Orchard Beach, New York

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Orchard Beach is a public beach in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. The beach is part of Pelham Bay Park and is situated on the western end of Long Island Sound. It is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. It is most recognized for its unique crescent shape, and beautiful view of City Island, Bronx.

[edit] History

While surrounded by acres of natural forest, marshlands and coastline, the beach is actually man-made. It was the renown urban planner Robert Moses who came up with the concept and planning for its construction. The process involved filling in approximately one third of Pelham Bay with landfill, followed by a total of 1.2 million cubic yards of sand , brought by barge from Sandy Hook, New Jersey and the Rockaways in Queens. The landfill was put between Rodman's Neck, Twin Island and Hunters Island; the latter two are no longer islands since being connected to the mainland Bronx by the landfill.