Fair Harbor, New York

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Corliss on the Bay at the bayfront in Fair Harbor.
Corliss on the Bay at the bayfront in Fair Harbor.

Fair Harbor is a community in Fire Island. It is located in the Town of Islip on Long Island, New York, to which it pays taxes. Although it is not an incorporated village, most of its residents think of Fair Harbor as an independent town. Fair Harbor has its own volunteer fire department, and is under the police jurisdiction of Suffolk County Marine Bureau. Fair Harbor, like all Fire Island communities, is mostly a summer community. There are only a handful of families who live there year-round. Children attend the Fire Island School District in Corneille Estates until grade 6, at which point they are bussed to Long Island for grades 7-12, usually to Bay Shore Middle School and High School, or to one of the many private and parochial schools on the mainland. There are two communities to the east, which beyond sharing the fire district, are closely related to Fair Harbor. They are Dunewood and Lonelyville.

Saltaire, is the Incorporated Village immediately west of Fair Harbor.

Tourism: Fair Harbor, like its neighbor Saltaire, is a very quiet, family-centered community. It is not a party town like Ocean Beach. Most residents have had homes there for generations and take pride in their rustic beach-shack ambience that is a true escape from the outside world. It's all about lounging on the beach or strolling along the serene boardwalks. There is only one local grocery store, one hardware store, one liquor store and one restaurant on the bay side of Fair Harbor. All are operated only seasonally, so in the late fall and all winter the place is pretty much boarded up. Prices are generally expensive since everything must be brought over from the mainland by boat. By mid spring the communty starts coming alive again as the resident start trikling back and "open up". Fair Harbor is not really a tourist destination, so if you visit be prepared for little to do and to be very quiet. If you want to party at night you must walk eastward to Ocean Beach, or just to have dinner you can walk west to Kismet where there are two restaurants. Like the rest of Fire Island there are no cars, so walk or bike you must!


[edit] Geography

Fair Harbor is located on the western part of Fire Island between the Great South Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.


[edit] Medical Care

During the summer months a Physician is available for "office visits" from 11 am till Noon, and 5PM till 6 p.m., seven days a week. A different physician is there almost every week with an occasional physician being there for two weeks or longer, but this is the exception. Emergency medical services are available thru the local fire department with back up from the Coast Guard as needed.

[edit] External links



Coordinates: 40°38′21″N, 73°11′03″W