beach grass and private gardens. A new generation of entertainers and socialites call Cherry Grove their summer home, including Hedda Lettuce , Michael Musto , Panzi , and Wanda Sykes and her wife and children. In 2013,

2660-686: The Great Recession of the late 2000s. Civic activities in the Grove include charity events and an Awards Night, during which votes are taken and titles bestowed upon residents and local businesses. The Arts Project of Cherry Grove hosts a flea market, drag shows, and a gala dinner and dance in late September. There is a sense of civic virtue in The Grove; people volunteer at CGFD, the Cherry Grove Community Association, on environmental projects, and even painting

2736-649: The Great South Bay from Fire Island in the Long Island hamlets of West Islip , Bay Shore , and East Patchogue , respectively. A heliport for medevac helicopter use is adjacent to Good Samaritan Hospital. Specially equipped boats provided by the Suffolk County Police Department Marine Bureau docked at the various communities on Fire Island provide emergency transportation to individuals in need of dire medical care. In many cases, Long Island based ambulances will meet

2812-503: The Great South Bay from Fire Island in the Long Island hamlets of West Islip , Bay Shore , and the village of Patchogue , respectively. A heliport for medevac helicopter use is adjacent to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center. Specially equipped boats provided by the Suffolk County Police Department Marine Bureau docked at the various communities on Fire Island provide emergency transportation to individuals in need of dire medical care. In many cases, Long Island based ambulances will meet

2888-649: The Suffolk County Police Department's marine bureau officers, to mitigate medical emergencies and patient transport. CGFD receives assistance from both neighboring Fire Island fire departments as well as mainland departments via ferry or fire boat (such as Sayville Fire Department) in case of large fires, as happened in March 2015 when a fire destroyed several commercial properties in the business district. Northwell Health operates two urgent care facilities on Fire Island (one in Cherry Grove and

2964-498: The U.S. state of New York . Occasionally, the name is used to refer collectively to not only the central island, but also Long Beach Barrier Island , Jones Beach Island , and Westhampton Island , since the straits that separate these islands are ephemeral . In 2012, Hurricane Sandy once again divided Fire Island into two islands. Together, these two islands are about 31 miles (50 km) long and vary between 520 and 1,310 feet (160 and 400 m) wide. The land area of Fire Island

3040-467: The beach, and shaping the sand into an approved beach face and dune template in front of the communities of Corneille Estates, Davis Park, Dunewood, Fair Harbor, Fire Island Pines , Fire Island Summer Club, Lonelyville, Ocean Bay Park, Ocean Beach , Saltaire , and Seaview. Fire Islanders agreed to a significant property tax increase to help pay for the project, which was estimated to cost between $ 23 and $ 25 million ($ 6,020 per housing unit), including

3116-640: The beach. South Walk (not shown in the map at right) is parallel to the beach and extends between Surf and Beach Walks. The Community House, located near the intersection of Holly and Bayview Walks, provides a wide variety of public services to the Grove. Generally speaking, gay couples and activities are the norm. In 2013, the Cherry Grove Community House and Theatre was named to the National Register of Historic Places for "the enormous role it played in shaping what gradually evolved into America's First Gay and Lesbian Town." The main outdoor attraction

Moriches Inlet - Misplaced Pages Continue

3192-535: The blaze, in this, "one of the most popular LGBTQ destinations." According to its social media accounts, the Ice Palace, a famous nightclub, "had negligible damage", but was not destroyed along with the hotel. The hotel has since been rebuilt. The entire community has a single seasonal post office, on Bayview Walk near the main dock, open from about May 1 to October 12 , which is a popular place to congregate. Full services, such as money orders , are available at

3268-612: The boats once they cross the Bay (roughly 4.5 miles) and then drive individuals the short distance to one of the three hospitals. Also, one emergency access road connects Long Island (West Islip) to Fire Island (Kismet). However, the road ends there and does not extend the full length of the island into the other communities. The Suffolk County Police Department Marine Bureau is the primary law enforcement agency. Ocean Beach also has its own dedicated police department. Criminal proceedings are handled by Suffolk District Court, and arrestees go to

3344-538: The breach and let nature take its course, as it has been flushing out the Great South Bay and improving water quality. But residents of the bayfront communities noted increased flooding after the storm. This was later found to be the result of several nor'easters and unrelated to the breaches. As of 2018, the breach remained open. Officials have moved to close the other two breaches, which are on either side of Moriches Inlet —one in Cupsogue County Park and

3420-411: The coast of Fire Island. The fare and schedule for the taxi service varies by season. The Cherry Grove Fire Department (CGFD) is an all-volunteer department that has an Insurance Services Office (ISO) class 3 rating. Adjacent each of the community's 18 fire hydrants are hose sheds containing firefighting hose, hydrant adapters, and appliances that would be needed by the members to suppress a fire; this

3496-500: The cost of environmental monitoring, and was expected to add 1,400,000 cubic meters (1,800,000 cubic yards) of sand in front of the participating communities. The Towns of Brookhaven and Islip, in which the communities are located, issued bonds to pay for the project, backed by the new taxes levied by community Erosion Control Taxing Districts. The island was heavily damaged by the high tides associated with Hurricane Sandy in 2012, including three breaches around Smith Point County Park on

3572-570: The cottages and beach are only accessible using a series of wooden boardwalks. Cherry Grove can be accessed via the Sayville Ferry Service departing from Sayville, New York , across the Great South Bay. The Long Island Rail Road connects Sayville to New York City. Passengers connecting between the Sayville station and the Sayville Ferry service can pay for a shuttle van or taxi ride, or may walk or ride their bicycle

3648-569: The dune replenishment program with helping to spare the island. Fire Island lies on average 3.9 miles (6.2 km) off the South Shore of Long Island, but nearly touches it along the East End . It is separated from Long Island by the Great South Bay , which spans interconnected bays along Long Island: Patchogue Bay , Bellport Bay , Narrow Bay , and Moriches Bay . The island and its resort communities are accessible by boat, seaplane, and

3724-474: The eastern groups is less well understood [...] Goddard [...] concluded that the languages here are related to the southern New England Algonquian dialects, but he could only speculate on the nature of these relationships [...]. Working with a few brief vocabulary lists of Montauk and Unquachog , he suggested that the Montauk might be related to Mohegan-Pequot and the Unquachog might possibly be grouped with

3800-660: The edges of the boardwalks. A big event on the Cherry Grove social calendar is the Fourth of July weekend " Invasion of the Pines ", which dates back to July 4, 1976 , when a resident of the Grove showed up wearing drag in Fire Island Pines and was refused service. In the 1970s, the Pines was a more-conservative, more-heterosexual community than the Grove. There are two annual drag show contests in Cherry Grove:

3876-440: The end of September, when bustling crowds thin out at the beach." In the early morning hours of March 27, 2015, an epic fire of historic proportions "destroyed" the Grove Hotel, Holly House, and two residential homes nearby; 23 fire companies responded from Fire Island and the south shore of Long Island and three firefighters were injured. The fire "engulfed" the surrounding properties, but the fire departments were able to put out

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3952-401: The gay community that already frequented the island settled there moving from Ocean Beach, with figures such as Antoine de Paris and W. H. Auden leading the way. In the 1950s, Cherry Grove was already known as a "safe haven" one of three that included Provincetown, Massachusetts , and Key West , where they "could only fleetingly enjoy a carefree, 24-hour-a-day queer life by running off to

4028-571: The island had numerous summer celebrity residents. Fire Island's unique location and constantly changing geography play a major role in the protection of its citizens. Although it is served by ten fire departments and two police departments, the seasonal residency and remote driving distance are a challenge to the public safety community. Because there are no roads on inhabited Fire Island, fire department vehicles are heavily modified four-wheel drive with suspension lifts , large diameter off-road tires and recovery equipment, which allow them to traverse

4104-436: The island include: Cherry Grove, New York Cherry Grove (often referred to locally as the Grove ) is a hamlet in the Town of Brookhaven , Suffolk County , New York, United States. It is located on Fire Island , a barrier island separated from the southern side of Long Island by the Great South Bay . The hamlet has approximately 300 houses on 41 acres (17 ha), a summer seasonal population of 2,000 and

4180-427: The locale's first gay village . Tensions between the gay (often famous) tourists and locals peaked when Antoine de Paris built an outhouse , complete with a revealing saloon door, on his land across the street from a Catholic church. Villagers arranged a provocation by sending a teenage boy to "seduce" one of Antoine's guests, and after catching the guest in flagrante , they burned down Antoine's property. After

4256-579: The mile and a half distance. People driving cars may park in large, gravel parking lots across the street from the ferry dock. Visitors arriving by car may park at the Robert Moses State Park "Field Five" parking lot. After reaching the Fire Island Lighthouse, the Fire Island Water Taxi will ferry paying customers to the Grove. A water taxi provides short-distance transportation for those moving from place to place along

4332-583: The ocean to the bay for 25 cents per acre and named the area for the black-cherry trees in the area. The Perkinsons opened a hotel in 1880. According to local legend Oscar Wilde stayed at the Perkinson Hotel. In 1921, the Perkinson family sold all the land east of Duryea Walk to Lone Hill, and then divided what was left into 109 building lots. A lot 50 × 80 feet (24 m) could be purchased for $ 250 or less, and ocean-front lots cost no more than

4408-403: The ocean. In an attempt to stabilize the deterioration of the barrier island, local authorities built groynes on the inlet between 1952 and 1953. Local authorities have consistently urged for the inlet to be kept open to allow boats from the mainland of Long Island to have access to the ocean. The United States Army Corps of Engineers took over the maintenance of the inlets and jetties in

4484-450: The original inhabitants until the process of land purchases began after the first settlements were established. We simply do not know what these people called themselves, but all the ethnographic data on North American Indian cultures suggest that they identified themselves in terms of lineage and clan membership. [...] The English and Dutch were frustrated by this lack of structure because it made land purchase so difficult. Deeds, according to

4560-513: The other in Smith Point County Park. Reports indicated that 80 percent of the homes, particularly those on the east end, were flooded, and 90 homes were completely destroyed. The storm also tore away about 75 feet of the dune coastline. But Fire Island was not hit as hard as other areas, with most of the 4,500 homes on the island surviving even if damaged, and significant home reconstruction has taken place. Officials credited

4636-546: The other in nearby Ocean Beach ). These centers operate during the summer from Memorial Day through Labor Day, and are open for walk-in patient visits seven days a week from 9 to 11 a.m. and 4 to 6 pm. If patients require medical treatment outside of those hours, the Immediate Care Center's physician can be reached on call by contacting local police. Good Samaritan Hospital, South Shore University Hospital, and Long Island Community Hospital are located across

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4712-420: The plural, as "Fire Islands", because of the inlet breaks. Other versions say the island derived its name from fires built on the sea's edge by Native Americans or by pirates to lure unsuspecting ships into the sandbars. Another version says that coastal guards, looking out for ships during WW2, lit fires as a signal when they ran out of supplies so that they could get more delivered from the mainland. Some say it

4788-406: The population. There were 138 households on Fire Island, out of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.6% were married couples living together, 2.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.2% were non-families. 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

4864-590: The remaining western portion of the island, is one of the popular recreational destinations in the New York City area. The Fire Island Light stands just east of Robert Moses State Park. A memorial to TWA 800 , dedicated in June 2002, is on the eastern end, at Smith Point County Park , near where the airplane crashed at sea. Towns are listed below from west to east, communities within each town are listed alphabetically. The following are associated islands in

4940-483: The sometimes washed-out, loose sand. Until 1986, there was no ambulance service on Fire Island, prompting the village of Saltaire to form its rescue company, later followed by Ocean Beach, and then in the 2000s with Fair Harbor . Due to relatively close distances, fire departments on Fire Island are obliged to provide mutual aid to neighboring communities. Some coastal fire departments on Long Island have fully equipped marine rescue and fireboat units which can cross

5016-578: The sparsely populated eastern end of the island. The biggest breach, and politically the most difficult one to deal with because it is in a wilderness area, is at Old Inlet in the Otis Pike Wilderness Area just west of Smith Point County Park . Old Inlet is at the site of previous breaches (which have come and gone on their own) and was 108 feet (33 meters) wide after the storm on the south end and 1,171 feet (357 meters) on February 28, 2013. Officials have been debating whether to close

5092-530: 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. In 1992 Diane Ketcham of The New York Times noted that due to the lack of retail, entertainment, and television options, especially in

5168-429: The summer. Cherry Grove is named for the many wild cherry trees that bloom each June in the area. Cherry Grove is only accessible by water with most residents and visitors using a passenger ferry or private water taxi. A small marina is also available. There are no private vehicles in this part of Fire Island, although police and service vehicles are seen on the beach from time to time. The Grove has no paved roads and

5244-498: The summer. The neighborhoods of Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines are known as gay-friendly tourist destinations. The origin of Fire Island's name is uncertain. It is believed its Native American name was Sictem Hackey ("Land of the Secatogues"). The Secatogues were a tribe in the area of the current town of Islip . It was part of what was also called the "Seal Islands". The name of Fire Island first appeared on

5320-528: The winter, area children often felt bored and therefore felt excited to attend school. As of the 2000 United States Census , 491 people, 138 households, and 77 families resided on Fire Island. The population density was 52.82/mi (21.82/km ). There were 4,153 housing units, at an average density of 478.1/mi (184.6/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 96.77% White , 0.65% Asian , 0.32% Pacific Islander , 0.65% from other races , and 1.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.90% of

5396-461: Was $ 73,281, and the median income for a family was $ 83,672. Males had a median income of $ 46,875 versus $ 41,429 for females. The per capita income for Fire Island was $ 43,681. 0.0% of families and 3.1% of individuals were below the poverty line, including 0.0% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over. After the Manhattan theater community began staying on Fire Island during the 1920s,

5472-417: Was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.90. Fire Island's population was spread out, with 20.6% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 33.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 133.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 143.6 males. The median income for a household on Fire Island

5548-468: Was built in 1858, right on the inlet, but Fire Island's western terminus at Democrat Point has steadily moved west so that the lighthouse today is 6 miles (10 km) from the inlet. Fire Island separated from Southampton in a 1931 Nor'easter when Moriches Inlet broke through. The inlet widened on September 21, 1938. Moriches Inlet and efforts by local communities east of Fire Island to protect their beachfront with jetties have led to an interruption in

5624-466: Was credited with saving the island from the full effects of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. In the winter and spring of 2009, a beach renourishment project was undertaken on Fire Island, with the cooperation of the National Park Service , the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , the Towns of Brookhaven and Islip, and Fire Island residents. The program involved dredging sand from an offshore borrow area, pumping it onto

5700-488: Was shifted to Shinnecock Inlet (18 miles (29 km) to the northeast of the debris field) on July 18, due to the latter inlet's wider, calmer waters. 40°45′52″N 72°45′15″W  /  40.76447°N 72.754233°W  / 40.76447; -72.754233 Fire Island, New York Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the South Shore of Long Island in

5776-585: Was the initial primary water access route for recovery ships following the July 17, 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 , which broke up in flight and crashed into the ocean about 8 miles (13 km) from the inlet; throughout the night of July 17–18, boats carrying human remains and aircraft debris passed from the debris field through Moriches Inlet to the East Moriches United States Coast Guard station, before recovery-vessel traffic

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