Fire Island is one of the outer barrier islands adjacent to the south shore of Long Island, New York. It is approximately 50 kilometers (31 mi) long and varies between 160 and 400 meters (520 and 1,300 ft) broad. Fire Island is part of Suffolk County. It comprises a number of hamlets, census-designated places (CDPs), and villages, all of which lie within the towns of Islip, Brookhaven and Babylon.
The land area of Fire Island is 22.5 square kilometers (8.7 sq mi). According to the 2000 census there is a permanent population of 491, expanding to hundreds of thousands of residents and tourists during the summer months.
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Fire Island is approximately 8.9 kilometers (5.5 mi) south of Long Island, but varies widely. It is separated from Long Island by a series of interconnected bays: Great South Bay, Patchogue Bay, Bellport Bay, Narrow Bay, and Moriches Bay. The island is accessible by automobile 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. The island and its resort towns are accessible by boat, seaplane and a number of ferries, which depart from both Bay Shore and Sayville.
Fire Island is located at 40° 39' 35" North, 73° 5' 23" West (40.653188, -73.125795).[1] According to the United States Census Bureau, Fire Island has a total area of 22.64 km2 (8.742 mi2), which includes 0.1415 km2 of water.
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 renourishment program involved dredging sand from an offshore borrow area, pumping it onto 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, including 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 physical attributes of the island have changed over time and it continues 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.[2]
The Fire Island Inlet was to grow to nine miles (14 km) in width before receding. The Fire Island Lighthouse 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 six miles (10 km) from the inlet.
Fire Island separated from Southampton in a 1931 Nor'easter when Moriches Inlet broke through. Moriches Inlet and efforts by local communities east of Fire Island to protect their beach front with jetties have led to an interruption in the longshore drift of sand going from east to west and is 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.
The origin of Fire Island's name is not certain. It is believed its Native American name was Sictem Hackey, which translated to "Land of the Secatogues". The Secatogues were a tribe in the Bay Shore, New York, area. It was part of what was also called the "Seal Islands."[3]
Historian Richard Bayles suggested 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.[4]
At times histories have referred to it in 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. Some say it 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.[2]
The name of Fire Island first appeared on a deed in 1789.[5]
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.[5]
William "Tangier" Smith held title to the entire island in the 17th century, under a royal patent from Thomas Dongan. The remnants of Smith's Manor of St. George are open to the public in Shirley, New York.
Except for the western 4½ 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 Light stands just east of Robert Moses State Park.
The incorporated villages of Ocean Beach and Saltaire within Fire Island National Seashore are car-free 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, are popular destinations for LGBT vacationers.
Beach erosion, largely due to construction of jetties at the Moriches Inlet, opened naturally by a storm in 1931 and widened September 21, 1938, is described in a report on the geological effects of the Hurricane of 1938.[12]
As of the census[13] of 2000, there were 491 people, 138 households, and 77 families residing on Fire Island. The population density was 52.82/mi2 (21.82/km2). There were 4,153 housing units, at an average density of 478.1/mi2 (184.6/km2). 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 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 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 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.
A feature entitled "Shel Silverstein on Fire Island" appeared in the August 1965 Playboy magazine, with humorous quips about the gay club scene there.
Frank Perry's Last Summer (1969), adapted by Eleanor Perry from Evan Hunter's novel about a summer of sexual discovery on Fire Island, brought an Oscar nomination for actress Catherine Burns. The American writer Patricia Nell Warren, known as "the mother of Frontrunners" — the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender running/walking clubs — locates parts of her 1974 best-selling novel The Front Runner,[14] as well as of Harlan's Race,[15] a 1994 sequel, on Fire Island.
The song "Come to Me" has been described as "the definitive Fire Island dance classic" because of the legendary beach concert performance by the 16-year-old France Joli before an oceanfront Fire Island audience of 5000 on July 7, 1979. When Donna Summer cancelled at the last minute, Joli stepped in as a replacement and became an overnight sensation.[16] The song "Gay Messiah" on the 2004 album Want Two by Rufus Wainwright makes a reference to the popularity of Fire Island for gay and lesbian tourists, remarking that when the "gay messiah" comes, "He will fall from the star / of Studio 54 / and appear on the sand / of Fire Island's shore". The 2003 album Welcome Interstate Managers by Fountains of Wayne featured the song "Fire Island" about two siblings' home-alone shenanigans while their parents vacation on the island.
When Ocean Meets Sky,[17] a 2003 documentary detailing the 50-year history of the Fire Island Pines community, had its television premiere on June 10, 2006. The film includes much previously unseen archival footage. The mockumentary Beach Comber[18] 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 Village People included a song titled "Fire Island" on their 1977 debut album, Village People. In the song, they refer to the island as "a funky weekend" and mention several locations on the island such as the Ice Palace, the Monster, the Blue Whale, and the Sandpiper. The song also includes the warning "Don't go in the bushes" because "someone might grab ya" or "someone might stab ya."
Fire Island is featured prominently in Ann Brashares's 2008 novel The Last Summer (of You and Me), about two sisters and a friend who grow up together, vacationing on the island every summer. Fire Island serves dual meanings as both a vacation destination and a homoerotic euphemism in Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. In the story "Blood Work," Sedaris describes an instance in which he is mistaken for an erotic housekeeper and his would-be john makes frequent and emphatic mention of FIRE ISLAND as a secret code. Fire Island is the location of Burt Hirschfeld's best-selling novel Fire Island. It is the story of some show-business and television people who spend their summers with their families on the island.
Fire Island is repeatedly referenced on the NBC sitcom Will & Grace. Many references are made to the adventures had by Will Truman and Jack McFarland during their vacations there; the impression given in the references is that gay people are welcome and there is a loosening of one's inhibitions when there. On the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, the island is referenced by Devon Banks (Will Arnett), a young gay executive who flirts with a gay shop employee and plans to rendezvous with him later on Fire Island. In season four, a charge read at a hearing states "in 2007, a [corporate] officer [Banks] used corporate funds to throw a Cabaret-themed Halloween party on Fire Island."
Following are the locations on the island from west to east.[19]
The following are associated islands in the Fire Island National Seashore Jurisdiction, from west to east:
After the Manhattan theater community began staying on Fire Island during the 1920s, the island had numerous summer celebrity residents.[20]